Fairfax

Dessert Story

June 4, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends, Local Gems, Recreational Fun Tags: Dessert Story, Fairfax, Mio, Mirei, misono, Xiaoyi

Photos from when we met up with Xiaoyi for a Sunday afternoon at Dessert Story in Fairfax. We hadn’t seen her since her wedding two years ago!

Easter Weekend

April 5, 2015 By Misono in Family and Friends, Recreational Fun, Seasonal Celebrations, Videos Tags: Chwan, dan, Danny, Easter egg hunt, Easter eggs, Easter weekend, egg hunt, Fairfax, lunch, Mio, Mirei, misono, nap, park, playground, rock climbing, rock wall, Saturday, Stephanie, Tequila Grande, Van Dyck Park

We had a very busy Saturday on Easter weekend, as we went to two Easter egg hunts! The first one was at Van Dyck Park in Fairfax, and then we headed over to the Lee’s for their now-annual (?) Easter egg hunt event!

Easter egg hunt at Van Dyck Park — Arriving just in time for the egg hunt to begin!

Mio at the Van Dyck Park Easter egg hunt — Mio’s ready to get some eggs!

Dan and Mirei at the Van Dyck Park Easter egg hunt — Meanwhile, Mirei is pretty oblivious, happily held by Daddy…

Rushing the field to pick up the eggs!

After the egg hunt, we took some time to let the girls run around and play, as Van Dyck Park has a fairly large playground! It was so windy that morning!

Mio at Van Dyck Park — Mio peering through the window on the playground

Mio dashing around the playground!

Mio climbing the rock wall at Van Dyck Park

Some of the climbing action!

Mirei with her Easter eggs:

Lunch at Tequila Grande after Van Dyck Park

Mirei learned how to dip her French fries into ketchup!

After lunch, we headed over to the Lee household for the egg hunt they organized with all their family friends! We had so much fun with them last year and the year before, so we were excited to join them again this year!

Ready to go! — Ready for the second egg hunt of the day!

Listening to the egg hunt rules from Stephanie

Let the egg hunt begin!

Mio with her egg hunt loot! — Mio showing us the eggs she found.

Mio picking flower lollipops — Picking flower lollipops…

All the kids at the egg hunt! — Group photo with all the kiddos at the egg hunt

Mirei with a lollipop — Uh oh, Mirei’s got a lollipop…

Mio & Mirei after the egg hunt — Mio & Mirei together after the egg hunt

After the egg hunt, we enjoyed a delicious Easter-themed lunch and snacks prepared by Stephanie and Chwan, and they kids enjoyed playing with all the toys inside! The grownups had a great time chatting and catching up while the kids had their fun. On the short ten minute drive home that afternoon, both the girls fell asleep and continued to nap for a couple hours when we brought them inside. They were tuckered out from all the excitement!

Sleeping on the couch — Napping on the couch

Celebrate Fairfax! County Fair

June 11, 2014 By Misono in Local Gems, Recreational Fun, Videos Tags: balloon animal, Blue Sky Creamery, Celebrate Fairfax!, county fair, crafts, Fairfax, Fairfax Government Center, games, gyro, ice cream, Mio, Mirei, petting zoo, Polish hot dog, potbelly pig, rides, roller coaster, tortoise, train table, video

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!

Lamb gyro at Celebrate Fairfax! — Eating a lamb gyro before moving onto the rides.

Dan's polish hot dog at the county fair — Dan got a Polish hot dog which was pretty good, too!

Mio on the miniature drop tower at the county fair. Our little thrill seeker! — 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:

Waiting in line for a ride — 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*)

M&M at Celebrate Fairfax! — The sisters at the county fair.

Petting zoo at Celebrate Fairfax! — They had a petting zoo there as well!

This baby bunny was so cute!!! I wanted to take it home with me.

On the train at Celebrate Fairfax! — Riding the train ride.

Train table at Celebrate Fairfax! — 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*)

Crafts at Celebrate Fairfax! — Making a bunny mask with Daddy at the craft table.

Ice cream at Celebrate Fairfax! — 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!

Miwa’s Graduation

May 17, 2014 By Misono in Family and Friends Tags: ceremony, college, commencement, Fairfax, George Mason University, GMU, graduation, Mio, Mirei, Miwa, Patriot Center, university, video

Today, we attended Miwa’s graduation ceremony at George Mason University’s Patriot Center! She had her department graduation ceremony on Wednesday evening, and this ceremony on Saturday morning was for all the graduates of spring 2014.

The girls and I waiting for the commencement ceremony to begin.

The graduates entering... — The graduates entering…

Mirei in the Ergo Baby, looking up at me. She was well-behaved and quiet during most of the ceremony!

Mio also did pretty well, though she did start getting restless halfway in.

It took us a while to figure out exactly where Miwa was... can you spot her? — It took us a while to figure out exactly where Miwa was… can you spot her?

Mirei looking rather grumpy... thankfully Daddy did a great job calming her. — Mirei looking rather grumpy… thankfully Daddy did a great job calming her.

Congratulations to all the graduates of 2014!

Group picture after going out to lunch to celebrate Miwa's graduation. — Group picture after going out to lunch to celebrate Miwa’s graduation.

Mio and Obaachan. I realized we actually have few photos of Mio with my parents… have to remember to take more!

Congratulations, Miwa! Can’t believe my baby sister is now a college graduate — so proud of her! â™¥

Dinner with Ted & Jackie

April 14, 2014 By Misono in Family and Friends, Local Gems Tags: Courtside Thai Cuisine, dan, dinner, Elisa, Fairfax, family, Jackie, Mio, Mirei, misono, Old Town Fairfax, Ted, Thai

Dan’s brother Ted and his fiancÃ©e Jackie are in town visiting for a couple days, and our whole family went out to dinner with them on Sunday evening at Courtside Thai in Old Town Fairfax. They love Mio so she got a lot of attention from them, and they got to meet 11 week old Mirei for the first time, too!

Mio wasn't quite ready for the photo... — Mio wasn’t quite ready for the photo…

Better! Mio was in such a great mood this evening.

Mio with Uncle Ted — Mio circled the table and made her way over to her other Uncle Ted (my brother’s name is also Ted), who she also loves getting attention from.

Eating delicious Thai food. This is one of our favorite spots! — Eating delicious Thai food. This is one of our favorite spots, and we ate outside because it was such a beautiful day!Â

Mirei waking up — Mirei slept for most of dinner and woke up towards the end, but quietly waited until we finished eating.

She just stared off into space... — She just stared off into space…

Mirei with Auntie Jackie — Jackie meeting Mirei for the first time, and feeding her for us. She’s a natural with babies and kids!

Mio with Ted & Elisa — Mio bothering Auntie Elisa and Uncle Ted again on the other side of the table.

1 2