Cherry Blossom Festival

We decided that with the festival it would be far too crowded to find parking in DC so we took the metro into the National Mall.

The girls loved the excitement of riding the train.

 And... onto pictures galore of this beautiful season.

There are roughly 2,000 cherry blossom trees in DC... most of them surrounding the reflecting pool.

It makes for one spectacular show in the spring!

It was extremely sunny and hot.

We all were pretty much melting in the sun
(and I had a hard time with lighting for pictures... I'm an amateur, what can I say)

Abby was fascinated with the water and boats. I think we'd talked so much about going swimming at the hotel that she thought she could go swimming here too (and by golly it was hot enough to).

I loved how the tiniest spot on new growth on the trees would be filled with blossoms.

My handsome man.

That is the Jefferson Memorial in the background.

National Monument.

They had police officers and park rangers riding around on horses.

They would stop occasionally to let the kids come say hi to their horses.

So, so, SOOOO pretty!

Family cheeser!

Sarah in the Jefferson Monument.

Sarah is holding her Junior Ranger booklet behind her.

They had a special Junior Ranger program for the kids to do about the Cherry Blossoms. 

It was fun to learn some interesting facts and get Sarah to do just about anything.

"Now Sarah... a Junior Ranger would share with her sister."
"Junior Rangers never complain about being tired from walking." 

"Do you want your Junior Ranger badge? Better.....(fill in the blank)"

While Sarah and Daddy were checking out Mr. Jefferson, I was able to coax more adorable grins from the Zakster. How could I resist sharing?!!

Cooing.

Right before Zak grins he scrunches up his little nose.

I finally caught in with my camera!

Just love this little boy!

Sister shot... sort of.

I loved the spots where the trees were just thick.

So breath taking.

My mother calls these magical trees.

Because no matter how hard anyone tries... you can't help but smile when you are around them.

Such a beautiful gift. 

 These trees are very delicate. You'd bump the branches and hundreds of petals would float down to the ground. It was so pretty to watch. I loved it when the wind would kick up a little bit and send a rainstorm of petals around us. Wish I could have caught it on video to share.

The reflecting pool is only about a two mile walk to travel around. But between the crowded walkways and having to stop for the girls potty breaks (every five minutes) it took us SIX hours to make our way around the whole thing. We did however stop to let the girls run around several times.

How they still had energy to run, I have no idea. 

Love these next to pictures of Abby and Sarah.

We even got to see the new Martin Luther King, Jr. statue.

It was huge!!!

It was SUCH a fun trip.

We were definitely lucky to be able to go. The blossoms usually last around 14 days. The peak only around 3-4 days. We got there just in time to see some peak blooms. And were fortunate enough to go on Friday as Saturday it rained all day and made most of the blossoms come off.

Thank you mother nature for sending these beautiful trees into bloom a little early this year.

And thank you sweetie for blowing off your class Friday so we could experience it as a family!

Trip Prep

So Ryan and I decided to go to DC this past weekend (as many of you already know).

I was feeling overwhelmed at getting the car packed and ready all by myself (with some other added chores that needed to be done). 

So... what did I do?
Take a break and snap some pictures of Mr. Adorable.

Love how his eyes turn to little half moons when he really smiles.

This little face made me laugh.

Working on his Elvis impersonation.

I also thought I'd take a few of Abby.

She kind of woke up feeling funny.

She was s little lethargic and just wanted to drink.

In fact she had gotten up a couple of times in the middle of the night crying for water.

Must have gotten dehydrated or something.

Well... she was making the sweetest little faces... even when feeling so yucky.

Love this little smile.

Oh, this little face... you can tell she feels gross, but still looks so sweet.

Well, Abby will sometimes drink chocolate milk at breakfast time, so being the foolish mother I am, I got her some. She immediately chugged the whole thing. Uh-oh. 

I'd seen my fair share of milk chugging contests in high school to know this could be bad news.

Yup... it was.

About five to ten minutes later that chocolate milk was in a trail from the dining room to the kitchen.

Abby was sitting on my lap and as it started to come up I ran with her to the kitchen sink.

Huge mess.... everywhere.

So our floor got a little mopping before we left on our trip.

After this, Abby felt great. 

And we safely made it to our hotel... just in time for bed.

Preschool Spring Celebration

Sarah's little preschool had another family party.

In celebration of spring we painted bird houses and butterflies.

 Sarah painted the bird house so cute...

Abby saw Sarah using the brown paint first, and that is all she painted her butterfly.

After preschool we had a fun lunch party at our house.

Abby was so excited to have a friend there too!

Yay for Spring and out door picnics!

First Day of Spring

Equals free Rita's Italian Ice!

YUM!

Sarah dropped hers... so sad.

But luckily Abby is a sweet sister and shared hers with Sarah.

Happy first day of Spring!

The Drive-In

We LOVE the drive in!
Two movies for the price of less than one (theaters out here are pricey!!!)

It is our favorite way to catch up on the film world.

A couple of weekends ago we got the urge to go to the drive in to see the Lorax.

One spontaneous invite to some friends later...

and we had five other families join us there. 

So much fun!

Although... you wouldn't be able to tell from the girls expressions here.

We even decided to go all out and turn the back of our van into beds (we usually just let the girls watch from their car seats... or they come up and sit on our laps in the front. 

Hooray for the Drive-In!

And thanks to all of the other families for coming and joining us, it was so fun!