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.

At the Japanese Friendship Garden
By the bridge at the Japanese Friendship Garden

 

Beautifully landscaped Japanese garden.
The beautifully landscaped Japanese garden.

 

Koi in the pond.
Koi in the pond.

 

Gorgeous color koi
The koi had such gorgeous colors!

 

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:


 

Mio loved feeding the fish!
Mio loved feeding the koi and ducks!

 

Throwing feed into the pond.
Mio throwing feed into the pond.

 

The Allen family :)
Mio with Daddy and her grandparents

 

Maple tree in the Japanese Friendship Garden
Beautiful Japanese maple tree reflects the arrival of autumn.

 

Walking across the bridge.
Strolling around the Japanese Friendship Garden.

 

At the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose
I love that there are so many Japanese gardens in the Bay Area.

 

Homemade bento box lunch
Delicious homemade bentos for lunch! Dan’s mother prepared all the delicious food and I just helped with handling packing the bentos with the food.

 

Mio and Dan eating lunch.
Mio and Dan eating lunch.

 

After eating lunch at the picnic tables, we walked over to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, which is right next to the Japanese Friendship Garden.

Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
 

Mio touching the dinosaur
Mio touching the dinosaur statue in front of the park entrance.

 

Mio looking over at us from her ride
We decided to let Mio ride the Mini Putt-Putt Car ride, since it was one of the few rides she was tall enough to go on in the park. I was a little worried about whether or not she’d be okay riding it by herself, but she was perfectly fine!

 

Mio driving the car
Mio turning the steering wheel. (She even pulled the rope to ring the bell a couple times!)

 

In a police car this time.
Mio loved it so much that she protested when I took her out after it was over. So we let her go on the ride a second time, this time in the police car.

 

A video of Mio on the Mini Putt-Putt Car Ride:

 

Mio wasn't tall enough to go on the ride.
Poor Mio wasn’t tall enough to go on a lot of the rides.

 

Mio expressing her anger at not being able to ride.
Mio expressing her frustration at not being able to ride the swing carousel.

 

Playground on steroids
The playground at Happy Hollow was HUGE. And this wasn’t even all of it — there was another structure (for smaller kids) almost as large, across from this one. It was a playground on steroids.

 

Dan and Mio on the playground.
Dan and Mio climbing up.

 

Daddy about to take Mio down the slide.
Dan about to take Mio down the slide.

 

"Yay, Mio!"
“Yay, you did it!” Mio looks bewildered.

 

Dan and Mio, off the slide.
Dan and Mio went down another huge slide.

 

Mio touching the "phone"
Mio had so much fun with Daddy on the playground. It’s usually me who takes her to the park while Dan is at work, so this was a nice change for her.

 

Mio making her way to Grandma
Mio making her way through the tunnel to Grandma

 

Mio crawling through the stone tunnel.
Mio crawling through the stone tunnel. She looks so angelic looking up at Grandma!

 

Smile of delight!
Smile of delight while going down the slide!

 

Love that smile!
LOVE! I can’t get enough of that smile!

 

Going on the carousel with Mama
Mio going on the carousel with Mama

 

Mother-daughter moment.
Mother-daughter moment.

 

Riding the carousel with Mama and Grandma
Riding the carousel with Mama and Grandma

 

Mio cautiously feeding the goats
Mio cautiously feeding the goats at the petting farm area of Happy Hollow.

 

Mio leaning down to feed the goat.
A cautious Mio leaning down to feed a goat.

 

She was a little scared, but did a great job feeding them.

 

Greedy goats crowding around Mio.
Greedy goats crowding around Mio.

 

Miniature pony at Happy Hollow
Grandpa showing Mio the miniature pony.

 

Looking at the sheep
Mio and Dan looking at the sheep.

 

In the evening, we went to San Jose Japantown to have dinner at SJ Omogari Restaurant to have a delicious Korean dinner!

Hot seafood mixed rice
Hot seafood mixed rice from SJ Omogari Korean Restaurant for dinner

 

Family picture with Great Grandma
Back at the house, we took a family photo with four generations of Allens. Dan’s grandmother (Mio’s great-grandmother) is 94 years old and is still so healthy and talkative – amazing!

 

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!