NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Monet in the foreground, Anthony jumping at right, Gen sitting on the far bank, and two other kids

On Saturday Anthony got to play in a park with two friends he hadn't seen in a while, kindergarten classmate Monet, and Gen (my friend Zak's boy). The park near Gen's house in Otsu (just over the mountains from Kyoto), ojigaoka park, is wonderful, both for kids to play and for parents to photograph.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
It has Rocks to be Thrown
Gen

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
It has Sticks to Poke With
Gen and Anthony

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
It has a River for Play and Walking
Monet and her daddy, Arthur

The boys gravitated toward destructive play that involved “building” a “road” near where some minor construction was going on. This “road building” mostly involved throwing rocks....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Construction”

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Throwing Rocks

Here's a view from the other side, showing the little construction zone they were violating...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/11, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos

I was curious what it might be behind the barriers, so stuck my camera up and over...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Big Hole

I've no idea what it might be for, but there it is.

Anyway, as the little river leaves the park, it becomes overgrown, making for a nice little jungle, ripe for exploration (just as Anthony and Gen did more than a year ago), so Arthur and Monet forged in...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Into the Wilderness

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Joins In

Then it was time for apple juice. Anthony claimed that he wanted juice “for everyone”, which I inferred as a certain willingness to share, but when we got to the vending machine, it turns out that he wanted me to get one can per person Doh!. I figured that they needed to hydrate, so everyone got their own can..

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pause that Refreshes

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Can you Hear Me Now?”
Monet yelling into a storm-drain grate, Anthony listening on the pipe-outlet end

What I found amazing is that this was the only part of the park they played in this time. The park offers so much more for kids, from a big bowl to run around in to a huge set of interconnected multi-story monkey bars to a tall two-story slide. We've made many visits to this park, and I have many photos I want to share... just no time.

To provide a bit of context relative to some previous posts, here's a wider shot showing the “wilderness” and the bottom of the “road-construction zone” where the boys where throwing rocks....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

The orange crane in the distance is the very one featured on my Raising Crane in Otsu post two months ago, and the tall building at the far left, half obscured by trees, is the Otsu Mary, one of the tallest buildings around.