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 the first annual Tysons Harvest Festival earlier this month, and got to enjoy some fall family fun! There were lots of activities, great food, and cool vendors to check out.
Mio with her unicorn face paint
She is very into unicorns lately!
We met up with Pat’s family at the festival! Here’s Pat and her adorable mini-Pat! π
Mio checking out the petting zoo at the festival.
Sleepy Mirei watching from her stroller.
At the craft table.
Mio coloring a Halloween crown.
Making our way around the festival, checking out various vendors.
We had some delicious banh mi and pho from this What the Pho? food truck!
Dan carrying Mio while in line for the bounce house.
Unstoppable Mio:
Mio came alive in the bounce house! She loves inflatable houses and was in her element climbing, sliding, and bouncing around in them.
Climbing up!
Sliding down! She was supposed to only go up and down three turns and then exit for other kids, but she refused to leave and went for about 5 turns instead…
Mio at the Yelp booth, making a lollipop spider out of tissue paper, pipecleaners, and googly eyes.
With her completed lollipop spider! She immediately wanted to disassemble it and eat it.
Mio and I. If my face looks strained, it’s because I’m lifting her up and trying to fit my face in at the same time…
Mio is a beer girl here.
With an Olaf pumpkin carving! According to Mio, she is Princess Anna (occasionally switching to Elsa) and Mirei is Olaf. lol… I suppose Mirei’s lack of hair does make her resemble the snowman!
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! π
Mio getting a caricature drawn.
Does it look like her? π
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. π
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!
The local county fair, Celebrate Fairfax!, was this past weekend and we spent most of our Saturday there — there were plenty of rides, entertainment, games, crafts and food there to keep us busy!
Eating a lamb gyro before moving onto the rides.
Dan got a Polish hot dog which was pretty good, too!
Dan and Mio on the boat ride
Mio on the miniature drop tower. Our little thrill seeker!
Some funny video we got of Mio on the drop tower. Love how she chimed in with the other kids! lol
Bumblebee ride:
Fishing game:
Mio and I waiting in line for the caterpillar coaster ride.
Mio’s first “rollercoaster”!
Selfie video I took of Mio’s reactions on the ride. (At the end, she asks “can you more?” which means she liked it! haha*)
The sisters at the county fair.
They had a petting zoo there as well!
Mio petting a lamb.
Mio’s favorite was the tortoise! She’s really into turtles lately.
First time touching a real turtle!
Mirei got to see the animals, too!
Mio petting a goat.
This baby bunny was so cute!!! I wanted to take it home with me.
Riding the train ride.
Mio on the train.
Playing with the train table at the fair.
Mio with her balloon turtle. She loved it and named it “Crush” (like the turtle from Finding Nemo)
Mirei got a balloon heart.
Making a bunny mask with Daddy at the craft table.
Ending our day at the fair with some delicious ice cream from Blue Sky Creamery. It’s made using liquid nitrogen and was so smooth!
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!
