Dutch Wonderland

For Christmas, in an effort to hold the arrival of more Stuff They Don't Need at bay, the boys received annual passes to Dutch Wonderland, the amusement park just a few miles from us. Jesse became the proud owner of an annual pass as well, lucky man that he is.

This afternoon Jesse decided to take the boys for a few hours, and when we pulled out the ID cards, we grinned all over again.

Jesse's: 

Josiah's:


And....William's:

Wrapping up...

The iconic view of Copenhagen: Nyhavn.

Seeing as we're home now, I'll wrap up this virtual diary with a big, miscellaneous round-up of heretofore unchronicled moments. There is so much we'll remember fondly, such as:

Building Legos...in the country that created them!

Biking, biking, biking...

Public parks and playgrounds all around... 

The National Gallery...
(We only saw a little bit since we popped in shortly before closing one day, but the kids' exhibit on the ideas of native son Søren Kierkegaard was great.)

Taking buses, waiting for trains, and figuring out the not always straightforward public transit options... 

 

Playing Sorry...
(one of a very few games and toys we brought along)

Having a big rooftop, sunset dinner and farewell party with the class...

Look! Our own Prince William! 

Visiting Amalienborg Palace....

Learning that Queen Louise enjoyed having photos of her beloved family members around her sitting room even more than Nannan does!  :)

 "We not only have to walk around boring rooms...we also have to wear these dorky booties?"

 Rosenborg Castle...

Stumbling on the pacifier tree in Frederiksberg Park, where for years babies and toddlers have been saying goodbye to their pacis... 

And...settling in for the long flight home (well, first to Chicago for a layover, then home...)

See ya!

Napole(j)o Dynamite

This apparently belonged to the wee miss of the house, as it hung above her crib on a hook. 

Tivoli

On Tuesday last week, class was done by lunchtime and our family decided to visit Tivoli Gardens for the balance of the day (which got me in a bit of a hole on preparation and grading, but nothing too fatal!). Tivoli has been around since the 1840s—right in the heart of the teeming city!—and its carefree atmosphere apparently so inspired Walt Disney on a visit there that he used it as inspiration for the feel of his own theme parks. Josiah declared it the best thing we did in Denmark, and it certainly was a great day: beautiful gardens, super fun rides, really good food, an orchestra concert...

Obviously because Mommy is super-duper boring, my favorite parts were the gardens and the concert. Enjoying latter was cut short by a small personage who wanted to run around the grass shrieking. 

I also really loved the Star Flyer. Shocking, given that I can barely climb a step ladder without freezing in fear. These swings go a few hundred feet up—we were twirling above *everything* in the city of Copenhagen. Breathtaking! 

It's nice that we have a kid who's big enough to go on certain rides on his own now. There were several he was keen to try that Jesse and I were pretty sure we'd regret mightily....rides of the twisty, droppy, lose-your-lunchy variety. In the two pictures above, the one on the top went in crazy fast circles. The one below did free-fall drops, and Josiah was nuts for it. He must have gone on 6 or 7 times. 

By 9 p.m. we had one tuckered out 4-year-old who, after his last ride, climbed into the stroller, put his head down, and fell fast asleep....and one pleeeeease-can't-we-stay-until-it-closes 7-year-old who was desperate to stay on (with his windswept curls from the fast rides!). Both signs of a grand day out!

For Sweyn!

Saturday we went to the Viking Ship Museum. It's been our only jaunt outside of the heart of Copenhagen (albeit a mere 30 minutes out), so it was great to see some countryside—and the boys were especially psyched to ride on the upper level of a big double-decker commuter train.  :)

The day couldn't have been more beautiful. We soaked up the sun, enjoyed views of the lovely Roskilde fjord, and learned lots.

On our walk from the train station to the museum, we obviously had to take a picture of our little Wilhelm in front of a house with his name!

At the museum, they care a great deal about authentically representing the sea-faring abilities of the Vikings. Their specialty is making replica Viking ships, using the same tools and techniques that were employed a millennium ago—right down to choosing and felling trees from surrounding forests for the lumber. A highlight of our day was going out in the Roskilde fjord in one of these ships. The boys got to hang out in the stern, but every able bodied adult had to row. It was fun—seeing as we only had to stick with it for about 20 minutes! Then we put the oars away, raised the sail, and sailed back into port again.

Another treat was when an especially enthusiastic guide, pictured above, unexpectedly recruited us to fight with our fellow Danes to take over England, c. 1010. Putting aside our usual English sympathies, and lured by the promise of all the riches and renown we could imagine, we accepted the call. So, along with two middle-aged tourists from Beijing (who were totally clutch in battle), we headed off on a grand adventure through time and place. We rallied around the cry "For Sweyn!" (....and later around the cry "for Cnut!" once Sweyn met an untimely end shortly after being crowned king of England and Denmark).

Check out those warriors!

It was pretty funny, to be honest. For about 45 minutes, we ran all around the place with (real) spears and (real) axes and heavy wooden shields, doing as we were bid, on and off of ships, crying out in battle, etc. We learned a lot along the way! Meanwhile other visitors gave us ample amused looks, and I don't really know how we got this fun opportunity seeing as I didn't observe anyone else battling the English at any point in our ~5 hours there that day. 

These pictures were taken later, inside a building where the "bones" of five ancient ships were on display. They were discovered, removed, and restored from the bottom of the fjord about 50 years ago; displaying them was the impetus for creating the museum in the first place. So cool. And obviously we made completely authentic and natural looking Vikings. I'm pretty sure those are 1000-year old earphones.

What a great day!!

*  *  *

P.S. - The only quasi-blight on the day came at the very end. We'd packed a picnic lunch for midday but had decided to splurge by going out to dinner in the evening, since we knew we'd all be weary and it would be too long to wait for supper at home. We passed up restaurant after restaurant, finally settling on a little burger joint that had the lowest prices we could find in town. You know, a cheap spot, where our bill was only...over $80! That was for two little kids burgers and two regular size burgers (fries included). No drinks. No desserts. Nothing extra. They were excellent, don't get me wrong, but....yikes!