Happy Hollow

Tomorrow is Gavin's third birthday!  I can't believe he has only been in my life for three years, and yet I can't believe he is already three years old.  Being a mom is so wonderful.  We wanted to do something fun to celebrate so we took the boys to Happy Hollow Zoo and Park in San Jose. It is a mix of a zoo, with smaller animals like birds, lemurs, and a jaguar, and a small amusement park.  The entire place is geared to young children and is quite adorable. I had heard that it was a lot of fun, and it lived up to our expectations.  We had a blast!  We walked in and went straight to the merry-go-round.  Griffin had fallen asleep on the ride there and was not quite awake yet.  Gavin was a little scared as it started, but ended up enjoying the ride.

Next we hit the car ride.  Gavin loved this one.

We all got to ride the little dragon train. I tried to get a family shot but kept cutting off Griffin's head.  This was the best I could do.  

Gavin loved the swing.

They have an awesome playground there, with lots of climbing and long slides.  This might have been the boys favorite part of the whole day.  They always love a good playground.

Griffin had to climb everything himself.  

Jim talked Gavin into riding the little roller coaster.  Gavin didn't cry, but was a little disturbed and told me it was "too fast."

Then it was back to the cars.  He was happy dancing all the way over!  

We then went and got our seat for the puppet show, and ate a little snack.  Recently Gavin was really into Disney's version of The Three Little Pigs. So I knew he would be excited to see a puppet show of the story.  And he was.

We ended our day going around to see the animals.  

We made a quick stop to dig for dinosaur bones.

The parrots were my favorite animal we saw.  They have to be one of the most beautiful animals in the world!  

They have a petting zoo with barn animals and Griffin really wanted to go in.  He was baaing at the sheep and blowing kisses to the cow.  He did get to touch the goat through the fence.  He LOVES animals.  Gavin was almost crying because they were too close.  He really likes animals from a distance but does NOT want to touch them.  Isn't funny how these two little boys come wired different from birth?

We thoroughly enjoyed our day, and now are just debating whether or not to get a season pass.  Tomorrow we will continue the birthday celebrations and I can't wait.  The little things in life are so fun when you see them through a child's eyes.