We spent the day, with friends, at Hanano Miyako Koen, for the sunflower festival. And, we were finally able to get great pictures of Mt. Fuji as well! Maybe my curse with getting pictures of this mountain is finally over.
Sometimes the kids are a bigger spectacle than the scenery! 
The whole gang.
Hooray! The photo taking is over! The kids were hot and getting weary with all of our picture taking. Off to explore the rest of the grounds…
You gotta love a dog in a stroller, wearing a jacket! 
Well, maybe a few more pics. This view was just too hard to resist! 
Love this one. 
And not a moment too soon. Not even 10 minutes later, this was our view. You have to work quickly with this mountain! It got even more cloudy as the day progressed, we made it just in time!
The grounds of the park had a few greenhouses with some stunning orchids and other varieties of flowers. 
You could rent one of these darling flower carts to peddle around. The girls were desperate for one.
We made a quick stop for lunch and ice cream, of course! 
Now, for more exploring. There was a wading pool, 
water feature toys, 
even a stream to wade in. 
The stream led to a small waterfall. 
The water actually felt really good! 
We then hiked up to a larger water feature. No wading in this one though. 
The grounds are always so pristine in Japanese parks! 
The kids enjoyed piling onto these good, old fashioned, see-saws. 
Peek-a-boo!
I had to laugh a bit that this was the extent of the sunflower field. We have logged many hours driving through the state of Kansas, where there are sunflowers as far as the eye can see for miles, so this seemed a bit minor in comparison. 
Eva is so loving and caring with babies.
Next stop, Lake Yamanaka for some swimming. This is one of five lakes surrounding Mt. Fuji. Apparently, the water is pretty warm due to the volcanic activity underneath. Hmmm, maybe I should’ve brought my suit.
Dark volcanic sand, but still castle worthy. 
Swimming with a swan boat? Priceless. 
To cap off an otherwise lovely day, I rear ended my friend as she was pulling out of the toll booth. To make matters worse, she was borrowing this car from a friend, while her own car was being fixed. Perfect! (Luckily, I was able to get it fixed the next day. It took only 2 hours and $40. Whew!)
Glorious pictures! It looks like something out a brightly illustrated fairly tale!