The Helper

Mia has a bit of a history of helping in the house - not always of course but when she feels like it. It started almost eight years ago when she could barely walk but wanted to take out the trash. A year later she was busy helping with the vacuum cleaner , helping with laundry when she was four, or doing the dishes  when she was four and a half.
Today she wanted to hang the clothes after laundry and insisted in doing all of them

Heidelberg Zoo in Winter

To get some fresh air we took a ten minute bike ride to the Heidelberg zoo and even though we had checked the weather before leaving we were surprised by a sudden heavy icy downpour that was not quite snow.

The donkeys seemed to like it

The kangaroos preferred to stay out of the white stuff
 

 The seals were okay with the cold weather

Different from the regular weekend days where it can be very crowded during the feeding of the seals there was plenty of free space

Castle Frankenstein

Nothing helps better against the jet lag after a 12 hour flight than a little exercise and outdoor activities. So a little light rain didn't stop us from a walk to castle Frankenstein. Its at the outskirts of Darmstadt a 30 minute drive north of Heidelberg. It's not clear if the author of the famous novel picked up the name when they were visiting nearby.

The walk from the parking lot took about an hour

It was damp and cold so a warm soup at the kiosk was welcome

There was not too much to see in the inside

 
At least there was a tower to climb

With an restaurant attached an old chapel turned into a wedding chapel it seems to be a popular place for weddings with extra parking spots reserved for groom and bride - a one hour hike through the woods would not be too attractive

We brought back some local beer as a souvenir

Last Days of Shanghai Visit

Because Mia's cousin was in school his mother thought she should take us to the new Disney Land at the outskirts of Shanghai.
Mia was a bit disappointed though when we didn't go in and just had a look from the outside.

We only took a look at an American style outdoor shopping mall where the buildings had some Chinese touches. 

The two interesting stores for Mia were the Lego store and one with wooden toys. 

After a dinner at a dumpling restaurant we found and liked during our last visit in 2016 we went to  Ji's parents neighborhood on our last full day in Shanghai.

Mia took some pictures of the alley cats there - which she already liked on her first visit there in 2010

She also noticed signs whth an interesting  English translation

Since it was raining she tried out a few things at the Decathlon sporting goods store across the street
Hula Hoops

Wave Board

Skate board

Shanghai Zoo

We started the new year with a visit to the Shanghai zoo. Luckily it was a nit sunny and since the area is really big it was only crowded at the first few exhibitions

We had been at the zoo once in the summer of 2012 when it was really hot and Mia and her cousin were four and three and a half. Without the heat it was much more fun.
Mia took many pictures with here own camera

Feeding the goats with carrots and salad was a big hit

So was the cotton candy

The two also enjoyed some of the rides that were offered at two or three places

 

The  next day Mia's cousin had to go back to school so it was great they could spend the day together

Family Visit in Shanghai

From the hyper modern airport of Shenzhen just outside Hong Kong we flew to Shanghai Hongqiao the domestic airport of Shanghai where Ji's father was already waiting for us.

We stayed at a serviced apartment in Xujiahui next to a park we also had used in the spring of 2014 and it was touching that some of the employees there and even a lady selling ice cream and other snacks in a store 5 minutes away remembered us from earlier visits. Only our favorite dumpling place which still was there in the summer of 2016 was gone.

The next day we had a little birthday party for Ji's father - Mia's cousin was of course there as well

Mia helped with lightning the birthday candles...

..and with blowing them out

The next day had some coffee at a fancy shopping area a few steps from the our serviced apartment with interesting sculptures

Then we met the family of Ji's brother and his in-laws at their place - a grand house from the 1930'ies

The old neighborhood is also home to alley cats

While Mia played with her cousin we went for a walk in the side streets

It was cold outside and even inside it was a bit chilly

In the evening we met again for dinner at  the food court of a mall with traditional Shanghainese street food

A special Disney store was set up for the holidays in the basement of the department store

After dinner the children still had enough energy to fool around in our apartment

No energy was left for us to stay up until he start of the new year though