and we're back (again)

Um, yeah. So where have I been? In Washington, D.C. would be the answer here. Jess and I loaded up the babies and headed across the country for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. If you've been around here long, you know that we've hit up this festival a few times (when we lived in North Carolina - here and here), so this was exciting, going back for the first time since leaving. We have a special love for these blossoms, not just for their beauty, but because they hail from our Japan. Such a large piece of my heart is still in Japan. But when we arrived, we discovered, wait for it, NO BLOSSOMS. None. It was way too cold. The blossoms were emphatically on strike against the freeze.

But no matter. We traversed the length of the National Mall, plus some, at least ten times, with two babies (and one stroller mind you). We were supposed to go home on Tuesday, but at the last minute, extended through Saturday. Because surely, the blossoms would be out by then?! Not really. A few trees popped, but it was not the sakura wonderland we were waiting for.

That said, we kept ourselves busy and had the best time. The girls were champion travelers, and I was so very grateful for my little warriors, eating and sleeping on the go, with few complaints. They really did extraordinary.

We usually try to do one new thing each time we go to Washington, D.C. This time? Um yeah. We did that and so much more. Here's a list of the things we either did, visited, and/or participated in:

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial (several times, Annabelle loved Lincoln)

Jefferson Memorial

World War Memorial (essentially WWI Memorial, and one of my favorites)

WWII Memorial 

Veterans Memorial

Korean Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial

FDR Memorial

Womens War Memorial

Einstein Monument

George Mason Monument

Union Station

The Supreme Court

The Capital

The White House

Constitution Garden

Memorial to the Declaration of Independence Signers (really, this one is so easily overlooked, and so beautiful in its simplicity and importance)

Navy Memorial

Marine Memorial (Iwo Jima)

Dutch Bell Tower

Arlington (a few times, once to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)

Old Post Office Tower

Air Force Memorial

National Zoo
Smithsonian Castle

Gettysburg

Mount Vernon

The Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (these two are both Asian art museums and were INCREDIBLE)

LDS Washington, DC Temple

Postal Museum

Air & Space Museum

National Air & Space Museum (in Virginia, now housing the original Discovery space shuttle)

Natural History Museum

Cherry Blossom Festival (including the Kite Flying Festival)

The photos here are by my sister, who accompanied us on the first (original) leg of the trip. I was so grateful to have her there not only because she's the world's best nanny, but also because I got awesome pictures of us! These are all in Gettysburg, perhaps the highlight of our trip. We adored the town and loved the history seeped fields. We could've spent days more there.

In the days to come, I will be posting more. The photos are many, and I haven't even fired up Jess' memory cards yet. But I'm so grateful for these photos, our little family. They're just beautiful and I love them. We had a long and lovely trip, and I'm so happy to have photos to remember the days by.

Find DC Photography here.