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!
At one point, Mio went into her grandparents’ room, where Grandma let Mio try on her odori (Japanese traditional dance) hat, adorned with flowers.
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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!
After our weekend in LA, we flew up to San Jose to stay with Dan’s parents for the rest of the week! It was a short five days that flew by, but it was so nice for Mio to see her grandparents again and spend some quality time with them. When she got off of the plane at SFO, she was really cranky and crying, but as soon as she saw her grandparents who came to pick us up, her face broke into a huge smile and she reached her arms out to them! She remembers them from all the times we spent together while we lived in California, as well as all the video chats they’ve been doing via Google Hangout since we’ve moved out here.
Here are some snapshots from when we had a family outing and lunch at Edenvale Garden Park in San Jose…
We spent a full day on Wednesday last week in San Jose, after moving out of our El Cerrito home, to spend some time with Dan’s parents before we left for the East Coast. We spent most of the late morning strolling around the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose, had lunch, and then walked over to neighboring Happy Hollow Park & Zoo to dedicate the afternoon to letting Mio have some fun at the kids park going on rides, playing on the playgrounds, and meeting animals there.
You could buy a handful of feed for the koi for a quarter, so we got some for Mio to drop into the pond. Here’s a video of Mio feeding the koi and ducks. She says “gwa gwa gwa” (the Japanese sound for quacking) when she sees ducks these days.
More quacking from Mio:
After eating lunch at the picnic tables, we walked over to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, which is right next to the Japanese Friendship Garden.
A video of Mio on the Mini Putt-Putt Car Ride:
In the evening, we went to San Jose Japantown to have dinner at SJ Omogari Restaurant to have a delicious Korean dinner!
The day was a really memorable way to wrap up our time in California! We got to spend time with family, see beautiful sights, and Mio had a blast, too!
We went down to San Jose with Dan’s parents on Sunday to visit Mio’s Great Grandma! This was their second time seeing each other — the first was when Mio was only three weeks old, so it’s been almost a year. Mio was walking around everywhere in the house and in the backyard, exploring every nook and cranny — Great Grandma was very impressed with how much she has grown. It was lovely seeing Great Grandma, Aunt Monica, and Uncle Greg again!
Thank you Great Grandma for the hospitality and for dinner! We hope to visit again soon. 🙂
Last Sunday, we took Mio down to San Jose to meet some very special people…. She got all dressed up in her Sunday best before making the drive down.
Mio got to meet her great-grandmother Eileen! She is Dan’s paternal grandmother. 🙂
Little Mio also had the honor of being welcomed by her great-aunts!
Great-grandmother Eileen gave Mio a beautiful layette, and her great-aunts got her a portable swing! 🙂 We were very thankful for the generous gifts.
We enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner with everyone, and it was really nice seeing grandma Eileen and Dan’s aunts again, since we hadn’t been able to make it down to visit in a while. We were touched by their hospitality and were thrilled that Mio got to meet some of the wonderful ladies of the Allen family!
Mio ended up sleeping for most of our time there… I suppose it’s a lot of work being a newborn!