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. ♥
Today was Mio’s first day of preschool ever! We had initially not planned on sending her to preschool yet until she turned three, but we saw that a very local preschool had one last opening they were trying to fill for the upcoming school year back in May (when most preschool enrollment has filled up) and I was noticing that she seemed more bored at home lately despite my efforts to take her on playdates and to playgroups, so we decided to go ahead and sign her up! Shortly afterwards, we discovered that we were expecting our second baby, so it all worked out because it will give me a little break from taking care of two kids once the baby arrives early next year. Hopefully getting out and having some independent time away from me, seeing that she’ll be fine without Mama will mitigate her recent clinginess, too. It’s just two days a week, from 9am to 12 noon, so it’s not that long and I think it’s just the right amount of time away while she’s still at this little age.
Last Friday, we went to the preschool’s “sneak peek” so Mio could meet her teachers and see the different classrooms she’ll get to go to:
Mio’s favorite room was the “creative movement” (PE/dance) room. Surprise surprise…
Here she is checking out the Science class. I didn’t know preschoolers learn science!
She also loved the music room at preschool! So much to look forward to.
The “sneak peek” was really helpful because it got Mio used to the classroom environment, and she got to familiarize herself with her teachers (who were all super nice!), and get excited for preschool. All weekend she was repeatedly saying, “Gakkou!” (Japanese for “school”) and “Fun!” so it was reassuring to see that she was looking forward to it.
This morning, we got up bright and early to eat breakfast and get ready for Mio’s first day of school!
Breakfast before going to preschool
Of course, we had to take some obligatory photos in front of the house to remember this milestone!
“I hope my teachers and classmates will like me…”
“Oh, the things I’ll learn…”
“I JUST CAN’T WAIT!!!”
We’re so proud of you, Mio!
And off we go!
Personal backpacks are actually not allowed at Mio’s preschool. They are all given totes from the school labeled with their names, but we’re free to decorate them however we please.
Each classroom at the preschool has a door that leads outside facing the parking lot, for easy dropoff and pickup for parents. We all gather in front of the door in the morning, and one by one the kids are ushered into the classroom, and parents are encouraged to just stay outside and watch them go in. The teachers help the kids hang their bags and coats up, and get them situated in the classroom.
Arriving at preschool. Mio scurried towards her teacher’s open arms and went into the classroom, without even turning around once!
Mio didn’t cry… probably because she didn’t even realize that we weren’t coming in with her until we had left. I wasn’t feeling that emotional this morning while I was getting her ready and taking pictures of her, but the moment I saw her go off into the classroom, my eyes welled up with tears. It was bittersweet, and I couldn’t help but cry when I got home, too, wondering the whole time what Mio was up to and how she was doing. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wonder for too long. For the 2.5 year old class, because they’re still so little and need time to transition, they start on a graduated schedule, where they are just at school 9am-10:30am (for 1.5 hours) the first week, 9am-11am (2 hours) the following week, getting 30 minutes longer every week until they reach the full 3 hour schedule the last week of the month, which they’ll stay at for the rest of the school year. Even the 1.5 hours today felt unexpectedly long because I’ve gotten so used to being with Mio all the time.
When I went to pick her up at 10:30am, they had already put some photos from the day up on the bulletin board, as well as some updates about what each child did/liked.
I thought this was such a cute idea! Mio apparently liked “the pig.” lol
The daily schedule for Mio’s preschool class.
Among the photos that were posted was one of Mio crying on the playground, being held by a teacher. Apparently she had cried a little later in the morning (probably when she realized Mama and Daddy were gone), but she was okay as the morning progressed.
For pickup, the parents wait outside the same door we dropped the children off at, and the teacher opens the door and one by one calls each child and hands them off to their respective parent. Even though I was the first mom to arrive, Mio was the last one to get called and come out… apparently because she was showing no signs of wanting to leave! Even when they brought her outside, she kept going back inside to play with the Lego toys inside. I had to practically drag her out of the classroom and into her carseat because she was so reluctant to leave!
Showing off her first artwork from preschool.
This month, the kids are learning about circles, the color red, and apples, hence the theme of the drawing. Good job, Mio! Looking forward to seeing what other art she’ll create in school.
Mio kept exclaiming, “Gakkou! It’s so fun!” on the drive home, and she was so excited from the day that she skipped her nap (much to my distress). Tonight, as we were getting her ready for bed, she picked up her school bag and said “Gakkou! Yay!!!” She can’t wait to go back tomorrow! I’d spent the whole summer wondering and worrying about how she’d adjust to starting school, but it turns out it’s proving to be a much easier transition (at least so far) than I expected! We’ll see how the following weeks go, when the novelty starts wearing off… I’m hopeful that she’ll continue to love school, though. After all, it’ll be her “job” for the next twenty years! 😉
