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!
On Saturday, our little family took a trip to the Oakland Zoo! I’d never been, and had been telling Dan that we should take Mio once the weather got warmer — since Saturday was surprisingly warm, we seized the opportunity to finally go! Our friends Kayo and Sung-kook and their 16-month old son Jinwoo also happened to be free that day, so we invited them to come with us.
I grew up going to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, which is pretty impressive and much larger, but I really enjoyed visiting the Oakland Zoo for the first time. It was very clean, well-maintained, and very child-friendly — there were lots of open areas where children could run around and climb onto animal sculptures, and a petting zoo where they could actually touch some of the sheep and goats. I think the more intimate size of the zoo actually works in favor for parents with young children, because you can get through the whole zoo (or a lot of it, at least), without getting too exhausted but still be able to see all the animals that kids love to see (monkeys, giraffes, lions, tigers, elephants. etc.).
It was of course Mio’s first time at the zoo, and although she’s a little too young to truly appreciate it, she definitely seemed intrigued (and at times, perplexed) by some of the animals at the zoo. Here are some of my favorites from the photos we took at the zoo!
Showing Mio the tortoises
16 month old Jinwoo
Jinwoo saying hi to Mio. "Long time, no see!"
Mio and Jinwoo playing with the "snake eggs"
Mio and Daddy at the petting farm section of the zoo.
Mio looking at the sheep.
A very cautious Mio petting the sheep.
Daddy took Mio right up to the goats.
She looks quite apprehensive...
Brows furrowed to the max!
The giraffes at the Oakland Zoo
A family picture.
Kayo, Sung-kook, and Jinwoo... soon to be a family of four!
A tiger with magnificent stripes!
We ended our trip with the lions - the king of the jungle!
You can see the full set of photos we took on our outing to the Oakland Zoo in the slideshow below:
