rainbow hammock, bouncing dome

While T played rugby today, I took the boys to Showa Kinen park in Tachikawa, a 30-min train ride from Shinjuku station, a great day trip. The "rainbow hammock" was a big hit...



Here's a somewhat frightening video clip of my 7-year-old in action (Click here! Then hit the Back button to return to the blog). Don't worry, he didn't hurt himself, or the kid he nearly crashed into...

After the hammock we hit the "bouncing dome." D is the little guy in the orange shirt, left of center, jumping with the big kids...

And here's his brother, easy to spot in his P.S. 8 shirt!

This massive place, which one guide book I have calls the "Granddaddy" of Tokyo's family parks, also has lawn bowling, croquet, horseshoes, mini golf and disc golf, a woodworking shop, several playgrounds, a few flower gardens, an herb garden, bonsai garden and "dragon dunes" (stone dragons you can climb on), an open field as big as the Great Lawn of Central Park, and a pretty big lake where you can rent a pedal-boat or a canoe. Oh, and you can rent bicycles to ride along the many paths. There's also a giant outdoor water park (which charges a separate entrance fee) with big slides like the ones at Great Wolf Lodge, that is open during the summer. We're there!