We went to the first annual Tysons Harvest Festival earlier this month, and got to enjoy some fall family fun! There were lots of activities, great food, and cool vendors to check out.
Mio with her unicorn face paint
She is very into unicorns lately!
We met up with Pat’s family at the festival! Here’s Pat and her adorable mini-Pat! 🙂
Mio checking out the petting zoo at the festival.
Sleepy Mirei watching from her stroller.
At the craft table.
Mio coloring a Halloween crown.
Making our way around the festival, checking out various vendors.
We had some delicious banh mi and pho from this What the Pho? food truck!
Dan carrying Mio while in line for the bounce house.
Unstoppable Mio:
Mio came alive in the bounce house! She loves inflatable houses and was in her element climbing, sliding, and bouncing around in them.
Climbing up!
Sliding down! She was supposed to only go up and down three turns and then exit for other kids, but she refused to leave and went for about 5 turns instead…
Mio at the Yelp booth, making a lollipop spider out of tissue paper, pipecleaners, and googly eyes.
With her completed lollipop spider! She immediately wanted to disassemble it and eat it.
Mio and I. If my face looks strained, it’s because I’m lifting her up and trying to fit my face in at the same time…
Mio is a beer girl here.
With an Olaf pumpkin carving! According to Mio, she is Princess Anna (occasionally switching to Elsa) and Mirei is Olaf. lol… I suppose Mirei’s lack of hair does make her resemble the snowman!
We spent this past weekend at Camp Shehaqua, a family camp at Hickory Run State Park in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We arrived on Friday afternoon and left on Sunday afternoon, so it was a fun three days and two nights spent with friends and their families in the great outdoors!
Our little cabin for the weekend. Arriving at Camp Shehaqua Mio relaxing in the hammock by the dining hall. Mirei and I squeezed in too. It was so comfy! Both nights, there was a campfire and s’mores after dinner. Here’s Mio on the first night by the campfire. Hanging out by the campfire. Roasting marshmallows. Mio and I enjoying our s’mores! She loved them. 6 month old Mirei and 10 month old Avonlea. Avonlea, 2 month old Alanna, and Mirei! So many baby girls! Morning activity the next day for the “Twinkles” group (which was 3 – 5 year olds)
Mio had a good time participating in the activities with Dan. Meanwhile, Mirei and I were in the “Milky Way” group for babies under two. Mirei got to make some new baby friends!
Mirei with her friends:
The campground had a really clean and well-maintained pool! Mio had a great time swimming in it in the afternoon. Mirei got to take a dip, too! With our sweet girls in the pool. The dodgeball tournament in the evening of the second day. Lots of outdoor fun! Mio and Seiji watching their Daddies play dodgeball from the sidelines. The girls with Daddy after the game. Mirei sitting up in the field Dojoon was so sweet and doting with Mirei! Mirei getting lots of attention! Seiji playing with Mirei A bunch of the boys hugging Mirei. She was getting bombarded with affection! Mio climbing a tree for the first time. She had such a good time at the camp!
While I’m not a very outdoorsy person and camping usually is a challenge for me, it was nice to unplug and get away with other families and friends, and spend time in nature together. The kids definitely enjoyed it, and we’re looking forward to going again in the future!
The local county fair, Celebrate Fairfax!, was this past weekend and we spent most of our Saturday there — there were plenty of rides, entertainment, games, crafts and food there to keep us busy!
Eating a lamb gyro before moving onto the rides. Dan got a Polish hot dog which was pretty good, too! Dan and Mio on the boat ride Mio on the miniature drop tower. Our little thrill seeker!
Some funny video we got of Mio on the drop tower. Love how she chimed in with the other kids! lol
Bumblebee ride:
Fishing game:
Mio and I waiting in line for the caterpillar coaster ride.
Mio’s first “rollercoaster”!
Selfie video I took of Mio’s reactions on the ride. (At the end, she asks “can you more?” which means she liked it! haha*)
The sisters at the county fair. They had a petting zoo there as well! Mio petting a lamb. Mio’s favorite was the tortoise! She’s really into turtles lately. First time touching a real turtle! Mirei got to see the animals, too!Mio petting a goat. This baby bunny was so cute!!! I wanted to take it home with me. Riding the train ride. Mio on the train. Playing with the train table at the fair. Mio with her balloon turtle. She loved it and named it “Crush” (like the turtle from Finding Nemo) Mirei got a balloon heart. Making a bunny mask with Daddy at the craft table.
Ending our day at the fair with some delicious ice cream from Blue Sky Creamery. It’s made using liquid nitrogen and was so smooth!
The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC kicked off on March 20 and in its first weekend, they held an event called Family Day at the National Building Museum, where children of all ages could participate in making crafts inspired by Japanese culture and also enjoy performances such as taiko and dance on the stage. We went on Sunday afternoon and Mio really enjoyed all the creative activities that she got to participate in (with some help from us, of course).
NCBF Family Day at the National Building Museum
They had some characters that you could take pictures with, and we thought for sure Mio’d like seeing Cookie Monster, but to our surprise, she burst into tears! This is what I’ve come to call “the Santa Claus effect”… (Strange, because she loved meeting the Sesame Street characters at Dan’s company picnic last year.)
Mio didn’t want to meet cookie monster.
Trying to salvage the photo opportunity…
Our first craft activity was to decorate cherry blossom trees with glitter and popcorn.
Mio placing the popcorn “blossoms” on the tree.
The finished cherry blossom tree!
At the next craft table, we made a cha-shitsu, or Japanese tea room, by assembling and decorating a box.
Mio loved using the stamps!
Our collaborative cha-shitsu creation!
At another table, creating a Japanese garden out of pipe cleaners and colored tissue paper.
The completed Japanese garden!
We took a break to watch the taiko performance.
Mio was actually really interested! Posing with the huge cherry blossom balloons behind us.
While I was feeding Mirei, Dan took Mio to do some additional crafts…
Mio fell asleep on the way home in the Metro. It’s been a while since she’s fallen asleep in my arms like this!
We didn’t really take any photos of Mirei during the event, but she definitely kept us busy with several trips to the bathroom on her first trip to DC. She had two up-the-backer poops (resulting in two outfit changes) and also spit up all over my shirt! Of course, these things always happen at the most inopportune times. After a very messy afternoon, though, Mirei flashed us her first real smile as we were pushing the stroller through the Metro station on our way home from the event. Dan chuckled, “Awww she’s so cute!” and quickly pulled out the camera and captured the moment:
Mirei’s first smile! (Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry…)
It was a very eventful and memorable day for the whole family!
On Sunday, we went as a family to our very first Maker Faire! Dan’s hobby drone group was participating and attending, and he took us along to join in all the geeky fun! Maker Faires are part science fair, part craft fair, and showcases creations by designers and engineers of all ages, and the purpose is to inspire more creations within the community. I remember when we were living back in the Bay Area, we had considered going to the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo (which is of course much larger, as it is where the Maker Faire started in 2006 and is one of the flagship faires) a couple times but always somehow couldn’t make it due to scheduling conflicts. This year was Northern Virginia’s first official Mini Maker Faire, and was held at South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes School in Reston. Despite being a “Mini” Maker Faire, it attracted 5,000 attendees that preregistered, and they estimated about 3,000 more registered at the door — it was really crowded! We’re really glad we went to check it out this year – it’s so valuable to expose children to creativity and science from a young age, and show them all the ways people are harnessing technology and their creative minds in exciting and fun new projects.
Mirei slept most of the time we were at the Faire, making it easy for us to walk around and check out all the exhibits. We’re sure she’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future to take part in the fun!
Mio checking out the entropy gym Operating remote control vehicles. This boy very patiently explained to Mio how to build things with these “Strawbees.” A very interested Mio. Building with the Strawbees.
There were also a lot of booths with craft activities available for younger children. Mio and I spent a lot of time at them while Dan walked around with Mirei checking out the booths with more serious exhibits.
Mio and I at a craft booth, beading spiders. Stringing beads onto the pipecleaner legs of the spiders. Mio also got to decorate and make a mask… …and a kite! Showing off her completed spider. Checking out more booths with Daddy “How does this work exactly…?”
Coloring with Mama Making homemade silly putty. Mio enjoying a lollipop she got at one of the booths.
There were some food trucks at the event, so that people could grab food to eat while at the Faire.
Mio hugging Mirei during our lunch break. Waiting for the shuttle back to our car. Mio fell asleep after experiencing all the excitement!
The Maker Faire was interesting and educational fun for everyone! (Well, maybe with the exception of Mirei, who was sleeping the whole time.) We might make it an annual tradition to go, since it’s enjoyable for the whole family and the girls will probably enjoy it more and more as they grow older.
