The Piñata

Yes, a piñata in Germany! Not only did Andrés' and Adrian's Abuela help to build the playhouse in the back garden, she also transported a piñata in her suitcase. Our neighbor Gabi choose one early evening for the kids to have a go at that Elmo face. The closest birthday was little Adrian's, so that was more or less used as an excuse.

 Gabi giving instructions. For some reason, Lina and Sophie thought that they needed to get changed into their princess and fairy outfits.

 Andrés went ahead and showed the girls how to do it.

Then Sophie had a rather feeble go.

 And here is Lina with the piñata still intact.

 The final blow with the goodies spilling out.

 Followed by a mad hunt for the candy and various little toys.

Lina and Sophie found some Elton John-type sunglasses in the fallout.

Thank you, Abuela, please come again. We all enjoyed your visit.

Everyone Had the Same Ideas

The hottest weekend of the year. 

We decided to cycle through the forest for a cool down at the Unterbacher See together with our neighbors Mark, Andrés, and Adrian.

 However, this was the line to enter the beach park. These must all be people who had circled in their car for ages to find parking only to be standing in this line now. 

 There was no way I was going to stand in that line, so we headed to the nearby playground in the forest to stay somewhat cool.

 Andrés and Sophie playing frog.

 After a couple of hours in the woods, we gave the lake another try as we were desperately longing for a dip in the water. The line was much shorter, it was still very busy inside, but manageable and above all the kids had a blast and wore themselves out. 

See if you can spot Sophie in this picture above.

There's a good way to handle the heat. 

A New House for the Kids

Big changes are happening in our neighbor's back garden! Could that be a play structure?!

While the neighbor boy, Andrés, is visiting his grandmother for a few days together with his dad, his mum Gabi and her mother (abuela) visiting from Mexico have been working almost around the clock to set up this fantastic play house for him. It needed to be done by this afternoon when Andrés was coming home. It was an incredible amount of work and I admire the two ladies for having been so disciplined to follow through so diligently. 

 Apart from having had the pleasure of watching little Adrian for a couple of hours here and there, this was the only time we were all asked over to help put the roof on. 

Adrian busy supervising.

 I think Andrés was really happy to discover his new toy. 

 ... unfortunately, I'm afraid he will have to share it with the two girls as there is no fence between our gardens.

This is a very quick slide and even faster when wet. 

Who needs to go to the playground now?

A Sunny Sunday or Big Sister for an Afternoon

Dare I say it? Could it be that summer is sneaking this way? I am no longer pulling up my shoulders when I go outside either because I am cold or to keep the rain from going down my neck. How I have missed this weather! And I think I am the person who is the most excited about this in Germany because I have already heard so many complaints about the humidity. What humidity? If you want humid and muggy, go to the Eastern half of the U.S. This here is just right.

Finally a sunny (and warm) Sunday!

 Already in the morning, Sophie was busy playing with neighbor boy Andrés in the paddling pool. A big hit! Look at that blue sky over there! And note how we have taken down the wire on the fences (not sure if I had mentioned this before) so that they actually have three gardens to run around in.

 When Andrés had swimming lessons in the afternoon, Sophie got to play big sister for a few hours with little Adrian. She was being very good with him. She did not leave his side.

 She even helped getting him dressed so that we could take a walk over to the playground.

 This is where we ran into Sophie's other new friend, Talisa, who lives right above the ice cream parlor. After they rode their bikes for a while, a long while, we were all ready for some ice cream. A very nice couple let the girls cut ahead of them in line and then treated them to their ice creams. How nice!

And that was the last time we saw Sophie's bicycle in working order. The next day the inner tube had blown. Maybe it's time to upgrade to a seriously roadworthy bicycle. We will have to ask Dad because he is making the money (I quote Sophie).