Photos from our 4th of July weekend! We started it out by trying Duck Donuts for the first time (since they recently opened their Fairfax location), had a BBQ with my parents’ family friends, and ended with fireworks on Sunday night!
The girls dressed up for 4th of July!
Hubs and Mirei at Duck Donuts
Duck Donuts were delicious! My favorite were the maple bacon ones!
When we grill, we do it right… chicken satay, kalbi, and shrimp & vegetable skewers (…in addition to the typical burgers + hot dogs)
Kids making s’mores as Dan mans the grill
Mio loves her watermelon!
Mio right in there with the big kids, roasting s’mores
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!
When we arrived, Mio ran right in and started climbing everything. No hesitation!
Mirei needed a little more coaxing but she eventually warmed up to the play area when I went in with her.
Circle time with the instructors
Mirei with the egg shakers
Mirei was having such a great time!
Mio playing with the egg shakers
Parachute time!
Anna and Mio with the parachute
Anna and Cara in the middle of the parachute
The girls all got to go in the middle of the parachute, while everyone else pulled the parachute around.
Lots of girls!
Mirei refused to get off so she stuck around for the boys’ turn… lol
Mirei didn’t get to wave the parachute up and down, but she definitely enjoyed the breeze from it and seeing the balls bouncing!
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:
Mirei running around in excitement!
Chasing after bubbles with Cara
Such cutiepies!
Mio in her element, scaling the rockwall
The kids enjoying pizza and cupcakes
M&M with their cheeks full of food
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Anna!
Mio loved the cupcake cone!
Pure bliss!
Mirei playing with the water fountain… we were surprised she climbed up on the stool herself and started pushing the button
With lovely mama Pat, one of my dearest friends. ⤠Thanks for inviting us to be a part of Anna’s birthday party! Can’t believe our girls are four… it’s been such a joy to experience motherhood at the same time with you!
On Valentine’s Day, a bunch of my high school girlfriends and I drove up to Philadelphia for a day trip to visit our dear friend Debbie! (Dan was a great sport about watching the girls while I got to spend time with my friends, and we had already had our own Valentine’s celebrations in the days prior.) Jen, Mimi, and I headed out in the morning, and got to Philly in time to enjoy soup dumplings for lunch with Debbie! Juli flew in to join us afterwards for post-lunch dessert at Audabon Bakeshop!
Audabon Bakeshop with the ladies
Mimi and I at lunch right before.
Neat signage at Audabon Bakeshop
Delicious macarons from Audabon Bakeshop
Strawberry brick toast at Audabon Bakeshop
It was so amazing that it necessitates posting another angle of it.
Walking to The Barnes Foundation museum as the flurries fell around us.
Lovely Mimi!
Us at the Barnes Foundation
The snow made everything look so romantic!
Cool crystals hanging from the ceiling of the museum.
Juli, Debbie, and Jen at dinner
We enjoyed dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant called Kanella. We didn’t realize that we’d be dining off of their Valentine’s menu, so it ended up being quite a meal!
shepherd’s pie
lamb chops
Lobster from Kanella
Chocolate cake with lavender ice cream. My favorite dessert there!
This was also delicious.
Our day trip to Philly was quite eventful! It was a fun and memorable day, and it was so enjoyable getting to spend Valentine’s Day with these amazing ladies!
We got caught in a bit of a blizzard on the way so it took us a while to get home, but thankfully we made it back in one piece around 2 in the morning. Can’t wait until we are all reunited again!
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!
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! ♥
