spring contest

I think weather forecasters have amazing job security. Yesterday, I looked to see the same-day predictions for this little rain forest, and can you believe it actually had a QUESTION MARK in it? Seriously - the little picture (intended to give us visual learners an indication of the weather) had a windy cloud, some rain drops, and a bit of sunshine, all with a large "?" over the center.
The real irony of all of this is that it generally rains, or is "cloudy-with-a-possibility-of-sunbreaks-or-scattered-showers" from late September to July 5. I would guess that a weather forecaster could say, "chance of rain" or "probable rain" every day and be pretty accurate. The idea of the extra security of a question mark leaves me incredulous.

So, I invented a little contest for a friend and I, since both of us are ready for sunny days. Here's the deal: we each go for a walk with our kiddos to find trees in full spring blossom. (Spring is just barely starting here, so this is a bit of a challenge and requires a good walk.) The first to collect 12 blossoms wins.

The kicker: the entire walk must be completed in the dry portion of the day!

Yesterday, she found 5 blossoms and we found 4. Since neither made it to 12, we're off on round 2 today. It's kind of our own version of March Madness.