Cherry blossoms… a signal of spring

Washington, DC’s National Cherry Blossom Festival just wrapped up, and while the weather hasn’t been ideal, we spent one afternoon enjoying the blossoms last week. It was a grey, chilly day, but we still had a great time!

A closeup of the blossoms.

Maya was so happy! The girls just love the city.
They’re always asking to “go downtown” and it’s so easy, being only a few miles away.

I think we take the blue sky for granted… I got some pretty monotone photos that day!

It’s so lovely to look up and just see a canopy of blossoms!

The girls persuaded me into renting a paddle boat. I was hesitant, as I only had $20 in cash on me, and it cost $19 for a 4-seater. This meant no ice cream, which they were fine with. So… would they even be able to stay still for an hour? Or would I have to jump in the water after ’em? It’s amazing how much confidence a kid has once you put a life jacket on them!

We waited in line for half an hour (which doesn’t seem long, considering the crowds) and were paddling away around the Tidal Basin by late afternoon. Well, Maya and I were paddling. Maura alternated between sitting in between us and steering, and relaxing on the back seat. The life of a 3-year-old! 😉

Here you can see just how crowded it was. And that’s just one small area.

I hadn’t seen clouds this dense in long time.

I think this is my favorite shot. So tranquil, no? What you can’t see is Maura screaming, “she-gull, she-GULL!” trying to get its attention, in the hopes that it would fly into the air right in front of us.

Let’s just say we kept our distance from the other boats.

The ducks weren’t even fazed by the boats (or my kids). Cute lil things! The ducks, I mean.

The Washington Monument

Maya was surprised by just how difficult paddling one of these little boats can be. “This is harder than I thought. It looks so easy from over there,” she said, as she pointed to the blossoms. “Well, we can’t go back for another 45 minutes,” I said (I’m getting my money’s worth, LOL!)

The Jefferson Memorial

A helicopter overhead. Yes, I got bored. An hour sure is a long time when you’re using your feet to paddle a boat. I could only take so many photos of my daughters, ducks, and seagulls, ya know! And I was afraid that if I kept taking my cellphone out of my pocket I’d eventually drop it in the water, knowing my luck with electronics these days.

After 4 hours enjoying the blossoms, we hopped back on the Metro to go home.

Have you ever been to DC at this time of year?