We enjoyed some gorgeous weather this past weekend, with temperatures reaching the 80s on Saturday! We had planned to go the Cherry Blossom Festival in the city, but at the last minute decided against it, since navigating the crowds in the hot weather with a toddler didn’t seem so relaxing. Instead, we stayed in the local area and spent our Saturday on more Mio-centric activities.
Our first stop was the pet store! We stopped by while taking a walk to the farmer’s market, because Mio loves to go to the pet store to see all the animals. Weekends are especially fun to go, because there are often kitties there for adoption, as well as all the dogs that customers bring in to be groomed.
Mio looking at the birds.
Amazed at all the birds.
Watching a snake.
Look at all the fishies!
Also got to see a guinea pig...
...and some mice.
Dan bought Mio and I these lovely tulips at the farmer’s market… so beautiful! 🙂
Thanks hubby!
Back at the house, ready to go out again.
In the afternoon, we drove over to North Berkeley to visit Totland for the first time! I’d heard that it’s a popular for local mommies and kids to play, so we decided to check it out!
Scrunchy-faced smiles on the swing.
Mio and I in the sandlot.
Sipping away! Gotta stay hydrated!
Mio made a friend on the playground. Her mom happened to be Japanese, too!
Scooting around...
...with some help from Mama.
Mio is distracted by the older kids around the playground.
Taking a break for snack time!
Mio with a mouthful of fresh fruit.
Back on the swing.
Stylin' in shades! Thank you Matt for the baby sunglasses!
Dan and I couldn't stop laughing at how silly she looked in them!
After a couple hours of playground fun at Totland, we worked up quite an appetite! I’d been wanting some Filipino food, so we drove all the way up to Vallejo to try Max’s of Manila.
Ready to eat!
Filipino-style fried chicken. So amazing.
My first time trying pancit canton... and I am hooked!
They gave us a ton of garlic rice, which was also very tasty!
We also had some lumpia ubod, but Dan and I devoured it before we could take a picture…Â it was yummy, too!
Mio was really happy with a lemon she snagged from my plate.
Her reaction upon having a taste, however, was priceless. She's had it before, but she always forgets how sour it is.
Mio was in such a good mood that day, especially during dinner, which is rare because she usually gets cranky in the evening.
Sweet girl brings so much joy to our hearts.
We hope this awesome weather keeps up! 🙂 It’s starting to feel like summer!
On Saturday, we had a family outing at the Morcom Municipal Rose Garden over in Oakland. I didn’t take into account that most of the roses don’t bloom until later in the spring and into summer, so the blooms were sparse! Still, the landscaping and layout of the garden is beautiful, and it was nice to just take a stroll around the grounds and enjoy the gorgeous sunny weather.
Mio has been awfully clingy these days, especially in the house. I can't leave a room for five seconds without her coming after me and grabbing my legs. I guess this is the beginnings of separation anxiety?
Showing Mio the ducks.
Trying to hand me a rock.
There is a walkway in the garden called the Mother of the Year Walk. Apparently, there’s an annual celebration of a special woman who dedicates tirelessly to the community. Lined in tree roses, the walk features bronze plaques honoring each year’s Mother-of-the-Year.
Mio is so good at walking now.
She's pointing at the ducks in front of us.
Mio and Mama, among the roses...
A video Dan took of Mio walking about in the garden…
Back in the stroller, watching a scurrying squirrel.
A neat picture I took of Dan and Mio at the top of a stairway of fountains.
Mio started getting restless and wanted to get out of the stroller again.
On Daddy's shoulder, watching a squirrel.
Squirrel!
Suddenly, we heard a loud noise behind us!
"What could it be?!"
A fight had broken out between two territorial male ducks, and they were quacking their beaks off!
Mio pointing to all the commotion.
I’m excited that the rainy season has come to an end, and that we’ll get to have more fun outings to enjoy the great outdoors! 😀
For the full set of photos, see the slideshow below.
On Saturday, we threw Mio a birthday party to celebrate her turning one year old. We held it at Dan’s parents’ house because our own place is too small to accommodate all the guests, but it still got packed with almost forty loving friends and family, and we are so thankful to everyone who made it out to celebrate with us, despite the torrential rain earlier that morning. I had started planning this party about a month ago, and the past couple weeks had been all about preparations for it, and despite some stress and a couple anxiety attacks, I’m happy to say that it turned out to be a wonderful party, and even better than I expected! Thank you to our friends who helped with the cooking and grilling during the party, as well as those who swooped in to help with last-minute preparations. We couldn’t have had such a memorable, enjoyable party without you all! 🙂
Because we have over 300 photos to sort through and video footage that still needs to get uploaded, I’m going to split this up into a few blog posts, or else it will take me forever to get them up. (Additionally, I feel no shame in milking the party for as many blog posts as I can get out of it, because I-worked-hard-godammit! :P)Â So this first post will highlight the party decor, food, favors, etc., while subsequent posts will focus on the birthday activities. Enjoy!
Invitation for Mio's First Birthday Party
Mio's smash cake that I baked and decorated for her.
I made the cake topper with the bunting and lettering, too!
Custom mason jar mugs that doubled as party favors.
We created a stencil and frosted 48 of these mason jars so that each guest could take one home!
It took Dan and I almost a week to frost the mason jars, but people loved them!
Cupcakes with cherry blossom fondant
It was my first time making fondant, but it was fun!
Homemade macarons... (not the best batch ever, unfortunately.) The pink ones had matcha flavored filling!
Cherry blossom brownie bites
Fruit skewers. Special thanks to Sam, Wynn, and Megumi for cutting and assembling them last minute!
There was no shortage of desserts!
Sugar cookies I baked for Mio's birthday. I had a whole bunch more that I packed in 50 little bags as party favors, too!
Futomaki and California rolls
More California rolls! Thank you Grandma and Kimiko-san for making them!
Hummus and pita bread platter
The birthday girl! She was so excited that she skipped her morning nap.
Let the party begin!
Hanging crinkle fans and pom poms
Mio with one of her favorite aunties, Tarrin!
Happy birthday to our sweet daughter!
…and this doesn’t even include the hamburgers and spare ribs that were cooking on the patio. Special thanks to John and Brent for grilling them! 🙂
Three month old Izumi-chan joined us for the party.
So adorable! Hard to remember when Mio was this little, even though it was less than a year ago!
There were plenty of babies to be passed around.
…and a couple older kids for the babies to look up to, too.
Friends spilling out onto the patio to eat.
Mio with Uncle Ted
Lovely sisters Wynn and Sam!
We were reminded of how truly lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives, seeing the outpouring of love at Mio’s birthday party. Stay tuned for more posts in the coming days on the fun activities we had prepared for Mio!
After we went to the park for the first time on Thursday, Dan wanted to go to the park with Mio too, so we went as a family on Saturday afternoon. It was colder than it had been the first time we’d gone, so we couldn’t stay out as long, but we had a great time — here are some of the pictures and video from last Saturday!
All smiles on the swing this time!
Trying out the slide... "Ready?"
"Here we go!"
Back on the swing, with Daddy
It’s rainy all this week in the Bay Area, so it looks like we won’t really be able to go outside for a while. Mio has been getting cabin fever and is itching to go outside! Hopefully the sun will come out again soon.
I was just reflecting on the amazing baby shower that our West Coast friends threw us exactly a year ago on March 12 of 2011, and I realized that I had never shared the beautiful photographs that our friend Tea of Dreambox Photography took at the shower for our memory books. As usual, her photos are gorgeous and captured the day beautifully! I was floored by how extravagant a shower our friends Megumi & company threw for us, and continue to be moved by it every time I look at these pictures!
Many of our friends have asked where we’ve gotten some of our portrait and newborn photographs taken, saying how much they love the dreamy, ethereal, and slightly vintage look to the pictures. If you’re ever looking to get photographs taken for any occasion, whether it be a wedding, engagement, portraits or family pictures, Dreambox Photography comes with our highest recommendation!
