Cherry Blossom Festival

I have always wanted to visit DC

during the annual

Cherry Blossom Festival.

This year we packed up the kids,

the stroller

my bag of tricks

and headed into the city.

It was Good Friday

so Frank had the day off too!

Did you know that the cherry trees

were a gift from Japan

to the United States

as a token of friendship?

And that they were sent twice?

3000 trees in 1912

3800 in 1965

That's a lot of blossoms!

I had the whole day mapped out:

check out the Japanese ceramics exhibit at the Smithsonian,

listen to Reggae music by the Washington monument,

participate in the "Bloomin' Junior Ranger" program for kids,

and maybe even get in some paddle-boating.

Here's what actually happened:

We walked all over DC.

Lily and Phoenix loved having Daddy close by.

Daddy loved spending time with his babies.
And we all kept walking.

We posed our kids in trees to get cute photos.

Even if they didn't want to.

Then

we found a nice shady patch of green grass

under the cherry trees,

plopped our bums down

and pigged out on my bag o' treats

while enjoying the scenery.

We made new friends

with our picnic neighbors

including this little girl and her family.

Turns out they are originally from Buenos Aires

so I hable un poquito espanol con ellos,

but are also professors at a local university.

Translation: Frank participated in the conversation too.

And

that was

pretty much

IT.

But then something magical happened:

Beautiful blossoms falling

floating like snowflakes through the air

people smiling, laughing, posing for photographs

and children dancing, twirling

mesmerized by pink breezes

It was so worth all the walking.