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!
Dan and Mirei sitting with Dan’s grandmother, who is 96 years old.
Allen family reunion in San Jose
At one point, Mio went into her grandparents’ room, where Grandma let Mio try on her odori (Japanese traditional dance) hat, adorned with flowers.
Mio trying on Grandma’s Japanese dance hat
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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!
It’s DC’s most beautiful time of the year… sakura season! †On Saturday, we went out to DC with my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law to go see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in DC. I’ve gone every year since returning to DC, but last year we went a little late and missed the peak bloom. We had better luck this year, though, and were able to catch the blossoms in full bloom, just in time for the main Sakura Matsuri weekend event during the National Cherry Blossom Festival! Mio was so excited to go from the moment we told her we were going the night before, and she kept exclaiming, “We’re going to see the cherry blossoms! My name means ‘beautiful cherry blossom!’ We’re going to go see them!!!'” I love that she loves the meaning of her name, and can get so excited about the flower that is her namesake.
Mio on the Metro to DC Saturday morning on the Metro with the girls Mio eating some onigiri that my mom made for the outing Family outing to see the cherry blossoms!
Blossoms surrounding the Washington Monument Our family with the Washington Monument Mirei and Mio riding in the stroller
Ted & Elisa under the blossoms My parents under the sakura Love our girls ♥ Mio playing with Mirei in the stroller Mirei loves when Mio plays with her! M&M being silly Mio was in such a great mood to be with everyone… especially when Uncle Ted pushed them in the stroller!
Mio giggling her way through the cherry blossoms:
Arriving at the MLK Memorial Yet another family photo ruined by a photobombing by Ted Ted & Elisa at the Tidal Basin photo by my Dad
Some of the pinkest blossoms we found Catching the end of the cherry blossom parade
After seeing the cherry blossoms, we had lunch in DC together (we wanted to eat at Daikaya, but we ended up going to Full Kee instead because the wait was two hours!), and then took the Metro back home in the afternoon. DC was so crowded and we got a lot of walking in, so we were exhausted! All of us took a nap when we got home. We’re so glad we could see the cherry blossoms together with almost the whole family this year!
On Saturday morning, we decided to all go ice skating! I’m not very good at ice skating, so I stayed outside the rink with Mirei, but it was Mio’s first time skating on the ice and she seemed to enjoy it! Dan and his siblings did a great job of holding her hands and keeping her safe as she skated.
Dan putting ice skates on Mio
Mio and Mirei at Fairfax Ice Arena
Mio’s first time ice skating!
After half an hour, Mio got tired and wanted to take a break so she watched with me from outside the rink.
Mirei got to skate a lap with Daddy, before he was told that it wasn’t allowed for her to skate strapped to him.
M&M playing by the lockers while everyone else skated
After ice skating, we stopped by the Snocream Shavery bus to have some Taiwanese shaved ice!
Almond and milk tea snow and macaron
Later in the afternoon, we headed over to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is the National Air and Space Museum annex in Chantilly.
Mio taking a break in her stroller at the museum.
Mio loving the attention from Ted and Jackie!
Our family in front of the Discovery space shuttle
Lunch on Sunday at YeChon before seeing everyone off.
It was a short visit, but we had a lot of fun spending time together! It can be difficult for us to travel with two young kids, so we really appreciate whenever Dan’s family can come to us to visit. We look forward to the next time we’ll get to see each other again, and hopefully we can visit California in the new year!
Dan took the day off on Monday so that we could all spend the day with Ted and Jackie before they left DC. We thought it’d be a great opportunity to see the cherry blossoms by the Tidal Basin, but alas, the blossoms were definitely past their peak (they were probably best over the weekend, but we knew the crowds would be crazy) and were looking pretty green, with most of the petals in the water and on the ground. It was really windy that day, too, which probably expedited the wilting of the blossoms. Still, we had a nice time walking around the Tidal Basin and admiring the few trees that were still in full bloom, and also got to check out the National WWII Memorial as well. Despite how windy it was, it was a beautiful day — sunny but not too hot or uncomfortable. 🙂
Mio enjoying all the attention from Auntie Jackie while on the Metro.
Arriving at the Tidal Basin… but both girls were conked out.
Jackie and Ted with the cherry blossoms. Such a cute picture of a cute couple!
Mirei woke up so we took a photo with just us girls.
Attempt at a family photo… but Mio is too focused on eating her tortilla chip.
The Jefferson Memorial in the distance.
What was left of the cherry blossoms…
My favorite flowers and Mio’s namesake… still beautiful!
Mirei was so well-behaved the entire time. Even when she was awake, she was so quiet and let us enjoy the cherry blossoms in peace.
Dan and Mio by one of the original cherry blossom trees.
A cherry blossom tree in full bloom
Another family photo… looks like we just can’t get one without Mio eating a chip!
Ted & Jackie under the sakura.
Making our way over to the National WWII Memorial. Mio had a blast getting swung by Auntie Jackie and Uncle Ted!
She couldn’t get enough of the attention!
It was actually my first time seeing the WWII Memorial too since it had been built in 2004, and it was really beautiful and impressive!
Mio getting a photo with auntie and uncle.
She thoroughly enjoyed playing by the fountain.
Full of “what’s that?” questions.
The Freedom Wall on the west side of the memorial has 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war.
There were so many people there!
Mio with Ted & Jackie by the fountain.
Mio was in such a good mood the whole day! Love our little sweetheart.
Sharing a popsicle before heading home.
Ted and Jackie left after dinner on Monday, but the family visits continue with Dan’s parents flying in tonight! They haven’t seen Mio in over a year and it’ll be their first time meeting Mirei. We look forward to spending lots of quality time together. 🙂
