New Link to Jasmin's Travel Blog

Hello everyone! As a lot of you know I am leaving this weekend for Japan, and then Iceland, so here is a link to my new blog if you want to follow how that goes:

 Jasmin's International Adventures

Jasmin

Perth

June 30

Today we left for Australia. Our plane was delayed 2 hours because the handle to the door of the suitcase area came off. I managed to watch all of Forrest Gump before we left the ground. After we got off the ground I listened to Carmina Burana and read. I told Alia I was listening to Carmina Burana, and she said “Who’s that?” After wards I was so tired I could barely stay awake.

July 2

We spent a lot of time on air planes. I read two books and listened to a lot of music because I didn’t feel like watching movies. When we finally got to Australia we went to Dad’s aunt and uncle’s house. In the evening our second cousins came over and we had dinner. There are four girls and two boys. Their names are Maddie, Bella, Alisha, Jordan, Carl, and Charlotte. We had cake to celebrate Carl’s birthday. I managed to stay up until 8 and then I went to bed because I couldn’t keep myself awake any longer.

July 3

During our second day we went to a park. The park had a big memorial for all the soldiers who died in the wars. We walked in the park and looked at all the plants. There was an interesting plant that had zigzag leaves. The flowers were used as candles. Then we went back to the house for lunch. After lunch we drove to the Indian Ocean and put our toes in. I’ve never been to the Indian Ocean before, and it was really cold. We looked at the shops nearby and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. When we got home I went straight to bed because I was so tired.

July 4

The next day we went to visit the animals. We saw peacocks and emus. The emu followed me around and tried to stick its head in my popcorn. There were talking birds as well, and they kept saying hello. The bird at the front was named Bill and he kept asking for a scratch. We saw the kangaroos and fed them popcorn. Then I fed the ostriches popcorn. The ostriches really liked popcorn. We had lunch and afterwards we got to hold the koala. It was very heavy and soft. The koalas really liked the lady who was in charge. One even jumped out of the tree and came over to her. After the koalas we looked at other animals like echidnas, lizards, and really big ducks. The ducks enjoyed hissing at us. Then we went back to the house and some people went to the park until dinner. After dinner I went to bed.

July 5

On Thursday we went to the mall in the morning. I got a red sweater. We couldn’t stay very long because we were going to the aquarium. At the aquarium there were fish and jellyfish. We went under a large tank with large stingrays and fish and sharks. Upstairs they had some dangerous sea creatures. My favorite was the puffer fish. They’re more poisonous than cyanide and they can bite off a toe. After the aquarium we had ice cream and went home. Alia and I went back to the mall in the evening and we looked at more stores. Then when we got back we went to bed.

July 6

On Friday we went to visit Dad’s other uncle. We walked to their house in the morning. Everybody talked and we had cake and tea and cookies. Then we went to the mall with Dad’s cousins. It was a huge mall, first we went into the souvenir shop. Then we went to go look for earrings we managed to find opals at one store. Alia got earrings and I got a necklace with a rose. We had lunch at the food court and then we went to other parts of the mall. We went into a clothes store and I got a shirt because I was really hot in my sweater. After that we left and went back to the house. Our cousins came over and we played in the park until it rained. Then we went for dinner at a pizza place and after dinner we went to go see Ice Age 4. It was a funny movie, and I had lots of fun. After the movie it was late, so we all came home and went to bed.

July 7

In the morning we went to the mall with Charlotte and Uncle Charlie. It was a different mall that we hadn’t been to before. Alia and I got socks and hair ties. Then we met our other cousins at their house and we all walked to a café for lunch. After lunch we walked back and everyone got into different cars. Then we all drove to the chocolate factory. They had samples of chocolate for everyone and a window so we could see how they made the chocolate. After the chocolate factory we went to some wineries so the adults could try some wine. After all the wine tasting we went back to our cousin’s house for dinner. I played with Alisha. We colored and played with her littlest pet shops. Some of the other kids watched Transformers downstairs in the movie room. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to hang out with my cousins.

July 8

Today all the cousins came for breakfast. It was a huge breakfast, it was really good. After breakfast Uncle Charlie gave me 614 ebooks. Now I have so many books to read, and I had a crisis because I didn’t know which one to read first. It’s like Christmas, only with more books. For lunch we went over to Dad’s other uncle’s house. We had a huge lunch and it was really good too. After lunch we talked about iPods and other electronics. We watched videos of our recital on Dad’s phone. Then we went for a walk outside and I went to the park with the boys. We saw an ice cream truck and it played Greensleeves, which is way too sad for an ice cream truck. In the evening we went to Charlotte, Maddie, and Bella’s house to use their wifi. I watched 2 ½ episodes of Buffy and checked my email. The others watched a movie about baseball. We went back to the house for dinner and Jordan, Carl, and Alisha came over afterwards. We played with each other’s iPods and listened to music.

July 9

This morning we got up early and drove to the docks. We got on a ferry and went to Rottnest Island. It was very cold. There we went for a bike ride. We stopped at one of the beaches and put our feet in the water. It was very warm water. Then we rode some more. We rode to a lighthouse, but we didn’t get to go in. On the island there were animals called quokkas, which looked like small kangaroos. We ate lunch very late and returned the bikes afterwards. Then we went and walked around until our ferry left. We drove back to the house and had dinner before going to bed.

July 10

Today was our last day in Perth. We got in the car and drove for a very long time. We stopped once to look at the beach, but it started raining. We drove some more, and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We used their wifi a lot. I finished the ½ episode of Buffy and checked my email again. Then we got back in the car and drove to a small area with stores and walked around. After that we drove for a very long time all the way back to the house. Mom and Dad went out, and when they got back we went to say good bye to Dad’s other uncle and his cousins. When we got back we hung out with Charlotte, Maddie, and Bella until everyone else got there. We drew pictures before and after dinner, and it was a lot of fun. I drew a humming bird and some other random doodles. I was really sad when everybody left and I will miss them a lot.

Niagara Falls Day 3 and 4

In the morning we cleaned everything up and got ready for the family reunion. Then we played outside riding bikes and running around. We also played with the iPods inside.


When the people got here we went around and met everyone. Alex and Finley were here from last night. We swam in the river a lot. We mostly hung around and Uncle Brad made steaks for dinner.

The next day we went to Marine Land with Alex and Finley. We saw seals and sea lions first, and then we saw the deer. After that we climbed a hill and everyone except for me and the adults went on the sky screamer. We went on a ride like the scrambler and then the older kids went on a rollercoaster with my mom. JF wasn’t feeling great after so he stopped going on rides. We saw more deer, some elk, and buffalo, before walking back to go on a ride like the spinning teacups. Next crossed the fish pond and saw the beluga whales. We went on six small rides and then had a lunch break. After lunch we saw the show, which was really cool and very funny. We watched dolphins, sea lions, and a walrus perform tricks. After the show we visited the killer whales and more belugas which splashed me in the face. We went on some small rides after that and then went home.

When we got back we went in the river because it was so hot, and then Isaac and Libby came. I played with Libby, we did Mad Libs and we went on Ellie’s trampoline. Isaac showed us his really cool transformers and how they changed and went together.

Niagara Falls Day 2

This morning after breakfast we decided to bike for a while and then go frogging. We were very successful in catching a frog and we put it in a bucket of water. While we were doing that I spotted a rock that turned out to be a huge snapping turtle. Grandpa picked it up from behind and we touched its tail. Then it peed on him… twice. We put it in the brook by his pond and watched it. I went next door to ask if Ellie could come see. She was having a family reunion so she brought her cousins.

We had to get interviewed for nexus passes so we left around two to get interviewed. We were there for just over an hour when we got back. When we got back we drove down to the dock and rode back up in Grandpa’s boat. Then we rode bikes and looked for more frogs because ours escaped. Ellie and her cousin Ben came back over and we played spud and catch. He told me about the book he wrote and I bought one. After dinner we went swimming in the river. We collected more seaweed and swam around the boat. When it got dark we had a bonfire. Ellie and her cousins joined us roasting marsh mellows. It was a long and busy day and I think today will be the same.

Sorry for slowed posts, we have no internet here.

Niagara Falls Day 1

Today we left for Niagara Falls. We watched Harry Potter 7 part one in the car on the way there. When we got there we sorted out the beds and played with our cousins JF and Alex.


In the evening we went out for dinner at a restaurant and had putine. When we got back we went for a swim in the river. We found huge globs of seaweed and had a seaweed war. We had to come back after a few minutes because it was getting dark.

Oakville Day 7

Today we went to meet my friend from preschool Samantha, at a water park. She has two brothers, Alexander and Isaac who are Alia and Lukas’ age. Samantha and I went down and waded in Lake Ontario while we caught up. Sam is on the Canadian national dance team and she has competed in Germany and meddled. She also skipped fourth grade and is going into tenth. We played on the splash pad with our siblings and we sat on the swings. She couldn’t stay long though because she lives in London, Ontario and they had a long drive home.


We came back here where Alia and I took down our fort and cleaned up the basement. Our second cousins came over after dinner and we played MASH and MadLibs together. They brought homemade cupcakes, which were really yummy. We also took warped pictures of each other with Alia’s iPod and Alyssa’s DSi. Right now Alia is watching the movie we filmed of each other. Maybe we could post a few later.

Oakville Day 6

We didn’t do that much today. For lunch we went to this really cool restaurant called Pearl. When we sat down people brought trays of food around without us ordering it. Some of it was really good and some of it I didn’t like. I really liked the pork buns, and they had one dish they called hockey pucks which was shrimp and veggies in a patty shape. Lukas ate most of those.


After lunch we had to go walk on the pier in very humid weather. We went in this museum that was really scary. I didn’t like the way the art made me feel, most of it was videos projected on walls and they were creepy. I was glad when we moved on.

We walked along the water until we came to this deck that had been made like a wave. It went up and down and different parts had different heights. We played on the wave deck for a while and then went for ice cream.

Back at Taita and Jiddo’s we played in the basement and in our fort. Mom and Dad went out and Alia and I read for a few hours.