Busy Kids, a Danish Summer House, Lovely Weather, and Loppen

Happy Spring, everyone! The last month has been full of activities and new experiences. Denmark spent the fall and winter bathed in gray skies and dark nights, so now that the sun is out and the leaves are popping, there's a lot to do!

* * *

Harrison and Khloe both had spring concerts at school. I mentioned Khloe's in my last post. Her concert was enjoyable but ill-timed since we had our visit from the Schers. Harrison's was timed better, but it felt much less coordinated, there were about twice as many people as the gym could hold, and there was no way I could get a clear picture of him. I don't know how in the world he found us after his song was over, but he did and we got the heck out of there immediately. I'll refrain from specific comments about the evening, but if any of the organizers want to know how to make it run more smoothly next year, let me know. I have notes.

Harrison is in the blue sweatshirt jacket to the right of the center. He was not happy.

* * *

Zac and I started Danish classes again, and pretty abruptly, too! After we passed our Module 3.1 class, we said our preference was to continue immediately with the next module and to change to two days a week in person. (We were previously going one day a week and doing an online class the other day.) Zac was struggling to motivate himself a little when it came to the online learning, so it was recommended that we just go to class twice a week.

We were told the administration would contact us with the information on our new class, but six weeks passed without a word. The Sunday after our guests left and the concerts were out of the way, I emailed the administration to ask about our classes. They got back to me Monday morning saying there was a miscommunication and that they were waiting to hear from us to say that we wanted to continue. Geez.

Anyway, they said they would get us into a class as soon as they could, and then like an hour later, I had an email saying we were placed in a class and that it started that evening. I asked if it was really beginning serendipitously on the same day or if we had already missed some. They said we missed one but it would be OK.

Zac was not thrilled that I texted him during his work day and told him we were going to school for two and a half hours that night, but he rallied.

Our new Danish teacher is really great. He speaks to us in Danish a lot and keeps us doing exercises in partners as he walks around and interacts with us, so I think we end up staying engaged through the whole class. It's really tough and tiring, but I can already feel myself learning faster. The people in the class are really great, too, so even though we now have two late nights every week (with homework after each class), it's going well and we are enjoying it.

* * *

You want to know how to get the Danes in a tizzy? Take away one of their national holidays!

Store bededag, or Great Prayer Day, has been a holiday for hundreds of years. The holiday was started back in the 1600s and was a day to fast and pray. All businesses were closed, including the bakeries, but Danes love their fresh bread, so traditionally, bakers would make special wheat rolls on the Thursday before Store bededag so people could pick them up and heat them up in their own homes on Friday after the church services were concluded and people were allowed to break their fast.

Store bededag has been a public holiday since 1686, but the government decided to demote it to a regular day so that the extra tax revenue generated by people working on that day can go toward Denmark's defense system. The Danes were not happy about this.

Zac and I didn't know any different, so we just went to work as normal, but for all of Thursday and Friday, our colleagues kept finding ways to bring it up and complain about it. The canteen at work tried to have their back though. They took orders for the special wheat rolls, and people who ordered them picked them up on Thursday. They toast and butter the rolls, and I heard they really butter them, like with thick slabs of butter on top. They're supposed to be really good, so maybe we'll order some next year just to say we did.

* * *

A few months ago, I was listening to a Danish podcast, and the host was an American talking about how everyone in Denmark either owns/co-owns a summer house or knows someone who has invited them to a summer house. I thought, "I don't have a summer house and I haven't been invited to one!" Alas, an email from Jacob changed that almost the instant I thought about it.

Jacob and Christina co-own a summer house in the southern part of Denmark, and they invited our family to come spend a relaxing weekend there at the end of April. We were so excited!

We decided to go on Friday evening so we could have a late dinner with them. We packed the car, Vibe (so generously) took the dog, and we enjoyed the most lovely 2.25-hour drive through the Danish countryside.

We passed beautiful farms, a safari park, some amazing UNESCO world heritage sites (that are already on our to-do list), the Forest Tower, and the prettiest fields with the rapeseed plants in bloom.

I brought The Little Book of Hygge (a really sweet gift from the Schers) to read in the car, but even though it was an addictive read, I couldn't stop looking out the window! Everything was beautiful.

About two minutes before we were projected to arrive, Harrison started getting upset and crying for no apparent reason, and then as we pulled in the driveway, we learned he was actually horribly car-sick. He vomited the most pasty, awful vomit I've ever seen, and it just kept coming. He was crying, the other kids were trying to dive out of the car, Zac was trying to back into the parking area, I was trying to keep Harrison calm (and convince him to close his legs and protect the seat)...it was all very exciting.

After we got everything hosed down and cleaned up, we actually got to go inside and greet our hosts! 

The summer house is an old farm house from the 1800s. They've updated the kitchen and put on a new roof, but the rural charm is still very much alive. The main part of the house is spacious and cozy. There are wood stoves, lots of places to sit and chat, and many bedrooms to accommodate large family gatherings.

The stable building where farmers used to keep horses and pigs is now a large, open room with lots of tables and space for big parties. There are some large area rugs on one end that serve as "the stage." (There will be a music festival here at the end of August - I'm sure I'll post about that, too!)

Our borrowed room slept all five of us comfortably. We made up our beds and spent a great evening visiting and drinking wine. We ate a simple dinner of sliced sausages and cheeses with olives and bread, and it was incredibly hyggeligt.

On Saturday, we explored the rest of the house and property, and then they took us into town to go to all of Christina's favorite thrift stores. The thrifting was supposed to be excellent down there, so we were excited to rummage.

Khloe and Harrison found a bin of free posters. They were wrapped in plastic so you couldn't really see what they were, but Harrison found one that was obviously from Finding Nemo, and Khloe picked two that had pleasant coloring. Khloe also found a shirt, and Harrison got a few small cars.

Zac found a Bing Crosby Christmas Record. I finally found a physical English-Danish dictionary and some Star Wars: Clone Wars wrapping paper.

I also found this great puzzle, but I didn't buy it and now I have regrets.

We had to stop at a grocery store, so while Jacob, Christina, and I went in to buy some local beers and some vegetables to go with dinner, everyone else went to get ice cream. Christina said that the ice cream was the creamiest, the cheapest, and the biggest anywhere. Harrison agreed.

Saturday afternoon, we lounged in the garden, basking in the sun.

I followed some giant beetles around with my macro lens, Harrison ate his weight in chives from Christina's patio garden, and we had Khloe unfurl her surprise posters to see what gems she ended up with. Zac and I had a good laugh.

Kaden found a unicycle and tried hard to figure out the balance. He did pretty good for his first try!

Saturday night, Jacob made a lamb roast and cooked sausages. Christina made a delicious salad and Jacob served wine from their recent trip to Italy. We ate like kings. For dessert, Christina made a really good crumble with fresh rhubarb from the garden (served with vanilla ice cream and little cookie rounds). When the food was gone, we digested to the music of Gasolin' and Kim Larsen and learned a lot about the history of the Danish music scene. We had fun sampling a variety of beers from the local brewery, and we stayed up way too late drinking and talking gathered around the wood stove.

Sunday morning, we slept in a little to make up for our late night. Christina taught Khloe to make big flowers out of tissue paper, and Harrison helped her out in the garden. He even got a little chive plant of his own to bring home.

We ate a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread and cheese. We actually brought some very coveted Danish cheese as a gift for our hosts, and it went nicely with breakfast (even if we forgot to give it to them until Saturday night...in all the car-sickness chaos, Zac and I both mistakenly thought the other one had given Jacob and Christina the cheese!).

Vesterhavsost cheese is aged in a lighthouse in Jutland, ventilated by the salty sea air. It's delicious. We first tasted it on our food tour with the Schers, and then, serendipitously, the cheese merchant that visits ALK like once a month had some for sale before our trip. Yay!

Kaden and Khloe played pool for hours on a little pool table out in the lounge area. The tips were completely gone from the pool cues, but they didn't care. They had a great time.

Harrison followed Christina around like a little puppy. Zac and I played gin rummy and drank coffee. It was a really nice morning.

Jacob suggested that we take a drive to a giant art installation, Dodekalitten. He described it as a work in progress with big granite faces carved into pillars with an Easter Island vibe. We were all up for that, especially with the promise of ice cream at the harbor before we went home, so we followed Jacob into Kragenæs and parked the cars on a very peaceful street near a big forest. I enjoyed the walk. Danish forests are not like the evergreen forests in North Idaho, but they have their own beautiful qualities.

When we emerged from the forest, we could see Dodekalitten in the distance.

We walked up the dirt path, meeting a lot of other people as we went. The pillars were very tall, and I think all but three of them had faces carved in the top. There are stone benches arranged in a circle beneath them, and there is supposed to be spatial electronic music created by a computer program pulling data from the position of the sun, the moon, and the tides. It plays every day from sunrise to sunset with intermittent periods of silence, and it's always different. We happened to arrive when it was silent.

Across from the art installation, there are some big mounds covered in grass and trees. These are burial plots from the Bronze Age - three of eleven that were preserved.

We didn't walk across the road to look at them because I wasn't sure if someone lives in the farmhouse or if it was kind of open to the public for strolling, but it was still interesting to see the mounds.

When we had sufficiently taken in Dodekalitten, we walked back down the dirt trail and branched off into the forest again, this time turning toward the harbor. There are cute little wooden bridges along the trail, pretty wildflowers, and random public exercise equipment. The kids had fun with that.

We ended up at the harbor where you can take a ferry to the islands of Fejø and Femø.

We bought some ice cream at the general store, used the restroom, and then headed home. We are so grateful to have such nice friends. There are so many good people taking care of us in Denmark, and I can't believe how lucky we are to get to have these experiences. What's even more amazing is that the kids all had a great time and totally got along the entire trip! There was some kind of wild magic at work that weekend...

And on the way home, I finished The Little Book of Hygge. I really enjoyed it, and I think it illustrates so nicely the reason we are so happy in Denmark.

* * *

As you can see in some of the pictures, the weather has been drastically improving. In the span of just a couple weeks, the leaves started budding and then popping out everywhere! I started making an effort to ride my bike to work on the non-rainy days, and on the first really bright spring day we had, I rubber-banded my phone to the front of my handlebars and did a time-lapse of my ride. It's nice in the video, but it's even more amazing now with all the spring-green leaves on everything.

The sun sets pretty late already, and the sky is light until after we go to bed. There's an uphill road across the street from our neighborhood, and it goes up to some very pretty old houses, a cool pirate ship house, some expensive stables, and a monastery. Before you get to all of that stuff though, there's a random parking lot. There are no walking trails or anything, just a parking lot, a couple of picnic tables, and a trash can. Zac and I were curious about it one night after we arrived in Denmark, but when we saw the view of the sun setting over the lake, we understood.

I decided to pull my kids off screens the other night and make them hike up Høsterkøb with Zac and I to watch the sun set. They were confused, but they didn't really complain. Khloe loves sunsets and did her best to get a good photo of it with her phone. I even caught Kaden trying to snap a picture of it without being seen. We told him there is no shame in trying to capture an incredible sunset and encouraged him to just go for it.

The weather has been really warm and lovely in the evenings. Marabel is loving it.

We've been going on some very pleasant walks through Eskemose Skov (the forest by our house) along Sjælsø (the lake by our house). Imagine for a moment:

You walk out your front door, turn to the right, and arrive at a dirt path lined with fine, sandy gravel. The evening sun casts an orangey glow as you begin strolling down the path to the west. There's a bright green cow pasture on your left and a marshy field on the right. A little stream runs between the path and the cow pasture, and it's lined with deciduous trees. Some of them have little blooming flowers that smell sweet, and the surrounding air is fresh and warm. You can hear the path crunching under your feet, and there are birds calling all around - swifts and sparrows, great tits (heh), blackbirds, magpies, and doves. A hawk sits perched on one of the brown, gnarled trees in the marshy field before it swoops down to grab a mouse. There are gray hooded crows hopping around the cow pasture and graylag geese honking and flying overhead. Every now and then, a cyclist or a neighbor walking a dog passes you on the trail, and you smile and nod your head to acknowledge them. It's very peaceful.

The path heads into a tall deciduous forest and the air cools, but dappled sunlight filters in through the new leaves and the birds chirp happily all around you. You can hear a coot calling in the distance and a woodpecker up in a nearby tree. Bright yellow and white wildflowers cover the entire forest floor around the fallen limbs and the mossy logs. There are pretty fungi dotting the rotting wood, and now the forest expands to your left and the lake shore is on the right. There are ducks on the water, and every now and then, you catch the bright white feathers of a swan in their midst. A gray heron stands on one leg at the end of a log jutting out into the reeds, its chest feathers blowing in the breeze.

The path winds through the forest, passing wooden docks, little pools of water with springs shooting up from the center, benches for resting or reflection, a swimming beach with a fire pit, and of course, more cows. There are some sheep fields in the distance and you can hear the little lambs bleating while they prance around in the sun. On the walk home, you see the neighborhood fox on the trail in front of you, and you stop to watch as it takes a bridge across the stream (now on your right), and into the cow pasture. The crows make a ruckus all around it, and finally, two geese chase it off. You make your way home, kick off your shoes, and relax on the back terrace as the sun sets over the lake in the distance.

This is literally our reality every evening, and it's just heaven.

In Denmark, May is officially Vi Cykler til Arbejde month, or We Bike to Work month. ALK asked teams to sign up and log their number of days biked to work, as well as the distance. I am on a team with my boss and one of my colleagues. Every work day in May, I have biked to and from work. I can feel my legs getting stronger for sure! Zac has biked to work several times as well, even though he's not on a team.

* * *

Speaking of work, Vibe resigned from ALK to focus on her boys and her mental health for a while. I'm so glad to see her prioritizing the important things in life, grateful that she is secure enough to make this happen, and of course, sad that my friend is no longer my coworker. On the morning of her last day at work (the end of April), she happened to drive by while I was waiting to cross the road to the bus stop, so she flipped around and gave me a ride. It worked out well because she needed help carrying all of the treats in for her goodbye celebration. :)

Besides losing Vibe, work is going really well. Zac and I are both learning so much. I'm finally figuring out how to navigate the different buildings and schedule meeting rooms and things like that. I'm getting assigned lots of new tasks and even starting to train some of my colleagues. Zac and I don't usually run into each other at work, and since they opened Søhuset (The Lake House) with its second canteen, we don't even see each other at lunchtime anymore! His building goes to lunch in the main canteen, and my building goes to Søhuset. (Not that I'm complaining...it's really nice to eat in the sunshine by the lake.)

Anyway, I was running a study with Thomas the other day in the lab, and Zac came in to work on some equipment issues in the adjacent part of the lab!

As I mentioned, I'm bummed out about Vibe leaving, but I was pleased that one of my old colleagues who left ALK had been re-hired to take her position. It's been fun catching up with him, and on his first day, our director bought tebirke for breakfast! (Technically, I'm not in the same department, so I had to wait for the leftovers, but it was still a nice treat.)

It's not all delicious pastries and fancy lunches by the lake though. ALK has some demanding targets to meet next year, and it was announced that we are losing 125 positions in the coming month. We aren't super stressed about it because some of these will be vacant positions (i.e. jobs that are currently posted will just be taken down and no one will be hired for them), and it usually also counts if someone resigns or gets fired, but still, we'll be a little anxious about it for the next four weeks.

The first Friday of every month, the science park where ALK is located hosts an after-work bar from 15:00 to 18:00. I try to go because it's a nice way to socialize with colleagues but it doesn't go too late, so you can still make it home to have dinner with your family.

Friday bar is in the little backyard area of one of the buildings. They play music on a big bluetooth speaker, there's a bowl of crisps and pretzel sticks on every table that they keep filled, and you can buy beer, wine, or elderflower sodas while you chit-chat in the sun.

Vibe joined us, and the weather was amazing. Zac didn't come because he wasn't feeling great, but he did text me to ask if they were serving the Liselund IPA and asked me to bring him one. The staff very kindly sold me one without opening it so I could take it home.

I felt like I deserved Friday bar last week! My morning started with a 2-hour training on quality risk management...in Danish! I had additional meetings one after another in different places all day, including an informative scientific presentation on anion exchange chromatography, which was, again, in Danish. My brain was soooo fried after all of that intense concentration. To be clear, I am still a long way away from being able to understand what people are saying in Danish. I've improved and can pick out a lot words, but it's still incredibly challenging to follow an entire meeting.

* * *

Zac had Wednesday, May 1st, off for Arbejdernes Internationale kampdag, or International Worker's Day. Something about his job function means he's included in union holidays? Or he's part of a union? I don't know. We have a hard time interpreting things here. I did not get it off because I'm not part of whatever he is part of.

The other thing that happens in Denmark on May 1st is the annual Danish Alarm test. In the U.S., we sometimes got Amber Alerts or Silver Alerts on our phones, so ya know, you'd be in a meeting and everyone's phones would start alarming loudly and a notification would pop up about a missing senior or a missing child. The Danish Alarm system works very similarly, and it's used to communicate danger or emergency conditions to a wide group of people at once. They have to test it once a year, so they do it at noon on May 1st. But what about the people who don't carry a phone? The Danish Alarm system has you covered. There are huge alarm towers spread across the country. These also alarm, like a huge wailing siren, if there is an emergency. When you hear it, you are supposed to go inside, close the doors and windows, and turn on the radio or the TV to one of the two national stations to hear further instructions. It's a good system, but it was kind of funny to be enjoying a peaceful lunch by the lake and then hear all the phones and alarm towers start wailing.

Which brings me back to International Worker's Day and Zac's day off. He was totally unaware that this would be happening (because one of us follows Danish news on social media and reads newspapers and adds important dates to her calendar and the other does not). He had no idea what was happening! He was home alone. His phone started wailing, and the towers started wailing, and the poor guy thought there was some kind of emergency. He frantically translated the message on his phone and then calmed down a bit. Hopefully, it won't be so concerning next year.

* * *

I said the kids had been busy, and that's the truth!

Harrison had a field trip to Føtex, a local grocery store chain. (He's in the yellow rain jacket.)

Khloe and Kaden had an Athletics Meet for the international schools. They competed in the 100 m dash, the long jump, the high jump, and shot put. (Did they send me pictures? No.) Kaden even set a record for year 9 boys at his school at the high jump!

Khloe played in a football tournament for her school team against the other international schools. She's been going to Friday Football every Friday after school and really enjoying it. They just abruptly ended it for the year and she was a little disappointed. (She's in the white shirt and black shorts on the middle right of the photo.)

Kaden had checkpoint exams at school, which he loved because it meant he only had to go to school for 2 hours three days in a row. He also joined the gym, but cancelled his membership after a couple months because his friends canceled theirs.

Khloe participated in an international school volleyball jam last Saturday. She had a fun time playing on mixed teams of parents and students from Copenhagen International School. She also went to a hockey social Tuesday after school. They did some intense workouts and played floor hockey with kids from their age group at school.

Harrison went to a double birthday party for two of his classmates. He was excited to have some of his best buddies there, and they played for several hours.

He has been going to afterschool care for about an hour on Mondays because Kaden and Khloe have an extra class that day. He likes to play with his friends at school a lot, and they even have a s'mores fire pit on the playground. I know he's had a good day at school when he comes home with marshmallow on his face!

Harrison also participated in a run to raise money for the Danish Kids' Lung Foundation. He did 23 laps, which was more than projected.

* * *

Before you all ask, Star Wars Day was pretty anticlimactic. It's hard to make new friends in Denmark, and I thought there would be more Star Wars fans than I've been able to find (which is zero). Not for lack of trying! I find a way to bring up Star Wars with everyone I meet. I keep hoping one of them will say, "Oh, no way! You like Star Wars, too?" and then I'll say, "No, I LOVE Star Wars," and they will look at me very seriously and say, "Jeg elsker også Star Wars." That will be that. But so far, most people don't know what I'm talking about, or they say, "Oh, yeah. I saw one of those movies." Many say something like, "Oh, yes. Darth Wader." (Because Danes pronounce the V in his name like a W and it's very funny.)

Anyway, I wore a Boba Fett shirt. Zac and I watched a couple episodes of Bad Batch (which is a Star Wars show if you don't know). We didn't have a party, we didn't have themed cocktails, and we didn't dress up. There were no Star Wars pancakes or Wookiee Cookies or movie marathons. I was a little sad, but I know it takes time to find your people in a new setting, and I'm sure they're out there.

Several people from the U.S. (and even one of my Danish colleagues) reached out to say May the 4th Be With You, and that was really nice. Maybe it's my destiny to bring a love of Star Wars to the Danes...

* * *

Zac and I are trying to hit all the biggest music venues in Copenhagen this year, and we have lots of shows coming up. We saw Myrkur at VEGA in March, and last night, we got to experience another venue: Loppen!

Loppen is a music venue in Freetown Christiania. I've walked past it a couple of times and seen the sign, but this was our first concert there. It's a small venue on the second floor of an old wooden building, and the name Loppen means "The Flea" in Danish. It's covered in posters and graffiti and stickers. The ceiling is low and has huge, exposed wood beams. The bathroom is gender-neutral. The bar has a selection of beer and sparkling juices, including a beer just for Loppen (Loppe Øl). There's a little coat check, a low platform stage, a couple of standing tables near the bar, a few small tables along the back wall in case you want to sit, and standing room on the solid wood floor in front of the stage. The musicians are just meters away from you. It was super fun.

We found a Dying Hydra sticker!

Loppe Øl with the flea logo

The mascot

We went to see a doom metal band called Acid King. Zac and Nate both really like that band, but I've never listened to them. Still, I'm up for live music anytime.

The concert started at NINE THIRTY P.M. ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN THE CITY. We only bought tickets because the next day was a Danish holiday and we knew we didn't have to work. Haha.

We did have Danish class to contend with though, so after riding our bikes to work, working a full day, and riding our bikes home, we went to one hour of our two-and-a-half-hour Danish class. When we stood up to leave, our instructor asked (in Danish of course) where we were going. We responded in Danish that we were going to a concert. He asked which concert and where it was at, and we responded (all in Danish). When we said "Loppen," he got all shocked and said, "Nåå. På Loppen? You are good people!" (Because Loppen is in Christiania.) Anyway, we drove home, and then we rode our bikes to the station in Birkerød. There wouldn't be any buses running by the time we got back to town from a concert in the city that started at NINE THIRY P.M. (did I mention that?!). It was a good ride, but I was really tired from a full day in the lab and all the other stuff. I bought a Red Bull while we waited for the train and that helped a lot.

We got to Copenhagen, took a bus to a stop near Christiania, and then I expertly navigated us to the venue from memory. (This is rare, as my map skills aren't great.) We wound our way through all the people smoking in front of the door, found our way up the stairs, got our glow-in-the-dark stamps, bought a couple beers, and staked out a place in front of the stage on the right.

Earth Tongue, from New Zealand, opened. It's a two-person band with a singing drummer and a lead singer/bass player. She plays a 6-string bass, and that was pretty cool. There was an old guy standing near us, front and center, grooving with the bass and having the time of his life. It's so nice to watch people just enjoying themselves.

I found things to appreciate about Earth Tongue, but I enjoyed Acid King more. The bass player was really good (and I think he had a Fender bass like mine (but less gold glitter)), and even though I couldn't see much more than that, the rest of the band was excellent as well. The crowd smelled a little worse than it did at VEGA, but it's not their fault that my nose comes up to approximately their armpits. They were still, for the most part, a friendly and fun-loving group.

Zac and I had a nice time together. We tried out our Loop Engage earplugs for the first time, and they were so much nicer than the standard foam earplugs that just muffle out all the sound. We heard everything clearly and didn't leave with tinnitus.

Zac was really happy that we got to see a band that he has enjoyed so much over the years at such an intimate venue. He saw the singer/guitar player standing at one corner of the stage when the show ended, and she was just chatting with people as they walked up to say hello, so we went and said hi and took a picture in the dark. We knew it would turn out poorly, but we didn't care. It was still nice to get to interact.

The show ended just before midnight. We hung around to finish our beers and fill up our water bottle, and then we walked out into the lovely nighttime air. The venue is near Church of Our Savior, the beautiful baroque church in Denmark that has the tall brown and gold spiral with a staircase around the outside that you can walk up. We stopped to stare up at it exactly at midnight, and the bells started ringing, playing a lovely half-familiar hymn. We stood and listened until they stopped, and then walked to the metro, took the metro to the train station, and got a train back to Birkerød.

We were happy to see that our bikes were not stolen (it helped that we locked them up), and we had a brisk 15-minute ride home at 1 a.m. Who says we can't still be cool?

* * *

I mentioned that we didn't have to work on Thursday because it's a Danish holiday. Americans, prepare yourselves.

It's Kristi Himmelfartsdag.

(I'll wait for you to compose yourselves.)

Yes, the holiday sounds ridiculous in English, but it's really just Ascension Day. Most Danes take the Friday off as well to make it a long weekend. The kids have both Thursday and Friday off school. Zac and I have today (Thursday) off work, and we are taking tomorrow off, too. (I just decided that as I was typing this. He already took it off, and I was debating.)

Hope you enjoyed catching up on our lives, and Happy Kristi Himmelfartsdag, everyone!