The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival

Well, it's been a few weeks since we've posted, and we're quite a few posts behind, but we figured we have a pretty good excuse. After all, we are moving in two weeks, not to mention the recent plague of chronic fatigue that seems to have crept into our home! Anyhow, these posts are long overdue.

When Nicholas and I made the decision to move to Pennsylvania for a year rather than moving straight out to Minnesota, part of the decision was in fact very sight-seeing based. We wanted the opportunity to live out on the east coast, to travel the east coast sites, and to evaluate if we could ever become an east coast family. Before our moving truck ever pulled up to our east coast abode, we already had compiled a travel wish list made up of places to visit, sites to see, and events to attend. Two of the items on our list were visiting Washington D.C. during the National Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival and trying to attend the Easter Celebration and Easter Egg Roll held annually on the White House lawn. Well, needless to say, in early November we decided that for our family's safety and well-being we would forgo the Easter Egg roll for another four to eight years, but the Cherry Blossom Festival remained high on our list. Consequently, we were delighted when we received an invitation to visit my brother Eric and his family right during peak blossoming this year. We eagerly packed up our things, made one final stop-over in Lancaster (Amish) County Pennsylvania, and then made our way down to Fairfax, Virginia to my brother's home. Early the next morning we boarded a train which delivered us into the very center of a blossoming wonderland. The pictures just don't do justice to the beautiful surroundings!! (But we had to include a few anyway.)

Blossoms around the Washington Monument



Blossoms in front of the Jefferson Memorial



Blossoms along the Waterfront



Walking under the canopy of blossoms along the riverfront.



And all of us down on the Mall. (Except for Aunt Jenny or course who was kind enough to take the photo.)



Although the wind got the better of us before too long, our quiet stroll through the blossoming canopy, with blossoms snowing down upon us in the breeze, was the perfect way to bid Washington D.C. farewell for a time. Thank you so much Eric, Jenny, Mikey, and Matthew for sharing your wonderful city with us. We'll miss being so close!