Spring tradition......the cherry blossoms!

We've been living in the East now for almost 11 years and one of our longest standing traditions is going to see cherry blossoms each Spring. We keep hearing that there are other, less congested places you can see just as many beautiful blossoms, but to us it's worth it to brave the crowds and enjoy our unique and wonderful city...crowds and all.

The blossoms are only in bloom for a short period of time, so we have to time our visit just perfectly before they're gone. As luck may have it, General Conference weekend is usually prime viewing time. It was a soggy, cool weekend and we were nervous we might miss our chance...but Sunday night after the second session the rain had stopped and we took off for DC.

As you can see, the sogginess and evening hour seemed to have scared away the hordes of people that normally crowd this sidewalk around the Tidal Basin.

A family tradition--all the kids in a tree! (As you can see Adam was terrified of being in the tree...actually he wasn't excited at all about the wet sidewalks and the cool breeze either)


The only time Spencer not only allows for me to take pictures liberally...but even asks for me to take them as he ascends every good climbing tree he comes to.


It's not too often the kids have to wear their winter coats posing for this annual picture with the Jefferson Memorial in the background.


Most years we walk around the entire Tidal Basin, but due to the sogginess and the late hour we cut our walk short and ended our visit at the WWII memorial. I hate to admit it, but it was actually our first visit to this lovely memorial. After visiting this powerful, symbolic place in the dark I decided that we needed to come back again in the daytime to enjoy it more fully.

I love living near DC!