TGITh--Happy Hollow

I'd always seen the website for Happy Hollow during my Bay Area researching, but it wasn't until Paula made a trip into the city and said something about it at playgroup last week that I decided we should go. It just seemed so far to drive all the way down to San Jose. But it's a good thing we decided to go since upon arrival (after Max dropped Blake's credit card through the cracks in the boards on the patio where you buy the tickets--what are the chances, seriously?) we found out that the park is closing on July 2 for a year! But it's a good thing it is. Happy Hollow is in much, much need of a face lift. The rides were so rundown that even Max wouldn't ride on them. There was absolutely no line and there was nothing we could do to get him on it. Instead, he played at the mini fire station for a while until we saw the dragon train cruise by. Of course he had to ride on that, and after the ride, he forgot about all the cobwebs and dust and decided to give Happy Hollow a chance.
After the train ride, we went over the the theater to save some seats for the puppet show--The Frog Prince. Max had a prime front row seat, but quickly gave it up after the frog started shooting water at the audience. Poor guy was scared to death. But don't worry, not totally to death since every time the frog appeared on stage he'd announce, "Ribbit, that's what a froggy say." Thanks Max.
Lunch at Happy Hollow couldn't have been better. The picnic tables were right next to the carousel. Max was still being weird, probably still scared of the spitting frog, and chose to ride on the bench the first time around. Silly guy. Finally Blake coerced Max into riding on a horse and even Baby Jack joined the boys for his first carousel ride.

Happy Hollow isn't just rides and puppet shows. Oh no. They also have a little zoo. And in keeping with Max's theme for the day, he would not get close to the animals. It's hard to tell in the picture, but Blake is pulling Max up near the very cute, harmless miniature horses. You can kind of tell that he's trying to push against the fence with his right arm. Anyway, we quickly left the zoo behind and went back for more rides. We found the crooked house which was home to the steepest slide I've ever been on. I swear, it is just short of a vertical drop at the first and then twists around to this opening. When Max hit the turn, it twisted him onto his belly and this is the picture I got of him coming out.
If you need a closer look at his scared little face, here's the cropped picture. And really, I don't blame him. It really was so scary.
And after the slide incident, we started making our way to the gate. Max played on a viking boat and splashed the oars in the high seas and we stopped at one ride, which he rode about 10 times, on our way out then hit the road back up to San Francisco. Thank you Happy Hollow for a fun-filled day. Can't wait for your face lift!