10 years old

Luckily Mia's tenth birthday was on a Sunday. So she could sleep in before opening her presents

After a quick breakfast we had to run to the music school where her choir grooup was part of a Christmas concert

 Back home there was some time to relax and to play a new game with uncle Stafan

Then it was time for the birthday cake. Ji had baked it with lots of chocolate the day before

After dropping Stefan at the train station in the afternoon and some time to relax with a book it was time for a birthday party with friends from school at a bowling alley across the street

Some girls asked for extra straws

They also had fun with the bowling balls

After two hours of bowling it was time for party food

The day ended how it had started: Unpacking of presents

Stefan in Town for the Birthday Weekend

For the big birthday weekend Stefan came for a visit to Heidelberg. We picked ihm up Saturday afternoon at the train station  and after some quick Christmas shopping for his wife in the old town we headed to a newly opened Chines restaurant the first birthday girl had picked

Well, we couldn't finish all the food even though it was really good and took some of it home.
First we stopped at a Christmas market in Handschuhsheim - a neighborhood in Heidelberg with the ruins of a small castle in the center

This weekend the inside courtyard had turned in a Christmas market with arts and crafts

Christmas Market Mannheim

After many months of not much rain there was finally some much needed heavy rain this weekend. Not so good for outdoor activities but when there was a break in the afternoon we hopped on a train to Mannheim to see the Christmas market there

We found a stand with great potato pancakes - Reibekuchen - and had crepes with sugar and cinnamon for desert

Girl Scout Sleepover

Mia joined an American girl scout group at the end of the summer - maybe a good way to make new friends. As a perpetration for future camping trips  a mother with a big house invited the older girls for a sleepover the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Right after the drop of we had to leave but thanks to Facebook we received some pictures later -

There was a late Thanksgiving potluck dinner

There was a ginger bread house building activity

The next morning the had to get up at 7 am

Time for breakfast

View from the front yard

A walk in the woods

On a sunny Sunday afternoon we set out for a walk along the hills of the Neckar valley towards Heidelberg. The fall colors of the leaves were really beautiful

Towards the we could see the river and the castle between the trees

 A little break

 T
he old town and the castle

Düsseldorf

We November 1 - All Saints day - a public holiday in southern Germany and Mia with a one week fall break we decided to go for a mini vacation to Düsseldorf. The city is the capitol of North Rhine Westphalia and got top rankings in some "best towns to live in the world" rankings. Also our old friend Claudia lives there.
It was raining pretty hard on our first afternoon and we met Claudia and her boyfriend in a brew pubg were we tries the local Alt beer - Mia tried a lemonade

 After the rain had stopped we walked around in the old twon a bit

The next morning we walked along the  Köningsallee of Kö a famous high end shopping  street tying to find an ATM

We ended up in the old town and tried the ferries wheel which offered some nice views

Apparently Düsseldorf was famous for boys who made meoey by showing their cart wheels. Mia tried some too but didn't get any money

We walked to the parliament building on the Rhine and the TV tower

We had dinner at another brew pub after buying a basket ball for Mia

Saturday we checked out an aquarium everybody had recommended

The zoo in Heidelberg has no penguins or shark and many other animals that need an aquarium so it was nice to see those at the Aquazoo