The day started out with Ellie and Elise waking each other up (Grace, Carrie B. and I slept together in the big bed) whereas I immediately threw them my phone to give the rest of us a few more minutes of sleep and silence!
Once everyone was awake, the girls and I began our journals and discussed our plans. We wrote out how we planned to see Hamburg and then drive to Heidelberg. They were excited to explore some of the places we watched on the video the night before and enthusiastically completed their work. Grace mentioned that tomorrow is Saturday and therefore they have two days of a break from car school to which Carrie and I quickly explained how car school is everyday since we aren't following the “traditional school model” during our trip through Europe . One guess how that went over? Good thing we have the behavior plan started.
Once we were all up, dressed and packed, we plodded out of the hotel with all our luggage to take to our car. It’s comical how proud Carrie and I were with our consolidated, organized packing skills only to realize how much work it is to get in and out of miniature hotel rooms and to ride in even more miniature elevators. 
After we packed the car, we left it at the hotel garage and took Hamburg on by foot. We found our way to a German bakery where we had all sorts of carb-filled baked goods and we were told by the waitress that she prefers speaking English to Americans because we are much easier to understand than the Brits! Ha!
At one point the kids started complaining about how much they dislike walking and wanted to take the car (funny, I found it as yesterday they wanted OUT of the car and couldn’t ask enough times if we were in Germany yet!) So, in a meager effort to explain how fortunate the girls are to have two legs to walk on and how many people out there, with injuries or disabilities, would give anything to be able to have two legs to walk on and explore new countries with. The girls blew us off a bit, not really taking us too seriously....until upon passing by a pet shop, a dog with three legs came out. Carrie and I looked at each other and understood that God was helping us to teach a lesson to our kids so we took advantage of the moment, re-explained, and the girls seemed to get it more this time around.
We walked past the big lake that is in the center of Hamburg and the girls loved watching the ducks, which, although riveting, was hardly what we came to see! So we pushed the slow pokes along and made our way to the central area. As fate would have it, we happened to pass by a duck on one foot! Can you believe it? We think God was helping us make that point about how lucky they were to be healthy and on this trip...and how so many others out there are less fortunate.
We made it to the southern part of the lake where the action was and we even found a Starbucks! We realized how much of an influence we are on the girls because they were just as happy as we were to be able to sit and have a cuppa together!
After we made our choices chi tea latte, coffee and hot chocolate, we were able to log into our smart phones, send a few texts and check our emails. We saw the well wishes from our Facebook fans and are so honored that you are choosing to come along with us on this learning adventure!
Once we were refreshed and ready to walk a bit more, we made our way to the Rathaus (City Hall), took a ton of pictures, implemented our behavior plan (again) and stripped off our jackets...it was officially WARM! This was something we welcomed, especially after a cold, dark winter in Norway for Grace, Ellie and I! We tried to take a taxi to the harbour and warehouse area, but none of the taxis would take the 5 of us. Just as we were about to get into two taxis, a helpful German man saw us and mentioned that the area we were going to was only a 5 minute walk away. Well, Danke Shern! We started on our way and realized, about 20 minutes later, that the walk is five minutes only if you don’t have three curious children tagging along with you. As we were slowly strolling around the warehouse area, a man on fore-arm crutches passed by. My gosh...the moments of gratitude would not stop! 
After our afternoon of enjoying the warm Hamburg weather, it was time to say goodbye and start our 6 hour drive to Heidelberg. The drive to Heidelberg was uneventful until we were 30 minutes from the hotel. Due to Carrie B.’s struggle with the GPS in the dark and the fact that it was unaware of road closures due to construction, we drove in circles trying to get ourselves to the hotel. Once I pulled out a map and we no longer relied solely on the GPS, we were able to get back on track. Unfortunately, Carrie B. fell victim to the speed camera off the exit to Heidelberg and was “flashed” for the first time. Let’s see if and when a ticket will be issued or if they can locate us, especially since we are always on the move anyway! 
We checked in to our hotel around 9pm and were thrilled to finally be settled again. The girls prepared for bed and sat down to finish their workbooks. After writing about their most and least favorite parts of the day, we looked over to find Grace passed out with her head resting on her work. Ellie and Grace finished their work and soon followed. In the middle of the night, Ellie snuck in to the bedroom and snuggled in the middle of Carrie and I. Both of the Lupoli girls have successfully found their way in with the adults in the middle of the night...let's see how long it will take before Elise does the same.
How many times did the girls ask “Are We There Yet?”
Grace: 0
Ellie: 5
Elise: 0
Memorable Quotes:
Carrie L.: “Does anyone remember where we are driving to today?”
Ellie: “Minnesota?”
Elise: “Malaysia?”
Elise: “Germany has a lot of smoke on the ground.”
(After seeing all the cigarette butts on the ground)
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