Michael, JaNae and the Japanese Gardens

Micheal and JaNae came to visit us over Labor Day weekend. We had a blast. They are so much fun to be with. JaNae is one of the cutest pregnant women I have ever seen. I can't wait to see what a beautiful baby boy they are going to have.
They got in Friday night and we stayed up pretty late talking. Michael is training for a marathon so he got up earlier than the rest of us and went for a 10 mile run (I can't even fathom wanting to do that, not to mention actually doing it :). We decided to go down town and show them where David works and how beautiful down town is.
We thought we would have lunch while we were down there and then work our way to the Japanese Gardens (Micheal said that most of the people who found out he was coming up here told him he had to see the gardens). David and I have been wanting to go to the gardens, but hadn't made it there yet so we were pretty excited.
The whole down town part of the plan kind of backfired. Pioneer square was awesome as usual, but there was some big convention going on that found us surrounded by a bunch of dressed up weirdos. NO KIDDING! They were REALLY dressed up. We couldn't figure out if it was from some kind of Sci-Fi movie or Anime or what, but it was weird. I would have taken pictures, but most of them were kind of scary looking and I didn't want to get in trouble. The kids thought it was great. They thought it had to have something to do with Halloween. It was pretty funny.

The biggest problem was that all these people got out for lunch just when we realized we needed to eat. We tried a couple different places (both of which my kids love ), but they were so full we decided to try somewhere else. We looked and looked and finally found a Subway and a Chipotle next to each other that weren't too busy. Poor Joelle, she was so hungry by this point and she hates Subway. She has never had Chipotle and she isn't the best at trying new things (especially when she is starving). We finally got her to eat a cheese tortilla and then she was okay. It was also cooler downtown than we were expecting and none of us brought jackets. It was not my best planned trip, that's for sure :).
The afternoon to the Gardens was perfect. It was warmer by then and the gardens were stunning. The kids weren't sure how they felt about going to some "boring" gardens until Michael told them that these gardens are where Ninjas live. He told them we wouldn't see any, because as we all know they are experts at hiding :), but that we should look as hard for them as we can. It was great. Ben was so excited to get there after that introduction. The whole time there the kids were telling us what they thought the ninjas used each different section for. What a smart guys Micheal is. He is going to make a great Dad. (He had also had the idea to pack a lunch before heading down town, but did we listen..... no - once again, so smart).


Luckily Michael and David got maps for the garden. It was a little confusing figuring out the gardens. JaNae and I would be musing together about what we thought something meant, and Michael would break in with the map in front of him and tell us what it meant. We just kept laughing because it kept happening. His is almost as handy to have around as David ;).

The kids loved these little dragons at the entrance. You can't really see them because of the shadows, but the kids were determined for me to get their pictures. Katie loved her dragon. She didn't want to get off. I think it was her favorite part of the whole trip. She kept roaring all the way back to the bus. Silly girl.

This is her new picture face. She thinks she's taking a picture of you. What can you do?

This little section is a bunch of gravel raked out in perfect checkerboard squares. It was so, so cool.

This was my favorite spot. What a beautiful waterfall. I begged David to come home and make me one just like it. It wasn't that big, but he refused. I can't figure out why :).

Emma and I saw this spider on the path back down to the bus. She begged me to take a picture. We have a lot of this species around. I think they are cool looking - they just better never come into my house.

All in all it was a great day. I miss Michael and JaNae. It was awesome to have family come visit. It was such a fun weekend. I can't wait to be with family again.