Hanami!

Hanami is the Japanese custom of viewing flowers, most often associated with Cherry Blossoms or Sakura. There's a big festival held at Hirosaki Castle every year during this time and it's only about a 2 1/2 hour drive from home. Katie and I made the drive with a few friends this year and had a great time on the grounds of the former castle. Above, you can see Katie smelling some low hanging blossoms and below she's watching a swan float by the bridge.

All that remains of the castle is the building below. It's so beautiful surrounded by the cherry trees.

Below is a lovely view from the top of the remaining building at Hirosaki Castle. I was so busy trying to keep Katie away from the extremely steep stairs inside the building (they were so steep that I was only a couple inches away from sitting on every step on the way down!) I almost missed the mountain!

We wondered around the grounds checking out the scenery for hours and had a picnic lunch in a grassy area surrounded by the cherry blossoms- it was great! The weather was really great too. I was a little worried we'd be pretty soggy that day, but the rain held off until just as we were about to leave. We couldn't have been luckier!

Above is Katie with her friends Noah and Jacob. Below Katie's making eyes at her friend Jacob. I really wish I had my camera ready for that photo a bit earlier. Just before I snapped this one, she actually had her head on his shoulder looking up at him and it was just too cute!