We took a weeklong family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina at the end of June. We stayed at a beach house in Cape Hatteras, and while it’s quite a long drive down to get there, we had an enjoyable and relaxing vacation (for the most part) once we were there. The girls and I drove down with my parents and sister on Sunday, while Dan, my brother Ted, and sister-in-law Elisa joined us mid-week, arriving late Wednesday night since they didn’t want to miss as much of their work week.
The beach house – our home for the week. It was a short two minute walk away from the beach!
Going out to dinner at Pop’s Raw Bar the first evening.
Miwa enjoying the raw oysters. They were very fresh!
My crabcake sandwich was deeelicious!
Mirei and Obaachan on the patio the following day
Unfortunately, Mio woke up in the morning throwing up, and she repeatedly threw up throughout the day and couldn’t keep anything down. We think she caught some sort of a 24 hour stomach bug, because she didn’t have an appetite and was lethargic and just rested most of the day. We ended up staying inside for most of the day because I had to take care of her and she was in no condition to go out and enjoy the surroundings.
Poor Mio was sick with the stomach bug
So listless… 🙁
Mirei with Ojiichan. Fortunately, Mirei was unaffected by the stomach bug.
Poor baby. I tried to keep her hydrated with what she would take, which was ice pops and some soft rice.
My mom and I at Hatteras Landing.
My parents after doing some shopping.
The next morning, Mio was feeling a lot better and was generally back to her usual self, just with a smaller appetite. Sadly, it was not all good news as I woke up with a very uneasy stomach and proceeded to spend most of the day battling the same stomach bug and resting during our third day because I was so sick. I can’t remember the last time I had a stomach flu, but this definitely made it up there among one of the most miserable days of my life.
At least Mio was back to her cheery self!
On our fourth day (Wednesday) on vacation, we were finally all feeling better and energetic enough to go to the beach and really enjoy it! It’s really unfortunate that we spent the first half of the week cooped up inside because we were so sick.
The resident beach babe, ready to hit the beach!
So ready to go!
Mio getting held by Auntie Miwa in the ocean.
It was a beautiful day to enjoy the beach.
Such a posh baby!
Mio screamed every time a wave came in!
Walking on the beach with Obaachan (my mom)
We almost had the beach to ourselves!It was so private and nice.
The girls and I soaking up the sun!
It’s too bad our family vacation had a rough start, but I’m glad we could all recover in time for Dan and the rest of the family to arrive. Stay tuned for more of our adventures during the latter half of the trip! 🙂
Today, we attended Miwa’s graduation ceremony at George Mason University’s Patriot Center! She had her department graduation ceremony on Wednesday evening, and this ceremony on Saturday morning was for all the graduates of spring 2014.
The girls and I waiting for the commencement ceremony to begin.
The graduates entering…
Mirei in the Ergo Baby, looking up at me. She was well-behaved and quiet during most of the ceremony!
Mio also did pretty well, though she did start getting restless halfway in.
It took us a while to figure out exactly where Miwa was… can you spot her?
Found her!
Over 7,000 graduates!
Mirei looking rather grumpy… thankfully Daddy did a great job calming her.
Congratulations to all the graduates of 2014!
Group picture after going out to lunch to celebrate Miwa’s graduation.
Mio and Obaachan. I realized we actually have few photos of Mio with my parents… have to remember to take more!
Congratulations, Miwa! Can’t believe my baby sister is now a college graduate — so proud of her! ♥
Dan’s parents flew over from California last week to visit us from Tuesday night to Saturday morning. Mio’s face broke into a huge smile as soon as she saw her grandparents on Wednesday morning, and they were nearly inseparable for much of their visit! It was so sweet to see Mio interacting with her loving grandparents, and they got to meet their new granddaughter Mirei for the first time, too! Here are some photos and video from their visit.
Mio & Mirei with their grandparents
Mio has been doing this funny thing lately where after she touches or comes in contact with Mirei, she smells her hands and often goes to wash them afterwards. Kind of mean, but I guess Mio doesn’t like the baby smell! lol
Grandma meeting Mirei
Mio’s scrunchy face of joy!
Mirei curiously looking on.
Grandma with Mirei
They got a big smile out of her!
Grandpa with his newest granddaughter
Such sweet moments ♥
I captured this video of Grandpa and Grandma singing to the girls on my phone camera. Unfortunately the lighting is a little dark, but it’s still a very sweet video nonetheless!
Sisters in Grandpa’s arms.
On Friday, Dan took the day off so that we could spend the day together with his parents. Even though they used to live in Maryland and are familiar with the sites, there were some new memorials that were built since they moved away 19 years ago, and they wanted to visit the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in particular.
By a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt. Mio kept pointing and asking, “Who’s that?”
Mio and I at the fountains by the FDR Memorial.
Mio and grandparents by the FDR statue.
With Dan and I this time.
Mirei was asleep for most of the time we were sightseeing the memorials in DC.
Mio was all smiles with Grandpa
Sharing a laugh!
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, always impressive! It’s definitely one of my favorite memorials.
One of my favorite quotes by Dr. King. I love reading all his quotes along the wall at the memorial — he was such an eloquent man and his words are often very poetic and beautiful.
“Out of the Mountain of Despair, A Stone of Hope.”
Mio and grandparents by the MLK memorial.
Washington Monument across the Tidal Basin.
Mio was in such a great mood while she was being pushed by Grandma in the stroller as we were walking around the memorials that she started singing! I’d sang this Japanese song to her a few times, but this was the first time I’d heard her sing so much of it on her own so I went a little overboard with recording it on video:
Take 2:
Take 3:
Dan’s parents wanted to see the Jefferson Memorial again, so we stopped there before leaving DC.
This was one of my favorite pictures from that day.
Posing with TJ inside the Jefferson Memorial.
Enjoying a Japanese lunch before heading home.
We’re so thankful that Dan’s parents could make the trip out here to visit us and the girls! Though their visit was short, Mio and Mirei both got so much love from them and were able to make priceless memories with them. We look forward to the next time we’ll get to see them!
Dan took the day off on Monday so that we could all spend the day with Ted and Jackie before they left DC. We thought it’d be a great opportunity to see the cherry blossoms by the Tidal Basin, but alas, the blossoms were definitely past their peak (they were probably best over the weekend, but we knew the crowds would be crazy) and were looking pretty green, with most of the petals in the water and on the ground. It was really windy that day, too, which probably expedited the wilting of the blossoms. Still, we had a nice time walking around the Tidal Basin and admiring the few trees that were still in full bloom, and also got to check out the National WWII Memorial as well. Despite how windy it was, it was a beautiful day — sunny but not too hot or uncomfortable. 🙂
Mio enjoying all the attention from Auntie Jackie while on the Metro.
Arriving at the Tidal Basin… but both girls were conked out.
Jackie and Ted with the cherry blossoms. Such a cute picture of a cute couple!
Mirei woke up so we took a photo with just us girls.
Attempt at a family photo… but Mio is too focused on eating her tortilla chip.
The Jefferson Memorial in the distance.
What was left of the cherry blossoms…
My favorite flowers and Mio’s namesake… still beautiful!
Mirei was so well-behaved the entire time. Even when she was awake, she was so quiet and let us enjoy the cherry blossoms in peace.
Dan and Mio by one of the original cherry blossom trees.
A cherry blossom tree in full bloom
Another family photo… looks like we just can’t get one without Mio eating a chip!
Ted & Jackie under the sakura.
Making our way over to the National WWII Memorial. Mio had a blast getting swung by Auntie Jackie and Uncle Ted!
She couldn’t get enough of the attention!
It was actually my first time seeing the WWII Memorial too since it had been built in 2004, and it was really beautiful and impressive!
Mio getting a photo with auntie and uncle.
She thoroughly enjoyed playing by the fountain.
Full of “what’s that?” questions.
The Freedom Wall on the west side of the memorial has 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war.
There were so many people there!
Mio with Ted & Jackie by the fountain.
Mio was in such a good mood the whole day! Love our little sweetheart.
Sharing a popsicle before heading home.
Ted and Jackie left after dinner on Monday, but the family visits continue with Dan’s parents flying in tonight! They haven’t seen Mio in over a year and it’ll be their first time meeting Mirei. We look forward to spending lots of quality time together. 🙂
