The day before Mirei’s actual birthday, we threw a small, intimate birthday party to celebrate the milestone of her turning one! We were admittedly feeling a little overwhelmed (and a little lazy) about doing a big celebration, but we kept the guest list short and decided we’d just do what we could and that helped ease the pressure and stress on us parents. 😉 My brother Ted and his wife Elisa were gracious enough to reserve the party room at their condo for the celebration. Unfortunately, it snowed the morning of the party and some of our guests couldn’t make it because of the weather, but we still had fun with those who were able to make it, and we stayed warm and cozy as the flurries swirled outside!
First year poster for Mirei
Birthday cake for Mirei… intended to be smashed later in the party.
A tower of birthday cupcakes
Dan and I made these cake toppers — both the “one” atop the cupcakes and the one with her name on the smashcake.
hydrangea cupcakes
The items for erabitori
Cookies to be taken home as party favors.
lollipop party favors
First birthday sugar cookies
Don’t look too closely… it was my first time using gold dusting powder on sugar cookies!
Special thanks to Miwa, Hyo, and Elisa who all helped with getting the party decorations up!
Everyone crowding around the birthday girl!
The adorable kids arriving
The aunties
Cutiepies Mirei and Cara
So glad Nancy and her girls could make it! Welcome back to the States!
The birthday girl walking around
Pat and I with our baby girls. Thanks so much for coming! ♥
Mio with her aunties, posing for our makeshift photobooth.
We had set up our own little “photobooth” with an iPad app, and the kids had so much fun with it! It was really fun to see the collection of pictures at the end of the party:
We felt so blessed to be able to celebrate Mirei’s first birthday with such loving family and friends, and are so thankful that she is such a happy and healthy one year old! More posts to follow with the first birthday activities from the party — stay tuned!
Mirei’s friend Lily turns one on Christmas Day, but her parents celebrated her birthday early this month with a Frozen-themed first birthday party in Alexandria. I’ve known Lily’s mom since we were kids ourselves as we went to Japanese Saturday school together growing up, and we reconnected this year after finding out that we have baby girls born only a month apart (to the day!). We were so happy to get to be a part of Lily’s very special birthday celebration!
Dan & Mirei at Lily’s Frozen-themed birthday party. So appropriate for the season!
The birthday girl! Loved her outfit!
She’s such a sweetheart.
The kids got to romp around in the soft playroom for an hour.
Mio, being the wild and active girl that she is, thoroughly enjoyed the playroom.
Mirei joining in the fun
Lily and her mama Moe-chan
Mirei & Lily together
Mio being interesting…
M&M in the ball pit together
Mirei being rocked by Daddy
Video clips that Dan captured of the kids playing in the playroom. They had a blast!
Afterwards, we went back to the party room to have some birthday cake!
Look at this gorgeous birthday cake!
Frozen-themed treats!
Cupcakes looked amazing, too!
Lily smashing her birthday cupcake.
…and of course, Mio was happy to enjoy one, too!
Happy early birthday, Lily! Thank you for inviting us and letting us be a part of all the birthday fun. ♥ Let’s play again soon!
We had a busy weekend, attending a couple birthday parties on Saturday and then BrickFair LEGO Convention on Sunday with friends! See all the weekend fun below…
Dan holding Mirei at Clara’s birthday party.
Mio wading in one of the pools that were set out in the front yard.
The kids having fun with the water balloons.
The theme of the party was Frozen, and Mio loved all the Frozen-themed snacks!
Mio was having so much fun, but we had to leave Clara’s birthday party a little early so that we could also attend Augustine’s first birthday party, which was held at Westwood Country Club in Vienna.
The beautiful spread for Augustine’s first birthday! I had the honor of designing the backdrop.
Look at those amazing cake pops and cupcakes!
Mio getting her face painted.
Hello Kitty!
Mio smiling at herself in my phone camera.
There were cute props at every table!
Guest’s wishes for Augustine hanging on a tree. Such a beautiful idea!
Xiaolu meets Mirei
Doljanchi tradition… Auggie picked the ball! Future athlete!
Auggie with his parents and grandparents!
Mio was so excited that the balloon twister made her a ninja turtle balloon!
The birthday party had so much detail and thought put into it, and was extravagant like a wedding! Ploi did such an amazing job of throwing a birthday party to remember!
My brother stopped by the house while Mio was eating Pop Rocks for the first time (they were in a goody bag), in this pose. He asked, “What are you doing, Mio?” to which she deadpanned, “I’m popping.” lol
On Sunday, we got to go to the BrickFair LEGO Convention at the Dulles Expo Center because our friends had extra tickets! It was the largest gathering of LEGO enthusiasts in the area and there were quite a lot of impressive LEGO creations to see!
Mio and Kosei with a minion made out of LEGOs
LEGO Egyptian civilization
LEGO castle and soldiers
I particularly liked this theme park made out of moving LEGOs!
Mirei getting lots of hugs from Kosei. He’s got the big brother thing down!
Special thanks to the Smith family for inviting us along to BrickFair! It was a lot of fun for the whole family! 🙂
On Saturday, we ended Mio’s birthday week with a party with a bunch of her little friends at Mobu Kids in Falls Church! Mobu Kids is a local private play studio (similar to Gymboree) and we thought it’d be a fun place to host the party so that the kids could have enjoy all kinds of play and activities. The staff there were great in that they really engaged the kids, helped out a lot with set-up and did most of the clean-up, and kept the party on schedule. It was still a little chaotic (as is expected with 20+ toddlers and preschoolers), but our stress level was significantly reduced because of them!
The tables set up for the party, complete with party hats and noisemakers.
Mio checking out the party room before her friends arrive.
Mio with her scrunchy-face she makes when she’s super happy!
With more of a normal smile this time!
Cupcakes with custom acrylic toppers that I designed and Dan cut out of with a CNC cutter.
Mio loves ice cream, so I decided on an ice cream shoppe theme for her birthday party. These are cupcakes I baked in cake cones to look like ice cream!
Homemade sugar cookies, also in the ice cream theme.
Mio got an early start on playtime in the gym while the guest started arriving.
Instructor-led play in the gym.
Making music together!
Pat with her adorable girls Cara and Anna
The kids shaking their little egg shakers to the “Milkshake!” song.
Playing with the parachute!
A video of the kids playing with the parachute:
The bubbles were also a huge hit!
After nearly an hour of playtime, the instructors got the kids cleaned up and moved to the party room, where we enjoyed pizza and desserts!
Time to eat! The kids all looked so adorable in their party hats!
The party room got quite loud with all the noisemakers going off, too.
Cutiepies eating at the table.
This may just be the cutest photo from the party… Mie and 7 month old Avonlea!
We got a video of everyone singing Happy Birthday and Mio blowing out the candle. Mio looks so happy!
Mio enjoying her cupcake cone. Look at that content smile!
With Daddy and Mommy… Mio is too focused on her cupcake.
Finally got her to look at the camera!
Ice cream-themed goody bags I made for the kids to take home. They were filled with stickers, ice cream cone punch poppers, erasers, and more sugar cookies.
Mio and Kailee squeezing in some more playtime before the party was over.
Cutiepies. So glad Mio and her friends had fun!
We’re so glad all of Mio’s friends and their families could make it out to celebrate Mio turning three. Some of our guests came from pretty far, so we’re really thankful that they made the trek out! It was so great seeing everyone, and Mio had so much fun — she’s been talking about the party ever since. Thank you to everyone who helped make her birthday so special for her! ♥
On Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending a birthday party for two of Mio’s friends — Aaron and Kailee! Aaron turned four on August 20, and his sister Kailee will turn two on September 23. We often have playdates together during the weekdays, and Mio and Kailee are good friends. 🙂 We were more than happy to celebrate their birthdays with them!
The sign in front of the house. So cute!
Happy 2nd birthday, Princess Kailee!
Aaron and Kailee’s dad Sean just built this treehouse + slide this summer, and Mio loves going on it every time we play at their house. The party was no exception!
Mio can go up the treehouse ladder by herself (with supervision, of course). She just keeps climbing up and sliding down over and over.
Having fun on the trampoline.
Getting some pointers from Daddy on how to hit the ball.
Mio and I at the birthday party.
Mio loves this outdoor playhouse.
But of course, the treehouse is the favorite. Every kid’s dream!
Time for birthday cake!
Thank you to the Tzeng family for having us over and letting us be a part of their adorable children’s birthday celebration! We had such a good time with all the delicious food and fun. To many more wonderful birthday! 🙂
Mio and I relaxing on the lawn.
Mio’s been especially clingy lately. I think she senses the big changes coming…
