Sommerfest- The Five Senses

At the end of every school year, Quinnie and Kiera’s school has a themed party for all of the students and their families. The students, teachers, and parents plan the whole thing. Last year’s Handwerker Party was amazing, so we were all looking forward to this year’s. The party’s theme this year was “The Five Senses.” Every floor of the school was responsible for coming up with activities for their assigned “sense.”

IMG_4387

For about a week before the party, the girls made these “countdown to Sommerfest” drawings. This one says, ” in 2 days is the Sommerfest- Yes!”

DSCF9615

At the school entrance they had these banners that showed which senses and activities were on each floor.

DSCF9641

2nd Floor Senses-  Hearing and Touch

DSCF9636

Kiera loved this activity (making sounds by running a wet finger over the rim of the cup. The different shapes and water levels of the glasses produced different sounds. You can’t see it in the photo, but she’s reading music on a sheet of paper to play a specific song with the glasses.

DSCF9620

homemade rainmakers

DSCF9661

a fun guessing game matching recordings of all the teachers’ voices to their pictures

DSCF9625

DSCF9616

a game guessing what they are touching inside the pots

DSCF9627

This activity was really fun. It’s a Braille typewriter. The kids got to type out their own Braille letters. They loved it!

DSCF9630

DSCF9657

3rd Floor Senses-  Smell and Taste.  They had a smelling test where you had to guess which scents were in each bottle (below)

IMG_4498

IMG_4489

a “Make your Own Perfume” area…

DSCF9652

IMG_4589

Antonia and Quinnie with their homemade perfumes

DSCF9645

blindfolded taste test guessing game

DSCF9646

IMG_4487

another taste test

DSCF9656

make your own Pfannkuchen (with all sorts of different ingredients added in)

DSCF9618

4th Floor Sense-  Sight.   Making Kaleidoscopes…

DSCF9623

IMG_4504

decorating “crazy glasses”…

IMG_4517

IMG_4503

even Papa got in on the action!

DSCF9659

crazy glasses

IMG_4072

making “black light Art”

IMG_4507

Kiera was so excited to show me her secret, invisible message that only shows up under black light (above).

IMG_4512

Camera Obscura

IMG_4513

all sorts of interesting things to see with the microscopes

IMG_4521

Portrait Photography.  How cute are those little girls in their dirndls?!

IMG_4569

Quinnie and Antonia’s portraits

The 1st Floor had a Café with lots of yummy food. And also Kölsch, of course! There were a few kids walking around with these awesome beer carriers (serving the parents).

IMG_4529

I ran into some hoodlums in the stairway…

IMG_4538

Quinnie and friends

IMG_4082

Kiera watching a student dance performance from a few floors above

IMG_4080

Besides dancing, the students also put on Flute and Capoeira performances.

IMG_4558

cool snail

DSCF9632

huge honeycomb

DSCF9622

DSCF9643

DSCF9653

beautiful buildings across the street from the school

What a fun party! Can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!

 

 

Wanderung in the French Alps- Lodging

IMG_0799

The group would hike all day until they reached their new sleeping hut for the night. The places were usually pretty rustic, but great considering they were in the middle of nowhere. At some places all of the food, drinks and supplies are transported using donkeys. Needless to say, the views at all of the huts were amazing…

IMG_0798

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wanderung_2015 (100)

Wanderung_2015 (363)

Wanderung_2015 (368)

Wanderung_2015 (376)

Wanderung_2015 (456)

Wanderung_2015 (467a)

Simon and Friedel

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wanderung_2015 (506)

Wanderung_2015 (494)

Even better to enjoy the view with some wine, cheese, and salami!

Wanderung_2015 (515)

lots of wine…

Wanderung_2015 (532)

IMG_0939

Simon mentioned that one of the perks of hiking in the Alps was that you could always find the freshest, purest water. He said it was the best water he’s ever tasted.

Wanderung_2015 (572)

Wanderung_2015 (552)

Wanderung_2015 (547)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wanderung_2015 (315)

Wanderung_2015 (666)

IMG_1052

Wanderung_2015 (804)

Wanderung_2015 (809)

IMG_0802

Eating areas inside the huts…

Wanderung_2015 (52)

Wanderung_2015 (340)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

birthday cake for one of the kids

IMG_1046

The kids played cards a lot

Wanderung_2015 (330)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

kids sleeping area in one of the huts

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Wanderung_2015 (825)

IMG_1233

Wanderung_2015 (338)

checking the map

Wanderung_2015 (339)

Wanderung_2015 (535)

Simon and Friedel

IMG_1296

Back to civilization. This was the village the group hiked down to on their last day. From there Opa, Maxim and Simon drove back to Germany.

IMG_1302

Stopping for a meal in Germany- almost home!

IMG_1304