Mio’s been going to a lot of birthday parties lately! A lot of her friends seem to have birthdays in late August and early September. We went to a birthday party for 3 year old Kosei and 5 year old Dojoon a couple weeks ago in Hyattsville, and then last Sunday we drove over to Gaithersburg (also in Maryland) to celebrate Maya’s 3rd birthday! We have yet another birthday party to go to this coming weekend, too! So many occasions to celebrate. 🙂 Mio has no problems with that, as she loves birthday parties as they involve cake, good food, and getting to see a lot of her little buddies! She can’t say “birthday” quite yet, but she’s been repeating “Happy Kosei~” “Happy Dojoon~” “Happy Maya~” the past couple weeks, coupled with “It’s so fun!!!” The parties are definitely a lot of fun for her!
Here are some pictures from Maya’s birthday on Sunday.
The kids anxiously waiting to eat the cupcakes.
Maya turned three! Maya-chan is a quarter Japanese, and I’ve known her mama Erika since we were kids ourselves!
Mio patiently waiting to have some cake…
Sharing a cupcake with mama… though it was mostly Mio, who just ate the top off.
Mio was very suspicious of baby Charlotte possibly stealing her cupcake. No need to be so worried, Mio!
The mamas hanging out on the deck while the kids played in the sun outside.
Sweet 11 month old Charlotte!
Some of the kids playing with the hose. Mio got soaked!
She dried off pretty quickly in the sun, though, and had fun kicking the ball around with Daddy and Maya’s dad.
Is she a future Mia Hamm? (Or shall we say, Mio Hamm? lol)
Maya opening her presents. Happy birthday sweetheart!
Thank you to the Ichijo’s and Maya’s whole family for having us over at their lovely home. We had a great time chatting with our fellow parent friends and letting the kids play together.
Last Sunday as a busy day for us! For lunch, we drove over to Bowie, Maryland to visit our friends Will & Clair and their adorable one year old son Joseph! We had a great time at their lovely home, making homemade pizza for lunch and letting our little ones get to know each other…
Cutiepies! Mio meeting almost-1-year-old Joseph.
Making homemade pizza for lunch!
Later that evening, we went to Gymboree Play & Music in Burke to celebrate our friends’ son Danny turning two! Mio and Danny had met a few months ago when we went to Frying Pan Farm Park. This was our first time going to a party at Gymboree, but it was a lot of fun and we can see why it’s so popular!
Mio at Gymboree play gym, looking intense. Playtime is serious business.
Butt sticking out of the tube tunnel
Sticking her head out: “Coast is clear!”
Everyone was supposed to hop on the “train,” but Mio ran away from the group activity.
Mio with the birthday boy Danny, who loves trains!
Mio is doing her own thing (again) while everyone’s collecting balls.
What finally piqued her interest were the bubbles!
Mio’s favorite was music time: she loved hearing the instructor sing, and enthusiastically shook her maracas along with the song.
Danny with his lovely mama Stephanie.
Mio also loved the parachute! The kids had fun running around under it.
After an hour of fun-filled playtime, it was time to eat!
Beautiful cupcakes for Danny!
Happy birthday Danny! The beautiful family. 🙂
Mio chowing down.
Mio had a lot of fun! She was especially fond of her party hat that she got at the party, and still likes to wear it even a week later… 🙂
Last Saturday, our friends’ daughter Ellie had a birthday party celebrating her first birthday! They held such a beautiful party, with adorable decorations and delicious food! Here are some pictures of all the birthday fun. ♥
The lovely spread for Ellie’s first birthday party! ♥
Beautiful Korean rice cake for Ellie’s first birthday!
Delicious cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake for a Dr. Seuss-themed party!
The birthday girl with her cake!
21 month old Mio, taking in all the excitement. She was a little overwhelmed by all the people and refused to leave my lap for the first half of the party.
For the Doljanchi tradition, Ellie chose the trumpet. Future musician!
Mio and Ellie meet for the first time.
Ellie looks concerned and a little weirded out from seeing Mio sticking everything in her mouth. “Seriously? Shouldn’t you have outgrown that by now?” lol
After a while, Mio started warming up to everyone, especially Ellie’s Daddy.
Cutiepies!
Trying to get a smile out of the birthday girl.
Madison girlfriends! I can’t believe it’s been almost twelve years since we went to high school together.
Thank you so much to the Hwang family for inviting us to be a part of such a special day! Happy birthday sweet Ellie ♥
On New Year’s Day last week, Mio hosted a little party for Dan and I and her doll friends using her new kitchen. We also let her play with her cupcake set (which our friend Katie got for her last year) and she was super excited to bake cupcakes just like Mama! She knew exactly what to do because she’s always watching me closely while I’m baking.
Taking the cupcakes out of the oven. She even wore her oven mitt and said “Acchi-cchi!” (Japanese sound for when something is hot to touch.)
Putting frosting and candles on the cupcakes.
She made sure everyone got a cupcake. (Poor girl scratched herself in her sleep so there’s a scratch next to her nose. Thankfully, it’s already healed and disappeared!)
I helped Mio decorate the cupcakes. By the way, this cupcake set by Melissa & Doug is awesome! It comes with a cupcake pan, removable “frosting” and dry erase “icing” markers that you can draw on the cupcakes with. And it all wipes clean when you are done.
Daddy and Mio admiring the cupcakes.
Mio was so happy with her cupcakes!
Dan teaching Mio how to properly drink tea (pinky up! lol).
A video that I took during Mio’s “party”:
It was so sweet to see how much Mio loved playing with the cupcakes along with her kitchen. She’s definitely a dessert lover — she’s so quick to spot them in a book or at a restaurant, and will point and says “kei-ki” (her way of saying “cake”) obsessively. A girl after my own heart! ♥
We were invited to our dear friend Hanna and her brothers’ annual Christmas party this past Saturday, and we were so excited we could make it this year! (We’ve only been able to attend once before because we were always in California until right before Christmas.) We put Mio to bed and left her with my parents in case she woke up, and got to have a fun evening celebrating the holidays with friends!
With the lovely hostess Hanna! ♥
With beautiful ladies Liz and Luice!
Love these silly girls! 🙂
Dan and I by the Christmas tree.
It was a potluck, and there was SO much amazing food! I ate so much, and it showed. haha* I should think twice before wearing a bandage skirt if I know I’m going to be stuffing my face…
Having a piece of the cherry pie that I brought!
Ladies in red! Hanna with her girlfriends.
The highlight of this annual Christmas party is always the White Elephant gift exchange! There’s always lots of laughs and interesting gifts, and this year was no exception! This year there was everything from a knockoff Snuggie to a Kindle up for grabs!
Eric opened the S’mores kit we brought! (But it was eventually stolen by Sisi.)
My turn to open a present.
A lunch sack! (Which was eventually stolen a few times, so I got a travel cosmetic bag and a neat message-growing plant in the end.)
Us with our gifts!
Dan and I with our gifts. He got Ferrero Rocher – my favorite! 😉
Handsome Cider. I remember he was so tiny when Hanna first got him 5 and a half years ago while we were in college!
Reunited with gorgeous Sisi!
I’ve missed this girl! ♥
Playing Dance Central with Sisi!
Showing off our moves! lol… I’m an awful dancer, but it was fun!
Beautiful family picture 🙂 We love the Chang family!
Catching up with my former roomie and one of my best friends! Thank you Hanna for a wonderful party. 🙂
