magnolias!

We made our annual visit to see the blooming magnolia trees at the Haupt Garden on Monday night. Although it had been a pretty warm day, it turned out to be a windy and chilly evening. The kids didn't seem to mind and ran around nonstop as usual.

The first thing Oliver did was climb into the empty fountains. It made our evening much more enjoyable to not have any water features to worry about with that kid.

The girls were quick to turn this into a stage and perform a few shows.

It's fun to look back at previous years and see how things have changed. Last year Amelia was more than happy to come up with poses for the camera and Elsa refused. This year was the opposite. Amelia had little interest (minus the one photo above) and Elsa was requesting her photo be taken at various places around the garden.

Some of my favorite pictures from last year's visit:

magnolias.

Our favorite spot for viewing blossoming magnolia trees is the Haupt Gardens behind the Smithsonian castle. And we almost missed them this year! We had a dinner picnic there one evening last week and were so surprised that they were already beyond their peak. Spring arrived so quickly. We're trying to get out and enjoy it as much as possible. (So be prepared for a lot of posts involving blossoms.)

The trees were still lovely. After our picnic we enjoyed the grassy area on the mall and then tried to visit the Hirshhorn Sculpture Gardens but they were just closing.

If the photos seem a little Amelia-heavy, it's because she's the only one who likes to pose for the camera. Elsa and Oliver are usually just a blur in my pictures.

Enjoying our picnic courtesy of Jimmy Johns.

Ben had to keep directing Oliver away from the water features. He was not happy.

Oliver immediately found a ball that someone had left behind.

We are constantly trying to keep Oliver from walking into the street. It's exhausting.