The Schmidgalls in Denmark: Joni

I was so excited to have my sister come stay a week with me and the kids while Brad was in the US. I do ok when he travels, but 2 weeks is a long time. I knew that I would be getting tired and stressed at the end of the 2 weeks. Having Joni come made the time go by so much faster. It kept me busy, gave me adult conversation, and we had a lot of fun too. And although we both missed our hubbies very much, there was great sister bonding time that we don't get very often.

She was a great help with the kids too. Broderick was so excited to have her here and the whole way home from the airport after we dropped her off he was saying, "I'm REAL sad that Aunt Joni left us. REAL sad." "I'm really gonna miss her, i am."
Here's a few highlights from her time here

Thankfully she usually had her camera, because I took hardly any pictures.

I tried to show her some of the main sites around, but of course with everything covered in snow, we were limited in some of the places we could walk to or push a stroller.

The Atlantic in Lønstup. Actually very pretty with the snow.

At the ocean, on our way to the spa.

Now some quality girl time ...

The first full day she was here, we went to a spa on the sea. It was relaxing and the perfect thing for sisters to do. We got a treatment that massaged and treated your feet, hands, and scalp. Ahhh.....

One day we went to Copenhagen, I was initially planning on taking her there towards the end of the week after she had been here a few days but the weather forcast was not looking good other than wednesday. So we decided to go her 2nd day here since we weren't sure we would get another chance. And its a good thing because we got a lot of snow the rest of the week. Our neighbor picked Broderick up from school that day and he spend the rest of the day with them. He was very excited so it made it easier to leave him. Anika took the trip with us and she did awesome. I couldn't believe how good she did. I don't think she fussed all day.

I'm not going to lie ... it was cold. But ... it was worth it, and as long as you weren't getting blasted by the wind, it wasn't bad.

Really, it wasn't.

Ok, maybe I'm still trying to convince myself.

We went to Amalienborg Palace, where the Queen lives and they were doing the changing of the gaurds when we got there. That was exciting for Joni to be able to see. She especially loved the tall, furry hats the soldiers wear.

She also couldn't believe all the bikes. They are parked everywhere. This is just a small section of them at the train station.

Here's Anika all bundled up at The Marble Church

Inside the church.
Joni at nyhavn. This is one of my favorite parts in Copenhagen. Its great in the warm weather when there's outside seating along the harbor at the cafes but it was really pretty with all the snow too, so I'm glad I got to see it in the winter.

Joni outside the old opera house.

Here she is trying some good Danish food. She said she liked it. =)

Of course we did some walking and shopping along the strøget.

Walking towards "The Marble Church".

It was a fun day. It would have been nice to have one more day there and then I could have showed her a lot more, but she got to see the highlights and get a feel for the city. And the weather cooperated ... that was a main concern.

And I have to give some credit to my sis. She gets a little nervous when it comes to traveling, but she was doing great hopping on trains, buses, planes ... she never missed a beat.

We took a day off relaxing at home and then the next day, I took her down to Aalborg.It was snowing, but not too bad and it was warm enough that the roads were good. We were lucky and the weather didn't get bad until after we got home.

Here we are at an old monestary from 1431. It was also very pretty in the snow.
Joni had the hardest time taking a picture of these old buildings. Literally everytime she tried to take a picture for a solid 3-4 minutes, a new bus would pull up and block the shot. You don't think that sounds like a long time to wait, but right beyond those buildings is the fjord, so we were getting blasted by freezing cold, wet wind.

Now, here's some proof for anyone who has ever doubted ... 4 barnevøgns parked outside a restaurant with kids sleeping inside of them. Can you believe it? I love that Denmark is so safe.

Walking in Aalborg along a residential street.

We spent some time in our little town and we spent some time just hanging with the kids and relaxing at home. We made a couple of trips to the bakery, yes i admit, but we worked out too - so its ok.

We also spent a lot of time shoveling. Everyday she was here, it snowed. A couple of days it was just flurries, but we got a lot of snow while she was here. Ugh.

Thanks for keeping me company Joni! It was great to have you!