On Sunday evening during our stay in California, we drove down to San Jose to see Dan’s grandmother and aunts. It was the first time the Allens (Dan’s immediate family) has been all together in a couple years, and we got together with some of the relatives so that we could all see them together. Mio and Mirei were particularly interested in their grandparents’ dog Choco!
Dan and Mirei sitting with Dan’s grandmother, who is 96 years old.
Allen family reunion in San Jose
At one point, Mio went into her grandparents’ room, where Grandma let Mio try on her odori (Japanese traditional dance) hat, adorned with flowers.
Mio trying on Grandma’s Japanese dance hat
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It was nice to be able to spend time with Dan’s grandmother and aunts, since we rarely get to see them as we’re on the other side of the country. Our hearts are always warmed by their hospitality!
We recently returned from our trip to California! It had been a little over two years since we last visited the West Coast, so it was long overdue and we have really missed the Bay Area, including all of our friends and family there. We were so glad we could spend a week in Northern California, catching up with loved ones and seeing familiar sights and eating all the good food we’ve missed from the area.
We woke up early the morning of Friday, May 15th to go to Dulles to catch our flight to San Francisco.
Riding the shuttle to the terminal:
Despite how early it was, Mio was hyper and running around the airport. She got especially excited about this rainbow wall at Dulles.
Collapsed on the floor.
…only to jump back on her feet to run around again! Waiting at the gate to board our flight
This was Mirei’s first flight ever! We were all a little anxious about how she’d do, but she did surprisingly well and was well-behaved for most of it. We had told Mio we were going to be visiting California in the days and weeks before the trip, so she was really excited!
We arrived in the afternoon and spent the first couple days of our trip around our favorite city!
Arriving in San Francisco! Dan’s parents came to pick us up!
 We were pretty hungry when we landed, so our first order of business was of course…
In-N-Out Burger! Thirsty Mio Mirei dipping her fries She’s so independent now and loves to eat food on her own, whether it be using her fingers, a spoon, or a fork!
On Saturday, we spent the morning in Japantown — probably the part of San Francisco I spent the most time in when we lived in California. So many good memories of shopping around, browsing Kinokuniya bookstore, eating delicious Japanese food, attending the annual, Cherry Blossom Festival there, volunteering with Japanese American organizations like Nakayoshi… it’s really a place that is close to our heart, so I’m so glad we could stop by and visit this time, since we weren’t able to our last trip.
At Japantown’s Peace Plaza in San Francisco
We also wanted to stop to see the Golden Gate Bridge, so we drove through the Presidio, hopping that the fog would clear…
Missed this view!
We left our hearts in San Francisco… We missed our favorite city!
On Tuesday, the last day of March, my parents and I took the girls out for an outing to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, as the weather is finally starting to warm up! It’s my Dad’s favorite local garden/park to go to, so it’s become a sort of annual tradition to visit a few times a year! He took a lot of photos, so I thought I’d share some here on the blog.
Grumpy-faced Mirei
Mio by the water.
Obaachan feeding Mirei snacks
Mio looking out at the geese from the interactive children’s garden
The girls with their grandparents
A video of the girls at the Interactive Children’s Garden area:
Look at those towering plants!
Mio loves this park too, and she was happily skipping and running all over the place!
Mio running ahead of my parents
Some videos from when we got to the gazebo:
The girls sitting in the gazebo. I love the plaque that reads, “We are all meant to shine.”
Such sweethearts.
Mio giving Mirei a hug! So adorable.
Sisters, but they look so different.
No more nice sister! Mio yanking the water bottle away from Mirei.
Taking a rest before heading back to the car.
I love this photo of a couple sitting by the pond, watching the geese. The gardens will be even more beautiful when all the flowers come into bloom!
My parents wanted to go see the peonies that were in bloom at Meadowlark Gardens, so we went on Friday morning to walk around the gardens and admire the flowers. Here are some snapshots I took on my phone!
Looking down at the fish and turtles at Meadowlark.
Dan’s parents flew over from California last week to visit us from Tuesday night to Saturday morning. Mio’s face broke into a huge smile as soon as she saw her grandparents on Wednesday morning, and they were nearly inseparable for much of their visit! It was so sweet to see Mio interacting with her loving grandparents, and they got to meet their new granddaughter Mirei for the first time, too! Here are some photos and video from their visit.
Mio & Mirei with their grandparents
Mio has been doing this funny thing lately where after she touches or comes in contact with Mirei, she smells her hands and often goes to wash them afterwards. Kind of mean, but I guess Mio doesn’t like the baby smell! lol
Grandma meeting Mirei
Mio’s scrunchy face of joy!
Mirei curiously looking on.
Grandma with Mirei
They got a big smile out of her!
Grandpa with his newest granddaughter
Such sweet moments ♥
I captured this video of Grandpa and Grandma singing to the girls on my phone camera. Unfortunately the lighting is a little dark, but it’s still a very sweet video nonetheless!
Sisters in Grandpa’s arms.
On Friday, Dan took the day off so that we could spend the day together with his parents. Even though they used to live in Maryland and are familiar with the sites, there were some new memorials that were built since they moved away 19 years ago, and they wanted to visit the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in particular.
By a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt. Mio kept pointing and asking, “Who’s that?”
Mio and I at the fountains by the FDR Memorial.
Mio and grandparents by the FDR statue.
With Dan and I this time.
Mirei was asleep for most of the time we were sightseeing the memorials in DC.
Mio was all smiles with Grandpa
Sharing a laugh!
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, always impressive! It’s definitely one of my favorite memorials.
One of my favorite quotes by Dr. King. I love reading all his quotes along the wall at the memorial — he was such an eloquent man and his words are often very poetic and beautiful.
“Out of the Mountain of Despair, A Stone of Hope.”
Mio and grandparents by the MLK memorial.
Washington Monument across the Tidal Basin.
Mio was in such a great mood while she was being pushed by Grandma in the stroller as we were walking around the memorials that she started singing! I’d sang this Japanese song to her a few times, but this was the first time I’d heard her sing so much of it on her own so I went a little overboard with recording it on video:
Take 2:
Take 3:
Dan’s parents wanted to see the Jefferson Memorial again, so we stopped there before leaving DC.
This was one of my favorite pictures from that day.
Posing with TJ inside the Jefferson Memorial.
Enjoying a Japanese lunch before heading home.
We’re so thankful that Dan’s parents could make the trip out here to visit us and the girls! Though their visit was short, Mio and Mirei both got so much love from them and were able to make priceless memories with them. We look forward to the next time we’ll get to see them!
