Happy Hollow

This weekend we all had 3 days off, so John and I decided it would be really fun to go out of town, just get away for a few days. So we packed up and headed north. We told the kids we were staying in a hotel, which was enough for them to get super excited.

Julie, John and Sadie all had colds, but they were on the mend so we didn't think much of it. As we were driving, Julie started coughing. She coughed until she threw up...all over the back seat and herself. Kind of a rough way to start a getaway!  But she felt better after and we got her all cleaned up in no time.

We stayed in Gilroy for the night, the second we got to the hotel, the kids were stripping to get their bathing suits on for the pool.  We swam for about an hour and a half. Even Sadie was wrinkled like a prune and not wanting to get out of the pool, but we were starving.  After dinner, John took the kids back to the hotel so I could have some time to myself and do a little shopping.

When I got back to the hotel, Sadie was fast asleep and the big kids were already snuggled up in bed. We turned off the lights and we all went to sleep. Shortly after, Julie woke up coughing. And she just couldn't stop. We used all her inhalers, gave her honey, cough drops, stuck her in a hot shower for almost an hour. Nothing really helped. Finally, around 4 am, she went to sleep.

Somehow Andy was able to sleep through her coughing in the same bed, so he was up at 6, ready for our adventure!  The girls weren't far behind him.  We got to Happy Hollow in San Jose right when it opened. We started walking through the zoo, and it was less than impressive. So we went to the rides.  Andy saw the little roller coaster and couldn't wait to get on! I got to ride it with him.

They had a big pit with dinosaur bones covered in sand. Andy's kind of heaven. They had all sorts of tools for the kids (and John) to find the bones. They had a blast. And yes, Julie ended up getting bonked with Sadie's brush.

The play structure there was incredible. No pictures would do it justice with its 3 levels and 2 story high slides. It was all we could do to track of the big two kids.  Sadie liked the little kid area.

Julie loved this swing ride. They rode it quite a few times. Even though there were a lot of people there, the rides weren't ever crowded, so the kids could either stay on the ride for another round or they would get off for one round, then get right back on. It was really nice.

Big ol' goofballs. Andy loved putting his arms out like he was flying.

These peddle cars were really fun. They also have some that parent's ride with smaller kids on the back. I was glad Julie and Andy were too big to go in those and they were happy to peddle themselves.

Sadie got to go on the bug ride and the big carousel. She was less than excited waiting for it to start, but liked both once thy got going. Especially with big sister by her side.

After lunch, we found the face painting. These face painters were pretty talented! And again, there was very little line! Sadie ran all over the grass area while Julie was transformed into a cat.

Andy got a snake!

Sadie did not nap all day. She ran all over that park. Most of the time, while the big kids were on a ride, John or I was chasing this one. She loved it.

And she climbed on all sorts of statues too.

Andy just climbed up big rocks.

The last ride was this "Frog Hopper" That Julie was not sure of. Andy was sure she would like it and by the end, she was laughing and enjoying herself. It bounced up and down a few times, so luckily she was on it long enough to enjoy it. Andy could have stayed on it all day.

As we were leaving the park, Sadie finally crashed, barely making it through the front gates.

We had thought we would stay another night, enjoy the pool again, maybe even come back to the park the next day. But Julie's cough was just getting worse and we didn't want to push our luck.  So we headed home. But, I don't think it will be too long until we are back again!