“There’s a little ice cream left in the freezer,” K says right after dinner. “Who wants some?” It’s almost a question that doesn’t need to be asked.

And afterward, the real sign of spring: we go for a walk in the neighborhood while the Boy rides his new glider. Within the space of ten days or so, he’s gone from simply standing on it and slowly inching his way forward to running on it.

Granted, he’s only doing that uphill. It’s easier to control that way: going downhill quickly builds up speed and the threat of a loss of control.

The Girl, meanwhile, roars ahead with her friend W, circling back to us, riding ahead, circling back. And K and I walk behind them, herding the Boy to the side when a car comes by, chatting about things so trivial that I can’t even remember what we discussed. A perfect Friday evening, in other words.