Back to Copenhagen

Living room view for the next three weeks.

We hugged Hélène goodbye on Saturday—don't worry, she's well loved by Jesse's folks in our absence!—and are back in Copenhagen for a repeat performance of the class I taught here in 2014. Despite a lengthy blog hiatus, I'd promised several family members that I'd check in here from time to time. So...here's installment #1!

We flew out of Newark for the benefit of an inexpensive direct flight. Goodness, it's nice not to have layovers, and the overnight flight was blissfully uneventful. Scandinavian Airlines treats kids so well. The biggest challenge was keeping earbuds in William's ears so he could watch inflight movies!

A repurposed eye mask from my backpack worked as a headband to hold the earbuds in place...

We landed early Sunday morning, very weary, and made our way to the airbnb apartment we're renting in Frederiksberg. It's going to be a great fit for us...not as gorgeous and pristine as the place we lucked out to stay at last time, but definitely nice, in a good location, and with a tiny bit more space. The space piece is key since we're delighted to have our niece Bryn with us on the trip! She'll be helping with the boys several hours each day.

After getting settled and taking a nap, we headed out to get some groceries and then do a little exploring. First up was a typical Copenhagen neighborhood playground.

Let's call this photo Bryn and the Giant. It ought to be the title of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale!

Immediate reminders that we're not in the US: Those climbing and walking beams
are 8-ft high in the middle. Risky play! It's one of the topics we read about and
compare in class (child development in cultural context)...

We made our way to the beautiful Assistens Cemetery, which is barely a 10-minute walk from the apartment. At over 60 acres, it's as much a park as it is an historic cemetery, so we took our cue from the many Copenhageners picnicking, playing, and lounging among the trees, clearings, and grave sites (!) to play a little ball. The air was redolent with gorgeous, enormous lilacs and the weather was top notch—a perfect welcome to the city!

We stopped by Hans Christian Andersen's resting place. Apparently it's William's
resting place too? Obviously little gets kids excited like saying "let's take a photo in
front of this monument."

In the evening, Jesse, Josiah, and Bryn did a little more exploring. I stayed back to make dinner and hang with William, a.k.a. Mr. Homebody, and also grabbed the camera a couple of times to document pretty vantage points of the apartment with my favorite grumpy 6-year-old!  :)  

It's going to be a good three weeks!