When we found out that we were moving to Virginia, one of the first things that popped into my mind was getting to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. I had been there before as a child, but my adult self was eager to go back with my camera in hand. (Don’t you just love my throwback photos? I’m guessing they’re circa 1989. Gotta love our jellies!)

It’s pretty exciting pulling up the National Park Service website and checking their bloom watch to see when the cherry blossoms are expected to be at their peak. I was hoping it would coincide with my sister’s visit, but we didn’t have such luck. So, I was left debating on when to head up and brave the crowds.

The day after Easter (and in the middle of the cherry blossom festival) we were invited to the White House to participate in the Easter egg roll. But, after driving up in the rain, trying to find parking, and walking several blocks, Amelia wasn’t eager to wait in line for an hour to get in. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will be invited back another year and hopefully the kids will enjoy it more when they are a little older. With that being said, we had finally made it to D.C.  So we decided to walk around in search of the cherry blossoms. I found this patch of them right by the National Monument and was able to sneak in a quick family picture before the children reached their expiration point and we had to head back.

A few days later, I was invited by another military spouse to go back and photograph the cherry blossoms at sunrise. I didn’t enjoy the waking up early part (because let’s be honest, I get enough of that with Amelia) but once we were there, I had a blast. There were a ton of other photographers all filing in when we got there (my inner geek started to get slightly excited). So we simply followed the crowd and were able to get a good spot on the Tidal Basin with the sunrise coming up behind the Jefferson Memorial.

It was so nice getting to walk around all morning with others that loved photography and not being rushed. Being kid free was pretty awesome too.

We walked around the entire Tidal Basin until venturing off in search of the Lincoln memorial and reflecting pool. On our walk we came across some gorgeous tulip patches. There were three of us in the group and it was pretty comical to look around and see all of us laying on our bellies photographing the tulips. We probably spent 20 minutes there. All I kept thinking was, Logan would be having a heart attack right about now! haha

We missed the right time for photographing the reflecting pool, but the Lincoln memorial was fun to see and even more exciting that we beat two huge busloads of kids. Score!

I may have taken way too many photos (special thanks to my sister for helping me narrow them down-otherwise you guys would have seen quite a few pictures of the National Monument!) but the time spent on doing something that I love was invaluable and so very much needed! Extra bonus that I got to photograph something as renown as the cherry blossoms and the crowds weren’t bad. Granted, we went early and on a weekday. I may not have gotten my “frame worthy” family portrait this year, but the good news is that the cherry blossoms will bloom again next year! If you’ve never been to D.C. and seen the cherry blossoms, you should definitely add it to your bucket list. Not to mention all the other many things that there are to see there. I’m already looking forward to our next exploration into D.C.!