8 September 08

Emily and I had a quiet morning at home while Nick took the others to Hamarikyu. They particularly enjoyed the expanse of cosmos flowers along with the butterflies and bees that were attracted to them.

Afterwards, we met them at Shibaura, and got the boat to Odaiba.

It was a beautiful day, so we had lovely views on the way across the water. Alighting with our picnic, we took shelter from the sun in a log hut, to eat while appreciating the panorama. A pity we shared our haven with some mosquitos, which made a bee-line for me as I fed Emily to sleep.

We strolled along the shoreline, stopping at the kids' pirate ship playground to try out the tyre swing, and the slide.

I've always wanted to have a go, but at the weekend there are too many children for me to be able to. Our usual cafe was unfortunately closed, so we carried on to Aqua City for a drink. We made the return trip on the Yurikamome light railway, back across Rainbow Bridge. Walking home, Graham carried Emily the final few hundred yards. She enjoyed playing with his beard.

After our goodbyes and a quick photo shoot,

Nick took the family out for a final meal at the restaurant where we'd enjoyed eating recently.