Cherry Blossoms from DC to Japan.

Happy cherry blossom season!  Even though Leslie and I are living in different parts of the world - recently we have been able to enjoy the same things - cherry blossoms!  

Cherry blossoms in Japan.
Growing up in the DC area, I always loved this time of year.  We would rent row boats at the Tidal Basin, go to the Cherry Blossom festival, and unofficially kick off spring.  

With our move scheduled during peak time, we were not able to make it to any festivals.  They are held annually all over Japan and it made me sad that we weren’t able to get to any of them.  Then I realized, I don’t need a festival to enjoy the cherry blossoms, I just need to walk out my front door.

Here are some pictures of my street.    

It is snowing cherry blossoms!

Cherry Blossoms make everything look pretty - even the concrete stairs.

Cherry blossoms in Washington DC.

Although I have lived in DC in the past, this is the first year I walked the Tidal Basin and enjoyed the Cherry Blossom trees.  It seemed like a great thing to do as a family!  We went twice - last weekend when the "peak blooming" started and then yesterday when the trees were in full boom. There was a huge difference in the weather in just a few days!  A 30 degree swing really made the trees flower.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is very unique to DC and really highlights the beauty of this city.  The trees line the Tidal Basin and Reflecting Pool with the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial along the main path.  Everywhere you look you see green grass, beautiful, huge landmarks, and pink trees. It's really quite a scene.

Last weekend we took the metro into the city, fought through the crowds (massive amounts of people), walked the tidal basin, and visited a bunch of monuments. The blooms weren't out yet, but it was a sunny day and it was neat to see the monuments up close.   Yesterday I picked Nick up during his lunch hour and we had a picnic in the shade of the trees!   The trees were in full bloom and all the pinkish-white flowers were so beautiful. We stayed for a bit, but it was HOT, there was a ton of traffic, and people everywhere...not the best situation for a lunch "hour" picnic. Regardless, I'm glad we enjoyed this D.C. event while living here!

Visit #1

just starting to bloom

Washington Monument in the backdrop

Family photo with the Jefferson Memorial behind us

some of the few trees in bloom around the Martin Luther King Memorial

Visit #2

picnic under the trees!

Tidal Basin

Washington Monument with the Cherry Blossoms

Blooms with the Jefferson Memorial in the backdrop

she would not smile for pictures this day....

best I could get...ha.

Busy Times!

We have been busy recently!  There is a little one in this family that is seriously busy. She started crawling! Woohoo!  Go girl.  She is curious about everything, which has made me realize how much I have to baby proof.  Since we're moving this week, I decided to forgo anything but baby gates, so I just chase her around! Phew. I try to prevent her from putting her mouth on dirty floor vents, door stoppers, the potted plant, Cole's bones....you name it, I'm trying to keep it out of her mouth.

Here is a video and some pictures of Waverly, the energizer baby.

"What?  I'm just checking things out."

"Water bowl, here I come!"

"Just one more inch..."  (she couldn't reach it, so she wasn't going to stick her finger in a socket)

"There you are, Mom!"

"Let's see what's under here."

"Socks are for suckers.  I refuse to wear them."

"Mmmm.  Beer."

Not only was Waverly busy getting around the house, but she also pulled herself up on her crib bumpers last week and pulled up to standing by the railing.  Wow!  I was watching her on the monitor and then the minute she pulled up on the railing, I ran upstairs.  She was absolutely thrilled with herself and smiling ear to ear!  I couldn't help but laugh. The rest of her naptime was spent in the pack and play and we dropped the crib mattress that night.  I can't believe we already had to drop the mattress!

We were also busy, because we spent Easter in Sunset Beach, NC!  We had Easter with my family and it was great to be with them and get away for a bit.  Nick and I felt like we really needed a break from all the moving crap.  Although, it took us forever to get there. A 7 hour drive turned into 10, because we had too many long stops and we missed a major exit in NC.  Longest car ride ever...a baby and a dog will do that to you.

Once we got there we went right to bed, but in the morning I woke up in a great mood! It felt so good to be at the beach. It was chilly and windy, but we had a long walk on the beach which made Cole one happy pup!  It was our first time taking Waverly to the beach. I wanted to sit her on the sand and dig her little toes in, but it was too cold.  Instead we both had our fleeces on and she snuggled against me for a snooze.

Not sure how Waverly felt about her new shades.

we found a whole sand dollar!

Easter weekend was spent watching the cousins play, taking some nice walks, playing golf, eating some yummy food, enjoying wine and beer, learning a new board game "Ticket to Ride" (it's really fun!), and of course celebrating Easter Sunday.  We hated to leave, but luckily our drive home was only 7 hrs.  Of course we hit traffic around Stafford, VA....the 95 corridor between Fredericksburg and DC needs to be 10 lanes with HOV going both ways or they need to build another highway. It's gotta be the worst stretch of highway in the US.

breakfast at the beach!

out to dinner with Granddaddy!

barefoot cousins...socks are for suckers, remember?

playtime!

my brother, Andy, teaching Caroline how to dye the eggs

concentration

yay Easter!

Easter egg hunt

Waverly's 1st Easter!

Caroline and her mama, Shannon

Grandparents and "the girls"

see ya!

Recently we also squeezed in our first date night since Waverly was born!  We have been out with friends and family, but we haven't had a night just to ourselves.  It was really nice to get that time together. We ate dinner at Mike Isabella's Graffiato in D.C.  Mike Isabella was on the show, Top Chef, (which we love!!) so we were excited to eat at his restaurant.  We've tried to eat at a lot of Top Chef contestant's restaurants...they are usually pretty great and Graffiato was no exception!

love from Alexandria!

Our new home.

We have lived in our new home for almost two weeks.  Two weeks of unpacking, Ikea building, frame hanging, and curtain shopping.  Two weeks of wondering why I packed so many lamps and not enough towels.  But that is the case with all moves – what makes sense at one destination might not at the next. 

I am still in the process of settling in, but things are feeling more normal every day.  Some fun discoveries that I have made about the house so far:

• Never having had a gas stove before, I didn’t understand the gas man who explained the process to me (it might have had something to do with the fact that he didn't speak English and I don’t speak Japanese).  For a few days I turned the main gas line on and off every time that I used the stove.  Finally, Matt asked me what I was doing and I explained the process to him.  Needless to say, I now realize my mistake.
• Sadie does not love wood floors.  The house is a constant slip and slide for her.  That being said, she definitely gets around the place faster than anyone else.
• Not only is the kitchen purple, but it is built for a much shorter person than me.  The sink and counter tops can only be reached at a low hunch.  Luckily, when I turned 30 I invested in a heating pad.  What makes this more interesting is that the cabinets were apparently built for Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  They are impossible to reach without a step stool.  The whole thing just confuses me and makes me sore.
• I never knew how much Sadie shed.  Carpet really does hide everything, which now that I think about it, is disgusting.  We have started researching roombas. 
• All of our appliances have buttons in kanji (Japanese characters). This makes laundry fun.

With all that said, we love our new house.  We love our new neighborhood.  And we love that we are all together again.  I look forward to sharing more pictures of our place with actual furniture.  Until then, here are the before pictures.

PS. Can I just add that I am so excited for Les?!  Can't wait to see what the next move brings them and the blog:)

Home sweet (more permanent than temporary) home.  

The best part of the house - our purple kitchen.

The living room.

More of the living room.

The shower room.  More on that later...

Room 1.

Room 2.

Room 3.

Entry.