4-5, DC Cherry Blossoms

Usually I try to keep my personal and As Eye See It photos separate, but not today. Spring Break has officially started for Nikolas so I need to get things done...faster.... =). So, we made it to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC last Sunday. I think we must have missed the "festival" aspect of the event because it is not what we had anticipated. Nor did we anticipate the thousands and thousands of people that beat us into the city that morning. Holy cow. We left the house 'early' (by Krauss standards) to be able to find parking near the Tidal Basin, but gave up and instead parked all the way down by the Capitol. (I guess if we would have done our homework we would have found out that the Cherry Blossom Run was taking place....oops). For those of you not familiar with DC, that's a healthy walk...and with a 7-year old who doesn't want to be at the Cherry Blossom Festival....well, you can imagine a few descriptive words for what that walk was like. =) After a few hours and extreme overstimulation, we headed home. Sven likened the experience to Mardi Gras. We kid you not. The blossoms were beautiful but the crowds were too much...way, way too much. How I managed to get any photos is beyond me. If we weren't stepping in front of someone, someone was stepping in front of us. Not my usual style for capturing beauty. =) Nonetheless, we've been there, done that...and next year we might just look at these pictures again and save the headache!

"Under the Cherry Tree"

"Washington Monument Cherry Blossoms"

"Jefferson Memorial Cherry Blossoms"

"Tidal Basin Boating"

"Banner Yet Wave"

"Smithsonian Castle"

Here are some 'personal' photos from the day. Wouldn't you know we had to wait in line to get this pose? Yep, every family wanted a picture with their kid(s) on the tree branch!

People..........

People.... and more people.

I must say that I was completely tickled by Nikolas. I let him use my old point and shoot digital camera the whole day. We had to stop and wait for HIM to take pictures everywhere we went (usually they're trying to patiently wait for me!!). He actually got some great pictures! Take a look at some that he took: