Slumber Party

After a evening at the pool Mia had a little slumber party with Erika and Jacob

The highlight was of course the ice cream.

A visit from Ben and Ella

On a day with record breaking temperatures - the high twas 104 F - cousins Ben and Ella came for a visit to cool off at the pool and hang out with Mia.

While Mia and Ben had a little swimming competition Ella was a bit more relaxed

After the afternoon nap and some snacks the three stayed indoors and played a bit in Mia's room

4'th of July

On the 4'th of July our neighbor Silvia invited us to watch the fireworks of the National Mall from her rooftop terrace. She had organized a party with a few friends and some good food for the occasion.
For Mia it was the first fireworks she watched. in the years before she had been already asleep at the start a bit after 9 p.m. when it starts to turn dark.

Not sure if she liked it. She did most certainly enjoy the deserts after the fireworks: Chocolate cupcakes, chocolates and strawberries

Annapolis

Last weekend we went to Annapolis to meet some friends. Ken had completed a bike relay race across America with his "Above and beyond cancer" team and it was a great opportunity to spend some time with old friend

Ken's family had driven all the way from Des Moines, Iowa and Christian had joined Ashley and the rest of the support team in Kansas

After some time in the hotel pool we then spent some time on the docks and had dinner with Christian

It was a beautiful evening with a nice breeze and we could watch the boats pasing

At brunch the next morning Mia was delighted to have Hershey on her lap. She had come all the way from Des Moines as well

After that we all headed back to DC and spent some more time with Ashely, her mother, the kids and of course Herseh

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