Having a good time in Shanghai

During our two weeks in Shanghai Mia managed to spent a lot of time with her grandparents, her uncle, aunt, cousin and other relatives.
With her cousin only nine months older he was a great companion to explore different playgrounds, the zoo and other parts of the city.

One time we even got on a double decker bus

At the zoo Mia finally managed to see a giraffe

She also enjoyed the playground there which had an ice cream stand and few rides

 One the one rainy day we had Mia played an afternoon with her cousin

At the end it got a bit wild

Lingshan Buddha and temple

Our one trip outside Shanghai took us to Wuxi with Ji's brother's, his wife and their son who is only nine months older than Mia. From there we took a tour to see a giant Buddha statue in the mountains nearby and some temples surrounding it.

There was also a conference center for a Buddha convention and Mia and her cousin checked out the chairs usually reserved for the leadership

The whole room and the building was realy nice

There was also an temple

At the the end it was nice to watch a water show on a hot and steamy day

Shanghai Children's Museum

During our two weeks in Shanghai we also checked out the children museum there. It is not very big and a bit hidden but Mia really enjoyed it. She could be a fireman that needed to answer an emergency call or a musician in a colorful costume

Or in another and another costume

She also took over the veterinarian doctor's office and checked out all the dogs there

Other highlights were a submarine she could explore and a tree house

Barbara's Birthday

We met Barbara for a sushi dinner in a restaurant in our neighborhood. Since it was her birthday we also had to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat some ice cream at our place afterwords.

Air and Space Museum

Only a few weeks ago the retired space shuttle Discovery was moved to the Air and Space museum next to the Dulles airport. For Andreas, Chris and Jonah this was on their must see list for Washington DC.

We also had a look and also checked out some other planes as well.

 

Jonah also had to show a new toy to Mia

At the Playground with Jonah

When Jonah was visiting this weekend we also checked out a little playground in our neighborhood.

After all the climbing the complimentary mango yogurt drink at a Indian restaurant down the street was really refreshing. Jonah finished his in no time. The gown ups had a nice cold beer

 

Rolling Thunder

On the Sunday before Memorial Day thousands of - mostly  loud - motorbikes joined for the "Rolling Thunder" parade in the center of Washington DC. This was one of the many things to see for uncle Andreas, aunt Chris, and cousin Jonah who were visiting from Denver this weekend.
Even though it was sometimes very loud Mia also watched for some time

But then she enjoyed the ice cream she bought with mama and Jonah more than all the motorbikes