A day in Skagen!

Saturday was a gorgeous day in Denmark, the weather was perfect ... maybe even a little hot! We went to Skagen for the day which is the northern most town in Denmark and from there went to Grenen, which means "branch" in English. Grenem is the northern most point of Denmark and is where the North Sea and the Kattegat Sea meet. You can see it on the map below. On the picture above you can see how the waves are coming from both directions and hitting each other.

We went to the actual town of Skagen and had lunch and walked around first. Broderick likes to "walk on water". Skagen has been popular with artists for centuries, it is thought to have a special light.

At Grenen This is a famous pose people do here, they have one foot in each sea.

Be careful walking barefoot ... there were a lot of jelly fish on the beach. Broderick wasn't worried about these at all, but was quite concerned about the sharks.

Broderick loves the beach and loves running in the water!

On the way home, we stopped in Tversted to have some icecream We were told this little blue hut has the best ice cream in all of Denmark, so we had to give it a try. It was good!

We have loved having this great weather here, but I forgot one important detail when wishing for this warm weather ... we don't have air conditioning here. Thankfully there's not as many bugs here because we have our windows wide open, but our house is still HOT!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sankt Hans Aften

Tuesday evening, we celebrated the holiday of Sankt Hans Aften, or St. John's Eve. It is historically both a pagan and Christian celebration. It is a combination of the summer solstice and the birth of John the Baptist. They burn a large bonfire which it thought to ward of evil spirits. A tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witch burnings in medievel times. This burning sends the "witch" away to Bloksbjerg, a mountain in Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day. After lighting the fire they sing traditional hymns around the fire.

Broderick was quite excited to go to this bonfire on the beach and "burn a witch". Hmmm dad... maybe not the best thing to tell our 2 year old. We had dinner at our friends Morten and Lizbeth's house and then went to the beach to see the bonfire. They had a great BBQ and just when we thought we couldn't put any more food in us, they brought out hotdogs. I guess any BBQ in Denmark ends with hotdogs, it doesn't matter how much you've already eaten. In America, that's our main course! Here's the bonfire. It was huge! Unfortunately we got there a little late, so the witch was already gone and her ashes on the way to Germany. Oh well.
Here we are with Fiona, Caroline, Christian, and Niels-Ole.

Morten and Lizbeth have a little beach house. They are these tiny white cabins that are brought out each summer and taken away each fall. Its a place you can store things, change clothes or have some cake and coffee, which is what we did after the bonfire.
Broderick was kept busy digging holes on the beach with Niels-Ole and another friend. This is at about 10:30 at night. I still cannot get use to the fact that its still light out past midnight and if Anika wakes up at 3AM to eat, its already light out. Crazy!!!

It was a little cool that evening, but since then it really has warmed up. Its been around 25 degrees celsius which is the upper 70s. We spent the last 2 days at the beach, unfortunately it is always more windy there so we come home covered in a layer of fine sand.

Brad was in Norway this week for business and just got home. I'm not sure what we'll do this weekend, but I'm sure we'll be outside enjoying the nice weather while we have it! Next week my sister Stacia and her husband Marshall are coming to visit! So excited to see them!!!!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Glædelig Farsdag!

Happy Father's Day or Glædelig Farsdag! We had a beautiful day here. I've been complaining about the weather, but today was about 70 degrees, sunny, and no wind. Perfect day to be outside. They do celebrate father's day here, but it was a couple weeks ago.

We started out the day by Brdoerick and I going to the bakery and getting some danishes for breakfast. Yummmm! Our pastor from our home church is doing a series on the family, so we watched a sermon of his from the internet. With the weather so perfect, we were able to enjoy lunch outside. I made Brad some chicken lip dip - much easier than the actual chicken lips and he still loves it.

For dinner, it was dad's choice and he wanted a hamburger from Jerry's. Brad thinks this burger is one thing that is better here than back home.

Here's Daddy with his kids and father's day gifts. Fiona and I thought it would be fun to do plaster casts of their hand/foot prints. It was not all that fun. We had to scrap the first ones we did. Let's just say Broderick does not like to get his hands dirty, we had to do a lot of bribing to get his hand in there. Anika had the problem that as soon as her foot or hand would touch the plaster, she would curl them up. Broderick was excited to decorate with the beads, unfortunately he enjoyed dumping the beads on the floor as well - the whole bowl. Finally ... we finished and they actually turned out pretty cute.

The best gift a father can give his children is the knowledge of Jesus. Every night Brad prays with Broderick and talks to him. A couple of nights ago, Brad said it seemed to click with Broderick ... who God is ... who Jesus is! Its so precious to see your child begin to understand God and what that means for his life.

To our Dads and Grandpas... we love you so much. Thank you for giving us such love and support in our lives. We miss you all very much! Hope you all have a great Father's day!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Summer is coming ...

So I've been a bit depressed lately about the weather. Nice spring weather, but no hot summer days yet. Brad was discussing this with his coworkers at a meeting this week and they told him, "Oh, she'll regret saying that next week, its going to be HOT." Excited as I was to hear this, I eagerly looked at the weather forecast to see what was ahead. They were right ... its going to be in the 70s. What a heat wave. =)

I should be happy that I'm not dealing with the tornados like those back home, but we actually did have a thunderstorm the other morning. That's not very common here.

Here's a few of our recent happenings...
This is how Broderick eats his raspberries. He refused to eat them until we showed him how to put them on his fingers. Then he thought he was so cool "eating his fingers."

Anika in her dress from Aunt Luann. She is 3 months this weekend. I can't believe it.

She likes to smile and giggle now!

Broderick likes to ride the horse in Aalborg with "that man".

Summer fun (even though we're not having summer weather) ... Fiona and Broderick made popsicles. Broderick loves all the fun projects Fiona does with him.

Last Sunday they had a fair in the park in Brønderslev. Different musicians, some artwork and food.

We saw Jørgen and Kirstine there. Great friends. There was jazz music being played in this section.

Mideaval Reenactments. Too bad Broderick was napping. He would have liked this.

Traditional Danish clothes and dancing.
Some traditional music, gotta love the accordians.

A lazy day here. Brad is golfing in a work tournament and Fiona and Broderick headed to Summerland, so Anika is helping me get some stuff done around the house. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Fårup Sommerland

Today it was in the upper 60s and sunny so we went to an amusement park about 15 minutes away from our house called Fårup Sommerland. They had so many fun things for children to do. Broderick amazed us with his lack of fear on some of the faster rides.

Riding an airplane.

"This will make your tummy tickle Broderick."

"That's ok, I like it Mommy."

A spinning ride - not my idea of fun.

There are a some differences between the amusement parks here and back in the USA. Here's a few of them ...

They are very pet friendly and have water bowls throughout the park for the dogs.

This is a fresh vegetable stand at the park. Selling all sorts of fruits and vegetables for people to snack on. Maybe that's a reason obesity isn't quite the problem over here as in the states. =)
Ready for bed! Broderick was worn out and very tired, but I think he loved it!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Ireland

This past weekend was another holiday in Denmark, so we had a long weekend and decided to take advantage of this. We found inexpensive tickets to Ireland on Ryan Air ... of course after our experience with them and all the penalties we received, our trip was not all that inexpensive. I would recommend NOT asking Brad about this. =) But ... aside from Ryan Air, our trip was great. Ireland is a beautiful country and we are so glad we were able to see it. Fiona's family is from Ireland. She was actually born there and moved to the states when she was 1, so she made a good tour guide.


We flew into Dublin and rented a car. Of course they drive on the other side of road. After a few near accidents in the parking garage and dealing with horrible traffic in Dublin, Brad started to get the hang of it. I was quick to let him know if he was too close to the left side since I was inches from stone walls at times.

We stayed near the west coast in County Limerick at Adare Manor. It was a beautiful old manor house with beautiful gardens and grounds to explore. Bill Clinton actually stayed here when he was president.
Here's the manor house. Broderick was so excited to be staying in a "castle".

Kids have a way of keeping you humble. We visited the Cliffs of Moher on our first day there. Broderick got into a coughing fit while we were trying to pose for a picture and started throwing up ... and throwing up ... and throwing up. We got him cleaned up the best we could, but then sheepishly snuck away from the pile left on the ground. On the way back down, we saw many wet footprints near the pile and one frustrated man step in it and then go to the grass to try to get his shoe clean. We quickly walked by ... laughing. Ok, I know that is mean, but the whole situation really was funny.

At the Cliffs of Moher, Broderick thought he was the "King of the Castle". He recovered quickly from his "incident". Don't get too close to the edge.

The Cliffs of Moher ... gorgeous!!!!

After the cliffs, we visited Bunratty Castle nearby. It is a well preserved castle, and many of the rooms inside have been restored to give you an idea of what life would have been like there.

They had very narrow, steep, spiral staircases which caused a problem with people trying to go up and down at the same time. A little closterphobic at times.

The 2nd day, Brad and I took Anika and drove around the Ring of Kerry. This is a scenic drive through Kerry County in southwest Ireland. It was beautiful. Anika did good and slept most of the way. We didn't think Broderick would enjoy a several hour scenic drive, so him and Fiona hung out back in Adere.

She arises - for a little bit anyways.

The roads were a bit narrow. You didn't want to meet a tour bus coming the other direction. You would often have lines of traffic having to back up and go off the road for these buses to get by.

After the Ring Of Kerry, we stopped by the Muckross House. It was beautiful, but a big mistake because driving back to our hotel after this was the same time a big Gaelic Football game was finished and we hit horrible traffic. I never thought we would have such traffic problems in this small country.

Broderick giving Anika a piggy back ride.

In our hotel gardens.

While we went to the Ring of Kerry, Broderick and Fiona stayed back near our hotel and town. They went to visit some castle ruins and a church nearby our hotel. Broderick loved it.

Fiona and Broderick

Visiting the castle, the tour guide let Broderick help open the door. He thought he was pretty cool.

Broderick wearing a King's robe, we called him King Broderick on this trip. He had no objections. Of course most of the time he was kept busy looking for leprechauns.

An Irish cottage Fiona and Broderick visited. Broderick liked to see the cottages.

Daddy and Broderick

A family portrait in the hotel gardens.

There was a Cedar Of Lebanon tree by our hotel from the 1640s. It is the oldest in all of Great Britian and Ireland.

On the way back to Dublin to go to the airport, we were able to stop and visit a friend, Nate Anderson, from my high school who lives about 15 minutes from the airport. We didn't have much time, but it was good to see him again and meet his wife and 2 little girls. I forgot to take a picture though - ugh!

Driving home from the airport, Broderick was chillin' in the backseat. He got in the car and wanted his hat and sunglasses. Yes it was 10 at night, but as you can see in the picture, its still very light out at this time of night.

So ... Ireland was beautiful. We loved all the fish and chips we ate and everything is so green. But... now I am ready for some hot summer weather and I'm not sure I'm ever going to get it. Its been pleasent and so was Ireland, but its like we're stuck in a perpetual spring with frequent wind and rain. I know that doesn't sound too rough, spring is great but I love hot summers - and I'm close to a beach and ocean. So bring on the hot sunny days ... please!? These long days are great though, it doesn't get dark until after 11 right now.

Tonight Brad and I are going to a Gris Fest ... literally translated as a Pig Party. It would be like a hog roast in the states. Its for Brad's work, the factory workers are putting it on. Its raining now... again .... so I hope that clears up before tonight.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)