Recently I blogged about how I was getting a jump on spring out in the yard, but this past weekend felt like summer. And once again I dove right in. I threw open the windows and got to work.

Now, the shrubs are fertilized, the patio table and chairs are out, the hoses are hooked up and turned on, the lawn mower is running and the backyard is mowed and overseeded. The dogs got nice long walks and the tires on our bikes are inflated after going flat in the basement during what felt like an especially long winter.

But nothing said summer quite like the fact that in our small Milwaukee microcosm the kids and their parents were outside all day long Saturday and most of Sunday, too, playing, running, shouting, fighting, crying and then starting all over again. It wasn't until after midnight that the heartiest of the adults finally went indoors.

Sunday was our neighborhood "boys day out" and we tailgated at the Brewers game, with about 32,000 other fans. Under the blazing sun with a Spotted Cow and the smell of grills all around, it felt more like July than April. And to that I say, "Amen!"