It's the Spring Equinox today. Or has been. I'm not sure of the exact time.

We started the morning with celebratory donuts, because orbit is kind of round...maybe...really, the kids wanted donuts and I didn't disagree.

We followed that with swimming lessons, because it's Saturday. The little little is in a class with slightly bigger kids, and so we'd been asked to still join him in the pool for extra hands. I did the first week, and essentially floated off to the side and gave verbal encouragement when he wasn't paying attention. Mom was a little more hands-on the next week. This week, the teacher said, I got it, if you want to stay out. I'd been kind of looking forward to some floating around again, but decided to sit in my swimwear on a bench instead. He did swell. There are a few things he's not doing great, but he's not worse than the other kids who aren't doing great; and there are kids who are doing great and make you wonder why they're in that class and not the next. The big little is in the top of her class, swimming like a fish. She is a little slappy with her arms swimming freestyle, but isn't really going for optimized movement just yet. Jumping into the pool, she's one of the few who can kick over and do head first, and then follows up with swimming to the side underwater. Practically a natural. And with her long hair floating around "like Ariel has," she says. I know if we had a pool, the kids would seldom use an iPad.

Now the girls are off to a birthday party, for one of the big little's classmates, outside and with kids from her class. While things have optimistic outlooks, we were still observing how many things are going into whether to attend. Usually it's "are both kids invited," or "what should we bring," or benign questions like that that determine how we divide and conquer. Today's discussion included calculations based on "well, they're all in the same classroom, so already kind of a tier-2 extended bubble." It's crazy how crazy this still is.

The boys will stay home and play with computers, and maybe tackle some laundry.

We decided to hire a yard service to clean up after the dogs. They offer a "spring cleaning" for yards where winter gets ahead of keeping the yard clean. We have an area in the yard where the dogs generally go. Maybe not if it's raining, and we don't see  how fast they drop poo on the trek through the grass, but mostly, a 12x12 or so area, liberally mulched, and usually scooped every week. The last week it was scooped now was around November, when the snow started sticking, and the ground started holding on with freeze. I'm sure they know what they signed up for, but I hope they don't cast evil spells or hexes because of the mess. I wish I had cash to slip them for the extra work, but it's been a year since I've hit an ATM, and all of my greens have trickled away; nothing but the odd Washington in a change jar, which is not a great tip for this job.

I'm off to gather laundry.

Everyone is healthy.