Pate's Full Circle: More D.C. fun

With the warm temperatures in D.C. we decided to go fly kites on the National Mall (we missed the Smithsonian Kite Festival by one weekend). Only we forgot the kites back at the apartment! We consoled ourselves with the fact that there was not even a slight breeze.

But to compensate we later went to a neighborhood park to make an attempt to catch wind. While we didn't have a lot of luck (Liam and I stayed in the grass and watched), I think Eric and his parents had a lot of fun trying to make the kite fly on a still spring day.

While there were no winds, the weather on the Mall was just perfect.

Liam and Eric watching the fountains at the WWII Memorial.

They did an absolutely amazing job with this memorial which was only constructed a few years ago. This is an amazing sculpture that flanks both sides of the memorial.

We even saw Marine One (we think).
Supposedly they always fly in threes for security purposes and we saw three helicopters.

The real unexpected treat was the cherry blossoms which were in full bloom. You never know from year to year when they will be in bloom, and they were expecting it to fall later this year because of all the snow earlier in the year. But we were in luck!

When the blooms start to fall, it is the most beautiful sight. Sort of like a fragrant snow.

Liam had a little bit of a meltdown after all the sightseeing.

After a bottle he was in much better spirits.

Ron and Becky

We even climbed up in a tree to get a family picture. Sadly, upon viewing our pictures, in every single shot Liam was trying to take Eric's sunglasses off.

Liam was once again upset when Eric wouldn't let him eat the sunglasses.

Later, we treated ourselves to the most amazing gelato at Boccato Gelato in Clarendon. I just had to take a picture of the guy making a fresh batch of chocolate gelato.

I had the canoli gelato while Eric had a scoop of Guiness Beer with chocolate and a scoop of XXX chocolate. Did I mention that my husband has a hollow leg?
And the metabolism of a 12 year old boy?
Ron had plum and Becky had strawberry gelato.
Liam even had a few bites of the fruity frozen treats.

The grandparents even got Liam a few Easter goodies. While he did not really understand Easter this year, next year we look forward to making some fun new memories!