Spring!!!

Spring has sprung and I've been spotting quite a few blossoms on cherry trees lately. This is a blossom tree in our backyard and when it blooms its absolutely breathtaking. I wish they can last all year round. The older I get the more I ache for warmer weather and when March comes around my soul becomes a bit brighter knowing that spring is coming and it's finally here. Well, officially it's here but the temps have become cold again and hopefully spring will stay when Easter comes on the 31st. I love this time of year and as you can see so does Noah. This was taken in 2022 and although I love how time and season change but I hate how fast my kid is growing up!

At The Tail End of Spring....

 

Here we are at the tail end of spring and soon summer will be here. As I was cleaning up my phone and  scrolling through old photos I realized these spring pics never made it to the blog. I really have to be motivated to hop on here to load and edit photos but lately they have all been making it to the gram. I know eventually blogging will become obsolete for me but as much as I want to give up I somehow find myself back on this computer typing my fingers away until my wrists and back start hurting. I love to write but I feel that my aching body permits me to do that these days. That's why I love Instagram, it's so easy to do. You post photos with a caption and....voila! You're done! IG is like a mini blog/journal for me and since 90% of my friends and family don't write letters anymore I figure this is the easiest way they can "keep up" with me. Social media, it truly is the way of the world these days! This blog has meant so much to me throughout the years and as I look back into the archives it blows my mind how diligent I was in writing on here. And I mean really writing. Not just writing boring stuff (at least I hope not) but raw stuff. Maybe someday my blog will go back to the old school days but for now this is it. Little snippets of my life as my kids not only grow older, but get taller than me too! 

The Bridal Path & Cherry Blooms In Central Park!

Ahhhh! Here we are on the last day of April and since the rain we've had for the past three days have caused the blooms to fall off the trees wanted to document my day in the city from last Friday while the blossoms were still in bloom! 

The cherry blossoms in the bridal path near the Jackie Onassis reservoir have become my favorite! I can't believe this is my first time actually coming here when they are in full bloom! I am so glad I took a day to come to the city by myself to take in all their beauty! And the people! So many people on the grass having picnics, taking a nap. mommas playing with their kids, or just resting from a bike ride. Oh how I love this city! This is something I would do on my lunch break if I worked here and every week on a warm spring/summer day if I lived here. So beautiful and serene. Those blooms with the San Remo apartment building in the background is epic! I sure do love this city. Even the sounds of the city are soothing when you're just chilling on the lawn. Wouldn't bother me one bit! 

A Boy Under The Kwanza Cherry Tree.

Ahhhh! The end of the Kwanza cherry blooms is near but luckily I captured this tree in full bloom last weekend. I just love spring here in the east and can't get enough of these beauties. I love all the flowers that bloom in the spring and these are my favorite! This tree is quite a few blocks from my hood and I have captured the kids under the tree in the past. Noah was my "model" this year and he really appreciates nature and the fact that it was earth day was perfect to capture these moments of "a boy sitting under the Kwanza tree."

Blossoms in D.C.!

 

Blossoms in D.C. this year sure did bloom quick and we caught the tail end of them earlier this month. I'm sure they are all gone by now but oh how beautiful spring looks in D.C. with all the cherry blossoms in bloom. I captured a few photos and did the best I can in capturing all it's beauty. It was the weekend so there were way too many people in some of my photos but that doesn't really bother me none. It was a gorgeous sunny day and everyone deserves to take pictures while photobombing others! LOL! 

Spring & Chelsea.

Oh how I love spring where I live. So many trees. So many blossoms and I cannot get enough of them lately. Luckily I have a daughter who still likes for me to have her picture taken. Last week after school we passed by an assisted living development and it was surrounded by flower trees. I asked chelsea if I could take some pictures of her with it. She obliged and I snapped away. It didn't matter if there were bees swarming around. I figure, if I don't bother them then they won't bother me. I didn't get stung and I captured these two beauties in all their glory. 

Happy May Day!

I can't believe May is here and that there are less than seven weeks of school left! Can you give me a woot woot! As much as I don't want my kids to get older I look forward to this pandemic zoom school year being over. I love that my kids are home learning but at the same time they need to go back.....FULL TIME. Schools here in Jersey barely opened up but this hybrid didn't work for us and it just seems simpler to finish the school year off at home. So they are and now we all can't wait to finish! The weather has been absolutely perfect lately and the cherry trees are in full bloom. Not much longer until they are no longer in bloom but we have been taking advantage of capturing moments with them in pictures! So here are a few from our neighborhood and hope that this month brings so much health and beauty to your soul! 

Spring At Washington Square Park!

Once again I have never seen the blossoms at Washington square park in the spring and after seeing pictures of them on New York Instagram pages we had to join in on the action. And they were amazing! It is such a quaint park and every single time we come here I am reminded of the movie August Rush. It is one of our all time favorite movies and Noah always brings it up every time we come and walk through here. We weren't here for too long but to just take a few photos and listen to a jazz band. It was pretty cool and if you follow me on IG you would have seen them on my instastory. It was such a gorgeous day and I'm sure after the rain we've had lately are pretty much washed away but coming to Washington square park on any day of any season is the best! 

Blossoms At Central Park!

Well, we made it! We finally made it to Central Park to see the blossoms before they looked bare. In the past years we've always managed to come when they are somewhat bare but this time they were in bloom in all their glory. We spent about an hour walking around the park. Also excited that the row boats are back! We will do that next time Jon is with us! We watched some salsa dancing near the Bethesda fountain, saw dancers dancing around tourists, and as usual...saw a lot of troubadours singing and playing their instrument all around the park. It was lively. It was great. It was energetic. It was thriving. I've said this before and I'll say it again...New York is not dead. I took so many photos and these pictures don't do it justice. You literally have to plan a trip here in the spring to witness spring in all her glory. And she was blooming with happiness on this day! 

May Flowers & Blossoms!

Yesterday I woke up to the sun shining, birds chirping, and the sound of a lawnmower. It felt as if it had been years since I heard those sounds, and when I heard them my heart fluttered, and brought so much joy to my ears. I went outside, and spring was truly a sight to see! Over the weekend we saw spring in all her glory, and was lucky enough to capture some moments of her showing off with tulips, and blossoms. It reminded me of the time Noah and I first explored blossoms together. 

The National Portrait Gallery In D.C.

One thing about living in New Jersey is the convenience of living near different cities, and when I heard the temperatures were going to be as high as 80 degrees last Saturday there was no way that we were going to stay indoors. Since the girls and I spent the eveving in New York on Friday we decided to go to D.C. as a family and check out the cherry blossoms, and the Obama portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. 

Cherry Blossoms In Washington D.C!

Last year when we went to D.C, over general conference weekend to see the cherry blossoms I was a bit disappointed because they had already fallen onto the ground. Weather in this part of the country during spring is crazy/different, and we can never tell if the blossoms are in full bloom the end of March or beginning of April. Well, luckily we went last weekend to see the blossoms because after all the rain we just had today those blossoms are probably all over the ground.

Spring In Washington D.C.!

East coast weather has been crazy with temperatures going up, and down, and as much as I was hoping to capture some amazing shots of cherry blossoms along the tidal basin this past weekend, it was a no go. Last week temps in D.C. were in the 70's with mild wind which made it a perfect time to go, but because we went over the weekend the weather was cold, and windy. It was so windy that it knocked off most of the cherry blossoms onto the ground all along the national mall. Luckily a sister at the visitors center told us about a residential area where they have an umbrella of cherry blossom trees. Most of the trees had some blossoms left so I didn't get too many great shots, but I did manage to spot a few trees with blossoms left, and just look how beautiful they are! Sure do love that cherry color!

Cherry Blossoms in D.C.

I will always remember the first time we visited D.C. to attend the temple. We had just moved to North Carolina, and had been itching for a trip to D.C. It so happened that our very first visit turned out to be the week the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Mind you I had no idea what cherry blossoms were until this kind senior missionary from the temple told us about it. Apparently every year in the spring cherry trees are planted around the tidal basin  as a peace offering from the japanese. We were pretty excited to see these cherry blossoms so before we headed back home to North Carolina we decided to drive to the district to see these blossoms. Unfortunately we didn't have our camera (or iPhones) to capture any photos to document that moment of seeing the blossoms, but we enjoyed the drive around the tidal basin. Everything was bathed in pink, and white, and looked like popcorn. I'd never seen flowers like that before. I will always be grateful for that senior missionary telling us about the blossoms on that weekend. They truly were beautiful to see. 

I'm not one to follow the weather closely, but this year I decided to follow up on when the blossoms should be in full bloom. In our previous years we've always come at a time where the petals have already fallen to the ground due to the rain, or just barely budding. Last Monday when we came to visit the air and space museum we drove around the tidal basin, and they were just barely budding. We knew for sure that because of the festival being next week that they should be in full bloom. 

And they were. 

This year we were fortunate enough to come on the weekend of the Cherry blossom festival where most of the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. There were some that were still budding, but most of them were in bloom, and looked so beautiful in color. Since it was the weekend of the festival all we did was take pictures. 

And I never grew weary of taking pictures of my family...especially when we were surrounded by beautiful blossoms (and i hope you don't too!)

And in honor of everyone taking selfies around the blossoms, here's one last photo of my dear husband taking a selfie. I think he was being goofy, and mocking everyone else at the same time!

Hope your weekend was wonderful, and happy Monday! 

for the love of cherry blossoms.

The first time I fell in love with cherry blossoms was when we experienced visiting Washington D.C. for the first time seven years ago. We were living in North Carolina at the time, and as we were leaving the temple we asked a member outside how to get to the bookstore (this was before GPS.) He gave us directions, and couldn't help to notice we had Utah plates. He then asked us if we lived here, or if we were visiting, and we mentioned to him that we had just moved to North Carolina.