Tanabata, Part 2

We only got about half way into the garden, then we turned back to see if Shannon had shown up yet.

We were worried about finding each other because we didn't have each other's phone numbers! But, we finally got the whole group of us together!

Trekking through the garden again!

I know I was happy to navigate the stone paths again ^.^

We found some shade to rest while Shannon told us about her hectic morning!

I love this photo of us, just enjoying our stroll through the garden

My brother took a photo of me from a high angle to make me look even shorter than I am. This is NOT that photo! This is me being naturally short... 

One of the great things about going out in kimono, is chatting with strangers. Most are nice, and some are not so nice. We saw this gentleman a few times at the garden, and he was such a pleasant and happy person to talk to!

Ahhh, shade! We spent the latter part of our time there in the pursuit of shade, the sun was very strong! My brother did end up with heat stroke. Even I felt not so well the next morning.

One of the girls who was dancing at the festival talked to us a bit about yukata. She was feeling a little bad about having to wear so many layers (for dancing) and wearing sneakers because she couldn't find her geta.

I felt a little judged for wearing a tsuke obi and uniquely patterned handmade yukata. Different people have different tastes in fashion.

I added a rose to the bow of my obi!

Tanabata is perfect for wearing yukata! These two ladies worked at the tanzaku writing station

This little boy was cute in his jinbei! I missed my son, but I know he had a good day with his daddy and grandma.

There were several girls wearing yukata

After a few shamisen songs, there were dance performances

I don't remember the name of her dance, but I felt it fit the story of Tanabata very well.

Getting ready to write wishes on tanzaku strips. We wrote in English, and then the assistants wrote in Japanese. I wrote "I wish for my son to grow up healthy and happy." and then the calligrapher wrote the kanji for "health" and "happiness" on the other side.

After writing our wishes, we went to the tea house for the tea ceremony. It was very pleasant. The ladies were very nice to let us sit comfortably however we want. I tried my very best to sit in seiza position for as long as I could, but it was more painful to sit seiza on tatami mats than on carpet! I was the "first guest", so I sat nearest the tea presenter, so I felt bad when I had to stretch out my legs. It was also difficult to examine the tea bowls and other utensils, because you have to lean forward and place your elbows on your knees. I was unable to bend forward far enough because I must wear a back brace under my yukata. It was still a very enjoyable tea ceremony! The tea house garden also had a bamboo branch with decorations, and they invited us to write our wishes on tanzaku again. I decided to write mine in Japanese this time, 「息子が元気でいられますように」. I hope that I wrote it correctly!

Before we left, we took one last look out to the pond. And took more pictures!

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I was bending down because a giant koi had swam up to me and was looking at me. I was so close, I was squeeing "I want to boop your nose!!" and bent down to poke it. I came close to it, but didn't want to actually touch it (I was afraid I would get in trouble!). Oh boy, how is it that we could come out of a peaceful tea ceremony and be soo hyper?!

After leaving the garden, we got on a shuttle to take us to the Wing Luke asian art museum. Unfortunately they told us they were closing soon and part of it was closed off for a wedding, so we ended up walking down the street and looked around a little Japanese shop called Higos.

We had such a good time! I look forward to next year's Tanabata!