Going Solo in Copenhagen

After Chad got back from the states, he decided that I should have a little outing on my own.  So, on a nice sunny Saturday, I headed in to Copenhagen for a day of sightseeing, without the little ones!  The Bertel Thorvaldsen museum was holding a special activity, with an Italian Market out front and free entrance to the museum.  This is one of the museums we haven't been to, that I've really wanted to go to, so I was pretty excited about the opportunity to go there.  I spent some time walking around the market and then slowly walked through the museum.  Out of all the art we've seen, statues are usually my favorite.  And Thorvaldsen's do not disappoint.  He was the creator of the Christus Statue that is replicated in the LDS Visitor Center at temple square.  There is a church in Copenhagen with the Christus Statue and the 12 apostle statue that he carved.  They are so beautiful!  The museum also houses what was his personal collection, including a lot of beautiful paintings and a bunch of Egyptian artifacts, which I love!
After leaving the museum, I walked through the city and ended up at The Marble Church.  I hadn't really intended on going there, but as I walked by it, I decided to just walk inside briefly.  The last time we were there, there was scaffolding all over the place.  When I went I, I realized that they had a tour starting in just a few minutes, so I decided to go on that.  It just took me up through the domed roof and onto the top of the dome.  It was a really beautiful view over the city.  We got to stay up there for quite a while and it was really fun to get to see the city from that angle.
After leaving the church, I walked through Amalienborg Palace's grounds and out to the dock and then down to the Kastellet.  The city was so alive.  There were a lot of activities going on in the city, including Morris Dancers from England, a Jane Austen reading, an English market and tour of the English church in Copenhagen, along with some other event that was just ending when I walked through it, but that included tours of fire trucks, ambulances and a navy boat.  Too bad I didn't get there sooner.  I walked through it all, past the Little Mermaid statue which had celebrated it's 100th birthday the day before and then up onto the top of the Kastellet.  By this time, my foot was killing me, so I took a long break, sitting down, just enjoying the view.  It was hard to get going again, but I finished walked back into the city pedestrian streets where I got some dinner before heading home.  It was a fun and refreshing day.  I love going and doing these things with others, but it was a little nice to have a day on my own. 

Not a great picture, but to climb to the top of the dome, I had to walk along all this rickety scaffolding and staircases.  It was pretty cool.

England's traditional Morris Dancers.

So crowded!

Noah goes to Sproggruppen

Stats

Age: 4 years

Height: 41 inches (3ft. 4in.) (41%)

Weight: 35 lbs. (41%)

Hair color: Red

Grade:  Sproggruppen

Teacher:  Dorte, Jane & Sophia

What I want to be when I grow up:  A Teacher

Favorites

Animal: Dinosaurs

Food: Tacos

Game: Fighting with Sword & Shield

Toy: Dinosaurs

Thing to do: Eat, Play games and Roller Skate

Book: Dinosaurs love Underpants and Where the Wild Things Are

Color: Yellow (Lellow) & Black

Movie: Cars

Primary Song: Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

My best friend is: Myra and Lexi

Other friends I like to play with: Olivia, Belal

Things I like to do with my friends: Play Games

If I had a pet it would be a: Dinosaur

named: Fenny

What people like about me: I'm so cute

Things I can do really well:  Lift up little chairs, Fight with swords and Play

Myra starts 2Z

 

Stats

Age:  8 years 3 months

Height: 50 inches (4ft. in.) (61%)

Weight: 54 lbs. (66%)

Hair color: Strawberry Blonde

Grade:  2Z (3rd grade)

Teacher:  Maiken

What I want to be when I grow up:  Pop Star and a Teacher

Favorites

Animal: Puppy

Food: Taco Soup & 7-Layer Bean Dip

Game: Killer Bunnies

Toy: Big Stuffed Dog

Thing to do: Watch movies as a family, go to school, church, Play with friends

Book: Judy Moody

Color: Red

Movie: Judy Moody and the Not a Bummer Summer

Primary Song: I love to see the Temple

My best friend is: Marie & Michael

Other friends I like to play with: Anna, Eda, Eliza, Linea, Hepa

Things I like to do with my friends: Play, go to each other's houses

If I had a pet it would be a: puppy

named: Lily

What people like about me: I'm a good friend, I'm nice

Things I can do really well:  Hula Hooping, Bike Riding, Being a big sister

Lexi starts 0Z

 Kindergarten Stats

Age: 6 years 5 months

Height: 43 inches (3ft. 6in.) (3%)

Weight: 38 lbs. (3%)

Hair color: Blonde/Brown

Grade:  0Z (1st grade)

Teacher:  Martin

What I want to be when I grow up:  Singer, Painter, Astronaut & Swimmer

Favorites

Animal: Kitten

Food: Lasagne

Game: Hungry Hippos

Toy: Collie and Uni (large stuffed horse and unicorn)

Thing to do: Ride my bike

Book: Pinkalicious

Color: Pink

Movie: Sleeping Beauty & Wreck-it Ralph

Primary Song: Teach me to Walk in the Light

My best friend is:  Ella Birthe and Silke

Other friends I like to play with: Silje, Edasada

Things I like to do with my friends: Play Games

If I had a pet it would be a: Kitten

named: Meow

What people like about me: They think I'm cute.

Things I can do really well: I can sleep in for a long time, ride my bike, draw

Chad heads back to the States

In the middle of August, Chad had the opportunity to travel back to the good old USA!  He was invited to the annual SIP meeting in Pittsburgh.  I should really have him write about it, but he probably won't, so I just thought I'd post some pictures and say that he had a really great time shopping at Walmart.  Oh and I think the meeting went well also. =)  He made a bunch of contacts that will hopefully be good next year when he's trying to find a job. 

Short Beach Trip

With the end of summer approaching, we headed to the beach one last time.  It was a pretty cool day and the beach was very crowded.  I spent the time laying on the beach, reading. I also got stung by a bee.  Ouch!  The kids had fun in the cold water, of course.

Photo Challenge Week #30 - Sculpture

The sculpture of Holger Danske that sits in the casements underneath Kronborg castle is one of my favorites.  Holger Danske is a legendary character said to be "king in the mountain; he is said to dwell in the castle of Kronborg, his beard grown down to the floor. He will sleep there until some day when the country of Denmark is in peril, at which time he will rise up and save the nation." During World War 2, the Danish Resistance group was called Holger Danske.

Photo Challenge Week #29 - Insect

Ok, so this isn't really an insect, but close enough, right?  These giant slugs are all over Denmark and range in color from this bright orange, black and more commonly a dark brown.  I think they are pretty cool looking, but we have to be careful because if it's rained and we are walking through foresty/grassy areas, it's easy to step on them.  And I've seem them 6 inches long, so it's not really that pleasant to step on one.

Trelleborg

On a very hot and sunny Saturday, we headed out to Slagelse to visit Trelleborg.  Trelleborg is one of the few remaining Viking Ring Castles found in Denmark.  There is a museum there, several replica buildings and on this particular weekend, they were having a Viking Market and Melee.  You can read more about Trelleborg here.  The castle ruins are very old, dating back around 981ad.  The ruins include the viking ring castle, which was basically a rampart built in a circle.  They would then build their long houses inside of the ramparts and would then be protected by any outsiders.  It was pretty neat.  The market was fun to walk around, seeing the handcrafted items that might have been found in a real viking market.  Denmark is very big into roll playing, they often have roll playing events as children and it seems as adults, many are really into it as well. Some of the market set ups were pretty elaborate.  We ate some yummy chicken in pita bread and really enjoyed some modern day ice cream.  Walking around the ring castle was pretty neat.  There were several horses grazing in there and when Myra went up to pet one, it bit her!  She was ok, just a little shaken.  Not too long after, we had to head out of the ring castle to watch the Viking Battle re-enactment.  Noah LOVED this part and was so sad to leave.  He keeps talking about wanting to go and see it again. 
It was a fun outing and neat to see another part of Denmark.

 We watched this bird show, which was in Danish, so we didn't understand most of it.  But, it was a little shocking when he pulled out a whole baby chick and fed it to the hawk.  And then he pulled out a little girl from the audience and handed her a dead mouse to feed the owl.  Kind of crazy!

 After the horse bit Myra, Chad decided he was going to try to ride this one.  It responded with trying to bite him.  haha!

 The Battle of Trelleborg

18 Months - "Half Way"

I have fallen really behind with blogging lately.  I'm trying to get caught up, but when you're several months behind, it's difficult.  But, I wanted to write today.  It's July 18th, our "half way" mark.  I say half way with a grain of salt, because although Chad's program is for 3 years, we have no idea at this point when we will really head back to the US.  But 18 months is a big milestone! And what an amazing year and a half it's been.  We have done and seen so many amazing and wonderful things, we've struggled and survived living in a strange country, our kids have grown and thrived.  We've missed loved ones we left behind and have been sad to miss out on weddings, funerals, births and other get togethers.  And through it all, we've really fallen in love with Denmark.  If you had asked me a year ago, I don't know that I would have thought that possible.  It was such a struggle here in the beginning.  But, we've found our place here and we like it.  I'm already sad at the thought of leaving here in a year and a half.  But, life is full of hello's and good-bye's.  And it will be exciting to see what kind of adventure our life takes us on next.  But until then, we will continue to love living here in Denmark.

Here's a brief summation of our lives right now:
Chad's schooling is going great.  He's very busy, but enjoys what he is doing.  He got to take 3 weeks off this summer and we loved having him home.  But now he's back at the grindstone.  He has a bunch of experiments he's working on right now and has been really busy getting ready to head to Pittsburgh in August for a meeting.  Lucky him!  He is serving in our ward as the Elders Quorum Secretary and as a Ward Missionary.
I'm just sitting here wondering why the summer is going by so quickly.  The kids still keep me busy, but this fall, I'll have all of them in school for 4 mornings a week.  Kind of sad.  I'm still plugging away at my Etsy businesses, which are doing pretty well.  I'm serving in our ward as a counselor in Young Women and the Sacrament Meeting Chorister.
Myra was just baptized a couple of weeks ago and is still glowing from that experience.  She is such a happy, loving kid. She had a great year at school, is speaking nearly fluent Danish and has made many great friends. 
Lexi is really looking forward to starting school this August.  They start a year later here and she was really ready to start last year.  She liked her "preschool" class, but is definitely ready for something more.  Her Danish is coming along really well.
Noah has struggled with potty-training and although he's almost 4, he's still in diapers at night.  =(  Hopefully soon, he'll get it figured out.  He can be a little terror, but he's also still my snuggling little guy.  He's really sad he doesn't get to go to school with the girls this fall.