Play Time

Although the boys "play, play, and play" at school, they are still ready for play time at home too. They were a bit wild after school yesterday, so I told them to go outside and run around. I think they had a fun time.

"Hey, mom, check this out!"

 "Oh, and this way too. Take a picture of me here!"

I'm not sure what she got (or put) on her toes, but it was really bothering her this afternoon.

 Though she definitely seems to have the nail-painting position down -maybe I will get her some polish!

 I think in this last one, she was actually trying to hold something between her last two toes -a piece of a price tag or something she found. I think it looks like she's trying to paint that tiny nail on her little toe. That one is always a beast to paint.

 Inertia is a good thing -otherwise, he might have toppled right over during this run.

 Telling the "rules" of the game, no doubt. They are always making up games and seem to be very adept at sharing the rules, even as they make them up as they go along.

This one would be great superimposed onto a big pile of leaves. They were having a blast running across the yard and jumping onto the trampoline. It's great that it's at ground-level.

 Here they come running back to do it all over again.

I wonder what they are talking about here. With the zoom on my camera, I can be inside the house and get a close-up picture, but when I'm that far away I can't hear them when they talk in normal conversation voices (thankfully, they don't talk that softly very often!). I like seeing them together, getting along like the best buddies they are.

Looks like he's nearing the finish line of a long race.

Concentrating very hard on his next move. It probably involves hanging upside down.

 They were begging for me to keep taking pictures, and kept thinking of poses to add to the repertoire -hoping for a portfolio of them, no doubt. It was fun, though. And with digital photography we can see them right away so they know what they want to do next.

Svea was taking her second nap while they were playing outside, so she didn't get in on the photo action much today.

This week at school, there are four kids celebrating birthdays! Two of the days, all of the 5yr old kids are going to the home of the birthday child, and on one other day they are having a party for the other two kids at the school. It's really a neat way to do a birthday, here, where they just bring all the class over to your house for an hour or so, and then everyone goes back to school. It doesn't take away from anyone's family time, and the parents can go back to work, but the kids all get to have a party with their friends. Yesterday they had lunch served on toothpick swords -various breads, cheeses, butter and meats. They each brought home the swords from their lunch, as well, and came up with a unique storage system. Anders decided he wanted to keep his in one of the pockets of his wallet; Torben used a box leftover from some chocolates so he can store more of his treasures in there. He has a lot of treasures.

Instead of having a game/sport night after dinner this week, all of the students went to see a play and Jeff went along. It was the final dress rehearsal, and was actually a series of short scenes put together. He said it was quite fun. This really is an interesting type of educational experience, here at the højskole. I would love to fully experience something like this -so many types of classes to take; just for the fun of learning! I am especially intrigued by how many of the creative arts there are available. Tomorrow evening there is an open night in the sewing / weaving room, so I might go over to that and see what I can learn.

After dropping the boys off at school this morning, we stopped and had a kaffe in the "resting room" as Torben calls the lounge of the classroom building. I love the chocolate espresso from the machine, and Jeff had a hot chocolate. Svea kept asking for a "gink?" of mine -turns out the little one likes chocolate espresso also! Tonight I am going out for sushi with some of the ladies who live around here. That should be fun. I think it is about 6 of us or so. Jeff hasn't decided yet if he's going to venture to dinner with the kids, or if they are going to eat at home tonight.

Another trip to Vejen

Like a typical Monday, we were in sort of a hurry to get out the door. The boys are each supposed to have their rain suits, boots, and extra clothes in their cubby each Monday, and take everything home each Friday. At least this weekend I remembered to just leave their extra clean clothes in their backpacks so I didn't have to go searching for those before we left the house! Somehow, though, we got to school and realized Torben had his rain pants, but no jacket. He had a fleece coat that he'd worn (it's about 10 degrees in the morning now, low 50s) but that wouldn't help at all with the rain when they were playing outside. So, as soon as we got home, I walked back -in the rain this time!- to bring his coat. Before 9am I'd made two treks to the school. It's a good thing it's close.

The main government building for this kommune (municipality) is in Vejen, which is a short ways away. We went there again so I could get my NEM-ID, which allows me to access appointments and scheduling for the doctors, and is used to create a digital post box for any official messages I might receive. Jeff got his a couple of weeks ago, because he needed that in order to set up our bank account online, and we needed to have it online because our bank branch doesn't have cash -you can only get it from the ATM. After we took the boys to school, Jeff and Svea and I got in the car to head over (it's quite a bit quicker than taking the bus like we did the first time!). It was a very quick process and now I think we've all got everything registered that we need to have. We have our yellow cards, and our residence permits, and Jeff and I got our Dankort set up so we can use a card at the store instead of only using cash. Some places don't even accept cash-though none of those places are here in this town, I don't think.

By the time we got back, it was almost time for lunch. Svea didn't get a morning nap, which could have made for a very long day. She was a trooper, though, and made it through lunch and all the way until 12:30pm, and then took a nap until 4! I decided it was a good time to read a bit of a book ("A Year in the World" -by Frances Mayes) and then took a nap myself. It was nice. I don't remember the last time I took an afternoon nap. I was thoroughly asleep when the alarm went off to go pick up the boys from school. My phone has lots of alarms set -it's the only way I can make sure we get where we need to be on time. It helps the kids to get out the door, too, since they know that the alarms mean a transition to something new. Sometimes in the morning they even hear it and wake up! Sometimes.

I love this picture. She was looking out the window at the boys playing on the swing set, and for a very brief moment she wasn't talking or pointing at them. I love how the sun is shining in on her from the opposite windows.

Torben must be getting ready to grow about a foot. He is always hungry! We get home from a meal and he's already looking for more to eat. On Sunday after brunch, he took some of it with him -at least here "to go" meals are pancakes and bread! That's good sustenance right there.

 Anders just wanted to be goofy for the camera.

 Each day when we walk past this tree, the boys ask about the pattern of branches/roots that are attached to it. They really do look kind of neat.

We got a post card this week from the visiting school nurse. It's addressed to the family, and mentions who she is, and says she will plan to make a visit to see Svea when she is 2yrs and 7months old. It also includes the nurse's cell phone number, in case we need anything. We won't be here still when Svea's that old, but I imagine that is a visit when they look at language development. It seemed like kind of an arbitrary age. It's kind of a cute post card.

Torben was enjoying eating an orange the other day, and I think I could turn it into a little flip-book like a comic strip. He didn't peel the orange, but instead poked a hole in it with his finger and managed to eat out all of the insides.

 As he got to the end, he pulled the peel apart to get the rest of the fruit. It was a totally clean peel when he was finished!

By the time school was over, there were plenty of puddles for jumping in from the rain during the day. It was good I'd brought his rain coat back to school! Typically they leave their rain pants there during the week, but today Torben thought he should wear them home. I told him he didn't need to, and he said "yes, I do! I want to jump in the puddles!" Well, ok, then, I can't argue with that. The kid wants to dress appropriately to jump in puddles on the way home. Absolutely.

 Anders got a bit wetter, as he left the rain pants at school and only managed to get the cuff of one pant leg tucked into his boots, but they had fun.

 I like this one. I think they were having a race to the next big puddle. They really are a good team (sometimes a team of rivals).

Sixth Weekend

Jeff was "on duty" this weekend, so we were around a lot rather than leaving town for very long at a time. His friend Henning, whom he met at a folk school many years ago, came to visit. We decided to stay home Friday evening and make spaghetti for supper, and then we watched Disney Sjov. Anders is still disappointed that it always starts with a different episode of 101 Dalmations. But they enjoy pulling out the huge beanbag chair and settling in to watch it together.

I also worked a lot on knitting my scarf, which turned out to be very fat and rather short. However, that can be used to an advantage because it makes a very nice collar that would fit under a coat or sweater. I'll pretend I did it that way on purpose. I still need to get a large button to keep it closed. It's very thick wool, so I know it will be really warm, and I'm quite excited about it.

After I finished my knitting project, Anders asked if I could start on his scarf. I did half the number of stitches, so it should be a good width this time -and that will mean it can be longer as well! Still using wool from the recycle shop, so our colours are limited, but he really liked the red so it will be half-red. He wants the other half to be blue, so I'm going to have to look for some blue wool. Torben wants a multitonal blue for his. Right now I have just a bit of that, so we'll see what it looks like and what colours he wants added to it.

On Sunday after brunch, Bolette -one of the other teachers- invited the boys to come over to play in the garden with her twins. They are 7, and the four kids have a fun time playing together. They live across the street, and I could hear the laughing and playing from inside the house, while they were outside over there. It's fun to hear kids playing freely.

Sunday afternoon we took a short drive to walk part of the Kongeå path. It is a 67Km path that winds along the river, and for centuries this river was the border between Denmark and Germany. There are marked footpaths (read: not stroller-friendly) along the entire 67Km, and it's designed to be taken in in small doses, so you don't have to do all of it at once. We decided to start at the Knag Mill, which is near one end of it and is closest to where we live.

 This map depicts the area and also tells the story of the Knag Mill. It was built in 1780 and was a mill for grain and bone meal. It is now a residence, but the path exists right alongside the river here.

It was a gorgeous day and perfect for taking pictures. Svea wanted to take some too, apparently. She sort of looks like a baby pterodactyl here. (nice, I spelled that correctly the first time! No annoying red squiggly lines)

Jeff and I discovered the challenge of taking a selfie on a sunny day...do you stand in front of the sun and turn into shadows, or do you face the sun and squint? Those were the only two options, if we wanted the river in the picture as well. We chose option B.

The river really is beautiful here. There was one guy backpacking his way along it, and another was fishing. It seems like a good place to fish -very quiet and peaceful.

 The boys love just being able to run. There isn't much traffic out here, so they got a lot of opportunities.

 At this point, the river looks quite similar from both directions. This photo seems like it would at some point be a background for a picture with kids sitting along the railings with home-made fishing poles of sticks and string, just passing the time, kicking their feet back and forth in an effort to sit still.

 The directions in the guidemap say that as long as you follow these red-topped trail markers, you will find your way through the fields and marshes and along the river path. It really is a well-marked and well-thought-out system. They are clearly visible, but also they are not intrusive.

 This is one of my favourite pictures from this afternoon. I love how the sun is reflecting off the water, and you can see the sunbeams in the top of the picture but the sun itself isn't there. I hope that the image is large enough and good enough quality that I can print an enlargement -I took it on my phone. It seems like it should be the cover of a travel book.

 The path winds through many fields, so we were quite close to the cows at this point. Svea thought that was fantastic -though she calls most animals "doggy" still.

 This is the front side of the mill.

 Anders was enjoying the serenity of looking into the river as well. We didn't see any fish, but the plants were moving with the current and that looked pretty neat.

 One of the only times Torben stood still long enough to get a clear picture. I like that he's standing still and staring off over the water.

 They were a little too far apart to get a good angle here, but I like this one of the two of them standing and staring at the landscape. It really is beautiful to look at.

This one really makes it look like we're out in the boonies. We weren't actually very far from the road, and the river is just past Anders. I wish Jeff could have been on this side of the camera as well -but there wasn't anyone else around to take a photo for us. It's a cute one of me and the kids, though. 

 Here, Anders and Torben are exploring what's around the next bend of the path. The cows are on the right, just outside the frame, and there are horses in the field just in front of the boys. I think there is a fence between them...maybe.

 I'm not sure what she was pointing at...the cows and horses are behind us here. But I like that it's an action-still.

 At some points, you could hardly see the kids through the brush. It really wasn't a good place to bring a stroller! We made it about 20 feet with it, and then abandoned the stroller and carried Svea for a while. It ended up being sort of a short walk this time (and we picked up the stroller on the way back). We decided that we will go to another scenic stopping point on the path another time, and bring her carrier instead of a stroller because the paths really are meant for just foot traffic.

 As we were leaving, we noticed a Christmas tree farm off to the side of the road. It was kind of fun to see -it might be a few years before this one is ready to harvest, though. The trees were all about the height of the kids' knees.

All in all, it was a fun weekend. It's hard to believe the sixth weekend has passed already! Time really does go by quickly.