Shimoda Beach on the 4th!

For the weekend of the Fourth of July we decided to go back to Shimoda beach. We loved it so much our first time we have been dying to get back. Some friends of ours mentioned they would love to go too and next thing we know we have made plans and our getting ready to go.

We headed down ahead of our friends on that Thursday. We arrived a little later then planned but still went down to the beach to enjoy the sun set. We went to a beach that last time we only went to on our last time. The beach was almost isolated and so pretty. Even though it was getting cooler from the sun setting the girls still played in the water a bit.

So pretty! After the long drive (about 100 miles in 5 hours!) we were so happy to be there

Gena was not so sure about the ocean



She did like walking on the sand, as long as she could hold our hand

The girls were so excited to find sea shells.... I told them not to keep the broken ones and they just didn't understand

Walking with Dad. (I love this picture)

The Andrews (our friends) arrived later that night. They were exhausted and had only gotten a little lost with my wonderful directions..... Well thankfully Jeb went out and found them and I was relieved that I had caused no serious damage.

The next morning it was the beginning of a gorgeous day and off to the beach we went! It was so beautiful, the kids were so excited, and the beach was basically empty except for us. It was wonderful.

Harley jumped right into the waves with the boogie board. I could hardly get pictures of her she was always going so much.

This picture says it all. So excited so happy and just look at that beach!

Our friends son Jaydon with Niyah. I was surprised how well him and Niyah played together.

Getting buried in the sand sounded fun, Gena even helped

Then the water came.....

Jeb and Harley had lots of fun in the water together

Niyah liked to stay closer to shore

This was the most I could get Harley to stop for a picture for.... she was always running to fast

OK, so I look really bad, goofy, weird in this picture. But it totally captures how much fun I was having riding the waves with Harley

When her Dad took a turn on the boogie board Harley thought Gena would enjoy being buried in the sand..... what do you think?

Niyah took a turn, but she still liked to stay closer to the shore line

Genevieve didn't like the water to much, but thought the sand was great

When our skin had as much sun as it could we headed back to the house (the same one as last time) we took a little nap. Then when we all woke up we went exploring in town.

The next morning we headed out to go to the beach again but stopped at the sand hill first. (This is where later we would be coming back for fireworks. )

A few hikes up this hill and a few topples down (I have some neat video to load of that) and we were getting tired out. Also the few drops of rain quickly turned into alot of rain.

We hid out in the grotto cave for awhile then went back to hang out at the house until it was time to pick up our other friend Shimo.


We found Shimo at the station. The rain had lightened up but still wasn't exactly beach weather so it was a good time to take the cable car ride up the mountain.

The view on the way up was so neat. I wish I could tell you about this neat building, but I can't, I don't know anything about it except it looked so neat.

What a view of the Shimoda cove area. The history is interesting as this is the place where the Americans came and asked (told) the Japanese to open back up to international trade, and here they signed the treaty.

On top of the mountain were some beautiful gardens. We were excited to go on the maze but it was closed due to the rain. :(

Jeb found a nice cannon for Gena.

The view was Great

That night we all relaxed and had a great time playing games. I wish we would have taken pictures of us all sitting around the little Japanese table playing games. It was a great time.

Then it was Sunday the 4th of July. We didn't want to spend the day at the beach because it was Sunday so we choose some quieter things to do.

We went on a boat ride on the black ships (my kids called them pirate ships) They were to represent the ships that came to open back up Japan.

We were excited to feed the sea gulls that follow the ship for the bread you can throw at them. We were not so excited when the hawks began to dive for the bread too. That was just a little scary. Seeing the hawks was neat, seeing them dive at your fingers, slightly frightening.

This is them posing for a picture while Niyah stares frightened at the hawks above.

This is Jaydon after the boat ride.

Niyah after the boat ride. Cute kids!

We then drove along the coast to reach the other side of the peninsula. The drive was so so amazing. I was so glad we went for the drive just to see it. Problem, the view flew by in the car a little to quickly and I couldn't get any pictures.

We arrived at the other side of the peninsula with plans to ride another boat that went through caves. The boat rides were shut down though due to the high waves. So we just went hiking around a bit and tried not to die of the heat.

This was not as steep or dangerous as it looks from this picture

The drive back we took the shorter way, going inland rather then along the coast. The small villages were still neat to see.

We then went back and grilled up some food for our Fourth of July dinner.

This is the group relaxing on the deck at the house. It was so nice just to be able to relax. It was great to have good friends to hang out with too.

After dinner we went back to the sand ski cove area to light up some fireworks.


Ok I know you are tired of me saying this but it was just so pretty. I didn't grow up anywhere near beaches so the sounds, the look everything is just so amazing to me, and these are exceptionally pretty beaches that we had all to ourselves. I just felt so lucky to have this experience. Sitting on a beautiful beach in Japan, with friends, celebrating the fourth. How neat is that?

Gena and Tia having fun in the sand.

Harley after face planting it from sledding down the sand.

We started with sparklers. Niyah still is not really over her fear of fire so Harley just enjoyed them with Jaydon and Tia

Then we had a seat on the hill and watched while the man risked their lives, I mean lit fireworks. :)

oooooh

aaaaahhhh

It was a great mini firework show. Thankful no injuries despite a few fireworks gone awry. We then headed back to the house for a last night of games.

Monday was our day to head back but we spent the morning at the beach. We went to a different beach. It was a bit more crowded this time.

Niyah was a little more brave

The waves were bigger and there were lots of surfers

Gena and Tia still loved the sand

The guys ready to head out in the waves (Jeb, Shimo, Shane) They frustrated the surfers with their boogie boards but didn't care to awful much

Harley could hardly wait for her turn with the boogie board

Tia worked really hard hauling in the sand

Riding the last waves

Then before we wanted it to be it was over and it was time to go home.

It was a perfect trip. I know there was a lot of pictures on this post but there was so much I enjoyed. I still didn't even get it all, I am missing videos of the tumble down the hill, Jeb parting of the waters, Jebs melted screen, and once again the battle of bugs! It was a great trip and we can only hope that we can go back here again before we leave Japan for good. Thanks again Shane, Amy, and Shimo, it wouldn't have been as fun without you!