Jasmine and I headed to our Parks & Rec. annual Family Festival. We went last year and had a good time although it was very hot. This year was cooler but still very crowded. We waited in long lines to try out some big slides and obstacle courses. The space shuttle slide was the biggest inflatable contraption I’ve ever laid eyes on. Impressive. And Jasmine said it a fun spiral staircase up and good slide down.

On the way back to our car, Jasmine decided to do a little rolling down a hill. I remember doing that as a kid, of course I ended up with rash.

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Jasmine loves to ride her bike and we decided join in on the action. So we did some shopping and found a comfy adult bike. It was quite a challenge to fit the bicycle into our small vehicle – we were wondering if we would have to ride the bike home – but Emily’s superb packing skills saved the day.

Emily and I have been taking turns going on bike rides with Jasmine. We also had an impromptu bike rally with all the neighbor kids doing loops around our home. Oh, how the kids love it when an adult joins in with them.

An eyewitness reports that I crashed into a tree branch, whereupon said tree branch attached itself to my helmet. Of course, no one bothered to mention my new helmet decor until after going several loops and wondering why people where pointing and laughing. Luckily a helpful 7 year old removed the foreign body, and I could bike again in relative peace.

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Second up on our Saturday adventures was me taking Jasmine to children’s theatre in the park. I was pretty doubtful whether Jasmine or any young person for that matter would be able to sit still and focused on an hour long play. I was proved wrong. Jasmine and the audience stayed engrossed watching two stories about King Midas: the first one his touch turned everything to gold and the second one he grew donkey ears.

And the great thing about going to festivals at parks is that afterwards you can let kids run wild at the playground; which is exactly what most the parents including me did after the play ended.

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If you don’t know it yet, let me reiterate that Portland is a city of parks. First up on our fun filled Saturday was me taking Jasmine to a dancing in the parks festival. I was expecting the typical European line dance routines, but it was way better. There were professional solo acts featuring many different styles and cultures. My favorite was the tap dance and also the ballet performance that was accompanied strangely enough by country music instead of the traditional classical. Jasmine’s favorite was the Hawaiian hula during which she was doing some moves.

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We had a relaxing holiday weekend, staying mostly at home. But we did venture out to view some fireworks.

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