Cherry Blossoms!

This past Saturday was the last peak day to go see the cherry blossoms in DC, and the day of the Cherry Blossom Festival, so we thought we should go check it out. Apparently, though, thousands upon thousands of other people had the same idea! It was crazy-crowded, but for good reason. The blossoms were beautiful, and the day was sunny, clear, and not too hot. But I'm getting ahead of myself!
We packed up the boy and the Beast (our fantastic-if-huge stroller), and headed to Mummo and Pappa's house for a group trip. Pappa drove us to the East Falls Church Metro station, and we took the metro in. (Parking would have been even more of a madhouse!) Sebastian seemed to not mind the metro ride, but he did get kind of antsy, and took turns standing on each of our laps until we were there! We got off at the Smithsonian stop, and met our friend Jen there. It was wall-to-wall people! We headed off walking toward the tidal basin...
We paused for some pictures at the Washington Monument, and then continued on. Oh, did I forget to mention the WIND? Yeah, there was lots of it. And it was strong! Our hair was blowing every which way, and I quickly lamented the fact that I hadn't brought any kind of hair tie to keep it out of my face! Ack! As you can see, though, the weather was otherwise perfect! Sebastian even got to wear his fantastic new hat. At least until the wind picked up even more and it threatened to blow off every other minute. Then it went safely in Daddy's pocket.
We walked around some more and Sebastian fell asleep, clearly unimpressed. Well, that's what you get if you don't nap all morning, kid! It was breathtakingly beautiful, though, especially the clear blue sky, pink blossoms, greenish-blue water, and the white Jefferson Memorial across the tidal basin. We stopped every couple feet, it seemed, to take pictures, but it was well worth it. I got several that could almost be postcards, they're so picturesque! Oh, but notice the fact that the steps of the Jefferson Memorial are black instead of white? Yeah, that's because they're covered with people.
We continued our walk around, and Sebastian woke up right as we crossed the bridge over the Potomac. He needed a diaper change, and since there weren't exactly any bathrooms nearby, we did it al fresco right on the bank of the Potomac! He didn't seem to mind, though it WAS a tad windy to be nekkid! Then we stopped for more pictures.
See, when I say it was windy, I'm not kidding. The wind seemed to pick up, even, as we got to the Jefferson Memorial! I love Sebastian's face in this picture. He's probably trying to figure out why in the world his cruel parents would take him out of the comfort of his stroller to stand in a wind tunnel!
We did manage to get a few good pictures, though...there was quite a line of people in front of this one branch, with the nice backdrop of the Washington Monument in the background. We waited our turn, and then tried desperately to get Sebastian to look at the camera. Unfortunately, the sun AND the wind were coming from that direction, so this is the best we could do. Not bad, though...
Once we got to the Jefferson Memorial, the boy was hungry, so Mummo, Jen, and I went off to try to find a place where I could feed him. My handy nursing cover wouldn't have done much good outside with all that wind! We finally found a corner in the museum/gift shop area underneath the memoral where the kid could eat in peace...it was pretty funny to watch the middle-aged men scatter like cockroaches with the light flipped on the minute they realized what I was about to do! HA!
After the boy was fed and happy again, Jen had to head off to go watch Final Four madness. We decided to head back as well, but just strolled leisurely back around the basin. And then we had to stop for some boy-in-tree pictures, of course. Unfortunately the sun wasn't in the best spot for pictures, but we still managed a few very cute ones, I think. Well, doesn't hurt when your subjects are a gorgeous nearly-hundred-year-old pink flowering cherry tree and a ridiculously cute exactly-eight-months-old boy. While we were taking pictures of the kiddo, apparently several complete strangers commented on the adorableness, and even snapped a few pictures of their own! Yeah, our kid is going to be in vacation albums all over the country! He's THAT cute!
The metro ride home was pretty crazy...so crowded we couldn't even sit down. And with the Beast, there wasn't too much room even to stand! Sebastian did well, though, even making friends and flirting with all sorts of people on the metro, cheering them up despite the very close quarters. We were all very tired once we finally got home, but it was well worth it. It's not every day you get to take your son to see the cherry blossoms in DC for the first time. I have a feeling we'll be back next year. What a fun tradition. We're so lucky to live so close to so many fantastic things to see and do. Sebastian is a lucky boy. And we're lucky parents to have such a well-behaved kid. He did so well all day...the only times he was annoyed were when he was wet and hungry. Understandable! And just look at those eyes...we're going to have to beat the girls off with a stick in 20 years. Yeah, I said 20....hear that, ladies?