The plan had been to have a light lunch in the bohemian-style Cafe Despacio, but, as I had half feared, we found the shutters down there, and also at the up-market fish and chip cafe on the corner. I felt bad about that, as we wandered the blocks near the station fruitlessly looking for some form of food to satisfy the kids. In the end we had to hop on the train and go one stop back to Den-en-Choufu, where there were many lunch options. We went into the bakery/cafe at the station and dined well on sandwiches and other bakery delights (I was pleased with myself as I managed to resist the lure of the many pastries and cakes). Then I recalled that there was a small wooded park with some sort of playground in the vicinity and luckily managed to remember the way without a map. We stayed for more than an hour there, and apart from a few tears from all of the kids for various reasons at various times, it was a nice place to while away the time while Cooper and tiny baby Samuel were fed.
I knew that it wasn't far from there to the ridge-top playground on Tamagawadai, and when we moved on there found in fact it was only two minutes walk away. We didn't stay so long there as they were all getting tetchy by then and fighting over who would ride at the front of the dog rocker.
Jo and Bettina decided to head home around 2pm. For some reason Emily began crying very hard and did so for a good five minutes, as I wheeled her down to the river. Once there she cheered up and we played there on our own for half an hour, in the long rushes and also on the shingle beach that the low tide had left behind.
Even in December though, the mozzies were relentless and I soon had to beat a retreat and begin the journey home, the sun already beginning to set anyway.
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