Cherry Blossoms!

Okay, this is a belated post, but that whole "life intervening" thing kept me from writing until now. For the first time ever, we went to see DC's annual Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. We took the metro train in, which was a huge highlight for the kids.


heaven forbid she should take a normal picture...

The parade was... pretty awesome! It was quite the local production, with floats, celebrities (the Grand Marshal was Alex Trebek, of Cousin Sara fame), and high school marching bands from around the country. I felt like I was in a Rose Parade. :)

We found a good spot to perch on the steps of the National Archives, right behind the bleachers, which did restrict our view somewhat. I felt like I got to see the backside of the parade as it passed.

Hm, what a lovely back of a float!

Miriam probably had the best view from her perch.

Mr. Pickles made the mistake of giving her the camera; she took -- and I kid you not -- 65 pictures of the back of Katie's head.

But our chosen spot ended up being a good thing, because all the good action happened right there; all the dancers would stop right there to perform for the benefit of the TV cameras.

See? See the ballerinas? Those tiny white specks of fluff in the middle?

Joseph was not impressed by the backs of heads of thousands of people, so he and I hung out on a patch of grass under a tree while he ripped up tulips and gave half-chewed petals to a baby girl in a stroller. *tsk* Already hitting on the women.

After the parade, which lasted about 2 hrs., we ate our picnic lunch and headed to the Japanese Street Festival. There was so much to see! Unfortunately, there were also mobs of the unwashed masses, so it was hard to look at all the booths. The girls spent some time at the kids' craft booth -- they practiced using chopsticks, and made a koi windsock. We also got to meet a princess (Miss Hawaii). :)

Miriam was disappointed she wasn't wearing the princess dress she had on the float.

We spent some time at one of the stages positioned around the festival, watching one group perform and interesting Japanese musical sleight-of-hand... thingy.... I don't know quite how to describe it, but a lady would sing a song to musical accompaniment, and manipulate a set of reeds or bamboo into different shapes. It was really fascinating, and the lady was so cute! The crowd really got into it. I wanted to post the video we took, but it's too small to see well. I'm sure the girls would be happy to sing her song for you though (if only we knew what she was singing about!)...

We never actually made it to see the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin, but we had to choose one thing or another. We were beat by the end of the day (not to mention sunburned)! We're so glad we went -- it's neat seeing how enthusiastic people still are about these kinds of local traditions. American Culture is not dead!