We enjoyed some gorgeous weather this past weekend, with temperatures reaching the 80s on Saturday! We had planned to go the Cherry Blossom Festival in the city, but at the last minute decided against it, since navigating the crowds in the hot weather with a toddler didn’t seem so relaxing. Instead, we stayed in the local area and spent our Saturday on more Mio-centric activities.
Our first stop was the pet store! We stopped by while taking a walk to the farmer’s market, because Mio loves to go to the pet store to see all the animals. Weekends are especially fun to go, because there are often kitties there for adoption, as well as all the dogs that customers bring in to be groomed.
Mio looking at the birds.
Amazed at all the birds.
Watching a snake.
Look at all the fishies!
Also got to see a guinea pig...
...and some mice.
Dan bought Mio and I these lovely tulips at the farmer’s market… so beautiful! 🙂
Thanks hubby!
Back at the house, ready to go out again.
In the afternoon, we drove over to North Berkeley to visit Totland for the first time! I’d heard that it’s a popular for local mommies and kids to play, so we decided to check it out!
Scrunchy-faced smiles on the swing.
Mio and I in the sandlot.
Sipping away! Gotta stay hydrated!
Mio made a friend on the playground. Her mom happened to be Japanese, too!
Scooting around...
...with some help from Mama.
Mio is distracted by the older kids around the playground.
Taking a break for snack time!
Mio with a mouthful of fresh fruit.
Back on the swing.
Stylin' in shades! Thank you Matt for the baby sunglasses!
Dan and I couldn't stop laughing at how silly she looked in them!
After a couple hours of playground fun at Totland, we worked up quite an appetite! I’d been wanting some Filipino food, so we drove all the way up to Vallejo to try Max’s of Manila.
Ready to eat!
Filipino-style fried chicken. So amazing.
My first time trying pancit canton... and I am hooked!
They gave us a ton of garlic rice, which was also very tasty!
We also had some lumpia ubod, but Dan and I devoured it before we could take a picture…Â it was yummy, too!
Mio was really happy with a lemon she snagged from my plate.
Her reaction upon having a taste, however, was priceless. She's had it before, but she always forgets how sour it is.
Mio was in such a good mood that day, especially during dinner, which is rare because she usually gets cranky in the evening.
Sweet girl brings so much joy to our hearts.
We hope this awesome weather keeps up! 🙂 It’s starting to feel like summer!
On Saturday, we had a family outing at the Morcom Municipal Rose Garden over in Oakland. I didn’t take into account that most of the roses don’t bloom until later in the spring and into summer, so the blooms were sparse! Still, the landscaping and layout of the garden is beautiful, and it was nice to just take a stroll around the grounds and enjoy the gorgeous sunny weather.
Mio has been awfully clingy these days, especially in the house. I can't leave a room for five seconds without her coming after me and grabbing my legs. I guess this is the beginnings of separation anxiety?
Showing Mio the ducks.
Trying to hand me a rock.
There is a walkway in the garden called the Mother of the Year Walk. Apparently, there’s an annual celebration of a special woman who dedicates tirelessly to the community. Lined in tree roses, the walk features bronze plaques honoring each year’s Mother-of-the-Year.
Mio is so good at walking now.
She's pointing at the ducks in front of us.
Mio and Mama, among the roses...
A video Dan took of Mio walking about in the garden…
Back in the stroller, watching a scurrying squirrel.
A neat picture I took of Dan and Mio at the top of a stairway of fountains.
Mio started getting restless and wanted to get out of the stroller again.
On Daddy's shoulder, watching a squirrel.
Squirrel!
Suddenly, we heard a loud noise behind us!
"What could it be?!"
A fight had broken out between two territorial male ducks, and they were quacking their beaks off!
Mio pointing to all the commotion.
I’m excited that the rainy season has come to an end, and that we’ll get to have more fun outings to enjoy the great outdoors! 😀
For the full set of photos, see the slideshow below.
On Sunday, we drove out to the city to go to Golden Gate Park, where the cherry blossoms are in bloom by the Hagiwara Japanese Tea Garden. Cherry blossoms are my favorite flower, and I love seeing them come in bloom every spring and this year, Mio got to see the beautiful blossoms she was named after. There were a lot of people having hanami (flower-viewing) picnics around the trees in Golden Gate Park — gotta enjoy them while they are still in bloom! 🙂
We captured some lovely photos of Mio, our own little blossom, among the sakura…
Arriving at Golden Gate Park
Cherry blossoms!
Mio with her namesake.
Love that smile!
A cascade of blossoms
Mio with Daddy
A kiss from Daddy
It was a cowboy boots kind of day!
Tickling Mio's cheek with a flower.
Mio clapping her hands in delight.
Mio and Mama
Our family's first hanami
Picnic time!
Happily eating lunch.
Attacking Mama while she dozes...
Mio is so full of energy that we can't keep up!
For the full slideshow of photos of our hanami, see below! 😀
Since we already had a comparatively grandiose birthday party for Mio last Saturday (on which I will post soon, I promise!), we went low key for Mio’s actual birthday. During the afternoon, though, Mio and I took a trip over to the park to have a birthday picnic and playdate with Mio’s friend Sofia. Sofia is Mio’s best friend in the neighborhood, but she couldn’t make it to Mio’s birthday party so it was nice to celebrate together! Here are the cuties among some bubbles I blew for them at the park!
Adorable Sofia trying to catch the bubbles!
So serious, the both of ya!
One year old Mio with Mama
Birthday girl among the bubbles.
Love these girls!
Thank you Sonya for taking these adorable pictures! 🙂
Continuing from Day One of our weekend trip down to Big Sur and Carmel, here is Day Two! Sunday was a lot more relaxed, and we slept in at our cottage in the morning, had breakfast, and then spent a few hours at Carmel Beach before taking the scenic road home.
Here I am, excited that there are so few people on the beach!
Setting myself down at Carmel Beach
Surfers walking by
This is the life.
The Old Dan and the Sea
The Pacific waters were (as usual) cold!
Soaking up the sun!
A video Dan took of me on the beach… (I thought he was taking a photo of me at first — hence the posing.)
On our way back up the 101, we stopped by Castroville to pick up some fresh produce for Dan’s parents for watching Mio.
Castroville is known for their artichokes!
Artichoke stand in Castroville
All locally grown fresh produce
Castroville Artichoke Festival poster from 1999
We continued to make a few stops here and there as we drove up the coast, to admire the views of the ocean.
Initials in the sand.
Roadside cliffs
A lighthouse we passed...
We passed through Half Moon Bay on our way home, and grabbed a bite to eat there as a late lunch/early dinner. We wanted some cheap but good Mexican food, and found just the place: Happy Taco!
The taco sure looks happy!
Dan sipping his horchata.
Tacos!
Wet burrito with shrimp for me!
Hungry and ready to eat!
We arrived in San Lorenzo in the evening to pick up Mio, and she seemed to have had fun during her weekend at the grandparents’. But when we came through the door, she looked up and immediately reached her arms out to be held by me — she missed me! And of course, we missed her too. It’s back work for Dan this week, and I’m trying to adjust to being a freelancing WAHM (work-at-home-mom). It’s not going to be easy to balance work and family within the home and keep it separate, but I’m excited about new opportunities and more time spent with Mio.
This past weekend was really rejuvenating and enjoyable — I don’t think we’d had that much fun in a while! I think besides both Dan and I just really needing a vacation in general, we also really needed that time for just the two of us. Of course we love Mio and cherish the time we spend with her, but I think that any parent of a young child needs a break from time to time. Between working exhausting hours at work (Dan has been pulling late nights at work until 11pm and on weekends the last couple of weeks due to a deliverable), and coming home to immediately switch gears to be Mommy and Daddy — it feels like working a double shift! It’s really important to every healthy relationship to take some time away from the baby to go on a date night or take a little trip to just be a couple again, because it’s hard to find the time and energy to really appreciate each other when you’re running around so focused on taking care of your child. We really appreciated how easy things were again — we could make frequent quick stops while driving, and hop back in the car… you just can’t do that when you have a child with you, since you have to unbuckle your child from a carseat, take out the stroller, make sure you have enough snacks, the whole drill. There’s also so much stuff you have to bring along when you travel with a baby, so it was nice to just be able to pack a duffel bag between the two of us and travel lightly! We’re really grateful for Dan’s parents for taking care of Mio so that we could enjoy our mini road trip together, and of course I am very thankful for Dan who helped make it happen, and whom I got to share such great experiences with! I continue to look forward to what other adventures await in our family’s journey.
