Cherry Blossom Festival

National Cherry Blossom Festival

April 12, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends, Local Gems, Recreational Fun, Seasonal Celebrations, Videos Tags: Cherry Blossom Festival, cherry blossoms, Dad, dan, DC, Elisa, family, festival, Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr., Mio, Mirei, misono, MLK Memorial, Mom, National Cherry Blossom Festival, parents, sakura, Sakura Matsuri, Ted, tidal basin, Washington DC

It’s DC’s most beautiful time of the year… sakura season! â€ On Saturday, we went out to DC with my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law to go see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in DC. I’ve gone every year since returning to DC, but last year we went a little late and missed the peak bloom. We had better luck this year, though, and were able to catch the blossoms in full bloom, just in time for the main Sakura Matsuri weekend event during the National Cherry Blossom Festival! Mio was so excited to go from the moment we told her we were going the night before, and she kept exclaiming, “We’re going to see the cherry blossoms! My name means ‘beautiful cherry blossom!’ We’re going to go see them!!!'” I love that she loves the meaning of her name, and can get so excited about the flower that is her namesake.

Riding the Metro to DC — Mio on the Metro to DC

Mio eating onigiri — Mio eating some onigiri that my mom made for the outing

Family outing to see the cherry blossoms!

Blossoms around the Washington Monument — Blossoms surrounding the Washington Monument

Mirei and Mio in the stroller — Mirei and Mio riding in the stroller

My parents with the cherry blossoms — My parents under the sakura

Me with the girls and the sakura — Love our girls â™¥

Mio giggling her way through the cherry blossoms:

Mio & Mirei at the MLK Memorial — Arriving at the MLK Memorial

Family photo, photobombed by Ted — Yet another family photo ruined by a photobombing by Ted

Ted & Elisa at the Tidal BAsin — Ted & Elisa at the Tidal Basin

cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin — photo by my Dad

Catching the end of the parade — Catching the end of the cherry blossom parade

After seeing the cherry blossoms, we had lunch in DC together (we wanted to eat at Daikaya, but we ended up going to Full Kee instead because the wait was two hours!), and then took the Metro back home in the afternoon. DC was so crowded and we got a lot of walking in, so we were exhausted! All of us took a nap when we got home. We’re so glad we could see the cherry blossoms together with almost the whole family this year!

Family Day at the Cherry Blossom Festival

March 27, 2014 By Misono in Arts and Culture, Creative Corner, Local Gems, Recreational Fun, Seasonal Celebrations Tags: Cherry Blossom Festival, crafting, crafts, DC, Family Day, Japan, Japanese, metro, National Cherry Blossom Festival, NCBF, taiko, Washington DC

The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC kicked off on March 20 and in its first weekend, they held an event called Family Day at the National Building Museum, where children of all ages could participate in making crafts inspired by Japanese culture and also enjoy performances such as taiko and dance on the stage. We went on Sunday afternoon and Mio really enjoyed all the creative activities that she got to participate in (with some help from us, of course).

NCBF Family Day at the National Building Museum

They had some characters that you could take pictures with, and we thought for sure Mio’d like seeing Cookie Monster, but to our surprise, she burst into tears! This is what I’ve come to call “theÂ Santa Claus effect”… (Strange, because she loved meeting the Sesame Street characters at Dan’s company picnic last year.)

Mio didn't want to meet Cookie Monster. — Mio didn’t want to meet cookie monster.

Trying to salvage the photo opportunity... — Trying to salvage the photo opportunity…

Our first craft activity was to decorate cherry blossom trees with glitter and popcorn.

Mio placing the popcorn "blossoms" on the tree. — Mio placing the popcorn “blossoms” on the tree.

Our collaborative creation! — Our collaborative cha-shitsu creation!

At another table, creating a Japanese garden out of pipe cleaners and tissue paper. — At another table, creating a Japanese garden out of pipe cleaners and colored tissue paper.

We took a break to watch the taiko performance.

Posing with the huge cherry blossom balloons behind us.

While I was feeding Mirei, Dan took Mio to do some additional crafts... — While I was feeding Mirei, Dan took Mio to do some additional crafts…

Mio fell asleep on the way home in the Metro. It's been a while since she's fallen asleep in my arms like this! — Mio fell asleep on the way home in the Metro. It’s been a while since she’s fallen asleep in my arms like this!

We didn’t really take any photos of Mirei during the event, but she definitely kept us busy with several trips to the bathroom on her first trip to DC. She had two up-the-backer poops (resulting in two outfit changes) and also spit up all over my shirt! Of course, these things always happen at the most inopportune times. After a very messy afternoon, though, Mirei flashed us her first real smile as we were pushing the strollerÂ through the Metro station on our way home from the event. Dan chuckled, “Awww she’s so cute!” and quickly pulled out the camera and captured the moment:

Mirei smiling — Mirei’s first smile! (Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry…)

It was a very eventful and memorable day for the whole family!

Cherry Blossom Festival

April 23, 2010 By Misono in Arts and Culture, Local Gems Tags: 2010, cherry blossom, Cherry Blossom Festival, cherry blossoms, culture, dango, festival, Grand Parade, heritage, Japanese, Japanese American, Japantown, NCCBF, Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, parade, San Francisco, SF, Taiko Dojo, yukata

The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival was held the past two weekends in San Francisco’s Japantown. Dan and I took my sister on Sunday, the day of the Grand Parade, since Miwa had never been to the festival before.

I love going to the Cherry Blossom Festival, and haven’t missed it once since moving out here. This was my third year attending San Francisco’s festival, and although a lot of things are the same, it’s always great to see the celebration of Japanese and Japanese American culture and heritage.

Here are just a few of the photos. {See the whole set}

The highlight for me, as usual, was the taiko. If only I had better rhythm, I would totally want to take on taiko lessons. It’s a great workout for your arms and I just love the sound and energy of taiko drums…. Can’t wait to see Taiko Dojo again next year!