National Cherry Blossom Festival - A Bucket List Item for Anyone!

Now I understand what all the talk is about when it comes to D.C. and cherry blossoms in the springtime.  I've truly never seen more beautiful blooms/foliage in all of my life. 


Tidal Basin on the National Mall-National Cherry Blossom Festival
NOTE: This picture was not taken by me personally, explanation why is to follow...

When they first started talking about the world renowned National Cherry Blossom Festival it in the news here though, I didn't understand why they celebrated it for approximately a month.  When I think of a festival, I think of a limited time only type deal--a weekend to one week, max.  Definitely not a month long though.  So for the average West Coaster/Arizonan (i.e. myself), the reason behind this month long duration is because Mother Nature is a fickle woman and not even the politicians in D.C. can dictate when the blossoms will show up each year.  You like that explanation?!  Seriously proud of it! ;0P  Also for the not-so-well-versed-on-cherry-blossomers, the National Cherry Blossom Festival takes place each year to commemorate the gift of some 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo to our nation’s capital in 1912.  I did not know that tid-bit when I moved here, so I thought I'd share.

So how was the festival you ask?!  Well, I don't know. *sigh*  The blossoms showed up abnormally late this year, so unfortunately we Olsen's took a trip down to the National Mall too early and didn't make it back before the blossoms disappeared (hence it not being a Katy-taken picture above).  In our defense though, we went to see the blossoms on April 6th, what would seem a conservative date, if not a little bit late, for a Festival that "runs" from March 20th - April 14th.  But, since we had a colder than usual spring, the peak bloom didn't happen until April 8th-10th (conflicting info on exact date).  So our jaunt down to the Mall was premature by days. ;0/  BTW, the Peak Bloom Date is the day on which 70 percent of the blossoms of the Yoshino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin are open. I believe they were 50%-60% open when we were there. 

I was so bummed about our "miss" on this excursion that I took only ONE photo, and it was just of Nate and Olivia...no pictures of skulking Lauren in her red Radio wagon.  In her defense though, Lauren was jacket less and freezing.  We forgot to grab her jacket, Nate's jacket, nor my jacket.  So we had nothing to offer her.  Also, our diaper bag snack supplies were severely depleted at the playground the day before, so I couldn't even offer her some snacks to cheer her up.  So with that third strike against us (#1 being blossoms not full out yet, #2 being jacket less), I convinced Nate that we needed to call it a day (it was like 9am!).  We'll just say that Nate was "not-happy" with the situation, but complied with leaving.

Olivia was laughing, so pardon the double chin

Needless to say my first National Cherry Blossom Festival was a fail :(  BUT, I'll be all over it next year!  Even if that means the girls and I do a daily run up to the National Mall to get a real live look at how the blossoms are blooming.  I know what you're thinking--Overkill right?  No way.  Not after seeing some of the pictures that friends took when they went at the right time.  Unreal.  Truly.  I found the following picture online, which seemed to capture what I love most about the older trees out here--when they canopy a street/walkway.  Gorgeous.  I will make it to the 2014 Festival.  Even if I have to go by myself!

Petals begin to pile up on the ground so much so, that it begins to look like fallen snow.