Japanese Moon Festival and Telescope Viewing

Classical Japanese art and education paintings
Japanese Dancers Classical Education
Japanese Dancers performing the traditional dances

In the 4th Grade Memoria Press Curriculum, we study Astronomy, so we though this would be a perfect opportunity to get out and see first hand all that we are learning. The children used the star gazing app on my phone to find the constellations they’ve learned.

They had a huge telescope to view the moon and Jupiter. The moon was absolutely incredible. I have never seen the moon so close. It looked like those clay sculptures were the sculptor has put in a ton of time and there are so many tiny details. It was breathtaking to see the details of the craters! It made it feel so close like I could reach out and touch it.

Jupiter, being much farther away, was very tiny on the telescope lens. It looked like someone had drawn a tiny little white Jupiter on black paper. But we did get to see its rings and one of its moons!

The garden was decorated beautifully. There were candles and lanterns hung everywhere. The path round around a giant koi pond. The fish eagerly met the children (probably hoping for food!). I’m excited to come again and see all the plants in the day time. I could tell there were a lot of beautiful flowers and trees that reminded me of bonzai trees (but all grown up).

One could certainly stay for hours. From the beautiful ambiance, to the endless performances, and the tranquil tea garden it was so peaceful and enjoyable. But little ones must sleep! So we cut out “early” around 9pm. I’m thankful that the baby gets goofy when she’s tired! It’s so much worse to have a cranky tired baby! I’ve had my share of those for sure! In fact I’m pretty sure that describes me actually…. 🙂

Looking at the moon and Jupiter
Looking at the moon and Jupiter
Looking at moon rocks and bits of asteroids!
Japanese Calligraphy Classical Cultural Education
Japanese Calligraphy
Japanese Calligraphy
We had our names written in Japanese calligraphy
Beautiful music, candles, and lanterns lit the Japanese Gardens
The big beautiful moon over the koi pond
The big beautiful moon over the koi pond

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