We had a wonderful visit with my Uncle Walter, Aunt Jane and Uncle Robin. Jasmine was initially shy, but Aunt Jane immediately broke through with an offer to go feed the fish at the pond. Later, Uncle Walter took Jasmine and me for a ride in his MG. He has been rebuilding this vehicle for the last several years and it looks and sounds amazing. After the exhilarating ride, Uncle Walter was Jasmine’s new best friend. Apparently, Jasmine has a thing for convertibles.
For our first birthday celebration with Jasmine I wanted something quite, small and intimate. Emily and Jasmine wanted something big, loud and energetic. With two against one, I lost. And so the princess party at Chuck E. Cheese’s was born.
Chuck E. Cheese’s was a sensory overload of noises, smells, and visuals. Somehow the kids liked this environment, while the adults walked around like forlorn zombies stumbling after the children who wondered from one diversion to another.
The mechanics of the place was confusing to me. There are these things called tokens which you use to play games. If you do well at a game, it will spit out tickets. And then you feed these tickets into another machine, which spits out a different ticket. Finally, you use this ticket to exchange for merchandise. Its almost like being a rat in a maze. Hmm.
Anyway, Jasmine had a blast. She loved the games, she loved dancing on stage, she loved being crowned and metaled by the Chuck E. Cheese costumed character. And I loved watching Jasmine having lots of fun, even though I didn’t quit understand what was happening. And yes, the pizza is as bad as people say, but us famished zombies ate it anyway.
We were very excited to meet our niece Savannah and happy to attend her baptism. She is a beautiful baby who always seems to be smiling.
Our summer vacation began in Maryland visiting Emily’s family. Grammy Carolyn made us a wonderful dinner including a mixed green salad with avocado slices which I had several helpings. After a long day of traveling, a nourishing salad is just what I need. For dessert there were mixed berries, spongecake and whip cream. Uncle John, who is a children’s librarian, bonded quickly with Jasmine, getting her giggling and playing with his silly faces and antics. Grammy Carolyn soothed Jasmine to sleep with a nice bedtime story.
June heralded a couple milestones for us. First it was Jasmine’s birthday. Second it was my niece Savannah’s baptism. And third, we wanted to begin introducing Jasmine to our family. And so with the help of Gran Gran Rachel, we planned a one week East coast vacation to Maryland and Delaware.
Like most kids, Jasmine is in constant movement, so were concerned how she would cope being confined to an airplane seat for many hours. Jasmine’s positive attitude and our detailed preparation paid off, because Jasmine did great.
Earlier we had gone shopping for additional luggage and had purchased a little rolling black suitcase for Jasmine. When we got home, Jasmine took it upstairs and filled it with a nice selection of toys and then took it back downstairs next to the door. She then yelled “I’m ready to go!” After laughing, we explained that the trip was still many weeks away. And that our next step is to decorate your suitcase. So the black suitcase now has pink poke-a-dots. On travel day, Emily filled the suitcase with snacks and toys which Jasmine happily rolled around the airport.
My preparation was researching and purchasing a portable dvd player. I then tested the battery life, which seemed to be about 3.5 hours, even thought the box said it was good for 6. We then acquired movies that would appeal to both parent and child such as The Incredibles, Elf, Robots, and Wallace & Grommit. The dvd player proved to be good investment as it provided a calming distraction during an unexpected 4 hour layover.