cherry blossom fail

DC is famous for its fabulous cherry blossoms right?  I have had people telling me since we moved here, "just wait until spring and the blossoms come out". I have been so excited to go downtown and see them, to walk around Tidal Basin and take family pictures on a beautiful day with all the lovely blossoms. I had it all planned out.

The week my family was here the blossoms weren't quite out yet, but they were getting there and I thought it was only a matter of days. That weekend was the beginning of the Cherry Blossom Festival. So I decided that on Sunday we would go downtown before General Conference started. We got down there before 9 am. I had planned out exactly where to park so we could just get out and take a quick jaunt over to see the blossoms and be back to the car in less than an hour.

As we got downtown we realized that the Cherry Blossom Festival 5K and ten mile runs were going on. There were people everywhere and the street I wanted to park on was closed because the race was being run right down the middle of it. That's ok, I thought. I know where lots of other free parking is. We won't be as close, but we can walk. But because it was so crowded from the race there was no parking to be found anywhere, free or metered.

We drove for what felt like hours trying to find something and finally we decided to call it quits and go home. As we started to turn down the street that would take us to the freeway, we realized that it was closed and we would have to turn around and find another way to get home. Miraculously, we found a parking spot as we were trying to figure out where to go. It was so far away from the blossoms, but we decided to not miss this chance to see them. Poor Steve is a saint for putting up with the whims of his crazy wife.

We ended up not having a stroller in our car, not bringing the diaper bag and being woefully underdressed for how chilly it was outside. But we braved it and half walked, half ran the many blocks to where we could best see the blossoms. I am not usually so unprepared, but like I said, I thought this was going to be a quick thing where we would be out of the car for maybe 20 minutes or so.

When we got there we realized that the blossoms weren't really even out yet. The trees were pink, yes, and it was pretty, but nothing compared to what it would be in a few days. We snapped a few pictures, but it was freezing and windy and wasn't worth walking around and becoming more miserable than we already were. And poor James. The cold wind just got his nose leaking like a faucet and he started to shiver. So after I had a minor breakdown and felt like I was the worst mom in the whole wide world, we headed back to the car.

Needless to say, the morning did not go as planned and was a bit of a disappointment. Live and learn. Good thing we will be out here for at least two more springs and two more cherry blossom festivals. I am determined that our experience will be better next year. And now some pics...

the only picture we got of all three of us. and you can't even see any blossoms, or even a hint of blossoms. it might as well be the middle of winter.

see, they want to come out. give them a day or two and i bet they'll be stunning

and these aren't even cherry blossoms. magnolia blossoms bloom a little earlier i guess.

birds in the sky