Around this time of year in Washington, DC we are able to
see some GORGEOUS cherry blossoms. They have an entire festival planned around
it. Years ago Japan gave the United States cherry trees and each year there is
a celebration of the international relationship between the two countries.
It is beautiful to see.
Last year we went several times to
enjoy the beauty of nature during Springtime. With it being cold so long this
year (snowing several times in the last couple weeks) the blossoms are not
quite in full bloom yet. But Heather and one of her daughters came so we went
to enjoy the activities.
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| Lucky reading with Pompom |
Yesterday there was a large festival on the waters of the
Potomac. We went to just explore and were pleasantly surprised at how much fun
it was. There was a “Food Truck Rally” where you could try all kinds of foods.
There were free dragon boat rides on the Potomac and there were bands you could
listen o while doing crafts.
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| My favorite toy |
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| Finding something to do while Lady and Heather shop |
The craft part was the most fun. All of them were free and
promoted the relationship between Japan and the United States. We made Japanese
Fishing Boat Flags, small wooden boats, fish wind socks, dragon socks, and
lantern fish. It was all so creative.
We had fun making our activities and watching everyone else
do it too. Volunteers from the DC area’s university’s Japanese language classes
helped with all the projects—again all to promote the relationship between the
two countries.
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| My sock dragon forming for my Lucky Dragon |
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| Her fish lantern and my dragon sock |
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| Lucky Dragon meets the sock dragon... |
In the evening we went back for the Floating Lantern
lighting and the fireworks. Now, having lived in Asia we were expecting the
thousands of floating lanterns being released into the air (think Tangled, but
real) or the thousands of floating lanterns released onto the water in Japan. Sadly,
after waiting and waiting we realized the floating lanterns they were “illuminating”
were the lights along the docks of the Potomac. I guess technically they were
floating—on a dock! We had a good
laugh about that.
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| Waiting in the cold for the fireworks |
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| Floating Koi fish |
The firework show made up for the wait though. There were
quite a few fireworks and that was a surprise too. All in all, we enjoyed the
warm—er weather and being with family. We needed to have a good time. Tau'aho was mezmormized by the fireworks. He didn't blink the whole time wanting to see them all!
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| Lucky loves his first firework show |
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| All I could think is: This is going to be a nightmare to leave...hahaha |
