We had a wonderful visit with Destiny’s new parents Brian and Patty. We met at a pizza parlor with an indoor play structure. So the kids did lots of playing while the adults did lots of talking.  Patty is a grade school teacher, so we selfishly asked her lots of questions, and she very graciously gave us some great tips.

We also got to meet two of Brian and Patty’s daughters who are cheerleaders which immediately got a thumbs up from Jasmine. Destiny is getting to know all about football going to all the games with the family to assist in cheering.

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We took Jasmine to her first Renaissance Fair.  The prior week we told her to expect a surprise event with the hint that she had to dress up as a princess. She was excited and wore her princess crown a couple times during the week to get ready.

Jasmine was quite impressed with the fair. She enjoyed all the people in costumes and especially liked the joust. And I must admit, the joust was one of the best ones I’ve seen as well. The melee combat was as good as any movie I’ve seen. Our champion to root for was the nefarious Black Knight. Even though he gave despicable taunts to his opponents, he was quite gracious to the kids on our side of the arena giving out high fives to the boys and touches to the girls for luck. I lifted up Jasmine to get her kudos from the Knight and Jasmine seemed thrilled. I think the luck paid off, since our Black Knight won.

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I took Jasmine to this year’s Beaverton Parade. The theme was Dancing in the Streets, although Dancing in the Rain would also have worked given the misty rainy morning. But since we are in Portland, the weather didn’t hold anyone back (except for Emily who is getting over a cold ).

They had some new stuff this year, including appearances by Chucky Cheese and Ronald McDonald, which Jasmine claims both waved to her. Which is probably true, since Jasmine waved to everybody. Jasmine also liked the tap dancers, cheerleaders and dance troops.  That is, when her attention was not distracted by collecting a hoard of candy thrown into the streets. Good thing my raincoat had deep pockets.

Last years parade…

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Free bbq, icecream and fireworks? Sounds good to us and so we went to the city of Tigard’s family festival for an evening of fun. The celebration was behind our favorite library, so we stopped in to refresh our book supply while Jasmine got some computer time with a Dora explorer game.

We headed outside to setup our chairs and waited in line for the bbq hotdogs and hamburgers. Then we ate way to many icecream treats and popsicles. In fact, there many kids with sugar highs running around including our own Jasmine. The event planners were on the job though, handing out kids toys like hula hops, airplanes, and games to keep everyone entertained. Once the sky darkened, a wonderful fireworks show launched.

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Dad and daughter prepared lunch for our Saturday outing. Jasmine made a ham sandwich with mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise.  Dad made a bean salad and washed several bunches of grapes. Jasmine was helpful in eating the stragglers that escaped from the vine.

We headed to Washington Park for our picnic. Jasmine picked the spot, which was facing the playground swings where she could watch the other kids play. After lunch, she joined in trying out the swings, monkey bars, slides, and the high bars.

We then headed to the zoo to checkout the new African exhibit. The place was a zoo of people since it was opening weekend for the new attraction. We luckily found a close parking spot. The new digs were nice but many animals seemed to be missing or hiding. We then visited some of Jasmine’s favorites spots such as the naked mole rats and the fruit bats.

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