It doesn’t feel like fall without a visit to the pumpkin patch! We went to Pumpkin Village at Leesburg Animal Park for the first time this year, as it’s not too far of a drive from our new neighborhood. Turns out it was the perfect manageable size for us, as it had a lot of the rides and attractions that larger, more popular pumpkin patches like Cox Farms has, except everything was in closer proximity and there were less lines. There was also the playground and animal exhibits that are already there year-round at the Leesburg Animal Park, which added to the fun. The girls had such a great time!
We went to a BBQ picnic with family friends at Frying Pan Park on Sunday, June 28th. The girls enjoyed all the food, hanging out with the other kids and pets, and we walked over to the petting farm afterwards to check out the farm animals!
Mirei’s facial expressions are so funny…
Mirei & Mio with their balloons
Mirei staring up at Aubrianna
Mirei holding hands with Junko and Miwa – such great aunties!
Peacock at Frying Pan Park
Mirei and Dan looking at the sheep
Goats nuzzling
Piglets with their mommy
Mirei was staring, not sure what to think that piglets drink milk the same way she does!
Mirei tuckered out and napping on Daddy’s shoulderΓΒ after the petting farm.
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.
By the bridge at the Japanese Friendship Garden
The beautifully landscaped Japanese garden.
Koi in the pond.
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 koi and ducks!
Mio throwing feed into the pond.
Mio with Daddy and her grandparents
Beautiful Japanese maple tree reflects the arrival of autumn.
Strolling around the Japanese Friendship Garden.
I love that there are so many Japanese gardens in the Bay Area.
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.
After eating lunch at the picnic tables, we walked over to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, which is right next to the Japanese Friendship Garden.
Mio touching the dinosaur statue in front of the park entrance.
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 turning the steering wheel. (She even pulled the rope to ring the bell a couple times!)
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:
Poor Mio wasn’t tall enough to go on a lot of the rides.
Mio expressing her frustration at not being able to ride the swing carousel.
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 climbing up.
Dan about to take Mio down the slide.
“Yay, you did it!” Mio looks bewildered.
Dan and Mio went down another huge slide.
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 through the tunnel to Grandma
Mio crawling through the stone tunnel. She looks so angelic looking up at Grandma!
Smile of delight while going down the slide!
LOVE! I can’t get enough of that smile!
Mio going on the carousel with Mama
Mother-daughter moment.
Riding the carousel with Mama and Grandma
Mio cautiously feeding the goats at the petting farm area of Happy Hollow.
A cautious Mio leaning down to feed a goat.
Greedy goats crowding around Mio.
Grandpa showing Mio the miniature pony.
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 from SJ Omogari Korean Restaurant for dinner
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!
The Marin County Fair is going on from June 30 to July 4, so we drove over to San Rafael yesterday so that we could give Mio her first taste of a fair. She was too young and short to go on the rides, but she still had a lot of fun with the farm animals that were there!
Walking around the fair, making our way over to the farm animals area.
The fair was a huge affair by the water – we were impressed by how many rides, food tents, and vendors there were.
In the area with the farm animals, Mio got to see so many animals — rabbits, chickens, geese, sheep, turkeys, cows, goats, deer, horses, donkeys, alpacas, llamas, potbelly pigs, wallabies… there were so many that she got to see for the first time!
When the animals were inside pens, Mio got very adventurous and climbed up on the railing and leaned in to touch them, as she did with this cow.
I think one of the highlights for myself personally was watching the potbelly pig race! I’d never seen a pig/hog race before, so it was actually really fun to watch!
It was an intense race! And the potbelly pigs were so cute.
There was a petting farm area specifically designed for little kids, so that they could go in to touch and feed the free-roaming animals. While Mio had been really brave up until then, trying to touch the animals inside their cages and pens, she suddenly became very timid when she was in an area where they weren’t behind bars.
Here I am, trying to get Mio to pet the llama… but she refuses.
Mio is usually very quick in trying to run off, but this time she clung to me.
She even turned away from the smaller animals like the baby goats.
We finally got her to willingly feed a little fawn, probably because she felt safe as it was one of the few animals that was caged in.
Mio feeding the fawn from her hand.
A baby goat wedged its way in to get fed, too. Mio has great practice with feeding animals from feeding our pet chinchillas back at home!
Even though the fawn was behind a pen, it still managed to reach its neck out to take a couple bite out out of my dress, leaving holes in it! π
Mio loved climbing up on the wall of the cages to look down at the animals.
A little overwhelmed by all the animals.
Had to take a picture with the creepy-looking Clover cow.
…and of me as a cow.
Taking a lunch break on the haystacks.
Gotta stay hydrated!
I forget how small Mio still is compared to Dan…
After Mio was done eating, we walked around to try some of the delicious fair grub ourselves…
Turkey legs remind me of college! I was tempted to get one, but I didn’t.
There were so many good food stands! We decided on some delicious garlic fries, Cajun seafood gumbo, and a root beer float… all delicious!
With our tummies full, and our hearts warmed by all the cute animals, we headed home. It was a great first carnival experience for our little family! π
