The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC kicked off on March 20 and in its first weekend, they held an event called Family Day at the National Building Museum, where children of all ages could participate in making crafts inspired by Japanese culture and also enjoy performances such as taiko and dance on the stage. We went on Sunday afternoon and Mio really enjoyed all the creative activities that she got to participate in (with some help from us, of course).
NCBF Family Day at the National Building Museum
They had some characters that you could take pictures with, and we thought for sure Mio’d like seeing Cookie Monster, but to our surprise, she burst into tears! This is what I’ve come to call “the Santa Claus effect”… (Strange, because she loved meeting the Sesame Street characters at Dan’s company picnic last year.)
Mio didn’t want to meet cookie monster.
Trying to salvage the photo opportunity…
Our first craft activity was to decorate cherry blossom trees with glitter and popcorn.
Mio placing the popcorn “blossoms” on the tree.
The finished cherry blossom tree!
At the next craft table, we made a cha-shitsu, or Japanese tea room, by assembling and decorating a box.
Mio loved using the stamps!
Our collaborative cha-shitsu creation!
At another table, creating a Japanese garden out of pipe cleaners and colored tissue paper.
The completed Japanese garden!
We took a break to watch the taiko performance.
Mio was actually really interested!
Posing with the huge cherry blossom balloons behind us.
While I was feeding Mirei, Dan took Mio to do some additional crafts…
Mio fell asleep on the way home in the Metro. It’s been a while since she’s fallen asleep in my arms like this!
We didn’t really take any photos of Mirei during the event, but she definitely kept us busy with several trips to the bathroom on her first trip to DC. She had two up-the-backer poops (resulting in two outfit changes) and also spit up all over my shirt! Of course, these things always happen at the most inopportune times. After a very messy afternoon, though, Mirei flashed us her first real smile as we were pushing the stroller through the Metro station on our way home from the event. Dan chuckled, “Awww she’s so cute!” and quickly pulled out the camera and captured the moment:
Mirei’s first smile! (Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry…)
It was a very eventful and memorable day for the whole family!
On Saturday afternoon, we drove down to go to the Mountain View Obon Festival. We’d always heard about it and had wanted to check it out, but it’s about an hour drive away for us so we hadn’t gone until this year. We originally wanted to attend on Sunday because that’s the day they have the bon-odori, but Dan had an obligation that day, so Saturday was the only time we could go together. We had a wonderful time experiencing Obon together as a family!
Arriving at Mountain View Obon
Dan enjoying a beer
Mio was dressed up in her matsuri attire – thank you Yuko & family for the jinbei!
I dressed in yukata for the festival. It’s been a while since I wore one!
It was really hot down in Mountain View… especially in the yukata!
There were various food stands serving shaved ice, sushi, manju, ohagi, chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki, corn, corn dogs, french fries, spam musubi, beer, sake, and other refreshments.
Kingyo-sukui (Goldfish Scooping Game) – an Obon classic!
Love all the colors!
Mio and I watching the Goldfish Game
Mio loved walking around and taking in everything.
Thankfully, she’s been getting better about holding my hand while navigating crowds.
Taking a break to eat some ohagi and sip on Italian soda.
Mio has been doing this funny thing where she pretends to sip water, and then afterwards lets out a big burst of breath, like it was really refreshing. I’m not sure where she learned it from… I have a feeling it’s from this beer commercial, which comes on a lot when I’m watching Japanese TV shows. Here it is on video.
Silly girl.
Love her!
We ran into our friends Ali and Tim, who recently just moved back to the area after living in DC for a couple years.
Mio loved them!
A family picture (courtesy of Ali)
Our first time at Mountain View Obon!
Around 6pm, we headed over to the stage area where Jun Daiko was going to have a taiko performance.
This adorable little boy was walking around the taiko set.
Meanwhile, Mio was getting restless and flashing people with very unladylike poses. Please don’t do this when you are 16…
…so we moved her to Dan’s lap.
Jun Daiko performing – they were great! I love watching taiko.
Mio’s first time seeing taiko – she was fascinated, too.
A lion came out during the performance.
Mio was transfixed on the lion.
The lion went around to different members of the audience, and he eventually made his way over to Mio. She was definitely a bit intimidated and shrank bank a little, but she didn’t turn away. Even after it left, she kept her eyes on him and pointed in his direction.
Here’s the last half of Jun Daiko’s finale performance of “Inazuma.”
“Inazuma” performance by Jun Daiko
Towards the end, Mio was yelling along with the taiko performers… lol.
Afterwards, we headed over to downtown Mountain View for a ramen dinner and frozen yogurt for dessert!
Our messy ramen eater
A froyo lover, just like Daddy!
I’m really glad that we made the drive down to go to the festival this year! It was memorable, and I think it’s great to give Mio exposure to Japanese culture and traditions so that she can develop an appreciation for her ethnic heritage.
