Vienna had its annual Viva Vienna! festival on Memorial Day weekend, and since Mio had such a great time going last year, we spent a couple hours of our Saturday morning there, going on the rides and enjoying some of the food before it got too crowded and hot. Mio could go on a lot more rides this year because she met the height requirement for most of the rides — our sheet of tickets went fast with all the rides she wanted to go on!
On the carousel at Viva Vienna
She wanted to ride on the giraffe. On the swing ride! Mirei’s first time at Viva Vienna! She was pretty quiet the entire morning in her stroller, letting the rest of us enjoy the festival. Riding on the spinning dragon with Daddy. Daddy’s girl ♥ Making her way up in the funhouse… that’s our climber! Dashing across the bridge! …and coming down the slide! This funhouse seemed to be her favorite (more than the rides), and she wanted to go through it again. Riding the Wiggle Worm ride. On the boat ride
On the train ride. Delicious crabcake sandwich!
Dan and Mio taking a bite.
After coming home from Viva Vienna!, Mio spent the afternoon playing in the wading pool.
My parents wanted to go see the peonies that were in bloom at Meadowlark Gardens, so we went on Friday morning to walk around the gardens and admire the flowers. Here are some snapshots I took on my phone!
Looking down at the fish and turtles at Meadowlark.
The weather was beautiful last weekend, and on Sunday we took the girls to Nottoway Park to fly our kite and have them play on the playground and in the field. It was nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air!
The sisters looking at each other.
This shot is a bit overexposed but had to include Mirei’s cute smile!
She’s becoming quite the chubster!
Dan and Mio flying the kite.
The wind was not ideal, but better than the first time we tried to fly it in the backyard.
Mio running with the kite!
Good job, Mio!
Mirei’s first time on the swing at the playground! She seemed to enjoy it, but was definitely very focused on watching big sister swinging next to her.
Mirei and I swinging together.
As always, Mio loved the swing.
Now that the warm weather is here to stay, I’m looking forward to taking the girls out more often! 🙂
On Sunday, we went as a family to our very first Maker Faire! Dan’s hobby drone group was participating and attending, and he took us along to join in all the geeky fun! Maker Faires are part science fair, part craft fair, and showcases creations by designers and engineers of all ages, and the purpose is to inspire more creations within the community. I remember when we were living back in the Bay Area, we had considered going to the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo (which is of course much larger, as it is where the Maker Faire started in 2006 and is one of the flagship faires) a couple times but always somehow couldn’t make it due to scheduling conflicts. This year was Northern Virginia’s first official Mini Maker Faire, and was held at South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes School in Reston. Despite being a “Mini” Maker Faire, it attracted 5,000 attendees that preregistered, and they estimated about 3,000 more registered at the door — it was really crowded! We’re really glad we went to check it out this year – it’s so valuable to expose children to creativity and science from a young age, and show them all the ways people are harnessing technology and their creative minds in exciting and fun new projects.
Mirei slept most of the time we were at the Faire, making it easy for us to walk around and check out all the exhibits. We’re sure she’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future to take part in the fun!
Mio checking out the entropy gym Operating remote control vehicles. This boy very patiently explained to Mio how to build things with these “Strawbees.” A very interested Mio. Building with the Strawbees.
There were also a lot of booths with craft activities available for younger children. Mio and I spent a lot of time at them while Dan walked around with Mirei checking out the booths with more serious exhibits.
Mio and I at a craft booth, beading spiders. Stringing beads onto the pipecleaner legs of the spiders. Mio also got to decorate and make a mask… …and a kite! Showing off her completed spider. Checking out more booths with Daddy “How does this work exactly…?”
Coloring with Mama Making homemade silly putty. Mio enjoying a lollipop she got at one of the booths.
There were some food trucks at the event, so that people could grab food to eat while at the Faire.
Mio hugging Mirei during our lunch break. Waiting for the shuttle back to our car. Mio fell asleep after experiencing all the excitement!
The Maker Faire was interesting and educational fun for everyone! (Well, maybe with the exception of Mirei, who was sleeping the whole time.) We might make it an annual tradition to go, since it’s enjoyable for the whole family and the girls will probably enjoy it more and more as they grow older.
A lot of the better apples were towards the top, so Mio got some help from Daddy to pick the apples. Good job, Mio! Carefully placing the bounty in the picking bag…
She got the hang of it very quickly! Dan climbed up to get the best apples! I couldn’t climb the trees, but picked a couple myself… A lot of the apples we picked were Red Delicious! Picking away! Mio would sometimes try to eat some of the apples that were on the ground, so we had to keep an eye on her. With the apple of my eye! Mio liked to try hanging on the lower branches of the trees.
It was such a gorgeous day at the apple orchard!
Hartland Orchards also had pumpkin patches for picking pumpkins! Mio exclaimed, “pumpkin!” when she saw the fields of orange gourds.
Moving onto the pumpkin patch after apple picking.
Pulling a heavy cargo… and we haven’t even picked our pumpkins yet!
Mio among the pumpkins.
Already taking bites into one of the apples she picked…
I think she loved seeing the pumpkins more than the apples!
Here’s a quick video montage that I put together of some moments from our apple picking outing, using the RoadMovies app on my phone!
