Miscellaneous stuff!

It is already the middle of October - it is getting colder here - and time just seems to be flying by. I have been working quite a bit and then the kids of course, have all of their activities and school stuff going on as well. Yesterday was an American Holiday for us. We had a ton of appointments and errands (and naturally Mia had school still), but I relished in the idea that; we were all in the same town, we didn't have to get in the car to run any of the errands or to use it to go to any of the gazillion appointments that we had, and life just seemed so simple and easy (even though it was a very busy day). I love it when you can walk or ride bikes everywhere! Here are some random photos from the last few weeks!

Camden's mad cash - He has started working one day a week and oh  my - has he discovered how much he enjoys working (more so the making money part of it). Per hour, he makes more than I do as a substitute teacher.  He bags groceries at the store on the base and in exchange he gets tips. I just worry that he will be so used to making lots of money that he will scoff at the idea of making minimum wage. Someone gave him a 10 Euro tip just for bagging their groceries!!! The only problem, is that we told the kids that we would match whatever money that they save towards a car. Now, I have to keep working just to hold up our end up of the deal :-) *When he gets home, he empties his pockets and the counting begins - so funny!!!

Mia has been playing Tennis now for over a year. She really seems to enjoy it and together with the 2 other girls in her group - they have  alot of fun. 

Just a random photo of a cool building here in Amberg. I think it was once a Brauerei (Brewery).

We had a cute little festival in our town. They had a bunch of  local bands with traditional Bavarian Music around the City Wall. People could walk around the Wall and just enjoy the music all around. Lots of older people went and it was nice to see the crowds. 

We have a new quarterly tradition with some friends here - we all meet at this restaurant for a special Lebanese Dinner. Our friend reserves the room and the owner makes TONS of miscellaneous food and brings it all out to the table at diffeent times throughout the evening. It is so much fun to see what comes out next - Definitely a yummy and fun tradition!

...And Mia is back from her school trip. She had so much fun and made lots of memories. She told me last night (2 weeks after she got back) that lots of the kids asked her about being adopted when she was away. They just had questions out of natural curiosity (not anything negative) , but just lots of  inquiries (even simple things like, what was the food like in China when you were a baby and such). It is unbelievable what a difference a year makes. Last year, she was quite sad by the all of the questions and this year at her new school, I think she even feels a little bit special in the fact that she is different. Not sure if it is the fact that she is getting older, the fact that she now knows what China is like, or the fact that she has her "China Sisters" to not feel so alone in being different. I knew the questions would come sometime from her new friends, and so I am so grateful that she now feels happy to share :-).    She told me that her teacher even commented that she thought it was "cool" to have been born in another country and not just boring old Germany :-). It made her feel special!
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