Miss Jasmine

First off, apologies, I'm massively behind on my blogging and reading everyone's blogs. I'm more than two weeks behind. We definitely need to resupply on hours in the day.

These two pictures clearly indicate what children will do to your furniture and the focus of your living room decor.

Anyhow, Jasmine got a new steel string guitar and wouldn't let go of it the first few days. Yes, she even slept with it. Thus far we've only broken two strings and I can actually restring the thing unlike the nylon stringed ukulele-sized one I got before. I couldn't find replacement strings for the old guitar, but Toys R Us carries the strings for our current model.

Jasmine also wanted a "bra". While her attempts at wearing mine were quite amusing, I thought we should get something more her size. The scary thing: THEY CARRY BRAS FOR HER SIZE! I opted for something that looked more like a summer halter or swim top. She was happy. I was darned if I was going to buy her a padded one. THEY SELL PADDED BRAS INTENDED FOUR YEAR-OLDS!

In this second picture she's completed her ensemble with my old black flats. Note that she does not detract from the beauty of her bra by anything as gauche as a blouse, but nicely accessorizes with a green hat.

A side note, this is Jasmine's favorite way to watch a DVD. She can get very close comfortably, see the whole screen without having to move her eyes around (her peripheral vision doesn't work up-to-down, though seems to be okay right-to-left), and no one tells her to get out of the way. I think she's watching the Sesame Street Alphabet Show that features Stephen Colbert in the role of humble and eager-to-please "Z". It's a heartwarming tale of gaining a smidgen of self-worth in the presence of letters that are more important or interesting.

The Birthday Crew

Here's the full laser battle group about to embark on their black lighted massacre. Birthday boy there, four from the right holding Jasmine back. There were no casualties to speak of and all were eager to back into the fight. (Jasmine liked the dance music and disco lights inside.)

Dancing with Daddy

It's more modern than the traditional standing on your father's feet while he shows you how to waltz, but on the other hand, it fits Jasmine's more active style.

And the second image shows how you have to remove her from the dance floor.

These pictures were taken at the Brunswick Zone while we were celebrating Kai's birthday with video games and laser tag. Fun time for all.

Goofy

I just bought new earbuds. Thank the gods for these instructions. I might have hurt myself without them. Theo suggested I also include the toothpick instructions:
http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/HitchHikers-Guide-To-The-Galaxy-6594.html

South Dakota Kids

For the recent holiday weekend, I took the kids on our furthest trip ever for camping, South Dakota. It was about six hours actual driving with breaks every two hours to get the antsies out. They are excellent car travellers. I took them out of school on Friday so we would have an extra full day to see things. I figured it was educational and luckily enough, I think their teachers agree.

Jasmine did have a bout of homesickness, which is turning out to be a typical, but low intensity reaction to camping. She definitely wanted to see her Baba ("Dad" in Mandarin). A funnier reaction happened on the last day when she put down her cheerios spoon looked around and asked, "Where IS GrandBaba?" We camped with my Dad a few weeks ago and she thought it was high time he showed up this trip.

In our two full days we toured, Wind Cave, Mammoth Site and Jewel Cave as well as see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. No big hikes, which was a shame, but I fully intend to bring the kids back with Theo ... even if we have to stay in a cabin.