A Trip to Denmark

We had scheduled a family trip to Legoland in Denmark a couple of months ago but, when Timo's grandfather died recently, our trip to Denmark started a little earlier than planned.




The Funeral

We left early Wednesday morning to catch the 9:30am ferry from Gothenburg to Frederickshavn. I felt like I had been hit and run over by a truck, and I wished I could have just stayed in bed all day long. At least I could rest in the car and on the boat. We arrived at our hotel in the middle of the afternoon, and I lay down while Timo entertained the kids until dinner-time.

Timo's sisters, Carin and Lisette, had flown in that day for the funeral as well, and we all ate a typical Danish dinner at Timo's Mormor's house with flæskesteg (I think that is how it is spelled), caramelled potatoes, red cabbage, and peas, followed, of course, by ice cream and fresh strawberries. Then, we headed back to the hotel, where Timo took the kids swimming and I went to bed.

The funeral was Thursday at about noon. Timo's grandmother had seemed fairly strong the day before, but her true emotions came through as we sat in the church, waiting for the funeral to start. The man she had loved for more than 70 years was gone. The service was entirely in Danish, so I understood very little of it. My Swedish did help me a little, though. Timo's mom gave the eulogy (something that I learned is not typical in Denmark). I knew some of what she was saying because she practiced it on us in English just after breakfast.

The most emotional part of the ceremony was when they put the casket in the hearse and it drove away. It was a final farewell for all, and, although I didn't really know Timo's grandfather well, I could not help but cry.

We all headed to a restaurant in Rebild for a nice lunch after the funeral. Timo and I sat by a friend of his who had lived by Timo's grandparents when growing up. It was nice to chat with him and his fiancé, who is also expecting a baby. They spoke very good English, and I enjoyed not having to worry about being understood.

Through all of this I still felt pretty miserable, and we headed back to the hotel after lunch, where I lay down for the remainder of the afternoon. Dinner was at Bilke (kind of like a Super-Walmart, but nicer), and sometime that night, I started to feel better. We shopped for a while after dinner, then we had some soft ice (Danish soft serve, which is a delight to your taste buds and a terror to your waistline). The kids wanted to go swimming again after dinner, and I went with Timo to take some pictures of the kids. AJ did great, furiously kicking his little legs to keep himself afloat. Kristen paddled around with her ring and life vest, but she had fun as well.






Being a Tourist

Friday was spent shopping with Timo's parents, sisters, and grandmother. I hadn't really had an opportunity to explore the area before, and it was fun to see more of Aalborg. We had dinner that night in an old hotel in Mariager. The street was an old cobblestone road, and the whole area had a lot of character.






Saturday, Timo's parents and sisters left, leaving us with a day to do as we pleased. We started off with a short visit to Timo's grandmother, and then headed off to a museum sporting old tanks, airplanes, motorcycles, etc., from various eras in Danish history. The kids had fun sitting in some of the old vehicles, and they even got an "airplane ride" where they were pulled around in a tiny old plane.








After we left the museum, we headed north to Skagen, where the Baltic and North Seas meet. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand, and I walked to the very tip of Denmark to put one foot in each sea. We stopped at an old lighthouse that was built in the 1850's on the way back, which offered beautiful views of the area.








That evening, we had dinner with Timothy's old friend, Kristian, and his fiancé, Anne, whom we had seen at the funeral. We stayed entirely too late, but the kids were good while we talked the night away.


On to Legoland

On Sunday we left for Legoland, but we first stopped at Timothy's Mormor's house to say goodbye. We spent the morning with her and stayed for lunch before we headed south to Billund. The kids made her laugh pretty hard, and it was good to see her face full of joy instead of sorrow.

We arrived in Billund in the mid-afternoon. It was raining, and I lay down for a nap while Timo donned the kids in their rain clothes and took them outside to play with the various playthings that Legoland Village (the family hostel where we stayed) had to offer. I must say that our accommodations, while not luxurious, were perfect because there was so much for the kids to do in the areas surrounding the hostel. As a warning, the food was mediocre, at best, though.

Monday morning, we saw some signs of sunshine, although it started raining while we were eating breakfast. We prayed that the rain wouldn't last, and, although it was cold, the rain we experienced at Legoland was light and short-lived.





We headed to Legoland shortly before the opening time of 10am, and the kids were delighted with everything. We started on the boat rides toward the entrance, where you can see various famous landmarks built out of Legos. Then we headed to the train that goes around the park, and we went on from there. Timo took the kids on most of the rides, as there were many that a pregnant woman (especially one almost 33 weeks along) would not be allowed to ride. This year both AJ and Kristen were able to ride more rides, as they were both taller than the minimum requirement for various attractions. This made the Legoland experience more fun for all.


After lunch, AJ fell asleep for about an hour or so while Timo took Kristen on various attractions that AJ would have been too small for. I sat on a bench and enjoyed the rest. After he woke up and we visited more attractions, we ended our day with some soft ice. I must say that the soft ice at Legoland is even better than that at Bilke. It was soooo good, but I limited myself to "helping" the kids with theirs. We headed out after all the rides were closed, and we decided on a local pizzeria for dinner. Then, the kids spent the remaining hours before bedtime playing on the playground associated with the hostel.





Tuesday was much of the same, but AJ didn't take a nap until we walked back to the hostel after the park closed. I think this was better as he didn't have to "miss out" on anything because he fell asleep. We visited a different restaurant for dinner, and the kids had to settle for playing in the room (which had duplo Lego tables) while we packed up to leave the following day.

Wednesday, we headed back to Sweden. We stopped at some ruins of a castle that experienced a fire in the 1700s on the way back. It was a nice chance to stretch our legs and see something interesting at the same time. I think we were all glad to be back in our own beds that night. I started dinner, then laundry when we got back. Timo and AJ were leaving again in two days to go to the US, so I had no time to waste in getting their clothes from the week washed and repacked.

Overall, it was a great trip. There was a lot packed into a short amount of time, and it didn't help that I was sick and pregnant. We will probably plan a different trip for next year, but I feel that I experienced more of Denmark than I have had a privilege to experience before. The drives through the countryside were beautiful, with yellow fields of mustard and green fields of various other crops. The kids enjoyed Legoland, and I enjoyed the other touristy activities -- okay, I admit I liked Legoland, too. :)

Name Bugs

This afternoon, Timothy left to play soccer with some people from church. The skies had turned cloudy and gray, and the kids were restless when I sat down to read to them. I thought something needed to be done. So, I got out some paper and crayons, and we set out to make name bugs.

I had never done these with the kids (although I don't know why K and I had never done them). For those who don't know what I am talking about, you take a piece of paper, fold it in half lengthwise, and then write the person's name along the fold. Then, you cut around the letters. When you open up the paper, you have a shape unique to the name. I showed them a "Mommy" bug, and then Kristen wrote out her name and colored it. I wrote AJ's name for him, and they insisted that we needed a "Daddy" bug, too. So, I did one for him. I took a picture of the results. AJ was still coloring his, but the picture shows the Mommy, Daddy, and Kristen bugs (from left to right). Kristen had accidentally written her name along the outside of the paper instead of the crease, so hers looks a little different than it would otherwise.

This kept them entertained for a (short) while, and they seemed to enjoy themselves. Now to think of something else for next time....

Easter Blessings

This is the first year we really had a chance to celebrate Easter as a family in Sweden. Last year, Timo took the kids to a service on Friday while I stayed home, sick. Then, we all stayed home Easter Sunday as no one was feeling well that day.

This year, I began preparing the kids for Easter by doing the "Resurrection Eggs" that are available through Family Life (I think). This way, they were very familiar with the Easter story before the actual day. We had also planned on having some Swedish friends over to dye eggs during the week before Easter (something new to them) and then have an Easter egg hunt afterwards. However, both kids came down with fevers, and K's tonsils were like little marbles hanging in the back of her throat. My thoughts were, "Here we go, again." Thankfully, both kids recovered by Easter morning.

We did dye the eggs during the week, as kids don't always care whether or not they are sick when they want to do something. They had a blast looking around the house for the eggs, and we even had a second hunt a couple of days later. We also made "Easter cookies," which were just sugar cookies in various Easter shapes. We had a couple of crosses, a crown of thorns, dice, two angels, a spear, and several round ones that were supposed to be eggs.

We ate our Easter dinner Saturday night, as I figured this would be easier than doing it Sunday night. It turned out perfectly. It seems that Swedes don't really celebrate Easter as much as we do in the US. I think Friday is more of a celebration than Sunday. We went to church, and Timo was invited to play soccer that evening. He has been waiting for this all year, so I, of course, said he could go. Then, one guy's wife invited the kids and me over while the guys were playing. It was a beautiful day, and we just relaxed and talked outside while the kids played. We also had Fika, which is always nice. Then we went on a leisurely stroll around some paths behind their house. When we got back from our walk, the guys had returned, and we ended up talking until almost 8pm, when we excused ourselves since we not only had to get the kids to bed, but we still needed to feed them. It is a good thing we had not planned on eating our Easter meal that night!

Overall, it was a wonderful day with many blessings for us all.

Midwives and Riverwalks

Today I had a midwife appointment, and Kristen wanted to come with me. In case you didn't know, she wants to be a "baby doctor," so she is always interested in what the midwife does during my appointments. AJ was dropped off with Daddy, and it was just the girls left.



Everything was normal with the baby and with me, and I learned that they don't routinely test for GBS in pregnant women here. Just another difference, between the US and Swedish medical care, I guess. They also don't give Rhogam shots at 28 weeks or perform the glucose test at 30 weeks.



Anyway, after the appointment, I tried to text Timo to see if he wanted me to pick up AJ right away. Since he did not respond, I asked Kristen if she wanted to walk along the river with me. It was a beautiful sunny day (though a bit windy), and it was great to be outside. Along the way, I saw the first flowers growing outside that I have seen this year. Little purple crocuses dotted the riverwalk, and it was refreshing to see a sign of life where all has been dingy yellow and brown. Since I had the camera with me, I thought I would take a couple of pictures of Kristen on this beautiful day.

Here is my beautiful girl with the flowers.

Kristen is standing in front of the river that goes through downtown.