We were invited to celebrate Anna’s fourth birthday at Mobu Kids playgym in Falls Church! The girls had a blast and we loved seeing and catching up with Anna, Cara, Pat and Theo. 🙂 Thanks so much for inviting us to be a part of sweet Anna’s birthday celebration — can’t believe she is four already!
At one point, Mirei went under the parachute and got lost under there, which made us panic for a moment:
Dan also captured the funny moment:
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Anna!
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 kids shaking their little egg shakers to the “Milkshake!” song.
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!
We got a video of everyone singing Happy Birthday and Mio blowing out the candle. Mio looks so happy!
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! ♥
December marks a milestone for both Dan and I, as we’re both turning 30 later this month! (Dan on December 13, myself on December 25 — we are only a couple weeks apart in age.) The thirties sound a little daunting but mostly exciting — we can’t wait to see where it’ll take us in both our family life and professional careers — our twenties were memorable, but we have a feeling our thirties will be just as, if not more, wonderful. As I wrote before, I’m dedicating my 30th to charity: water and so we have no plans to have any big birthday party for ourselves, but Dan still wanted to take me out to a nice dinner to celebrate what is a big milestone for both of us!
Dates are hard to come by when you’re parents, so we were really grateful that my parents volunteered to watch Mio while we got to get a little dressed up to enjoy the evening as a couple. Based on several friends recommending 2941 Restaurant in Falls Church to us, we decided to go there for our celebratory dinner.
All of the appetizers were delicious. The steak tartare was some of the best I’d ever tasted, the duck samosas had just the right amount of kick to it, but the crispy pork belly was definitely our favorite! It was so rich and flavorful, and practically melted in my mouth!
The entrées were even more exquisite! It was hard to decide, but I had to go with the lobster…
And of course, there’s always room for dessert with us! 😉
It was the perfect romantic evening, and the dining experience at 2941 was both delectable and unforgettable! Thank you to everyone who recommended it to us. 🙂 It was a lovely way to celebrate this special occasion, and we’re feeling great about turning 30 in the coming weeks! 😀
Yesterday was Veteran’s Day — a reminder for all of us to remember and thank those who have served, and are serving, our country. They are the true heroes of this nation, and I will always be grateful for everything they’ve done to protect our freedom.
Mio and I came down with the cold late last week, and so we spent much of the long weekend resting, but we still managed to go out and have a little fun. Here are some snapshots from the past week, including the weekend.
Fast forward to the weekend, we drove to the Japanese school in Bethesda on Saturday morning to check out a bazaar where we got to pick up some children’s books and DVDs in Japanese. She was so excited, and immediately started looking through the books in the car.
Afterwards, we took her to Clemyjontri Park in McLean. It was our first time visiting the park, and it was huge! Literally a mini theme park for toddlers. Mio squealed as soon as we approached the entrance to the park, and we spent a good couple hours there, letting her run free and explore everything.
Just look at this aerial photo of the park! (There was even a carousel in the middle, but it wasn’t running when we were there.) If you live in the DC area and you have a young child, I definitely recommend checking this park out. 🙂
We then headed over to Pho Saté in Falls Church for a late lunch. Whenever I am feeling sick, pho feels like the perfect remedy…
Some more snapshots from the rest of the weekend…
On Monday, we went on a little family date to Reston Town Center.
There’s nothing sweeter than a family outing with s’mores. Excitement for everyone! 😀
What I also love about Veteran’s Day is that it’s the first of all the holidays that follow throughout the winter season — I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is already next week!