Cherry Blossom Festival 2012

I have wanted to take a trip to Washington, DC during the Cherry Blossom festival for years. When we found out that Avery had a Friday off of school and the festival started that weekend, and it was peak time for the blooms, we decided it would be a good time to go.

The last time we were in DC was when Avery was about 9 months old. During that trip we got to tour the White House, the Capital and pretty much anywhere else we wanted to go. It was a lot of fun. A great historical trip!

This time we went without a clear plan and just knew that with kids we would have to "fly by the seat of our pants". That's what we did. In a different way we did what we wanted, when we wanted. I think sometimes that's a great way to travel!

It was a little chilly on this trip but we were prepared. We had jackets and our stroller cover and our walking shoes. :) Oh and we brought umbrella's & rain boots - it rained the majority of the day on Saturday. Our first night we walked around some and ended up eating at Hard Rock Cafe. Oh, on our way to eat we saw the "Occupy Wall Street" protestors. They were camped out in the middle of "Freedom Square" - nothing special but a bunch of signs and tents. :)

 The girls got a special treat after dinner. The manager (who had started up a conversation with Ryan before dinner) invited us up to his office to see some special souveniers. He took a guitar off the wall that belonged to and was signed by the Spice Girls and let each of the girls pose with it for a picture. Of course, the girls have no idea who the Spice Girls are but they still thought it was neat. He gave them little guitar trading pins when we left. Avery thought that little trinket was so cool - she refused to take hers out of the plastic because it might get "messed up".

 Riley loves guitars so she thought this was super cool...you can tell by that wonderful smile on her face, huh??

I couldn't decide what pictures to post, since we had so many to choose from...that's why this post if full of pics! The first day we woke up and rode the shuttle to the metro station. We found an Auntie Anne's that was opened in the mall and had some good 'old pretzels for breakfast...not much different than a donut right?

 We ate and rode the metro to somewhere near the National Archives Museum. We just took our picture outside but didn't go in...the line was long! A nice older couple offered to take our pic so we agreed. :)

The following pictures were taken at the Natural History Museum. Lots of information about evolution in there - so this wasn't my most favorite of places but we did see some pretty cool things like the Hope Diamond, a huge slice of Amethyst and real butterflies in the live butterfly exhibit. 

At the museum of American History we saw a giant Doll House - made by the Doll Family - where we get the name "doll house" from.

 After learning all about the first American Flag, at American Heritage Girls, Avery was able to see it for herself. We were not allowed to take any pictures or video inside the exhibit but she walked away saying that was the coolest part of her trip. It was pretty neat for us too because Ryan and I hadn't been to that museum the last time we were in DC. I think it was being renovated at the time.

About 1/2 our day on Saturday was spent at the National Building Museum. They had children's activities coming out your ears! There was so many things to do - mainly arts and crafts (which Avery is all about). She made a stamp collection, a paper flower, a chinese paper window, a popcorn cherry blossom tree and lots more. She went from one station to the next without complaining that she wanted to leave. Riley actually slept the majority of the time...hated that she missed the fun but she definitely need her rest. 

We found Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the Old Post Office building and enjoyed a break from the pouring rain!

On Sunday we woke up and found a Panera to eat breakfast at. My girls and I love some bagels! Daddy ate a breakfast sandwhich and then we were off for more exploration. We ended up walking the "mall" and took the girls to the Lincoln Memorial, World War 2 Memorial, Korean War Memorial & MJK Jr. Memorial. It was a lot of walking but the girls did so well.

We saw some "daytime" fireworks after leaving the Lincoln Memorial. It was for the opening ceremonies of the Cherry Blossom Festival. I had never seen daytime fireworks but they were really cool. It was kind of cloudy that day too so they seemed to stand out against the cloudy sky. So pretty!

We made our way back over to the Tidal Basin (where all the 3,020 cherry blossom trees are) and decided to go paddle boating. It was a lot more work than Ryan and I had remembered but we (I mean mostly Ryan) paddled our way over to the Jefferson Memorial and had a nice view of it to show the girls. We ate some popcorn on our lovely water tour and thankfully no one had to take a restroom break in the middle of the water!

We bought some postcards a little earlier in the day and the girls had been coloring on them while they rode in the strollers. We said we would mail one to each grandparent so the girls and I thought it would be fun to get stamps from the Cherry Blossom Festival (which had just been issued the day before). We rode over to the Post Office - which is also the Postal Museum. We just stopped in to pick up stamps but who knew they had a whole catalog to choose from. We bought some Cherry Blossom ones and some Disney Movie ones - I couldn't resist.

Our big surprise came at the end of the day on Sunday. We had been threatening the girls with this Surprise all weekend...I am not usually a threatener but I think we broke it out a time or two in those few days. We weren't really going to skip on this surprise but we were desperate in the moments! haha

The girls picked out one outfit each for their AG bitty baby. Avery decided that her AG doll already had enough outfits so her bitty baby lucked out on this trip. They walked away with matching swimsuits for the dolls. :) Sweet!

A great trip was complete when we pulled back into our driveway safe and sound. So thankful to have this beautiful family and the ability to take fun trips like these. Looking forward to our next adventure away.