The calendar says spring arrives tomorrow.

Typically, we Minnesotans find ourselves still under a blanket of snow on March 20 and searching eagerly for any small hint of spring. Usually, the calendar and maybe a few robins are the only hints.

Here are the first robins we saw last spring.

It’s not easy when March and half of April comes and goes while the snow does not.

But this March is exceptional. It’s marching boldly into spring.

On March 1, while wandering about in the freshly fallen snow, we saw fuzzy buds on the trees.

On March 10, the first robin flew in and rested at the bird bath.

By March 12, the snow was nearly gone, and it was warm enough to play outside for hours without a jacket.

On March 16, the robin was getting pretty cozy at the bird bath, and my children were digging through bins in a feverish search for shorts and t-shirts. Last week was quite possibly the best spring break weather ever recorded in this otherwise-usually-frozen state.

Yesterday, my husband actually turned on the air conditioner — for a few hours — because it was nearly 80 inside and outside.

This week the tulips have begun poking through the dirt, the lilac bush has started budding, and even the grass has commenced to look faintly green. And we’ve spied many songbirds besides the robins. We’ve seen cardinals, blue jays, and goldfinches.

After ballet class today, a brief rain shower came our way. The girls — ever so jubilant — quickly grabbed their gear and headed out to test the conditions under their new umbrellas.

But the rain ended ever-so abruptly.

Yet the wind continued ever-so fiercely.

Later this evening we had more rain along with a little thunderstorm — which was little but still just big enough to make the little sister nervous at bedtime.

So the girls are camped out together in sleeping bags, keeping each other safe from the thunder and whatever marches in overnight.

After a good rest, perhaps they’ll have more opportunities for umbrella testing tomorrow.