Are we British or American?

In the area of Denmark where we live, there are very few Americans (we've met none). So people often assume we are from England and when I'm out shopping I will get comments about it.

Like when its rainy and overcast, someone will say, "...kindof like London weather, huh? hahaha."

Or the gentleman at the cheese shop, who I've told everytime I've been there that I'm American, still asks when we'll move back to England. (We converse in Danish though since he doesn't speak English, maybe that explains the discrepancy.)

When the Danes learn to speak english in school, they learn British english, not American. This isn't really a problem, except for a few words or phrases. Now Broderick, instead of asking for cookies or crackers, ask for biscuits or kiks.

And the other day, he asked if he could watch the tele.

Maybe he'll move back with a British accent ... you never know.

Gran Canaria

After Christmas, Brad had off work until January 4. (I love Denmark.) So we decided to go somewhere warm and fun since we weren't with family and had no plans. We decided on the Canary Islands. They are about the only place part of the EU that is warm this time of year. They are Spanish islands off the coast of Morocco. We went to Grand Canary and it is a beautiful place.
They have mountains ....

beaches ...

and the Dunes of Maspalomas. They have rain forest and a volcano too. I would have loved to go to the volcano, but it would have been an all day adventure and we thought it was too much for the kids.

Here's Daddy and Anika at the dunes.

The weather was perfect, about 75-80 during the day and at night it would cool down to the 60s.

Little known fact ... Grand Canary is where Christopher Columbus was from. His house is a major tourist attraction in a town in the northern part of the island.

What's this my husband is looking at in the distance?

I'm sure he was just looking for the toilet. =)

One of Broderick's favorite things to do was to find rocks and throw them in the water ... not always caring if there were people nearby. We had to watch him closely.

Pool time:

Broderick loved the pool. The water was a little cold, but once you got in, you did get use to it ... really ... like, once you went numb.

Anika loves the water too.

Anika has also discovedered french fries .... she is a big fan.

While we were walking around, we had seen a Hard Rock Cafe, we had to go. We really miss American food over here. Now I don't know if Hard Rock normally has good food, but it tasted really good to us here.

We took the kids to a wildlife park nearby our resort. We went to a birds of prey show, or as Broderick would call them "fierce birds". They had bald Eagles that they let fly around, but they had a little problem ... the birds didn't come back. They had to cancel the rest of the show and were trying different things to get the birds back. After about a half hour, finally 2 of the 3 birds returned. Not sure if the 3rd decided to stay free or not. It made it rather interesting to watch.

This orangutan made a big impression on Broderick and he is actually still talking about him 3 weeks later. He calls him his good friend and is very concerned that the store abe (big monkey) is sad that Broderick is not there with him. Its pretty cute.

We also went to Aqualand.

It was a really nice water park and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more ... Broderick or Brad. Brad was lamenting there wasn't other adults to go on the rides with.

And ... HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!

Our resort had a very nice candlelight meal that evening. It would have been very enjoyable if it wasn't after Anika's bedtime, but we survived it. I'm not sure if we should take it personally, but they put us in the corner of the restaurant ... away from everyone else.

They gave us bags of party favors and treats to bring in the new year, but we didn't stay at the party. We took the kids up to bed, but Broderick snuggled with us on the balcony for a little watching the fireworks.

I was up for the new year, but I can't lie. I went to bed for an hour and then Brad woke me up at 11:30 to see the beginning of 2010. What can I say? I'm getting old.

Here's Anika ready to go out ...

Coming back from dinner.

We were there during the Christmas season and there were decorations set up for it, but it just didn't seem right. I guess the midwest is a part of us, because when its sunny and 80 degrees, it just doesn't seem like Christmas.

We really enjoyed getting away to some nicer weather and this is a vacation that we could just relax instead of trying to see so many sights. There are some negatives to travelling with two youngsters though .... like sharing a hotel room. Broderick is a deep sleeper, but Anika wakes up with a pindrop. So once she was sleeping, we had to make almost no noise. I don't think Brad and I have ever got so much sleep. We were going to bed early, but that's a good thing ... because the kids were waking up before 6.

What???

Don't they know we're on vacation???

Danish Christmas

We had a great Christmas here in Denmark. We were sad to miss all the festivities back home, but since we will be moving home in a matter of months, we did not want to deal with the jet lag again. The last time we made the trip was rough with the two youngsters. It was very relaxing and we were so excited to celebrate with our friends and neighbors (who were back from the US) and experience a traditional danish Christmas. I think having that to look forward to helped us not being so sad that we were away from our family.

They celebrate on Christmas Eve here and that is pretty much it. They don't go to multiple Christmas celebrations like we do in the states. We went to church with them that afternoon and it was packed! It seems everyone in Denmark goes to church on Christmas eve, then we went to Brian and Janni's house shortly after. It was a great evening, we had a wonderful time.

Lets start with the food ...
It was awesome! This is the traditional Christmas meal here and we love it.
Rødkål (red cabbage)

Medister (sausage - mainly for the children) and flæskesteg (pork roast with crispy skin)

Brun kartofler (potatoes carmalized in butter and sugar) and regular potatoes.

Enjoying the meal. Brian's parents were with us too. The food is SO good. We also had roasted duck and of course ... ris a lamande for dessert. Mmmmm .... yummy. Seriously, those brun kartoffler are to die for. I love them, but I'm not great at making them yet - trying to perfect them. When you eat ris a lamande, there is a whole almond in there. Whoever gets the almond, gets a gift. Its called a mandelgave. Here's Broderick holding his almond and his gift. (All the kids had an almond in their portion. Brian's mom was nice enough to get them all a mandelgave. )


Here's me and Janni doing dishes.
I guess there's things the Danes miss while in the USA too. Before Brian and Janni moved to the US, Janni asked if we had dish brushes like the ones she's holding. I said of course! I guess we don't... her's is a special one made from horse hair. So when we visited last fall, I brought her one her mom bought for her. I think its funny the little things we miss from home.


Relaxing before gift opening ...

Broderick was so excited to play with Krister. Every day since they've been here, Broderick asks if he can go to their house. I think he'll be sad when they go back to Iowa.

Brian, Brad with Anika, and Erik (Brian's father)


The Christmas tree ..... Its tradition here before you open gifts that you sing Christmas carols while dancing around the tree. So of course we had to partake in such a fun tradition. You wouldn't wanted to have heard us (Brad and I) since we were singing danish songs, but hey - we tried.

I was a little disappointed when I realize the dance is more like a walk, I was hoping to see some sweet dance moves. =)


And the part Broderick had been waiting for all night .... PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I know socks aren't that exciting, but that's what he asked for.

Anika was more interested in tearing the paper then what was inside, but eventually she'll enjoy the toys.

And even though we had an awesome danish celebration, we still did the American tradition of stockings and few gifts on Christmas morning.

Thank you so much Brian and Janni for including us in your celebration. We had a wonderful time and will always remember the year we had a white Christmas in Denmark!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and took time to focus on Jesus' birth and the real reason for all the celebrations!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Denmark!!!!!!!! (a few weeks late)