The Portland weather finally gave us a little break on the weekend. And when I say break, I mean that it stopped raining for the the first time in about nine months. I know, I know, talking about the weather is incredibly boring but, when you live in Portland and really look forward to the fabulous summer through a miserable, dreary winter and IT DOESN’T ARRIVE, I think you’re entitled to a little complaining. It’s either that or move to Vegas.

And besides, I’m sure this makes my family back in dreary Melbourne feel a whole lot better. See? I’m performing a public service.

When I first suggested to Mayumi that we take a trip to the Japanese Garden,  I was a little embarrassed. I mean, isn’t EVERY garden in Japan a Japanese garden? Ha! See what I did there?

Of course not all gardens in Japan are as beautiful as the garden we have here in Portland and ours has views of Mt Hood. So, after Mayumi assured me that she wanted to see it and she had research the garden on the intranet as a place she wanted to visit, we decided to take the whole family.

Visiting a Japanese garden can be a very peaceful affair – water fountains, delicately raked stone gardens, immersion in nature. Of course, visiting with three small children in tow, it is a completely different experience. God thing we had a little scavenger hunt to keep them busy – at least for a while. The person at the garden who thought up that little activity is a genius.

Here’s Samuel checking out the scavenger hunt pictures. He insisted on wearing his Buzz Lightyear hat for most of the morning.

Each time I visit the gardens my goal is take photos that share the beauty of this wonderful place. That’s always my goal but, with kids in tow, it’s a challenge. So I was actually pleasantly surprised when I got home and uploaded my photos from the day. I won’t share them all (because there any MANY) but here are a few of my favourites.

 

The next photo was taken right before Samuel’s meltdown – an event that severely undermined everyone’s Zen. It’s become a daily occurrence – so much so that I may never feel Zen again.

And then to finish our day off in true Japanese fashion, we grabbed a little rotating sushi for lunch. Oishii!