Saturday at Summerland

Over the weekend, for Conor's birthday (which is officially today, the 30th --he's 8) we took the boys and Conor's friend Charlie to Summerland, a 'Water Adventure' park about an hour outside the city. We totally lucked out because there was almost nobody else there and the weather was mild enough. Oh, and the boys loved it. Two other families we know went as well, the Leitheads and the Popes, so there was a small British School contingent roaming the grounds, and everybody always had at least one other person their age on hand to play with.

I managed to snap some pictures while the sun was out. Somebody should paint those slides orange or yellow or green or something other than light brown...I'd even settle for white! The water looks pretty though.
This fort thing is cool, with its water cannons and large bucket that fills up and tips over on a regular basis.Conor, standing on the deck (below), tries to convince Charlie to go on one of the slides, but Charlie wants to float down the river on a raft.
So Conor heads up the stairs on his own.
The slides aren't all that exciting, as it turns out (the shorter/ steeper ones at the other end, the slides with a height limit, are the real "screamers") so now Conor is back in a tube, catching up with his friend.
The Ferris wheel and roller coaster are just beyond the picnic tables and loungers and this other part of the "Monkey Float" pool. Everything is connected, and you pay one price to use it all.

Dylan, with Rupert, on the tire swing
Using the lily pads to cross over

There's an indoor bit as well, where the wave pool is, the one featured in various Youtube videos, the ones that made me think maybe we shouldn't come to this place. But apparently nobody goes to Summerland in September, and most of those who do stay inside, where the air is nice and muggy, like those special tropical bird exhibit halls at the zoo.
You can kind of see the wave pool in the background here, and two of the tamer slides.
Wait, here's an even better shot of the practically empty wave pool...It's getting late and the sky has clouded over, but still the kids won't quit. That's Conor and Charlie running on the deck, below. And that's the pirate ship ride in the background, up the hill. I think it's called "Super Bounty." Terry and Dylan went on it four times.
Every so often the kids would hit the "spring house" hot bath to warm up.Dylan (red trunks) is back in the water for another round of jump-the-stumps. Or, as the kids called it, a game of hot lava. The point is to scamper/scramble across the floating logs and stumps (which are anchored to the bottom of the pool, but can easily tip) without falling in, and to be the first to make it across. Here Conor is in the lead, crawling on all fours.
Beyond the hot lava tank (in the background of the photo above) is the real screamer slide, the one the adults did, the one that requires you to lie flat, arms across your chest, ankles crossed, cheeks clenched...

But at this point we are just waiting for the boys to admit what their blue lips are telling us: that it's time to go...


To help pass the time, I forced Terry to pose for a series of self-portraits. My aim was a little off.






It's nearly 5pm now. Our friends split a while ago. We are among the last to leave...

The train ride back was a snap, only about an hour from Akigawa to Shinjuku (by way of Haijima), and then a quick transfer to the JR Yamanote line, and on to Ebisu and then home...