It doesn’t feel like fall without a visit to the pumpkin patch! We went to Pumpkin Village at Leesburg Animal Park for the first time this year, as it’s not too far of a drive from our new neighborhood. Turns out it was the perfect manageable size for us, as it had a lot of the rides and attractions that larger, more popular pumpkin patches like Cox Farms has, except everything was in closer proximity and there were less lines. There was also the playground and animal exhibits that are already there year-round at the Leesburg Animal Park, which added to the fun. The girls had such a great time!
It’s DC’s most beautiful time of the year… sakura season! †On Saturday, we went out to DC with my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law to go see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in DC. I’ve gone every year since returning to DC, but last year we went a little late and missed the peak bloom. We had better luck this year, though, and were able to catch the blossoms in full bloom, just in time for the main Sakura Matsuri weekend event during the National Cherry Blossom Festival! Mio was so excited to go from the moment we told her we were going the night before, and she kept exclaiming, “We’re going to see the cherry blossoms! My name means ‘beautiful cherry blossom!’ We’re going to go see them!!!'” I love that she loves the meaning of her name, and can get so excited about the flower that is her namesake.
Mio on the Metro to DC
Saturday morning on the Metro with the girls
Mio eating some onigiri that my mom made for the outing
Family outing to see the cherry blossoms!
Blossoms surrounding the Washington Monument
Our family with the Washington Monument
Mirei and Mio riding in the stroller
Ted & Elisa under the blossoms
My parents under the sakura
Love our girls ♥
Mio playing with Mirei in the stroller
Mirei loves when Mio plays with her!
M&M being silly
Mio was in such a great mood to be with everyone… especially when Uncle Ted pushed them in the stroller!
Mio giggling her way through the cherry blossoms:
Arriving at the MLK Memorial
Yet another family photo ruined by a photobombing by Ted
Ted & Elisa at the Tidal Basin
photo by my Dad
Some of the pinkest blossoms we found
Catching the end of the cherry blossom parade
After seeing the cherry blossoms, we had lunch in DC together (we wanted to eat at Daikaya, but we ended up going to Full Kee instead because the wait was two hours!), and then took the Metro back home in the afternoon. DC was so crowded and we got a lot of walking in, so we were exhausted! All of us took a nap when we got home. We’re so glad we could see the cherry blossoms together with almost the whole family this year!
Vienna had its annual Viva Vienna! festival on Memorial Day weekend, and since Mio had such a great time going last year, we spent a couple hours of our Saturday morning there, going on the rides and enjoying some of the food before it got too crowded and hot. Mio could go on a lot more rides this year because she met the height requirement for most of the rides — our sheet of tickets went fast with all the rides she wanted to go on!
On the carousel at Viva Vienna
She wanted to ride on the giraffe.
On the swing ride!
Mirei’s first time at Viva Vienna! She was pretty quiet the entire morning in her stroller, letting the rest of us enjoy the festival.
Riding on the spinning dragon with Daddy.
Daddy’s girl ♥
Making her way up in the funhouse… that’s our climber!
Dashing across the bridge!
…and coming down the slide! This funhouse seemed to be her favorite (more than the rides), and she wanted to go through it again.
Riding the Wiggle Worm ride.
On the boat ride
On the train ride.
Delicious crabcake sandwich!
Dan and Mio taking a bite.
After coming home from Viva Vienna!, Mio spent the afternoon playing in the wading pool.
On Saturday, we went to Ekoji Buddhist Temple’s annual Obon Festival in Fairfax Station. They had a variety of Japanese summer festival activities and games for kids, arts and crafts for sale, as well as a lot of Japanese food for sale — everything from somen, gyudon, mabodufu, chicken teriyaki, spam musubi, shaved ice, mochi, and other desserts! The area was decorated in traditional matsuri style with lanterns strung around and outdoor tables and stations for the various vendors.
Arriving at Ekoji Buddhist Temple’s Obon festival.
When we got there, the festival was already bustling with tons of people!
Mio and I making our way over to the shaved ice stand for a cool refreshment.
Daddy says “open wide!” for the kakigori.
Enjoying some melon-flavored kakigori (shaved ice).
There were lots of games for children.
Instead of the traditional game of scooping live goldfish, they had kids scoop plastic toys and rubber duckies that they could take home with them.
During the ring toss, Mio didn’t understand why everyone was purposely making it hard for themselves by throwing the rings. She kept going over and carefully placing the rings on the sticks.
She still won some bubbles and a whistle as prizes!
A lot of people were dressed in yukatas and jinbeis, the Japanese festival garb.
Mio of course sported her own jinbei and got a lot of smiles and compliments from strangers!
We ran into our friend Mimi at the festival. Thanks for taking this picture of us, Mimi!
There was also Yo-yo tsuri (fishing for water balloons).
Later in the evening, there was bon-odori, and a lot of people joined in the dancing.
Some video of the bon-odori dancing:
Nen Daiko also gave an awesome taiko performance!
Here is Nen Daiko performing “Satori no Michi.” Mio started yelling along with the drummers towards the end, much to our dismay…
We left shortly afterwards as Mio was getting really rowdy and we were worried she’d disturb everyone’s enjoyment of the taiko performances. At the end of the Obon festival, they supposedly had a candle memorial ceremony to remember loved ones who have passed on. Maybe next time, we’ll be able to stay for the whole festival! 🙂 It’s great that our children will be able to experience and take part in these Japanese traditions even while they live in America. Even as Americans, it’s a valuable thing to get exposure to your ethnic heritage and its traditions so that you can develop an understanding and appreciation for them. I think going to Obon will definitely be a family tradition for us in the years to come!
Every year on Memorial Day weekend, the community of Vienna celebrates with Viva Vienna!, a 3-day festival of amusement rides, entertainment, food, crafts, and vendors. 100% of proceeds go to charitable, community and humanitarian organizations. Growing up in this community, I have so many fun memories of attending as a child with my family, and then with my friends as a high school teenager! It’s yet another fond memory that I’m really happy I can share with Mio and Dan now that we’re back in my old ‘hood! Mio and I went two days in a row, and she had so much fun!
On Saturday, Dan was teaching a video workshop all day to the local community youth (such a great gesture on his part — so proud of him!), and our friends SunJae, Mie, and their son Kosei were visiting from Maryland so that SunJae (who is also a video editor) could assist Dan with the workshop. So Mie and I decided to take the kids to Viva Vienna! for a few hours of festival fun!
Kosei and Mio riding the merry-go-round together! Mie is pregnant with baby #2 (a girl!), due in September.
Mio going on the merry-go-round a second time. So many ponies, but this time Mio picked the freaky monkey to ride on.
They had free face-painting at the festival.
The kids are happy with their painted faces! Kosei got a spider (“Spiderman!”) and Mio got to be a kitty cat.
Mio and I really enjoyed going to the festival with Mie and Kosei on Saturday, but because Mio had so much fun there and we still wanted to go with Dan as a family (especially since it’s so close!), the three of us went again the following day on Sunday. 🙂 It was actually much more crowded on the second day, probably because the vendors (who weren’t there on Saturday) had set up all their tents down Church Street on Sunday and Monday.
Mio grabbing a hold of Dan’s chicken on a stick!
Mio nomming on the chicken skewer. You have some chicken in your teeth!
She was SO HAPPY. She enjoyed the chicken skewer so much that even when Dan and I requested to take bites in between, she wouldn’t let go of the stick and would just guide it into our mouths, before putting it back into hers. I think she ended up eating most of it!
Mio was fascinated by this “pet cool-down zone” pool they had set up. She loved watching the dogs go in and out of the water, and wouldn’t budge from the spot for about 15 minutes!
We ran into the Lee family by the carousel! Here’s Mio riding with Danny and his mommy Stephanie!
I’ve always wanted to go on the ferris wheel with Mio, but she was never allowed to go on them in California, even with her parents. We were really excited to ride it together!
The view of Viva Vienna! from the ferris wheel.
Mio bravely looking over the edge.
She really enjoyed the ride! The rides she could go on were limited due to her height, but maybe next year she’ll get to go on more!
We met up with newlywed friends Mimi and Sujay, and Xiaolu and her new adorable dog!
Mio was of course very interested in the dog. She kept pointing at its curly tail and eventually was brave enough to pet it.
It got really hot as the day progressed! Cooling down with a frozen drink on the sidewalk.
Waiting for pizza afterwards at Luciano’s! Love this smile.
“Enough pictures! Bring out the food!”
Mio staring at the huge pizza in front of her.
We had a truly memorable couple days at Viva Vienna! Festivals, carnivals, and county fairs are probably one of my favorite things about summer, and I love that now I can experience it with our little family. We’re looking forward to making more fun summer memories in the coming months and years ahead!
