Cherry blossoms take 2

Cherry blossoms are without a doubt one of my favorites times in DC and I got to go see them twice this year (8 days apart) and they were equally beautiful both times. It was fun to be able to take my parents and I was so glad that their trip lined up with peak bloom! It rained the day before we went so I was nervous it would have ruined them a little but it didn't at all. There were some petals on the ground which actually just made it more beautiful but not so many were knocked down that it looked noticeably different on the trees. 

It didn't work for us to go after work this year because Grant had things into the evenings so we decided to wake up and go early Saturday morning instead. We left the house at 6:30 am and once we figured out where to park were able to find a spot fairly easily. We were all surprised how many people were already there that early, but it wasn't crowded yet which made walking and pictures nice.

The kids did a great job and were cute and excited about the cherry blossoms.

 The morning weather and lighting were perfection...it was so beautiful!

I think the fact that the cherry blossoms remind us of Japan make them extra special as well.

Dylan liked taking rides on Papa's lap :)

Christmas card quality photos going on here :) I wish we'd taken a family photo in this spot because it was seriously perfect.

Boden had fun walking with Papa's walking sticks :)

Jefferson Memorial in the distance

MLK

Dylan got the hookup for sure with all the rides...but at least he was happy about it

Love this one

Mike and Alexa (and the dogs who got lots of attention) met us down there for a few minutes. We were sort of twinners.

A pretty spot with other flowers by our parking spot.

They were really good sports and we had a great walk around the tidal basin as a family. Perfect first weekend with my parents in Maryland

And..we had to recreate the selfie we took last year. It is even in the same spot :) (Grant even inadvertently wore the same shirt, haha)

There have definitely been some cool parts of living in this area and I'm glad we've taken full advantage of them...but we are counting down the days until San Diego too :)