Cherry Blossom Festival

It's interesting how life comes full circle.  Last year we took family pictures during the cherry blossom bloom in Seoul (where many of the trees were planted by the Japanese), and this year we went out to enjoy the start of spring with the cherry blossom festival here in DC (which celebrates the gift of almost 9,000 cherry trees from Japan as a gesture of friendship toward the United States).

Although the blooms weren't quite fully open (thanks to the unseasonably cold weather this spring), the cherry trees were beautiful and it was great to get out.  We started with a walk along the tidal basin to enjoy the cherry blossoms and to see the Jefferson Memorial.

Then we headed over to the main festival activities.  My Man and Young Man participated in a dragon boat demonstration. 

Since Young Man is far too cool mature to participate in the crafts now, I was glad he got to do this.  It looked fun and I think he enjoyed it (though not quite enough for him to fully forgive us for taking him away from a day spent playing football with his friends).

Darling Daughter and Funny Guy enjoyed making a dragon sock puppet and flying fish lantern, respectively. 

The lines were long, but the band was great, and I had fun just hanging out with the kids as the trio from Trinibad and Tobago played island songs in the background.  It was almost enough to pretend that it wasn't absolutely freezing (thanks to the biting wind and lower than forecasted temps).  Almost.

By then it was getting late, though, and My Man and Young Man needed to head home to get ready for the Priesthood session of General Conference.  It was cold too (did I mention that already?), so Darling Daughter, who had refused to bring a sweater, decided to leave too.  On their way home, My Man got some great shots of them with the cherry blossoms in front the Smithsonian Castle

Funny Guy had his heart set on a few more activities, though, so he and I decided to stick around a bit longer.  He had so much fun making his model pirate ship, that it was well worth the extra hour and a half in the cold.  Incredibly, Funny Guy didn't complain once about the cold until we were on our way home.  That just goes to show how much he loved the festival!

(See Funny Guy's tongue?  I was laughing so hard watching him concentrate on coloring his boat because the harder he concentrates, the faster his tongue slides back and forth.  It is absolutely precious.  Kicking myself now that I didn't think to grab a video!)

On the way home, we passed by a giant field of daffodils.  Spring truly is a beautiful time of year and I'm so grateful we got to enjoy it together as a family today (a huge sacrifice by My Man who would rather have been flying--thanks Love!).