Cheery Cherry Blossoms

     

This week has been the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, and we went down to the Jefferson Memorial to enjoy the gorgeous display of "pink popcorn", as Hyrum calls it. 

 

It seems that half the city had the same idea - the path that follows the waterfront was completely packed, as were the steps in front of the Jefferson Memorial.

 

Even so, it's a lovely sight, isn't it?  The weather was completely perfect - warm but not too warm, sunny, a slight breeze...it was a wonderful way to enjoy one of the first days of spring.

 

The blossoms on the trees were absolutely breathtaking!  I was afraid that they would be past their prime by the time we got there, as the days previous had been filled with lots of rain and extremely gusty wind.

 

There were still abundant displays of delicate, glorious blossoms to be seen, much to my relief!

 

Here is the Washington Monument, framed by a graceful cherry tree branch.

 

I took Eliza and Hyrum up into the rotunda, and we managed to squeeze through the masses of people enough to get this hasty shot.  We'll have to go back again in a little while when it's not so crowded so we can make it a more educational visit.

I'm so excited to be living so near the nation's capital.  There is so much to do and see here, and now that the weather is warming up we'll be able to venture out a bit more and take advantage of all that DC and the surrounding areas has to offer.

There they are, taking a bit of a rest on the steps of the rotunda.

 

The girls in their matching little skirts that I made last year....I haven't sewn anything but a banner for Eliza's little soccer team since moving here.  I hope I have time to make the girls coordinating outfits for Easter.  It's not like they really NEED anything new, but it would be nice. 

 

I was hoping to find a nice, picturesque spot to take some portraits of the kids, but there were so many people everywhere it was hard to find a lush spot of grass that wasn't already occupied.  We settled for this patchy little area, but Hazel was in no mood to hold still for a group photo!

 

I did manage to get some sweet ones of Eliza and Hyrum, though - looking at that picture, one would never guess how often they squabble at home!  I hope that, as they get older, they'll be able to play together without so much contention. (sigh)

 

Here's the whole gang, with Hazel doing her usual thumb routine.  Whenever she has her silky blankie, she has her thumb in her mouth.  When her blankie is nowhere in sight, Hazel is usually a very grumpy kid unless there's something extremely exciting going on.  She's my first baby with a definite attachment to something like a blanket or a thumb.

 

Here they are on the run!  Hazel moves so quickly I didn't have a chance to pay attention to the light exposure, and this laptop doesn't have sophisticated editing software...so until we get a new computer sometime in the future, cropping and a bit of color filtering is about all I can do!

Hazel was so excited to be out of the stroller and on the loose!  She was giggling her delightful giggle/laugh the whole way across the lawn, which I absolutely love to hear.  Hazel has the most adorable laugh ever (not that I'm biased about that or anything).

 

And here is my favorite shot of the day - isn't it priceless?  So expressive.  Oh, the captions one could think up for this one!

Comments

[Missy]

gorgeous blossoms and a gorgeous family. I love all your pictures!

[Verity]

Shelley, you are amazing! I love looking at your website to see all the fun things you do! In fact, your website came to mind when we were planning out activities with our MiaMaid class. I'll give you a call later about it. :)

[Auto glass mesa az]

OHHH!!!! I wish I lived there or was in you are. It looks so beautiful I would love to experienc the cherry blossom. In Arizona we don't have anything like that. Maybe the anual tumble weed christmas tree lighting!!! HAHAHA. I also wanted to let you know that you have a beautiful family. Take Care.

[Joy]

You know we lived there for 4 years and somehow never got around to doing that. We did drive down one year but couldn't find a parking spot so we went home. Isn't it just breathtaking?