A lot of the better apples were towards the top, so Mio got some help from Daddy to pick the apples. Good job, Mio! Carefully placing the bounty in the picking bag…
She got the hang of it very quickly! Dan climbed up to get the best apples! I couldn’t climb the trees, but picked a couple myself… A lot of the apples we picked were Red Delicious! Picking away! Mio would sometimes try to eat some of the apples that were on the ground, so we had to keep an eye on her. With the apple of my eye! Mio liked to try hanging on the lower branches of the trees.
It was such a gorgeous day at the apple orchard!
Hartland Orchards also had pumpkin patches for picking pumpkins! Mio exclaimed, “pumpkin!” when she saw the fields of orange gourds.
Moving onto the pumpkin patch after apple picking.
Pulling a heavy cargo… and we haven’t even picked our pumpkins yet!
Mio among the pumpkins.
Already taking bites into one of the apples she picked…
I think she loved seeing the pumpkins more than the apples!
Here’s a quick video montage that I put together of some moments from our apple picking outing, using the RoadMovies app on my phone!
Last week, we went on a joint family vacation with our friends the Jubbs and the Gotos. The Jubb family lives in London, but had been visiting the States for the last couple months and they suggested we go on a little trip together with our families before they left to go back to England. Nancy’s family friend had a ton of points that needed to be used up with his timeshare in Williamsburg, and was gracious enough to book us three separate units for each of our families — as a result, we didn’t have to pay for lodging during our stay there!
Arriving at the Wyndham resort in Williamsburg.
Dan took Wednesday to Friday off from work for the trip, and Mio thoroughly enjoyed spending so much time with him!
Loving the slide.
Playing air hockey with Uncle Matt.
Hanging out with Yewon and Aubriana in the activity center. There were lots of games and arcades you could play for free.
Enjoying a round of mini golf.
Mio’s first time playing mini golf.
On our second day there (Thursday), we decided to take the kids to the Bounce House in Williamsburg. I had looked up kid-friendly activities in the area ahead of time, and it looks like there’s not a whole lot of fun things to do with kids there… unless they’re old enough to enjoy the theme park at Busch Gardens. The Bounce House was one of the few things I could find, but it was a huge hit with all of the kids! The Bounce House features over ten huge inflatable houses and slides, and for $8/child they can play on them to their heart’s content!
Mio climbing up the giant inflatable slide.
Some of the bouncing action in one of the smaller bounces for the younger kids:
Matt wanted to try the hurricane simulator and Mio insisted on going in with him.
Nancy and Ellie in the hurricane simulator.
Dan and Mio playing the doll claw game.
Mio and I going down one of the giant slides together. I think I was more scared than Mio!
Mio even went on the bungee swing! She was unfazed and didn’t really get scared until towards the end… so proud of my little high flyer!
There also was a Go Kart area attached to the Bounce House. The kids loved riding in them!
The next day, we had a more grownup-friendly activity and visited the New Kent Winery for a wine tour and tasting. The tour guide said she’d never seen so many kids in a group before!
New Kent Winery tour
Barrels of wine.
Mio is all smiles with Daddy!
The tasting portion.
Meanwhile, Joanna (who is under 21) and I watched the kids on the sidelines, as we couldn’t drink the wine.
Dan enjoying the tasting.
Our family in front of the New Kent Winery.
Everyone together at the winery.
We spent a lot of the rest of the time in the afternoons taking the kids to the pool at the resort, playing with them at the activity center, and at night we played board games amongst the grownups once the kids were asleep. Nancy even organized a girls’ night one night where all of the ladies got together to just veg out on cheese and chocolate while we talked, gave each other manicures and face masks. The kids had a lot of fun together throughout the stay and overall, it was a really relaxing, laid-back mini-getaway for all of us! The Jubbs have since returned to London, but we hope that we’ll have a chance to see them again sooner rather than later.
The day after our routine ultrasound, we gathered a bunch of the family members and had a mini gender reveal party on Saturday afternoon, so that everyone could find out whether our second baby is a boy or a girl. (Some of my siblings had ongoing bets since the beginning of the pregnancy on what gender this baby would be, and they were eager to cash in!) We had some delicious cupcakes ordered from Georgetown Cupcake, filled with either blue or pink buttercream to show what the gender of the baby was! Mio was tasked with revealing the inside filling by biting into a cupcake.
Here’s a video of the gender reveal fun!
Delicious cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake!
Topped with fondant ducks, they were filled with butterecream colored either blue or pink to reveal the gender of the baby.
Pink filling, which means… It’s a girl! ♥
So there it is! We’re thrilled to announce that we’re having a girl! Mio will have a little sister, who she will grow up to (hopefully) be best friends with. I cherish my own relationship with my younger sister, and so I’ve always hoped that Mio would get to experience the same joys of sisterhood. I’m sure they won’t be without their moments of competition and occasional jealousy, but it will be so beautiful to watch them grow up together. As for me, I’m elated to be a mother of two sweet daughters — I’ve always imagined myself a mother of daughters, and I look forward to the bond we’ll share as the ladies in the family. 🙂 Dan is very happy, too; Mio has been more attached to Dan lately and is growing into a total Daddy’s girl, which melts his heart! He’s very doting and protective over his little girl, and I know he’ll be like that with our second baby girl, too. ♥
On Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending a birthday party for two of Mio’s friends — Aaron and Kailee! Aaron turned four on August 20, and his sister Kailee will turn two on September 23. We often have playdates together during the weekdays, and Mio and Kailee are good friends. 🙂 We were more than happy to celebrate their birthdays with them!
The sign in front of the house. So cute!
Happy 2nd birthday, Princess Kailee!
Aaron and Kailee’s dad Sean just built this treehouse + slide this summer, and Mio loves going on it every time we play at their house. The party was no exception!
Mio can go up the treehouse ladder by herself (with supervision, of course). She just keeps climbing up and sliding down over and over.
Having fun on the trampoline.
Getting some pointers from Daddy on how to hit the ball.
Mio and I at the birthday party.
Mio loves this outdoor playhouse.
But of course, the treehouse is the favorite. Every kid’s dream!
Time for birthday cake!
Thank you to the Tzeng family for having us over and letting us be a part of their adorable children’s birthday celebration! We had such a good time with all the delicious food and fun. To many more wonderful birthday! 🙂
Mio and I relaxing on the lawn.
Mio’s been especially clingy lately. I think she senses the big changes coming…
Labor Day weekend was a packed weekend for us. We got to see a lot of friends and did a lot of driving around! We drove to Maryland three times in five days. We got to meet up with some out-of-town friends from Ohio who were in Maryland to adopt their first baby (such an exciting time for them! Congratulations to Hiro and Kayo, and precious Hazel, who was just born on Monday), go to a drone meetup for Dan’s hobby group in Leesburg on Saturday, followed by a couple hours at Clemyjontri Park with Pat & Theo and their adorable girls, attend a birthday party for one of Mio’s friends (Happy birthday Maya!) on Sunday, and then on Labor Day we had lunch with Masanori and Komy who were visiting Virginia from New Jersey, and then enjoyed delicious BBQ in the evening at the Stein’s. Our whole family was pooped by the end of it all, but it was so nice to get to see a lot of our friends, many of which we don’t get to see too often as they live far away.
I didn’t get to take too many photos from the weekend, but here are some snapshots of Mio from this past week…
“Look Mama, fork!” Mio playing with sticks while Daddy flies his quadcopter drone at Ida Lee Park.
