Helping with Dinner

Saturday we had invited some neighbors over for dinner and Mia helped a bit with the preparation and wanted to see how the Chinese dumplings were made

All the kids . and the adults - enjoyed the food

A new baby at the zoo

On the way back from the Explo we checked out the new orang-utan baby that was born at the Heidelberg zoo on March 21. Before we entered the zoo there was a brown bear very close to the glass that a lot of children wanted to see - including Mia of course

After an hour at the playground we finally saw mother Sari and her baby Berani

Explo Exhibition

One option for a recent field trip of Mia's class was a trip to the Explo exhibition in Heidelberg. Since Mia didn't know what is was she signed up for a trip to a farm instead. Since the exhibition is only a ten minute bike ride from our place away we decided to check it out this Sunday.
The space was not very big but there were quite a few interesting displays about science and nature.
First we checked out a cabin with mirrors on all walls:

Then it was time for a little break at a table

A optical display were part of a text was readable when looking through a glass cylinder and the other part was npt needed a little explanation

 Then we took some pictures in a little room where heights seemed a little bit off

Mia trying use a laser pointer to point out the mouse hole where a sound comes from - something that apparently come naturally to n owl. Its not so easy for a human.

Checking out shadows

A nice set up of mirrors where a face is mixed up with the one of the person in front of you

Bike Tour to Ladenburg

On a sunny and warm day tried a longer bike tour to Ladenburg which is about 10 km away. A few days earlier we had bought a new bike helmet for Mia and some saddle bags for the bikes since biking stuff was on sale at Aldi - so we were good to go.
To make things easier for Mia we stopped for a few breaks. One was at an airport for model airplanes we we could watch from the fence

 

Then of course we stopped for water

On the last part to Ladenburg the bike trail went past the river Neckar

In a park by the ferry to Neckarhuasen we had a picnic and some ice cream

On the way back we also had a few stops

One was at a beer garden in Schwabenheim a small village right by the river

It was also a good spot to go down to the water

On the last few kilometers we even saw a bee keeper at work

Cherry Blossom in Schwetzingen

On the first warm day of this spring we went to see the cherry blossom at the castle garden in Schwetzingen.
First we had to stand in line a bit to get tickets for the gardens

 Then we had to find the entry to the garden with the cherry trees

 Once inside we enjoyed the colors and wished we had brought a picnic blanket

Mia tried a handstand

Circus School

For four days after Easter Mia attended a "Circus School" the city run culture center offered in Mia's school just a five minute walk away. At the last day there was a big gala performance and of course we attended.
Mia's first choice would have been the trapeze act but she was still happy with the clown act for which she had to dress like a little dog.
Of course she was a bit shy and nervous just before the show

In the clown act  some legs disappeared as par of a magic trick

 All went well

She had another part later with a surprise appearance of a dog walker

At the end all artist appeared for a big final applause