We Did It!

If you’d told me a year ago I’d be under the cherry blossoms in DC at the end of March, I wouldn’t have believed you. We had the worst trip last year—Chris had a very limited window when he was home between workups, and the days we went were freezing cold. None of the tidal basin trees were blooming. Not one. We were stuck in traffic for six hours with a screaming five-month-old. Eloise got very, very sick on that trip.

But in a moment of insanity, I contacted my college friend Hannah, currently in DC, when my plans to visit Chris in the Middle East over Easter fell through. Could we come stay with her and hopefully see some cherry blossoms this year?

We ended up being there on the peak bloom day!! Everything said not to drive. Everything said not to take a stroller on the metro. I reserved parking through Parking Panda and had hardly any traffic at all. Isaac walked over six miles. The blossoms were amazing.

I felt so happy the whole time. “I am so happy! Isn’t this amazing? I’m so glad we did this. Isn’t this so fun?” I said to the kids.
“I didn’t have a lot of fun,” said Isaac. “I only had a little fun, a-cuz I was tired from so much walking. So I only had a little bit of fun.”

Oops. We got there early-ish and admired the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial ringed with blossoms. We put out our blanket and ate some special cherry blossom treats we brought. We were well-supplied with food. We would walk a little, sit and eat a little. Walk a little, rest a little. We cozied up on the blanket under an umbrella for a little cloud burst. The kids were so great.

Eloise napped in the stroller. Isaac was a champ about walking. That’s really what made it possible—Isaac walked an amazing amount for a four-year-old. I was so proud of him, even if he didn’t have a lot of fun because of it!

At Isaac’s request, we saw dinosaur bones at the Smithsonian. I bought the kids some T-Rex snappers, which proceeded to make their way into the rest of our photos. Isaac’s ate all the cherry blossoms it could reach. That was really a fun purchase. We’d brought a soccer call and kicked it around the National Mall and played with some other kids. We ate Cherry Blossom Festival chocolate.

IT WAS AMAZING. It was as wonderful as last year was awful. We wish you could have been here, Chris! Oh wait…ta-da! It’s like you were there!