Our Summer Event

Last Monday worked out perfectly for us to visit one of our favorite summer haunts--Nagashima Spa Land in Mie Prefecture. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to drive, so leaving at 7:30 we arrived just at 10 when the park opened, and we stayed until closing at 8pm--phew!! We were lucky to have a perfect day with the sun, a few clouds, and hardly a person at the park, we basically walked onto all the rides! This is the 4th time we've been here in about 6 years, and Julia is finally tall enough to go on almost every ride! This has always been a source of tears for her, being too short for the really fun rides--and a source of tears for Janina--being tall enough for Mom to drag her onto the really fun rides!

Here we are on our way to the entrance..

We opted to use the park's baby buggies, as we saw on their website they had some available for a low fee. This was the ONLY really sucky part of the day--the buggy was more like a cart with a padded seat, no shade, no strap, no place to lay down for a nap, VERY disappointing.

Once upon a time these rides were exciting for the kids--this year Janina didn't even try to get on!

Jordan's very first ride--the Merry Go-Round!

And his second ride--the flying parachute swing--not sure what happened to my face there.

The last of the kiddy-rides before we hit the big-time fun!

One of the kids' favorites--the Viking Swing!

Daddy's favorite--some sort of backward drop-and-twist you ride--
I went on with the kids, and right at the top I got a cramp in my butt! I yelled out "Ouch, ouch, I got a cramp in my butt!!" But the kids heard "I got crap in my butt!" and thought I'd pooped my pants. As soon as we got off they asked me if I needed to go to the toilet, and I realized they'd heard me wrong! Embarrassing!!

Janina the Brave wanted to try out the only ride in the park I vowed not to go on (and of course I did later after I saw Janina had survived), the Giant Frisbee!

You sit in a circle facing outward..

and you swing back and forth...

while the wheel is turning in a circle... you almost go upside down..

...and since she survived, I thought maybe I would too!

Art took the kids on the giant ferris wheel--another ride I'm really not into..

Art, Julia and I went on the White Cyclone, a wooden roller coaster that fairly rattles your brains!

...and Janina took her turn watching Jordan since she really doesn't like most roller coasters.

It was time for another Jordan ride--the kiddy-monorail...

..here are the other three in their own cart.

I joined Janina and Jason on the little Frisbee ride.

We took our turn in the go-carts

Art and the kids went on the FREE-FALL

...which Julia loved and did over 3 times.

It was time for another Jordan-ride--the steam-engine!

Art and I took Jason and Julia on this coaster--Julia loved it so much she came back to ride it alone--and she truly was alone..

When we saw her come around the bend--she was the only one on the coaster, right in the front!

The Space Shot shoots you straight up in the air, then lets you fall almost the whole way down. When you reach the top you hit 0 gravity and float up in your seat!

We slowly made our way over to the Steel Dragon 2000, a monster of a coaster ride that used to hold 5 Guiness world records for speed, length, highest drop, fastest drop. We did it at the very end and wished we'd done it earlier so we could do it a few more times. It's sort of scary when you get to the top of that hill and realize you're up higher than the ferris wheel--but oh the fun of the ride!!

Another Jordan-ride!

Next to the amusement park is a swimming pool/slider park. Next time we go we might get the full pass to both parks, that way you can go from the pool to the rides and back!

And so we came to the end of a really great day! There were many more rides we didn't take pictures of, all in all, it was worth the time, money and effort!