An Early DANISH Birthday

On our last day of the trip, FarMor made a yummy Danish cake to celebrate AnaSofia's 2nd birthday (coming July 13th already!!!). She was so excited for the cake AND presents but was also SO tired from our whirlwind trip. After dinner she disappeared outside to her tent as we all continued talking and eating. I realized she was gone and not visible after awhile and thought she might have fallen asleep. Sure enough, she was in the tent with her head on the pillow, blanket over her and singing "you are my sunshine" to herself (that is what I sing to her every night). Poor kid! You can see by the photos that once she heard about cake she was 110% again!!! FarStor Caroline took GREAT video and I will try and get those up too!



AnaSofia got MANY special presents including Danish music and videos and a handknit sweater, hat and socks from FarMor!

A Day in the Woods

AnaSofia had a great time catching up with Unkel Sten and Farstor Karen.

Karen and Sten took us to a great park north of Copenhagen for a picnic lunch and then we went back to their house for dinner and to talk about babies (Karen is due this September!). We had a lot of fun together at Dyrehaven (deer heaven) seeing the tiny, precocious deer and catching up on life!
AnaSofia loved watching the carriages go by.

The brother and sister catching up (look at that LITTLE belly!)

Playing with Unkel Sten.


Twirling with Farstor Karen.

A little surprise!

There is a little surprise for all my faithful readers of our lovely blog! Look around to find it! You know I am bad with sharing news so this is the best way for me to do it! Enjoy the long and luscious summer days! We miss you all!

Sankt Hans Celebration

Midsummer night is a huge celebration in Denmark with lots of parties and bonfires on the beach. The strawberry full moon was actually Saturday but the Danish (being very organized) like to have the celebration on the same day every year so it was celebrated on Monday this year. Soren's parents invited a large group of family and friends over for a bbq where we played some fun games and celebrated together.

Playing airplane with Far



All the boys trying to figure out how to open the keg, Caroline (in the background) finally had to step in and show the men how to do it.

The tradition of witches celebrating Sankt Hans Day is very important to FarMor so she wears a hat every year.

AnaSofia was completely excited about that and wore the hat all night and went around saying "I am a hix (witch)!" to anyone that would listen. She has picked up SO MUCH danish here, it is amazing.


Later we headed out to check out the bonfires down by the water.



AnaSofia was quite tired by the end of the night (it was around midnight). Notice how light it is still! That was amazing, it gave so much energy to us all.

Seeing the Sights

We have been so busy visiting family and friends, sightseeing and traveling into Copenhagen to shop and enjoy ourselves a little. The scenery here is just amazing to me, the land just keeps going on and on with little obstructions (mountains and such) and the houses are so well maintained and DIFFERENT from home.



We went to a safari park on the land of a Count who lives in a castle on the premises and allows camels, donkeys, deer, steers, antelope, zebras, giraffes, tigers, horses and... everyone else roam around.

You can drive through this huge park and see all the animals up close and even get out and pet some of them. The park also has a train that we all rode around. This was one of the best days of the trip for AnaSofia (well, all the days were wonderful for her I think! Judging by the no nap schedule and staying up until 11 pm every night!!!).



AnaSofia especially liked the tigers. She was yelling to them "Come here and say "hi" guys!"


Soren's mom has her own wildlife at home, she feeds many birds and some cute little hedgehogs!

To Denmark!

We arrived in Denmark midnight our time on Sunday which was 6 am Danish time with little sleep on the plane. Needless to say AnaSofia hit the ground running when she saw FarFar, FarMor, FarBror Christian and FarStor Caroline waiting at the airport. Three days before we left and the entire flight it was "airplane!" and "FarFar and FarMor!" She was so excited to see everyone. We tried to settle into the day as if it was normal time but AnaSofia managed to sleep 17 hours that night and Soren and I also slept quite a lot. We are so excited to be here and see everyone. FarFar and FarMor have spent a lot of time getting their beautiful place ready and making it a lot of fun for AnaSofia.
She is so excited to feed the chickens with FarMor. She hears the rooster crow and no matter WHERE she is in the house YELLS to him "it's okay, buddy!" I think she assumes he is crying because that is also what she says to her friends when they cry...

...Play teaparty in the tent playhouse with both FarFar and FarMor...

...Cart around all the teddy bears and dolls FarMor has spent time knitting clothes for...

...And especially play ball with FarFar. She has a special bond with FarFar!

We have spent a lot of time enjoying food and sunshine together and catching up on life.

A Night of Dancing

Last night we went downtown for dinner on the patio at a fun pub and later went to an outdoor concert. A famous steel drum band (Flash In The Pans) was playing. AnaSofia was happy at the pub because an 88 year old woman was having a birthday so she was fawned over for the entire time AND got to share in singing happy birthday and cake. We arrived at the courtyard for the concert and sat towards the back until the band started to play. I asked AnaSofia, "Do you want to dance?" And she said, "YES!" and proceeded to charge up DIRECTLY in front of the band and twirl, hop and dance. It was ADORABLE (yes, I'm her parent!). When the song ended she clapped and said "One more time?" for 4 or 5 songs until Soren and I dragged her away and home to bed WAY past her bedtime. It was a really sweet, fun evening and we managed to capture a few little photos of her with my phone. I think we've got a rockstar on our hands!

The arrival of the PLAYHOUSE

AnaSofia is a mini celebrity in these parts due to our DAILY walks, runs and bike rides to the lake and different boat landings. Our charm is likely due to the fact that we do these trips in the rain, sleet and snow - it is NECESSARY for us to get outside! She has scored use of the neighbors jungle gym, endless popsicles and lollipops and lots of dog and cat time with everyone's pets. We recently met some new "neighbors" (a mile down the road) who have a FANTASTIC playhouse in their backyard that I have always admired. I mentioned how much I liked it and they immediately offered it up to us if we could get it out of their yard. AnaSofia and I were so excited. She spent the next hour playing in it while I talked to our new friends for awhile. Later that day we told Far about it all and made him bike down with us to check it out. I wanted it IMMEDIATELY (yes, I have an immediacy addiction!) but Soren, as usual (ha ha!), rained on my parade and said it was REALLY big and would require a lot of work. SO FINALLY we were able to get it when my parents came up last weekend. I guess it is pretty huge - ha ha! A solid wood built 5 x 8 structure. Our girl is so happy with it! We are working on flower boxes, staining it maybe (any suggestions?) and making it a little home on the inside.

Soren contemplating - where the hell am I going to put this thing?!

Boppa helping bring it home!


Someone else was watching the backyard production!

The playhouse has a new home!

AnaSofia was so excited to wake up from naptime and find the playhouse outside!

Nana and Boppa to Maine!

We love having visitors to our little home in Maine - especially this time of year when you can see all the new gardens, flowers and Soren's chainsaw massacre (he cut down A LOT of dead trees this winter). My parents came up to celebrate Spring with us for a long weekend. We had a GREAT time and I forgot to take photos but did manage to get a few!

Teaparty is one of AnaSofia's favorite activities - of course a tutu is a must!


Dinner with the family!


Annoying everyone trying to get the "right" shot! It is TOO dark!