Because it’s summer break, I’ve been trying to find ways to keep Mio busy and entertained while she doesn’t have preschool. I decided to enroll her in a few classes, one of which is “Preschool Gymnastics” or basically beginner gymnastics for toddlers 3-5 years old. It’s four classes that meet once a week during the month of July, and while Mio is one of the youngest students and doesn’t always follow the instructor’s directions, she seems to be having fun with it! Here are some photos and videos from her classes.
Here are some photos from Fourth of July weekend! We spent it quietly at home, but Dan’s sister came down to visit from New York, and Ted & Elisa also came over so we had a lot of great family time together.
The girls in their red, white, and blue!
Here is Mirei on all fours, bouncing and rocking back and forth. She’s definitely getting ready to crawl!
Mio with a sparkler for the first time (with some help and supervision from Daddy, of course).
Holding a big firework with Mama
Mirei making more attempts to crawl.
She can sit up pretty well unassisted too, although we still spot her from behind…
I made sidewalk ice chalk for the first time.
It was great for showing how colors mix to make new colors, and I mixed baking soda into the ice and sprayed them with vinegar on the sidewalk to cause a reaction. Art + Science lesson in one!
Dan’s sister Hyo took some great photos of the girls too, so I’ll go ahead and share them here as well.
Painting with Mama on the porch.
Mirei hanging out with Auntie Miwa on the porch.
Twinkly-eyed… while grabbing Auntie’s face.
Hope everyone had a great Independence Day and holiday weekend! 😀
Our vacation at Outer Banks got a whole lot more eventful once the other half of our family arrived late Wednesday night! The girls and I really missed Dan, and we were excited to really kick our vacation in gear once he, Ted, and Elisa arrived. My siblings and Dan really wanted to go bicycling around the area on Thursday, but I opted not to join because the bicycle rental shop didn’t have any adult tricycles available at the time. (That’s right, at age 31 I never mastered how to ride a bicycle due to my balance issues… so sad!) There was the option of going on a tandem bicycle with Dan, but I decided to stay behind and watch Mirei with my parents while Mio rode with Dan and the rest of the gang. She had so much fun with it, and I’m glad that they captured lots of photos and video for me to see afterwards.
Mio strapped in, ready to go bicycling with Daddy!
Mio looks like she’s having so much fun!
A video Dan took while bicycling:
She eventually fell asleep on the bicycle… lol.
Too funny!
Still KTFO.
…and still asleep when they got back to the rental shop.
Mio woke up just in time for lunch!
I got the buffalo shrimp wraps at the Buxton Munch Company.
Dan with his fish tacos!
This place is apparently known for their “best fish tacos”, and they did not disappointment! They were some of the best fish tacos I’ve ever had!
Sorry Mirei, you’ll have to wait a little longer before you can dig in with us…
Happy to be reunited with Daddy!
After lunch and relaxing a little bit back at the house, we went to hit the beach together!
Dan and Mio going in the water.
Dan on the boogieboard
Look at those rays of light shining through the clouds! It was a really gorgeous day.
After coming back from the beach, we sat on the patio and enjoyed the view behind the beach house as the sun was setting.
A panoramic view I took on my phone.
Mio cooling down with an ice pop. ♥
More on our last few days at Outer Banks in the coming days! 🙂
On June 21, we attended the annual family picnic that’s hosted by Dan’s company. Mio had a blast last year but I was in Philadelphia visiting a friend that weekend so was unable to go. I was really glad that I could attend this year for the first time and join in all the family fun! 🙂
Mio getting a caricature drawn.
Does it look like her? 🙂
After we ate some food (which was delicious!), Mio immediately gravitated towards the bounce house.
That’s our climber!
Climbing all over.
Coming down the slide of the bounce house!
Dan on the bull ride!
Mio really wanted to go on the pony ride. When it was over, she asked if she could “ride more” and the staff let her go a second time around.
They even had a petting zoo area! Here’s Mio holding a baby duckling.
Waiting in line for face painting.
Mio getting her face painted. Love her scrunched up expression! lol
The result! She really wanted the kitty cat face for some reason… lol. To me, it looks more like a tiger.
Mio looking at herself in my phone camera:
She got a balloon heart wand made, too! She initially asked for a ninja turtle but the balloon artist couldn’t make it.
Dan rode the human gyroscope. Just watching him made me dizzy!
Enjoying Italian ice! My sweet tooth loved it. 🙂
Playing games with Daddy
Mio in another moonbounce. She couldn’t get enough of them!
We love that Dan’s company hosts such fun, family-friendly events, and this picnic is definitely something that we all look forward to every year. We thoroughly enjoyed all the food, activities, games and rides!
I was just offloading photos and videos from my phone, and thought I’d post some of these funny/cute videos of the girls from this past month. Enjoy!
Mio enjoying her cheese puffs while we were driving to Lewes Beach earlier this month.
Mio requests for Dan to sing the hokey pokey at bedtime lately, and she makes this funny sound at “shake it all about!” No idea where she picked it up, but it’s pretty hilarious…
Blowing bubbles on the porch:
I signed Mio up for her first dance class this summer, and even though the first class is still a couple weeks away, she’s so excited and has been spinning and tumbling around everywhere in her leotard and tutu:
Mirei’s been doing this thing a lot lately where she sucks in her lips. (Maybe due to teething?) Here’s a video of it — she sucks her thumb at one point, too! Her upper lip reminds me of a turtle. 🙂
