Cherry Blossom Festival and Kite Festival

Today we had a great time in Washington, DC, at the Mall. We took the Metro into town and it was totally crowded. We even had to wait in the parking lot for someone to leave so we could park our car at the station. That's how busy it was. The kids and I got to experience our first trip on the Metro. We all thought it was fun! Grace did notice a strange smell coming from somewhere or someone, though. She survived it. Now I need to try to navigate the Metro without Andy. Maybe when my parents come to town in a couple of weeks.

The people in Andy's class had arranged an outing and picnic on the Mall, and though we saw them, we kind of did our own thing. It was great motivation to get out! First we tried flying kites kind of in the middle of the mall closer to the Capital, but we weren't having much luck. We decided to try flying down by the Washington Monument, where we saw kites were flying much higher and the flags surrounding the monument were completely outstretched in the wind. Great idea! We did much better there! It was so cool to see how many kites were in the air, and so many different kinds, too. We really liked one that looked like a pirate ship, one that was a Blue Angel jet, and a couple of really beautiful butterfly kites. We liked ours too, of course--a dragon, a Barbie, and a spinning box kite. Sarah and Jake flew kites, Andy and I helped them, and Grace took care of Rachel on the blanket. Grace is a great helper.

After we flew kites for awhile, we walked down to the river to see the cherry blossoms. So pretty! It was neat because they made shade all over, but the shade wasn't dark, it was light and airy. Hard for me to describe, but it was beautiful. I kept making Andy take pictures of the kids by every tree I thought was pretty. I edited the pictures pretty well for the slide show! The kids thought the blossoms were very soft. It was such a contrast to the last time we were at the Jefferson Memorial...it was rainy and muddy and all the trees were bare. Have we really been here that long? I loved Rachel's response when I told her to look at all of the flowers in the trees. She said, "They're not flowers Mom, they're blossoms."

We did a lot of walking today, and the kids didn't complain about it. We brought drinks this time, so they didn't complain about being thirsty either. We didn't bring enough for lunch, so they were a bit hungry(and so was I). And, I didn't bring warm enough coats for Sarah and Jake, so they were a little chilled. Grace shared her sweatshirt with Sarah, and Jake just toughed it out...no whining about it either. Overall, it's getting a little more fun each time we go for a trip into downtown. We've almost figured out how to plan the perfect day trip!