We got to be a part of our dear friends Mimi and Alden’s wedding celebration when they tied the knot on September 28th! The wedding was held at Early Mountain Vineyards near Charlottesville, and it was a gorgeous place for a beautiful ceremony and reception to celebrate the couple. We had a lovely time — Congratulations, Mimi and Alden!
Mimi looking stunning coming down the aisle.
Beautiful ceremony at Early Mountain Vineyards
Korean style ceremony
Lovely wedding cake!
Loved the adorable cake toppers!
A video of their bridal party’s grand entrance at the reception:
Last weekend was the last one of the summer, and the weather was beautiful so we spent our Saturday at Clemyjontri Park with our friends Pat, Theo, and their little girls Anna and Cara. We each brought food and picnicked on the grass and let our kids run around on the playground and ride the carousel. We always love seeing them, and we had a great time catching up!
On the carousel at Clemyjontri Park
Cara is now one and a half! She’s grown so much!
As usual, Mio was a blur running and climbing all over the park!
Mirei fell asleep being held by Daddy. Dan is tired too from Mirei’s heavy weight!
Summer passed by all too quickly this year, and I have been really awful at keeping this space updated in the past several weeks. I thought I’d do a little compilation post of photos and videos here of some of our favorite cute/humorous moments captured on camera to share… better late than never, right?
…and thus follows the photo dump of all photo dumps.
Pooltime on the porch.
“Pool boy! Another margarita, please.”
“Just kidding!” 😉
Mio’s been obsessed with TMNT lately (or as she calls them, “masked turtles”). Today she’s Raphael and Mirei’s been anointed as Leonardo. (To me, they look more matsuri-ready…)
Mio patiently waiting for lunch at Santini’s. One of those moments where she still looks like a baby to me.
Lunch out with Daddy… one of her favorite moments.
Gelato and bingsoo at Sweetberry
Sticker-happy after a visit to Trader Joes.
All it takes is a blanket to keep them giggling non-stop!
Mio in her new bed!
Mio lined up these little animal dolls around Mirei as she slept on the Boppy.
Mirei’s first playdate with Lily. Mirei’s always tagging along to playdates for big sister, so it was nice to have a playdate for Mirei for once!
Mio pretending to kick Mirei… tsk tsk. Sisters…
Not sure what is going on here, but it looks like Mio is attempting to lick Mirei’s back?!
Mirei carrying big sister’s Minion backpack… which is almost the same size as her.
Such a funny sight!
Sisters both napping, in similar positions but in different places. (Mio fell asleep where she was playing, as usual…)
Mirei making an interesting fashion statement… (she can thank Auntie Miwa)
Crawling everywhere!
Sweet Mio Our little angel ♥ She loves to roll herself up in her blankets. Silly girl ♥ Mirei pulling herself up to stand by the cooler.
Mio playing frisbee with Daddy and Auntie in the backyard.
Mio coming down the slide at Meadow Lane Park Sleeping giant at the park.
Mio riding the roundabout at the park:
Mirei being held by Obaachan 7 month old Mirei
Mio painting on the porch Caught red-handed, getting into the diapers and making a mess! Looking a lot like Daddy! Going to the Lee District spray park again on Labor Day.Â
with my sweet M&Ms.
Mirei with Daddy
Mio is very much into making faces in selfies lately. She looks very fierce here! Kissy-face selfie. Mio likes to be in a “towel burrito,” as she calls it, after bathtime. M&M in the window. Standing in the crib already! Our first time going to Japanese Storytime – wish I’d known about it sooner! Mirei was actually quite the social butterfly, constantly crawling away to other babies, making new friends. Mio preferred keeping to herself and exploring all the books there. An ecstatic Mio with her mango popsicle.
Our resident flappy-bird…
Mirei playing with a taiko toy at a birthday party. Spending a Sunday at the park Stay forever Sunday. Mirei will pull herself up to standing position every opportunity she gets! “Daddy put me in the laundry basket.”
Dan and I had the honor of attending our friend Jina’s beautiful wedding earlier this month at Morais Vineyards & Winery in Bealeton, Virginia. It was a gorgeous venue, and the couple’s attention to detail really showed through in how stunning everything looked.
Arriving at Morais Vineyards
Picture perfect couple!
A beautiful ceremony
With the happy couple!
With a couple of my dearest friends, Debbie and Hanna. ♥
It was nice to have a relaxing evening out with the hubby, too.
Congratulations to the happy couple! Thank you for inviting us to be a part of your special day, and best of luck in your new life in Korea and eventually California!
We had a busy weekend, attending a couple birthday parties on Saturday and then BrickFair LEGO Convention on Sunday with friends! See all the weekend fun below…
Dan holding Mirei at Clara’s birthday party.
Mio wading in one of the pools that were set out in the front yard.
The kids having fun with the water balloons.
The theme of the party was Frozen, and Mio loved all the Frozen-themed snacks!
Mio was having so much fun, but we had to leave Clara’s birthday party a little early so that we could also attend Augustine’s first birthday party, which was held at Westwood Country Club in Vienna.
The beautiful spread for Augustine’s first birthday! I had the honor of designing the backdrop. Look at those amazing cake pops and cupcakes!
Mio getting her face painted.
Hello Kitty!
Mio smiling at herself in my phone camera.
There were cute props at every table!
Guest’s wishes for Augustine hanging on a tree. Such a beautiful idea!
Xiaolu meets Mirei
Doljanchi tradition… Auggie picked the ball! Future athlete!
Auggie with his parents and grandparents!
Mio was so excited that the balloon twister made her a ninja turtle balloon!
The birthday party had so much detail and thought put into it, and was extravagant like a wedding! Ploi did such an amazing job of throwing a birthday party to remember!
My brother stopped by the house while Mio was eating Pop Rocks for the first time (they were in a goody bag), in this pose. He asked, “What are you doing, Mio?” to which she deadpanned, “I’m popping.” lol
On Sunday, we got to go to the BrickFair LEGO Convention at the Dulles Expo Center because our friends had extra tickets! It was the largest gathering of LEGO enthusiasts in the area and there were quite a lot of impressive LEGO creations to see!
Mio and Kosei with a minion made out of LEGOs
LEGO Egyptian civilization
LEGO castle and soldiers
I particularly liked this theme park made out of moving LEGOs!
Mirei getting lots of hugs from Kosei. He’s got the big brother thing down!
Special thanks to the Smith family for inviting us along to BrickFair! It was a lot of fun for the whole family! 🙂
