On Saturday afternoon, we drove down to go to the Mountain View Obon Festival. We’d always heard about it and had wanted to check it out, but it’s about an hour drive away for us so we hadn’t gone until this year. We originally wanted to attend on Sunday because that’s the day they have the bon-odori, but Dan had an obligation that day, so Saturday was the only time we could go together. We had a wonderful time experiencing Obon together as a family!
Arriving at Mountain View Obon
Dan enjoying a beer
Mio was dressed up in her matsuri attire – thank you Yuko & family for the jinbei!
I dressed in yukata for the festival. It’s been a while since I wore one!
It was really hot down in Mountain View… especially in the yukata!
There were various food stands serving shaved ice, sushi, manju, ohagi, chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki, corn, corn dogs, french fries, spam musubi, beer, sake, and other refreshments.
Kingyo-sukui (Goldfish Scooping Game) – an Obon classic!
Love all the colors!
Mio and I watching the Goldfish Game
Mio loved walking around and taking in everything.
Thankfully, she’s been getting better about holding my hand while navigating crowds.
Taking a break to eat some ohagi and sip on Italian soda.
Mio has been doing this funny thing where she pretends to sip water, and then afterwards lets out a big burst of breath, like it was really refreshing. I’m not sure where she learned it from… I have a feeling it’s from this beer commercial, which comes on a lot when I’m watching Japanese TV shows. Here it is on video.
Silly girl.
Love her!
We ran into our friends Ali and Tim, who recently just moved back to the area after living in DC for a couple years.
Mio loved them!
A family picture (courtesy of Ali)
Our first time at Mountain View Obon!
Around 6pm, we headed over to the stage area where Jun Daiko was going to have a taiko performance.
This adorable little boy was walking around the taiko set.
Meanwhile, Mio was getting restless and flashing people with very unladylike poses. Please don’t do this when you are 16…
…so we moved her to Dan’s lap.
Jun Daiko performing – they were great! I love watching taiko.
Mio’s first time seeing taiko – she was fascinated, too.
A lion came out during the performance.
Mio was transfixed on the lion.
The lion went around to different members of the audience, and he eventually made his way over to Mio. She was definitely a bit intimidated and shrank bank a little, but she didn’t turn away. Even after it left, she kept her eyes on him and pointed in his direction.
Here’s the last half of Jun Daiko’s finale performance of “Inazuma.”
“Inazuma” performance by Jun Daiko
Towards the end, Mio was yelling along with the taiko performers… lol.
Afterwards, we headed over to downtown Mountain View for a ramen dinner and frozen yogurt for dessert!
Our messy ramen eater
A froyo lover, just like Daddy!
I’m really glad that we made the drive down to go to the festival this year! It was memorable, and I think it’s great to give Mio exposure to Japanese culture and traditions so that she can develop an appreciation for her ethnic heritage.
Mio has made some more friends in the neighborhood lately, and they are so cute together! The moms are Japanese and talk to their kids in Japanese, so it’s great for Mio to get more exposure to the language, too.
Such adorable friends.
食ã„ã—ã‚“åŠã®ï¼“人。These three love to eat!
Picnic on the playground.
Storytime with Luca and Isla
She loves the felt easel + felt shapes. Thinking about making one at home.
These are from almost a month ago, but I thought I’d post them anyway because they are so cute…
Mio on a date with Luca. For some reason, they look alike. 美桜ã€ãƒ«ã‚«ãã‚“ã¨åˆãƒ‡ãƒ¼ãƒˆã€‚ã§ã‚‚é¡”ãŒä¼¼ã¦ã¦å…„弟ã£ã½ã„。(笑)
Yes, I’m that mom… who shamelessly dresses her kid to match her own outfits. Hey, I can only do it for a few more years before she starts protesting and exercising her right and ability to say no, so I’m taking advantage while I still can! 😛
Mio and I are matching in polka dots!
Watermelon jeggings! I’ve never been brave enough to wear something this bright before, but I fell in love with these and had to have them.
This is not a twinsie photo, but a snapshot I took in San Francisco earlier this week when I got to have some “me time” in the city while Grandma graciously watched Mio. It’s so refreshing to get even half a day to go out and about and just relax! As much as a mother loves their child, I think it’s healthy to have some time away once in a while… and getting that space will make you appreciate them so much more!
Mio loves riding the swing whenever she goes to the park. She can’t stop smiling!
Lately, I’ve been trying to be better about taking her to the park more often. She always has so much fun that she gets exhausted and conks out on the walk home. Here she is, asleep in her stroller.
Our wedding anniversary is July 26th, but because we’ll be on a plane to Hawaii that day, we decided to celebrate it early this weekend with a dinner date at La Fondue in Saratoga. We drove down to the South Bay and dropped Mio off with the grandparents (since they live in San Jose now) so that we could enjoy a lovely evening to ourselves. It had been a while since we’d had a date night, so it was so nice to just have that time together as a couple, knowing that Mio was in good hands.
Friends had told us about what an amazing dining experience La Fondue was and how it was the perfect restaurant for a romantic dinner and special occasions. I’d been wanting to go for years but we hadn’t because it’s kind of far from the East Bay where we live, and it was too fancy for us to just swing by on past occasions when we did happen to find ourselves in the area. But this year, since we needed to drop Mio off in the South Bay anyway, we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to finally visit what is easily the best fondue restaurant in the Bay Area.
Outside of La Fondue in Saratoga
The decor inside the restaurant was very retro and artsy… I loved it!
Each table had one of these cool lamps, which feature a gold gun as the handle.
We opted for the punsch cooking method, which is spiced red wine with cloves and rosemary.
It was very flavorful, with no fat or broth.
The hubster enjoying the dinner. All the meats were wonderful.
Ever the seafood lover, my favorites were the shrimp and sea scallops!
Dan is overwhelmed by all the options and possible combinations for the chocolate fondue.
After much deliberation over which chocolate fondue we wanted, we decided to go with The Decadent One, which is a dark and milk chocolate bowl, mixed with espresso, kahlua, and creme. The array of desserts they brought for us to dip into the chocolate was very impressive! There were strawberries, bananas, grapes, apples, marshmallows, cream puffs, wafer cookie sticks, cream cheese balls, cookie dough, pound cake, and even Snickers chocolates! And you request extra of your favorites afterwards. (I was too full at the end, but Dan requested extra strawberries.) Even Dan said that as much as he hated to admit it, the dessert was his favorite part of the meal!
A heavenly selection of desserts!
I tried the strawberry first…
…because there are few things that are sweeter than a chocolate-covered strawberry!
marshmallows + chocolate = always amazing!
Our waiter even brought us some champagne on the house for our anniversary! 🙂
Anniversary champagne! The strawberry was a nice touch.
Cheers, hubby!
It was such a memorable, romantic, and delicious dinner! The ambience, the food, the service… everything was so perfect. We both agreed that this was probably our favorite anniversary dinner yet. It’ll be hard to top this one, but we look forward to many more anniversaries together.
Marriage is not always easy — in fact, it can be a pretty bumpy ride and at times unbelievably trying — but it’s been a wonderful journey thusfar, and we wouldn’t change a moment of it. We’re not perfect and don’t pretend to be; marriage is a constant work in progress, but I believe that’s what makes it so exciting and worthwhile. There’s no better partner I could imagine weathering life’s challenges and experiencing all of its wonders and joys with. I’m so thankful every day to have Dan by my side, knowing that he’ll be with me wherever life takes us. Happy (early) anniversary, Dan — I love you! ♥
