cherry blossoms

[warning: excessive numbers of pictures below ;-)]

the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin must be of the natural wonders of the DC area.  the richness and sheer quantity of the blooms, set amidst the massive stone emblems of our nation make for a tableau worthy of the crowds.

the girls and i went at the peak of the blossoms, on a beautiful friday morning, and it felt like a national holiday.  the metro was full of people heading in, offering advice to out-of-towners, and some kind passerby gave us their map when we emerged from the metro rather befuddled.  at the tidal basin, the throngs of cameras - i mean people - were so thick it was hard to get through.  easy to see why though, with the luminescent canopy overhead and the sweet fragrance in the air. 

we were even interviewed by some local TV station, who targeted the cute little girls in the double stroller ;-)  no, i didn't get to see it on air =)

i'm sure there is no shortage of pictures the iconic jefferson and washington monuments at this time of year, but here's my contribution:

the path runs right along the water for much of the tidal basin.  once we got away from the metro, the crowds thinned out a bit, and the girls had a ball throwing sticks and pebbles into the water.   can't tell you how many people felt compelled to tell me to keep them away from the water though =p 

somewhere around the franklin d. roosevelt memorial, we parked in a corner for a minute and the wind sent the petals swirling up around us.  the picture doesn't capture it, but it was so cool =)

the girls' favorite part was a wall over by the new martin luther king jr. memorial.  wish i'd gotten a picture of l muscling her way up the top of the wall, fingers clinging to the edges.  i had more than one person gasp as she slid down the steep wall =p  here they are at the other end:

a few from the walk back to the metro:

 having experienced the glory of the tidal basin blossoms, we realized that we had quite a few in our own backyard:

view from our balcony

the scooter was her requested birthday present

can't walk in mud without getting dirty.. can't scoot in cherry blossoms without getting petally ;-)

and finally, we rounded out the experience with a craft, of course ;-)  this came from pinterest:

if she looks grumpy, it's because she was =p  she was not happy about the paint dripping where she didn't put it, and almost gave up the craft because of it.  perfectionist, anyone?

good memories seen and made!