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Cherry Blossom Festival

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This past weekend Courtney and I and our seven kids met in Washington, DC for a cherry blossom adventure.  

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly. 




The Good:
Hanging with good friends and lots of wrestling for the boys
Cafe Rio for supper twice, still my favorite after 20 years
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Monument, The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial
The cherry blossoms - walking along the tidal basin just below the MLK memorial, with a cool breeze blowing off the water and making the cherry blossoms rain down.  It was magical. 
A run with Courtney
The roaring lion at the zoo 
Riding on the metro with kids and not losing anyone
Jaxon saying, referring to the nice apartment we stayed in, "If I was single, and I'm not going to be, I would love an apartment like this"
The boys were so good at taking care of Blythe in the back seat!




The Bad:
The crowds - it was the last weekend of the festival and everything was crowded - the metro, the monuments, the zoo, the parking.  Ugh!
The heat - it was 80 degrees on Sunday.  Just what Courtney was dreaming of  - but it was too hot for hiking around the zoo with a zillion people - especially when the water fountains didn't work and the vending machines were all out of water.

 




Ugly:
On the way into the city I had to slow down before an exit so I could move over a lane, the poor man behind leaned on his horn for a full minute.  Clearly in the few seconds that I slowed him down I managed to completely ruin his day because a few minutes later he pulled up beside me and let loose with a torrent of foul words, most that my children have never heard before. Then pulled up on the other side for a repeat.  I stayed calm and rolled up my windows.  His bad day didn't need to ruin mine.

After getting up, running, getting all the bags packed, kids showered and dressed, cleaning up the apartment and getting out the door, discovering that my battery was dead.  It took way too long to get it going.

Last DC adventure.
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Comments

  1. peter rippleApril 17, 2014 at 3:13 PM


    Those kids are getting so big and handsome! All four! nana

    ReplyDelete
  2. peter rippleApril 17, 2014 at 3:15 PM


    That baby is soo cute. nana

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elisa BarnesApril 22, 2014 at 10:22 AM

    A man yelled at me in the airport once when he thought that I cut the line. He followed me for two gates, and screamed the most profane things at me. It was so bad, other people got involved. I was so shaken, and it's never left me. I still look for that face every time I fly. All you can do is pray for people like that, they have been badly damaged somewhere along the line. :( I'm glad you were able to get away and enjoy the festival. I've always wanted to do that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kim and Ken CarlileApril 26, 2014 at 4:01 PM

    Wow. Road rage at its worst! Makes you feel bad for people whose lives are so miserable. The cherry blossoms are BEAUTIFUL! I love seeing Jaxon wearing the baby carrier! So cute.

    ReplyDelete

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