Cherry Blossom Festival...Kind Of

We went to a "Cherry Blossom Festival" in downtown Denver today.  Contrary to its name, there was not an actual cherry blossom in sight.  There was a lot of touristy Japanese stuff though.  I was hoping for a little more true Japanese culture, but we still had a really nice time.  Perrin had her first udon and seemed to like it!

The food was really yummy, which was enhanced by my nostalgia for my time in Japan.  I had beef and veggie udon, and some mochi!!  I like mochi.  I was hoping to run across some Totoro loot, or some kind of studio Gibli treasure, but no such luck.  The whole thing felt more geared toward people who just wanted to be out on a pretty Saturday afternoon and be touristy.  

After the festival, we walked around downtown until we realized we were walking toward ice cream.  Really when you think about it, aren't we all always just walking toward ice cream?...Wait...what was I talking about?

So there was this adorable ice cream shop in the Highlands that looked like a giant old fashioned metal milk canister.

I had some caramel banana gelato.  So good.  I love that Perrin is too young to know when I am not sharing equally with her.  I mean she is a baby--what does she care--steamed carrots/ caramel banana gelato--whatever.  

Above is Perrin being super safe--holding onto the train handle while in a backpack worn by someone holding the train handle.  Good girl.  The stuffed deer strapped to the pack was just today dubbed, "Enrique."  I am not sure why the deer is Hispanic, but isn't that pretty presumptuous of me?  What makes me think that Enrique is white?  

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Going to this festival made me think of my time in Japan about a million years ago...another life...  I thought it would be fun to indulge and show off some of my pictures from that time.  Enjoy your Sunday all!