Blooming by the Bay – Page 12 – The Endless Stories of Dan & Misono & Their Beloved Mio

Freeman House Egg Hunt

March 28, 2015 By Misono in Recreational Fun, Seasonal Celebrations, Videos Tags: bounce house, Easter bunny, Easter egg hunt, Easter eggs, egg hunt, Freeman House, Mio, Mirei, moonbounce, video, Vienna

We had such a great time at the Vienna Easter egg hunt last year that we knew we wanted to take her and Mirei again this year! The egg hunt takes place on the lawn of the Freeman House in Old Town Vienna, and there’s also an inflatable bounce house, an egg roll event, and an opportunity to take photos with the Easter bunny! Unfortunately, the day they picked this year was freezing, so we bundled the girls up and quickly participated in the egg hunt and photos with the bunny, and left pretty shortly afterwards. The girls still had fun, though!

Vienna Egg Hunt 2015 — Waiting for the egg hunt to begin!

Feverish egg hunting! — Diving under the yellow tape when the egg hunt began!

Mirei among the egg hunt madness, sporting her bunny hat for the occasion.

Here’s a video I captured of the girls during the egg hunt:

With the Easter bunny in Vienna — A photo with the creepy Easter bunny. Why are his eyes pink?

Even though it was extremely chilly and windy, Mio still wanted to get in line for the bounce house, so Dan took Mirei to warm up in the car while Mio got her bouncing in:

M&M after Vienna Easter egg hunt — The girls back at home, after returning from the egg hunt.

Liam & Ellie’s Birthday Party

March 22, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends, Recreational Fun, Videos Tags: ball throw, ball toss, birthday, birthday party, cupcakes, egg race, Eleanor, Ellie, facepaint, game, kids, Liam, Maryland, Mio, Mirei, mummify, mummy, obstacle course, pinata, toilet paper, video

We were invited to celebrate Liam and Ellie’s joint birthday party to celebrate them both turning five! It was so much fun seeing our friends and getting our kids together for loads of family fun! There were lots of great food, a well-planned obstacle course, and exciting activities for the little ones. Thanks to the Jubb and Jenkins families for having us!

Liam & Ellie's birthday party — The spread for the party was impressive!

Kids running out for the obstacle course — The kids running out onto the front yard for the obstacle course.

Egg race during birthday party — Waiting in line in their teams for the first part of the obstacle course…

It was Mio’s first time competing in an egg race! She ended up being the last one to finish because her team got a late start and she was the last leg, and she kept dropping her egg, but the other kids cheered her on and she did great! Proud of her ♥

Mirei was too young to participate to participate in the obstacle course, so she stayed comfortable with Daddy.

Part 2 of the obstacle course: ball throw!

Part 3 of the obstacle course: a mummifying game, reminiscent of the toilet paper wedding dress game that’s often played at bridal showers. 😛

The finale of the obstacle course was the pinata! Here’s Mio taking a swing at it:

When the seemingly invincible pinata finally did get destroyed, the kids descended like vultures!

St. Patrick’s Day

March 18, 2015 By Misono in Seasonal Celebrations Tags: green, Mio, Mirei, preschool, sisters, St. Patrick's Day, St. Patty's Day

The green outfits were worn a day late because Mio’s preschool had a St. Patrick’s Day party on the 18th, but here are the girls dressed for the occasion!

Dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day! — Mirei sporting her furry gold booties â™¥

Mio's St. Patrick's Day windsock — The windsock Mio made in preschool.

Hinamatsuri 2015

March 5, 2015 By Misono in Mio, Mirei, Seasonal Celebrations Tags: daughters, girls, Girls' Day, hinamatsuri, hinaningyo, Japan, Mio, Mirei, ohinasama

March 3rd was Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day in Japan), so we celebrated by giving thanks to the continued health and happiness of our daughters, and girls everywhere. We had the hinaningyo dolls on display (gifted from my aunt a couple years ago), and Mio loved admiring them. Dan’s parents recently went to Hawaii and sent a cute shirt for Mio they had bought there, remembering that she had had a similar-looking shirt with a Japanese girl/doll when she was a year old, around Mirei’s age, and suggested Mio and Mirei wear them together. It made for some cute photos of the girls matching! 🙂

Hinaningyo out for Hinamatsuri — Ohinasama on display

Mio loved the hinaningyo — She’s disciplined enough not to touch, but she loves looking at them!

Hina-arare from Grandma — Dan’s mom also sent a whole bunch of hina-arare crackers for the occasion, so I gave some to the girls and they loved it!

M&M on Hinamatsuri — Mirei stood on a stool so she could be tall like big sister!

Our daughters bring so much joy and laughter to our lives, and we are always so thankful that we are blessed to get be their parents. We hope they continue to grow healthy and strong, and wish for them a future of happiness, love, and abundant blessings!

Snowman Mirei

March 2, 2015 By Misono in Mirei Tags: baby, costume, Mio, Mirei, snowman

I was going through baby stuff to get rid of, and came across this gem (which Mio woreÂ here). Naturally we had to turn Mirei into Olaf for the afternoon! 😉

Mio loved snowman Mirei! — Mio loved it and she kept going over and hugging Mirei and cupping her hands around her saying, “I’m building a snowman! It’s Olaf!”

Gleeful snowman Mirei — Someone is way too excited about being turned into a snowman!

Snowman Mirei in the basement — The back view is my favorite.

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