cherry blossom festival!

We've been trying to get to a few of the most popular sites before we leave DC, it just seems right, even though they are generally some of the most crowded things, overall, we haven't regretted anything we've tried to do, though parking can sometimes feel prohibitive! we probably didn't time our trip to the cherry blossoms ideally for just that reason, it was the last day of the festival, and the crowd reflected that! lucky for us, we found a parking space that was only about a half-mile from the tidal basin (it just took us 45 minutes of very slow driving to find it!).
I took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully they can convey some of the beauty :) the smell was actually amazing too, despite the crowd... and yes, there really were cherry blossoms, and beech trees, and forsythia, and hundreds of other pretty spring flowers everywhere, but I did feel it was special to walk the tidal basin anyways! there's just a different atmosphere there... so, pictures:

note the people under the trees... there were tens of thousands at least! and no guardrails... I've never been so tempted in my life to 'accidentally' bump into a total stranger!

gorgeous blossoms!

and gorgeous girls :)

classic Washington Monument

this might be the only picture I got of Malachi, he doesn't like crowds, so he spent most of the time in the stroller... but he's a sucker for a cool bridge! and let me tell you, it's a tight fit to push a double stroller over a crowded bridge when there's no specified directionality! fortunately, everyone's there to enjoy the day, not rushing late to work or anything like that :)

the sun may have been too bright for that photo, but I love it anyways! and I like that she will see it and remember living in the nation's capitol, and recognizing how many amazing things happen(ed) here.

my 'shot' at a panorama

and of course, this smiley boy!