Our vacation at Outer Banks got a whole lot more eventful once the other half of our family arrived late Wednesday night! The girls and I really missed Dan, and we were excited to really kick our vacation in gear once he, Ted, and Elisa arrived. My siblings and Dan really wanted to go bicycling around the area on Thursday, but I opted not to join because the bicycle rental shop didn’t have any adult tricycles available at the time. (That’s right, at age 31 I never mastered how to ride a bicycle due to my balance issues… so sad!) There was the option of going on a tandem bicycle with Dan, but I decided to stay behind and watch Mirei with my parents while Mio rode with Dan and the rest of the gang. She had so much fun with it, and I’m glad that they captured lots of photos and video for me to see afterwards.
Mio strapped in, ready to go bicycling with Daddy!
Mio looks like she’s having so much fun!
A video Dan took while bicycling:
She eventually fell asleep on the bicycle… lol.
Too funny!
Still KTFO.
…and still asleep when they got back to the rental shop.
Mio woke up just in time for lunch!
I got the buffalo shrimp wraps at the Buxton Munch Company.
Dan with his fish tacos!
This place is apparently known for their “best fish tacos”, and they did not disappointment! They were some of the best fish tacos I’ve ever had!
Sorry Mirei, you’ll have to wait a little longer before you can dig in with us…
Happy to be reunited with Daddy!
After lunch and relaxing a little bit back at the house, we went to hit the beach together!
Dan and Mio going in the water.
Dan on the boogieboard
Look at those rays of light shining through the clouds! It was a really gorgeous day.
After coming back from the beach, we sat on the patio and enjoyed the view behind the beach house as the sun was setting.
A panoramic view I took on my phone.
Mio cooling down with an ice pop. ♥
More on our last few days at Outer Banks in the coming days! 🙂
We took a weeklong family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina at the end of June. We stayed at a beach house in Cape Hatteras, and while it’s quite a long drive down to get there, we had an enjoyable and relaxing vacation (for the most part) once we were there. The girls and I drove down with my parents and sister on Sunday, while Dan, my brother Ted, and sister-in-law Elisa joined us mid-week, arriving late Wednesday night since they didn’t want to miss as much of their work week.
The beach house – our home for the week. It was a short two minute walk away from the beach!
Going out to dinner at Pop’s Raw Bar the first evening.
Miwa enjoying the raw oysters. They were very fresh!
My crabcake sandwich was deeelicious!
Mirei and Obaachan on the patio the following day
Unfortunately, Mio woke up in the morning throwing up, and she repeatedly threw up throughout the day and couldn’t keep anything down. We think she caught some sort of a 24 hour stomach bug, because she didn’t have an appetite and was lethargic and just rested most of the day. We ended up staying inside for most of the day because I had to take care of her and she was in no condition to go out and enjoy the surroundings.
Poor Mio was sick with the stomach bug
So listless… 🙁
Mirei with Ojiichan. Fortunately, Mirei was unaffected by the stomach bug.
Poor baby. I tried to keep her hydrated with what she would take, which was ice pops and some soft rice.
My mom and I at Hatteras Landing.
My parents after doing some shopping.
The next morning, Mio was feeling a lot better and was generally back to her usual self, just with a smaller appetite. Sadly, it was not all good news as I woke up with a very uneasy stomach and proceeded to spend most of the day battling the same stomach bug and resting during our third day because I was so sick. I can’t remember the last time I had a stomach flu, but this definitely made it up there among one of the most miserable days of my life.
At least Mio was back to her cheery self!
On our fourth day (Wednesday) on vacation, we were finally all feeling better and energetic enough to go to the beach and really enjoy it! It’s really unfortunate that we spent the first half of the week cooped up inside because we were so sick.
The resident beach babe, ready to hit the beach!
So ready to go!
Mio getting held by Auntie Miwa in the ocean.
It was a beautiful day to enjoy the beach.
Such a posh baby!
Mio screamed every time a wave came in!
Walking on the beach with Obaachan (my mom)
We almost had the beach to ourselves!It was so private and nice.
The girls and I soaking up the sun!
It’s too bad our family vacation had a rough start, but I’m glad we could all recover in time for Dan and the rest of the family to arrive. Stay tuned for more of our adventures during the latter half of the trip! 🙂
On June 21, we attended the annual family picnic that’s hosted by Dan’s company. Mio had a blast last year but I was in Philadelphia visiting a friend that weekend so was unable to go. I was really glad that I could attend this year for the first time and join in all the family fun! 🙂
Mio getting a caricature drawn.
Does it look like her? 🙂
After we ate some food (which was delicious!), Mio immediately gravitated towards the bounce house.
That’s our climber!
Climbing all over.
Coming down the slide of the bounce house!
Dan on the bull ride!
Mio really wanted to go on the pony ride. When it was over, she asked if she could “ride more” and the staff let her go a second time around.
They even had a petting zoo area! Here’s Mio holding a baby duckling.
Waiting in line for face painting.
Mio getting her face painted. Love her scrunched up expression! lol
The result! She really wanted the kitty cat face for some reason… lol. To me, it looks more like a tiger.
Mio looking at herself in my phone camera:
She got a balloon heart wand made, too! She initially asked for a ninja turtle but the balloon artist couldn’t make it.
Dan rode the human gyroscope. Just watching him made me dizzy!
Enjoying Italian ice! My sweet tooth loved it. 🙂
Playing games with Daddy
Mio in another moonbounce. She couldn’t get enough of them!
We love that Dan’s company hosts such fun, family-friendly events, and this picnic is definitely something that we all look forward to every year. We thoroughly enjoyed all the food, activities, games and rides!
Mirei turned four months old today! I almost forgot to post her monthly photos/update because of Memorial Day weekend, but I am getting these posted before the day is over!
(I’ll be taking photos of Mirei sitting in my white desk chair and wearing her monthly onesie every month until she’s one year old.)
Stats: You now weigh almost 19 pounds! You’ve moved up to size 4 diapers — even though you’re still well within the weight range of size 3 diapers, your thighs and tooshie are so chubby that we’ve had to move you up to the next size! According to your last doctor’s visit a couple weeks ago, you’re now about 26.5 inches tall! Things You’re Doing Now: You’ve grown so much in these past few months, and we can’t believe how heavy you’ve gotten! Strangers who see you think you’re much older than you actually are, and your gaze and mannerisms seems mature as well. You’ve gotten quite strong and can hold your head and shoulders up for long periods of time, propping your upper body up with your arms and elbows. You really wiggle around while you’re on the floor and often rotate on the floor and in your crib, while also rolling this way and that. You may begin crawling earlier than we expected! We’ve introduced you to the doorway jumper which you love jumping around in, and also like sitting in your highchair with everyone at the table. You really stare at us when we’re eating, and sometimes even make motions to grab at food that’s in our hand when we’re holding you and eating at the same time. You’ve started sucking in your lips (as seen in this video) and love sucking on your fists and fingers, which signal that you may be teething! You love observing everyone around you, and you seem especially interested in what your big sister is doing when she’s around. We have a feeling you’ll be following her around before we know it!
I was just offloading photos and videos from my phone, and thought I’d post some of these funny/cute videos of the girls from this past month. Enjoy!
Mio enjoying her cheese puffs while we were driving to Lewes Beach earlier this month.
Mio requests for Dan to sing the hokey pokey at bedtime lately, and she makes this funny sound at “shake it all about!” No idea where she picked it up, but it’s pretty hilarious…
Blowing bubbles on the porch:
I signed Mio up for her first dance class this summer, and even though the first class is still a couple weeks away, she’s so excited and has been spinning and tumbling around everywhere in her leotard and tutu:
Mirei’s been doing this thing a lot lately where she sucks in her lips. (Maybe due to teething?) Here’s a video of it — she sucks her thumb at one point, too! Her upper lip reminds me of a turtle. 🙂
