cherry blossoms

I absolutely love Spring in DC, mostly because of the cherry blossoms that bloom. My drive into work takes me by the Tidal Basin each morning, and several of these shots were snapped as I was commuting in. The blossoms turn from a bright white flower to a darker pink in the span of a week. This year was the 100th celebration of the gift of the cherry blossoms from the Japanese, but the blossoms actually peaked right as the festival was starting, about a week and a half early. 

cherry blossoms at sunset

Jefferson Memorial peeking through the blossoms

Through Richard's rotation at the Washington Hospital Center, he has met several British military medical students who are just charming with their accents and stories of world travel. One of them even played rugby against Prince Harry! We took them on a Capitol tour recently and then onto the Speaker's Balcony so they could take some quintessential American pictures. We would love to go visit them in Great Britain one day!

Ian, Graeme, Richard and Grant

Even though it rained most of last Saturday, Richard and I ventured down to the Tidal Basin to see the blossoms as they were waning. The rain had sadly knocked off a good portion of the flowers, but the misty twilight made for some pretty pictures.