The beach in April? Okay.

Thursday was the last day of the heat wave so on a whim I decided to take the girls to the beach. Amelia was so excited when I picked her up from school and had the car loaded with beach gear and announced we were heading straight to the beach. "Now?! Today?!" We had a lovely afternoon and enjoyed the lack of crowds.

We got to finish up the day with a yummy birthday celebration for Courtney at The Burger Joint with lots of friends.


(Sandy Point State Park on the Chesapeake Bay)

Cooling off in April

Similar to last year, we had another April heat wave. Temperatures reached the 90s last week so we decided it was time to break out the backyard pools and have some friends over.







Popsicle break:

Farm Hazards

Earlier in the week we spent a morning at Oxon Hill Farm. Elsa loved spotting all the animals and Amelia kept herself busy building fairy houses. Both the girls loved all the grass to run around in. I was in love with all the spring colors.


This picture was taken moments before Elsa stuck her fingers in the fence and the chicken pecked her. Her finger was actually bleeding quite a lot. She cried for a few minutes and then turned right back to the chicken and said "hi."

Easter

We made up for the tidal basin crowds we experienced on Saturday by heading to the National Arboretum on Sunday and had a much more peaceful experience. There were lots of blossoming trees and flowering bushes and spring greens everywhere. We enjoyed a picnic and a few different walks around the grounds.














Elsa smells the flowers.


Amelia collected a LOT of flower petals and brought them all home.

We did an Easter egg hunt in the backyard in the afternoon and topped off the day with a huge Easter dinner.

Adventures involving blossoms...

Last Saturday was the only time for us to see the blossoms while they were still at their peak. Unfortunately, it was probably the busiest day of the cherry blossom festival. We walked over to the less crowded Haupt Gardens to check on our magnolia trees. Sadly, they were pretty much done blooming, but it was still pretty. We made an attempt at the tidal basin, but walking around it was virtually impossible. So we caught a glimpse and headed out. It made me extra glad that I had my early morning blossom experience earlier in the week.



The many faces of Elsa:














The girls had so much fun chasing these ducks:








The people, I mean cherry blossoms:





There were so many people with bikes trying to get around. That seemed like a disaster.


A shot without people!


Decorating Easter eggs in the afternoon.

Saturday night we enjoyed the fireworks that were part of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Last year we watched them from Hains Point close to the launch spot, but I did not want to head back into the traffic since it was so bad during the day. We decided to try out Gravelly Point and it was the perfect place. The fireworks show was awesome.