Some fun snapshots from Labor Day weekend. We spent most of it painting the girls’ rooms, with multiple trips to Home Depot!
My college friend Jon was in town visiting, and Pat and Theo kindly hosted a playdate for all of our kids to get together and for us grownups to catch up!
Here is a funny conversation between Mio and Anna that Theo caught on video. So adorable!
Labor Day was the last day the pool was open, so we made sure to get one last dip in!
While we were in the Bay Area, we wanted to make sure that we stopped by our old neighborhood in El Cerrito/Albany area. It was our first home as a family, where we brought Mio home from the hospital and where she spent her first year and a half. There are so many fond memories we have there, and we really missed it!
Our good friends Sonya and Sofia were still in the area, but packing up their house for their move to Portland. I’m so glad we could meet up with them and see them in Albany, before they moved! It was so sweet to see how both Sofia and Mio have grown so much, and reunite in the place they had so many playdates together as babies!
Shyly exchanging gifts:
The girls playing in the backyard:
Hugging each other goodbye:
After our playdate, we drove over to nearby Memorial Park, where I used to take Mio often when we lived in El Cerrito. It’s still one of my favorite parks, and it was kind of surreal to see Mio running around on the larger playground, which I had to constantly steer her away from when she used to run into it as a toddler for fear that one of the older kids would crash into her. Now she’s one of the big kids! Mirei is around the age that Mio was when I would bring her to Memorial Park, too, so watching her there conjured up some sweet nostalgia for me.
It was such a beautiful afternoon, and we’re so glad we could spend it with our close friends and at one of favorite parks! There are just so many places in the Bay Area that we always wish we could stop by, and there’s never enough time…
April 1 was Mio’s last day as a 3 year old. We had a fun playdate with her friends Hiroki and Chika at their home and neighborhood playground.
She was so excited at bedtime about waking up as a four year old, that she couldn’t go to sleep! Mama, on the other hand, was an emotional mess… I always feel a little bittersweet on the eves of my kids’ birthdays, but I’ve been feeling more teary than ever this time… 4 years old just sounds and feels so big, and time seems to go even faster as they get older. Mio is definitely not a toddler anymore.
I will always look back on and treasure my memories of Mio as a 3 year old, as I will her other ages. Each age is so special, but three was so much fun because she really started talking a lot at this age and her personality really started coming out. I can’t wait to see what four has in store for us!
Cuties Gianna and Mio were born only 20 days apart! They met for the first time the other day for a playdate in Columbia, Maryland. Here are some photos…
Afterwards, we went to eat some delicious authentic Italian-style pizza at Facci Ristorante in Laurel. It was so nice seeing Gamay and Nan Young again, and meeting their sweet kids Gianna and Abram. We’re looking forward to more playdates with them in the future! 🙂
I’m so glad that we could have a chance to meet up with Mio’s California gal pal Sofia and her mommy Sonya while we were visiting the Bay Area. We spent many fun afternoons with S+S at the park, library, and at each other’s houses having playdates while we were living in El Cerrito, and Sofia became Mio’s best friend in the neighborhood, and we mamas developed a wonderful friendship too as we shared about the joys (and challenges!) of our little ones. Sonya is definitely one of my closest mama friends, and I couldn’t imagine visiting the area without seeing her and Sof!
We got to spend a half day together just catching up, snacking together, playing in Sofia’s room, and going on a walk around the neighborhood. Thank you Sonya for opening up your home to us for the playdate, and for the beautiful and heartfelt early birthday gift for Mio!
A video of us opening the gift: (Thanks for sharing the video, Sonya!)
