Spark Lab

On a hot Monday afternoon Mia headed to the National Museum of American History again. One section is devoted to science and has a small hands-on lab for children, the Spark Lab.

Mia is still a bit too young but she has fun at the play corner. Today she even found a little playmate.


In the morning she also enjoyed her first shopping trip in the new bilke trailer. Mama let her even ride in the shopping cart for kids which is designed like a car. In the evening it was time again for the pool.

Stepping into Mama's shoes

Mia's has a long interest in shoes in general and especially in mama's shoes. This weekend she wanted to try mama's flip flops and actually managed to walk in them a bit:

She also enjoyed the new bike trailer we got for her. After the first spin around the block she wanted out again but once she got used to it she didn't want to leave anymore. Some pictures from the first outing soon.
Suddenly she also enjoys an old car toy again - even though she is now a little bit too big for it:

Back to normal

After Mia was sick last week things are finally back to normal and she eats and sleeps like she used to do. She also enjoys again having her teddy wear different shoes and outfits. She also likes her picture books.

If we have one of the items shown there at home - like sunglasses - we are happy to show her the real thing.


Together with some neighbors and their children Mia also went to a music concert for kids in our neighborhood.

We don't let her drive quite yet but we took her to the air and space museum where she could sit in a model plane

Recovering

After Mia came down with a virus on Monday evening she didn't really eat and sleep well for about three days.
We took her to the doctor on Thursday who gave us the diagnosis of the virus - we initially thought she might have a problem with teething - and were we found out she had lost more than a pound.

This weekend things were finally returning to normal and she is almos eating like she used to and getting a full night of sleep again.
We also took her to a little outing to the harbor of Old Town Alexandria where there was also an Irish festival with music and dancing in a park at the Potomac. Mia also enjoyed a street musician who performed blues: "She has in her blood" was his comment after he saw her claping and waving her hands to his music.
Today then she had fun at a playground with pretty high closed in slide.

Amercian Indian Museum

Another hot Sunday in Washington DC was a good opportunity for Mia to check out another museum. This time we took her to the museum of American Indians which had a lot of space to run around and many things to look at.

Second trip to Chicago

After we met Ji's brother in Chicago last November we decided to take Mia there for a second time to meet with Christian and Beth who were visting this weekend.
This time we didn't stay in the suburbs but in a nice hotel downtown. One of the nice features was the pool on the 19'th floor. Since Mia enjoys water we too her there for a morning swim




For lunch we met Christian at a Cajun joint at the Chicago river

Mia was not very interested in the red beans and rice though but she had a bite of Ji's catfish poboy

She had more fun later that day in the Millenium park. There was a reflecting sculpture

A nice square to push her stroller around

There was also a very nice water installation which is a big hit for kids:


The next morning we took her to a nice playground reight next to the Hancock tower.


Then it was lunch again with Christian - this time in a beer garden on top of the Rock Bottom brew pub
Later Mia relaxed with some shoe shopping at Nordstrom. After that we met Beth, Tore and Christian for some cocktails at the 96'th floor lounge at the Hancock tower - for Mia it was just water.

The next day at the airport before we flew back Mia helped out with one of the electric carts

Teddy Bear

Mia has become more creative with her playing. So her teddy bear has become more busy and sometimes has to wear her old clothes.

After that he might have to go into her stroller for a trip down the hallways. If he is lucky he could also get some cheerios or a bottle of milk.

Sometimes Mia also likes to try papa's socks or fancy boxer short: