Snow Day

About 7 cm (3 inches) of powdery fine snow was enough to shut down the federal government and to close all the schools on the city. But an early morning  text message from Suzette meant that Mia could have some fun in the snow with Kennedy and Xena

The Rocky run playground was good for sliding and sledding

Magna Tiles

After Mia had discovered Magna Tiles at a get-together with Anette to build St Martin's lanterns in November she added them o her wishlist. And after waiting a bit she got her own set as a delayed Christmas present in January. She really enjoys them - and so do other kids who are visiting

Good Bye Lorene

After being our neighbor for almost 10 years it was time to say "Good Bye" to Lorene when she moved to North Carolina this weekend. Here mother and friends and family were there to help.
Lorene and her mother also had time to come up to our place for dinner one evening before the move

We hope to see Lorene in her new place in North Carolina in April - just a few weeks before her baby is due

Skiing with Larissah

After a long break we went skiing again after German school with Christoph and Larissah. It was kind of busy and no classes available at 2 pm so we just got tickets for the the fathers and free companion lift ticket for the "five year" old daughters ( kids that are six years old are no longer free). For one father it was the first time on skies but it went ok and was fun.

Larissah's Birthday Party

Larissah had her first big birthday party on her sixth birthday - just like Mia. And just like Mia's oi was a lot of fun. Shika had heard about a dance studio in Vienna that offered a one hour session for children where they could practice some 'moves"

After all the dancing it was time for dancing and - of course the birthday cake

Back on the slopes

This week has been the first cold and snowy one of this winter. We had about 5 cm of snow on Tuesday - and schools didn't get closed - and very cold temperatures - -10° C this morning, So it was the perfect weather to try skiing again after German school with Larissah and Kross.
Mia could also test those snow goggles she had gotten from Yilei for Christmas 

Mia wanted to try a class again and she did really good. For the second half of the class the instructor took her and another girl up the mountain with the ski lift since the two did so well

At the end she also skied with Larissah and used the magic carpet for some skiing on her own

Cabin John Park

Following a invitation from the night before we checked out the ice rink the Cabin John park with a group of Germans from the DC area, The organizer was Mia's first teacher from the German school with which we still stay in touch. It was a great ice rink the size of a regular ice hockey field and the fee was very kow

By coincidence Ji also saw her cousin's sister-in-in law and her tow boys with which we had spent Christmas. Her other sister-in-law with her five year old daughter who were visiting from California were there as well. We all met up later at the playground not too far from the ice rink.

 The kids had really fun and it was not too cold.
The sister-in-law from California took some extra picture of the girls