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!
I love going out to eat and exploring new delicious dishes and then seeing if I can make them myself at home. It’s usually pretty hit or miss — a long time ago, when I was obsessed with P.F. Changs chicken lettuce wraps, I tried to recreate the appetizer at my college apartment and failed miserably — all we could taste were the crunchy water chestnuts. (I’m hoping to redeem myself by trying again someday.)
One of my absolute favorite dishes is linguine frutti di mare, which is essentially mixed seafood pasta. Linguine tossed with “fruits of the ocean” and loose red sauce — just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I have a hobby of trying the seafood pasta every time Dan and I go to a new Italian restaurant for the first time, and going around comparing. So far, some of my personal favorites have been Luciano’s in Oakton, The Cellar in Blacksburg, Buca di Beppo (various locations in California), and The Milanese Caffe in Berkeley. There were many other good ones, but we try to support unique, non-chain restaurants, so we don’t often dine at the likes of places like Olive Garden (although theirs is not bad, either).
