Life's a Beach, Golden Week--Part 1.

Golden Week is a magical time in Japan. They consolidate four national holidays into one week, so everyone has the week off. Most people try to go to their home town to visit their parents. Tokyo becomes vacant, so some just kick around the empty streets of Tokyo.



This year we were invited to the Kawasaki's beach house, located near Tateyama. The Kawasaki's have three boys and a dog. This is the scene from their house. The kids swam, caught fish, and explored every nook and cranny of the area.



They took us to a hidden treasure...the sand dunes. To get to them we climbed over a mountain (a small one). Here's Mia scrambling up the hillside.



Rhett gets a little help from his dad.



As a reward for all that climbing, we got to slide down the dunes. This was a blast for everyone. Coming from snowy Alaska, I never thought it possible to go sledding on sand.



Here's the view from the top of the dunes. You can see how extensive they are.



Thank you Lauren and Tats Kawasaki!