Dan’s company had a holiday party at the McLean Hilton this year, and it was grand! It’s nice to get dressed up and go somewhere without the kids once in a while, and we thoroughly enjoyed the festivities!
Main course of filet mignon. My favorite part, though, was the ginormous cocktail shrimp they had among the hors d’oeuvres (not pictured). Heaven for a shrimp lover like me!
My favorite kind of bar = a hot chocolate bar! Dan got the Olaf and I got the Elsa and they were both amazing.
Fun in the photobooth ♥
Chocolates from Dan’s company as a gift for him helping them prepare for the party. Yum!
I’m thankful that Dan is such a hardworking husband and father — it’s thanks to him that we can provide for our girls, and we can enjoy company events like these from time to time. His company and his team are so wonderful too, and he loves his work — I’m so happy for him that he found this opportunity that brought us back to the East Coast two years ago.
Mirei’s friend Lily turns one on Christmas Day, but her parents celebrated her birthday early this month with a Frozen-themed first birthday party in Alexandria. I’ve known Lily’s mom since we were kids ourselves as we went to Japanese Saturday school together growing up, and we reconnected this year after finding out that we have baby girls born only a month apart (to the day!). We were so happy to get to be a part of Lily’s very special birthday celebration!
Dan & Mirei at Lily’s Frozen-themed birthday party. So appropriate for the season!
The birthday girl! Loved her outfit!
She’s such a sweetheart.
The kids got to romp around in the soft playroom for an hour.
Mio, being the wild and active girl that she is, thoroughly enjoyed the playroom.
Mirei joining in the fun
Lily and her mama Moe-chan
Mirei & Lily together
Mio being interesting…
M&M in the ball pit together
Mirei being rocked by Daddy
Video clips that Dan captured of the kids playing in the playroom. They had a blast!
Afterwards, we went back to the party room to have some birthday cake!
Look at this gorgeous birthday cake!
Frozen-themed treats!
Cupcakes looked amazing, too!
Lily smashing her birthday cupcake.
…and of course, Mio was happy to enjoy one, too!
Happy early birthday, Lily! Thank you for inviting us and letting us be a part of all the birthday fun. ♥ Let’s play again soon!
Mio is quite the little performer these days! Every day she entertains us and makes us smile and laugh with all her dancing, singing, acting, and jokes!
Dancing with her wand
Twirls and spins
She loves being a “princess”
It was only a matter of time before she fell in love with Frozen…
A distracted alphabet song performance…
Let’s try this again…
Looking very 80s with this frazzled look… a result of her recent obsession with headbands.
She also likes to sing Japanese songs… though she doesn’t always get the lyrics right…
I helped her out a little the second time. 😉
Singing 「ã¨ã‚“ã¼ã®ã‚ãŒãã€
Encore!
She likes to shout, “tongue’s blue!” and show her tongue after eating blue popsicles, lollipops, etc…
She wanted me to join in this selfie.
Mio selfies: Smiles one moment, mean-muggin’ the next.
Mio’s funny video message to Grandma and Auntie Miwa who were in Japan at the time:
HUGE smiles when I made her her favorite California rolls for lunch. (Note the Mirei photobomb!)
Mio was playing with my socks here. She took of my sock and her sock, and switched them so that she put her sock on my foot, and my sock on her foot… silly girl.
Wearing a crab hat from a Japanese restaurant:
Pretending to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are: “Be still!”
Ready to star in “Singing in the Rain”!
Playing make-believe with her Minnie Mouse(s):
Donning her kitty earmuffs and a table runner as a shawl.
Climbing up on the changing table and pretending it’s her “new bed.”
Wild child!
Making a “diamond” with a DVD case:
“Orange tongue!” edition
Mustached Mio
It’s really a joy to see Mio’s personality coming out more and more every day.
