We've had crazy awesome weather here this year. A cold day here and there, rare bouts of rain, and a very early spring (that groundhog had no idea what he was talking about!). That's my kind of winter!
An early spring meant early cherry blossoms, probably 2 weeks earlier than we've ever seen them in the last 5 years. Almost without thinking I planned on going again this year like we always have, and I waited for a solid forecast for good weather to join the crowds. That ended up coming on an afternoon, so I figured I'd wait until Lila woke up from her nap and then head out to the District. Our evening went as follows...
3:30pm. Lila woke up.
4:00pm. Out the door. Driving into DC during peak blossoming at 4pm could be deemed less than brilliant. Especially with 2 toddlers, an almost-7-months-pregnant belly, and no husband since he was out of town for work. And let's not forget rush-hour traffic. :)
5:15pm. In the heart of the cherry blossom festival. I was confident of where I could find parking, but after driving around for nearly an hour, I started to get frustrated, tried to get creative with finding a new parking area, and conveniently ended up getting spit right onto the freeway going north (directly away from the blossoms, and further into the city). Noooooo! I took the first exit, sending myself right onto Constitution Ave with bumper to bumper traffic leaving DC. Awesome. The two little people in the back were hating life strapped in their carseats and letting me know it at max volume. I weighed my options of trying to get back to the blossom hub, or coming up with another way to get there, and opted to leave the city, park across the Potomac in VA at a place called Gravelly Point, and run in from there.
6:00pm. Park at Gravelly Point, 2 hours after leaving the house. I had worn running clothes just in case something like that happened, but when I got out of the car and eyed the distance, I realized I had seriously underestimated how far it was. Not being one to bail on a plan once I've made one, though, I put the kids in the jogging stroller, and started running on the trail. Oh wow...I must have been a sight. I googled the trail when I got home, and found out it was actually about 2 miles to the Jefferson and 2 miles back. I was DYING pushing 2 kids and carrying a baby in utero. Pretty much the worst idea ever. I think I stopped every 2 minutes to walk.
6:45pm. At the Jefferson, finally, after crossing the-bridge-that-would-not-end. Saddest 2-mile run of my life. I had about 30 mins to let the kids run rampant on the grass by the monument, blow bubbles to make them happy, try to take photos and fail miserably, refuel with snacks, let a stranger watch my children while I used a porta-potty, and head back before the sun started setting. I felt lucky just to have not lost them both—these two see open spaces and everything turns into a version of the game run-away-from-mommy-as-fast-as-you-can. I'm sure I looked completely crazy running after two insanely fast toddlers, pushing an empty double stroller with a camera around my neck that was bumping my baby belly with every step, and climbing under chains to catch my kids before they were loose in the parking lot. Motherhood at its best!
7:15pm. Leave the Jefferson. That's right, we didn't even walk around the Tidal Basin. At all. Cherry blossom cardinal sin. I tried my best to "run" (read: a slow, slow, slow jog) the full 2 miles back to our car even though it felt like my hips were going to dislocate themselves at any given moment, and the kids were good at adding drama by either trying to climb out or screaming like not getting out was the end of the world.
7:45pm. Made it back, loaded up the car, headed straight to a girl friend's birthday party, stayed for the shortest time I've ever stayed at a party but probably much longer than I should have with the babes in tow, then started to head home only to remember we were out of key grocery items that said babes would be less than pleased to not have the next day.
8:45pm. Braved the grocery store. The kids were WIRED.
9:20pm. By the time we got home, I decided we should count all the goldfish crackers, veggie fries, sliced apples, teddy grahams, and water we'd survived on as dinner, and I still didn't get out of the kids' room with the lights out until 10pm.
Jon called from out of town a few minutes later, and after I recounted my genius day trip idea, he told me just hearing about my day exhausted him. I clearly make better decisions when he's here—good thing he doesn't have to travel much!! I had to document this in order to remember not to repeat all my bad ideas next year. The blossoms were so pretty and pink this year, but I dare say they may have been better experienced from afar in our case. Or I could have just waited 18 hours and gone in the morning like someone with better judgment would have done.
But who needs good judgment when you can get a good story out of poor judgment???
