First Visit by the Tooth Ferry

After having her first wiggly tooth for a couple of days it finally came out during lunch at school. One nice person wrapped in a piece of paper so Mia could take it home and the next morning the tooth ferry had brought a little present

Alla Hopp Playground

Dietmar Hopp - one of the founders of SAP and very wealthy - started a foundation to support fitness and coordination with wonderful playgrounds that offer activities for all ages. When Mia saw a picture she wanted to go and so we headed to Schwetzingen by streetcar and bus to check it out.
The first stop was at he Schlossplatz with the statue of a market woman selling asparagus - a specialty of the region

 Mia rode her bike along the park of the castle and we walked

The playground was lots and fun and Mia didn't want to leave even after more than three hours

An extra tall bench was kind of fun - it was some sort of exercise to get on to it

Even the roof of a little hut was a challenge for climbing

Some of the installations looked like some piece of art

On the way back to the bus stop we happened to run into a big street fair - another Kerwe. Mia wanted to do the bungee jumping and the carousel

Then we walked back to the Schlossplatz

Just in time for dinner at a nice brew pub with Schnitzel and Spätzle

First Bike Tour

After looking for more than two months we also found a nice bike for Thomas. Mia was the first one to get one two months ago and Ji got her's five weeks ago. Now that we all have very nice used bikes we can finally go on a bike tour and we did a little ride to the Neckar Wiese and some shopping for Mia's school at Bismarkplatz.

Coszy evening at home

After a cold and damp day outside it was time for a hot bath for Mia and a nice dinner. Mia tried to use the chopsticks and it worked pretty well

The she wanted to use some blankets as a cape

Kerwe in Walldorf

When taking the bus to the cultural festival at SAP on Friday Ji and Mia had noticed that a big street fair was getting set up in the center of Walldorf - a small town 15 km south of Heidelberg.
The rides were kind of simple but Mia still enjoyed the jets where that had controls that let her go up and down while they were going around

 After the blue jets she also wanted to check out the yellow ones and the pink ones - which were the most popular ones

There was also an traditional carousel

After that we checked out he stands and the music

Dinner in Ladenburg

After our tour of the maze and checking out the farm it was almost time for dinner. We always liked the old town of Ladenburg down the road so we went there for a little sight seeing and to look for a nice restaurant with local cusine for dinner.
First Mia wanted to check out the playground by the old city walls

The we walked to the market square

Some houses were more that 500 years old

We ended up in a restuarant with very local dishes

Hegehof

This was the last weekend when the maze in a cornfield outside Ladenburg was open for the public. Even though the weather was cool and grey we still went to check it out.

 Inside the maze we had to find seven boards, each with a ridle on it. The solution gave a letter and all seven letters together the solution which we then put into a big drum for a drawing later this month.

In the middle of the field was a light tower with a nice view of Heidelberg in the distance and the field from the top and a long red slide

 It took some time to find all the seven boards

 After we finished the maze Mia had to try the trampoline

Then we bought some fresh young wine, same home made jams, eggs, and some pear schnaps

Multicultural Festival at SAP

A friend had told us about international festival at SAP. It didn't get much advertising but it turned out to be really big with more than 5000 visitors and performances from groups from twenty countries plus stands with food and drink.
Mia's first stop was the face painting station

She asked for the cat design

 The Spanish stand had tapas and sangria

The first performance was a Croatian dance group

Mia had a spot right in front of the stage

Then it was time for some Indian dancing:

 The children had moved on to the stage but for the Latin dancers they had to make space again:

When it was time for a snack the combined US American and Canadian stand offered rice crispy and ginger ales

It got really late and we left during some Iranian love songs

Gut Leidenhausen

After a big breakfast at Haus Elmar and a walk with Claudia Mia wanted to see some deer and wild boars at a park nearby.
There we checked out the map and the animals and a big playground were just a few minute walk from the parking lot

 Before we saw the wild boar we already smelled and them.

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The deer were also close by and The male ones made a very load roaring noise

Then it was time to check out the playground

There was also a sanctuary for birds of prey

Then we were really hungry but luckily the former farm had a nice cafe with outside seating and some hardy lunch items in the menu

On the way back we checked out the wild boar again

The drive back to Heidelberg took an hour extra because of an accident that closed the freeway but we made it back to Heidelberg just before dark