Second Weekend

Our second weekend here was again full of new adventures.

We stopped at the thrift store to look for a few things, and I came across some knitting needles, a crochet hook, and a small bag of yarn.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with these finds, but I saw some magazines at the bibliotek that had patterns and instructions in them, so maybe I will check one out and see if I can follow along.

Friday night at 7pm, all Danish homes with children tune into the television for an hour of Disney cartoons. We decided this was definitely a tradition in which we should partake.

Seconds before I took the photo, they were all seated nicely in a line. But, this is more realistic.

Saturday we got to sleep in a bit, and breakfast at the Højskole wasn't until 9am. It was the first time we attended for breakfast -typically we eat breakfast at home- and the kids were thrilled at the selections. Cornflakes with strawberries! Svea and I had skyr with various toppings. Anders asked if we could eat breakfast there every stay-home-day. 


The students and several of the teachers resurrected a long-ago tradition at the Højskole of walking to the town of Ribe, 22KM away. We decided that was a bit too far for little legs, and opted to stay home. Instead we walked to the bakery and bought snegler (sny-lar)...

These are so delicious! I'm sure they are very healthy as well...

On our walk, we passed the local church where we had the garden party last weekend. 

The top photo seems to be more of a chapel, and the bottom photo is the residence -part of which serves as a general meeting/coffee space for church gatherings.  

In the afternoon, we took another walk past the second church in town, and up to the library. Though it was closed, we were able to go inside and look around, and even check things out by scanning Jeff's yellow card. At the Rødding Centeret, there is the bibliotek, the biograf (theater) where the kids went with school last week, a cafe, the swimming pool (with water slide!) and various other venues for physical activity. It really is the "center" for all things. 

Anders took a much better photo than I did, but I cannot find his camera at the moment so we'll go with this. For a small town, especially, this is an amazing recreation center! 

On our walk, we also passed several other beautiful buildings. This one is one of the oldest in town-

It is several hundred years old. Several sisters lived here long ago. I just love it. It's one of the highlights of our morning walk. It reminds me of something out of a storybook.

It seems I am often behind the rest of the family, so I get a lot of photos like this. If I try to run ahead to get photos of their faces, they run to catch up with me. So, we'll go with these profiles of walking with Daddy instead. 

This looks to be an old barn or some sort of out-building. Again, it seems to me like the basis for a storybook.

These homes are newer, but I love them as well. The architecture is fascinating to me, and it makes for a beautiful walk.

Another building I love to look at on our daily walks is the hotel downtown.

I love how the trees are cut to be square. It just looks fun. Often in the afternoons, the outdoor tables are full of people relaxing with a coca-cola. 

Saturday evening was the first big party for the Højskole students. It was set up as a fancy dinner, complete with table cloths, candles, and the tables moved together to seat eight.

The kids had their own table, which was set the same except for the wine and wine glasses, and was conveniently located near the door so they could step outside to run and play between the courses. The meal started at 7pm, and the kids and I left at 9pm -approximately an hour before they got to the dessert course. It was a fun evening. The blue songbook was placed at each seat, and we sang several songs from it. I randomly opened the book when I first sat down, and came upon "I see trees of green, red roses too..."

The students in the music course provided some songs as a band, and one of the music teachers sang as well. The salad course was bread (of course!) and a salmon and shrimp salad with dill dressing. Then there was singing and performances by the students. The main course was roast beef and potatoes with a mushroom gravy, corn on the cob, and salad. 

We left approximately 9pm so the kids could go to bed. Jeff stayed until 2am, and the party was still going when he left! Not surprisingly, brunch wasn't until 11am on Sunday. 

Sunday, Jeff's host-mother from when he was an exchange student here 18 years ago came to visit. It was fun to see Karen! We (obviously) went to the bakery for wienerbrød (Viennese bread) to go with our kaffe.

Then we all went to brunch, where Anders and Torben got to have cornflakes with strawberries again! You'd think they were in heaven. I've never seen kids get so excited about cornflakes. There were also small sausages and pancakes -just like the Swedish pancakes my grandma used to make for me.

The weather has been gorgeous, and we sat outside on the patio for a long while after brunch. The boys played in the yard and we spent time talking with Karen while Svea slept. I asked about some of the trees that I'd not seen before, and learned there is a Magnolia and also a hazelnut tree in the yard. She explained that in the winter time, the branches of the hazelnut tree can be used to hang small ornaments or decorations on. They are very twisty and quite beautiful.

We were gathering quite a bit of fruit in the corner of the kitchen, and I found a large clay bowl in the cupboard. It looks like a still-life painting! So I had to take a picture. 

The boys were having fun pushing Svea around while waiting for us to finish talking. Of course, you have to wear a speed-racer helmet if you're going to pretend to race the stroller around the yard. She was having a blast with this activity as well -though watching a 5yr old push a 1yr old down a hill in a stroller (when he can hardly see over the top) is a bit nervewracking for the parents!

I happened to be looking out the window into the back yard last night and saw some new flowers emerging.

I'm not sure what these are, but I loved that the berries were green, turning orange, and then turning to red. The colors are so vibrant!

And the gladiolas just opened as well. Seeing them reflecting the sunset was stunning.

And that was the end of our weekend. The boys can now count to ten in Danish, and have learned to say "Farvel" (farewell), "Vi ses imorgen" (see you tomorrow), "tak" (Thanks!) "god morgen" (Good morning). And "nej!" (no!). They aren't very fond of this last word, naturally. They have made some friends at school and seem to be having a fabulous time here. Torben has a very loose front tooth, so it will just be a matter of time before the tooth fairy brings him Kroner in exchange. Tomorrow begins another week of what is sure to be new experiences. Jeff told me the chef is now back from vacation, so I'm excited to see what the meals at the Højskole will be.