On Thursday, Jude and I played outside with our upstairs neighbor friends. I busted out two bottles of bubbles I bought at the end of the warm season last year, and we took turns blowing and chasing the bubbles in an attempt to entice Spring into coming to the Windy City. Soon. Now-ish.

It seems our soapy offering was well-recieved. Yesterday the temperature got up into the mid-40s. We spent nearly an hour outside, running around the playground and rolling in the mud (just Jude on that one). I was amazed at how alive our neighborhood was yesterday. The park was (nearly) packed with kids and their families; people were out walking around; teenagers were riding bikes. It was fantastic. Overall, winter wasn’t so horrible this year in Chicago. Sure, it was cold, but it wasn’t unbearable. It snowed a bit, but we (unfortunately) weren’t hit with any real blizzards. The chances that we’ll see another snow storm before Spring really arrives is great, but still, I can see an end in sight.

Today, there’s a chance we’ll get some rain. The temperature is slated to top out at 45 degrees. I don’t know if we’ll get outside for very long, but we’re going to do our damnedest to get out into the fresh air for at least a bit.

How’s the weather where you are? If it’s still cold, you should think about offering up some bubbles to Spring. She seems to like that.