Saint Martin

In case you ever wondered who Saint Martin was. According to legend, he was a knight a long time ago who shared all of his food with poor people. When he had no more food left to share, he came across another cold poor person in rags. He then divided his cape with his sword and gave one half to the poor person to keep him warm. 

This act of sharing is celebrated every year in Germany in November. It is also the German festival of lanterns to light up this dreary season a little. There are numerous lantern parades, some with bands, all over the towns. Sometimes the kids will go sing from house to house to collect candy. 

The celebrations started for Sophie at her preschool with a little sing-along and role play. How very special for her: Sophie was chosen to play the poor man this year. She was so proud of having a big part in the play. I had to shorten the video a bit.

Outdoor Theater

We have been seeing the poster for a nearby outdoor play of "The Adventures of Pettersson and Findus" all over town this summer and Sophie has been begging to go. So today was going to be the day. We packed a nice picnic, change for ice cream during the break and hopped on the bike. It was a 13 km bike ride through the hinterlands of Duesseldorf (one way) with some mean hills (never realized it could be so hilly here). But now we know where the rich people in Duesseldorf live. 

 The theater was in an old quarry and the stage looked very picturesque. We managed to get seats in the front row near a lone duck that was scavenging for food from the audience. 

 Here are Pettersson and his cat Findus trying to lure the hens into laying some eggs for their pancakes.

 Pettersson and Findus fishing on the lake that even housed some turtles.

 The promised ice cream during intermission.

 The grumpy neighbor Gustavson chasing the fox on a tractor. Gustavson ended up falling into the lake three times during the play! There is no better way of keeping the younger crowd entertained. They are full of Schadenfreude. What a good thing it was just above 20 degrees today.

 Autographs from the stars after a brilliantly entertaining show: Pettersson.

 Findus the cat

 For Sophie from Sophie the hen

... and hen Henni and rooster Caruso

After the first uphill on the ride home, I felt that my legs felt too tired to make it all the way, so we decided to take the train home. However, the return trip took just as long if not longer.

Trains and Dolls

Sophie had our next door neighbor Andrés over for a play date. They are interested in very different toys, but I think they enjoyed the company. Sophie was also fascinated by Andrés' baby brother Adrian and spent quite some time entertaining him.

Nelson among the row of dolls. Who does he think he is?

Using Her Imagination

While Sophie's toys are still making their way to us on the container, she has been making good use of random items Oma's house has to offer.

 This is Frapunzel's tower. She actually balanced her Rapunzel doll on top of it for a while, but I was too slow with the camera.

Prêt-à-Porter: she took a napkin added some Sellotape for the neckline and punctured some holes for the arms. Recession fashion.