A Quick Trip to the U.S.A.
As most of you know (because I hugged you!), I recently returned to the U.S. for the first time in over a year for a work trip! Khloe and Kaden accompanied me, and Zac and Harrison chose not to make the long flight (which is understandable and saved us a ton of money on animal care).
The kids started school the week before we left, so it was a little rough, timing-wise. They got to go to one week of school (during which I also had to pull them out for dentist and eye appointments), and then they were gone for a week and a half. Will they catch up? Will it hurt their progress? Only time will tell, but we all agreed the mental health benefits outweighed the missed class time.
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We woke up before the sun on Saturday, August 17th, so Zac could drive us to the airport. Even though Kaden and Khloe are older, it's still a little more stressful to travel with them, because no matter how much I remind them about their little bags of liquid or to take off their jackets, they always forget something in the security line. Oh well.
We made it and had pretty uneventful flights to Iceland and Seattle. Unfortunately, the screens were not functioning on our plane, but we had books and podcasts and music and stuff. I also didn't get to sit with Kaden and Khloe because I booked my ticket through work and it didn't come with the option to select my own seat. Again, it was fine and they weren't scared or sad about it.
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We landed in Seattle and raced to get our bags so we could meet our ride - we purchased our tickets so that we could stay about 24 hours in Seattle with the Everts. They have a cute new addition to the family and we just had to go meet him!
Kaden was pretty moody when we got off the plane. The lack of sleep (and probably his conflicting emotions) had him a little worked up. It didn't help matters any when I stopped at a CDC booth to take a set of voluntary nasal swabs to help them track viral mutations in communicable diseases. :)
We stepped outside and his mood changed instantly. I've never seen a kid happier to be standing on a gross sidewalk between an airport and a parking garage with big busses and taxis whipping in and out as people smoke all over you. It was disgusting and irritating to me, but I guess to him, it was heaven. He was so glad to be back in the U.S.
We jumped in the car with Jack and he suggested we visit a convenience store for some energy drinks, which sounded good to me. Copenhagen is 9 hours ahead of Seattle/Post Falls, which meant we kind of went back in time when we travelled. We basically rewound the day 9 hours, so it was really important that we didn't fall asleep before maybe 8:00 p.m. or our schedule would be off the entire trip.
To be clear, we don't normally drink energy drinks, and I certainly don't let the kids drink them, but I felt that this was an exceptional time. We walked in, and again, Kaden's mind was totally blown. He marveled at the selection of everything from drinks to candy to jerky and chips. I'll admit, it was a little exciting to see all the choices for unhealthy convenience store garbage we could buy all of a sudden.
The day we spent at the Evert house was so relaxing and lovely. Despite having a 5-week-old baby and a toddler, they were fantastic hosts. I got to spend some time with my nephews, the kids got to play with their little cousin, and the grown-ups got time to catch up on each others' lives a bit.
Katie took us to an incredibly popular pizza restaurant (Spark) for a late lunch on Sunday. We sat in the courtyard while we waited for our pizza to-go...there was almost a 2-hour wait to eat there! I found an allergen-themed beer, so of course, I had to drink it.
The pizza was really good. The U.S. has a lot of very good Neapolitan-style pizza, and I have definitely missed it.
It was sad to say goodbye so quickly after we arrived, but that was kind of par for the course on this trip. Jack's mom stopped by before we left and it was really nice to see her again. She brought a book for me to read on the plane, which was very thoughtful. We said our goodbyes to the boys, Katie dropped us at the airport, and we were off once again!
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In Spokane, we picked up our rental car for the week from a very friendly gentleman at the Hertz desk. I don't know why it surprised me to have such friendly service at 8:30 p.m., but it did. I was worried about getting a rental car with a Danish driver's license, but there was no trouble. We worked together to find the information he needed, he wished me happy early birthday, and handed over a set of keys.
Our car for the week was some brand new, cheaply manufactured Jeep (Compass?), but it did the trick. We made a quick pit-stop at Super1 to get some toiletries and a sandwich for the kids. We might've grabbed another guilty pleasure or two on accident...
Grandma Iris was happy to see us and had a room all ready for our arrival. We were so tired, we probably could've slept in the driveway, but I'm glad we didn't have to. :)
It was nice to hug her and visit a little before we crashed.
In the morning, it was my birthday! Grandma took the kids and I to breakfast at Old European in Post Falls. In true Lindsey fashion, I identified an error in an old Danish prayer that was painted on the wall at the entrance. I was unsure of myself though, especially since I'm not fluent in Danish yet, so I didn't say anything. We enjoyed our meal and it was nice to spend some time with Grandma.
We visited at her house for a bit after breakfast and she took a nice picture of me and the kids out front.
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| I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 42...! |
It wasn't time to rest, though...we were off to Josh and Kari's!! They made a new Star Wars-themed guest room, and of course, I had to stay there for at least one night. Josh and Kari took the day off so we could hang out in the pool and relax a little on my birthday. Mom drove up from Lewiston to spend the day with us. Josh and Kari and I went out to get Papa Murphy's pizza, wine, and ice cream, and it was a really nice evening.
We chatted about kids, Danish culture, work, and family. We played in the pool, we sipped from our Bota Box of wine, and had a lovely afternoon. Mom and the kids left for Lewiston after we ate, and Josh and Kari and I snuggled up on our old couch (*sigh*) and watched a couple episodes of Queer Eye before we all fell asleep.
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| Why don't our friends live in Denmark?! |
The guest room was, as expected, totally awesome, and I'm glad I got to sleep in it. Josh left before I got out of bed, but he left a sweet note on the kitchen whiteboard to say goodbye. Kari and I chatted and drank coffee before I took off for my first day at work.
* * *
Work was kind of crazy. On the one hand, we were immersed in meetings all day and that felt totally normal. On the other hand, I was back in a place I hadn't been for over a year, surrounded by people I've missed (and several of whom missed me, too!) and I didn't have time to go talk to them. It was difficult to not just get "visiting time" with everyone.
It was three days of waving to people as I rushed by on my way to a bathroom break, popping into offices that were close to the meeting room to say a quick "hello," and shouting to people down the hall that I promised to stop by later to say hi.
It was nice to get to spend those meeting days with people I was close to though - it's a pretty awesome team of people I consider friends.
Tuesday night after work, I drove to Liberty Lake to have dinner with Karen and Rachel at Piccolo's. I got to visit with two good friends AND eat my favorite garlic knots with the pesto oil and the good spicy Hawaiian pizza. As if that wasn't lovely enough, Karen walked in waving a little American flag, gave me a birthday card, and lit a candle on a tiny cupcake while she sang me Happy Birthday! We had a nice dinner and it was very good to see them before they took off on their own trips.
Wednesday night after work, we had a work dinner at Wolf Lodge. It was fun to relax with everyone around a hearty meal with good beer. We had a nice visit, and our Danish colleague got to see the pit where they cook the meat.
It feels very fortunate we chose to eat there, because as probably all of you know, Wolf Lodge burned down a week and a half later! What a huge loss. :(
After Wolf Lodge, we met at Vantage Point Brewing for one more beer before we headed off. I stayed at Amanda's house Tuesday through Thursday, so we got to stay up and puzzle and pet cats and whatnot. It was pretty great.
Thursday after work, Andy, Anders, and Amanda and I headed for Post Falls Brewing Company, another establishment on my "must-visit" list during my trip. We shared a pitcher of beer and then Andy suggested we go out on the boat for a little bit and have dinner at Rockford Bay.
Anders and Andy went to get the boat, and Amanda and I went to her house to change into swimwear. We got down to the dock behind Le Peep just as Andy pulled up to pick us up.
We got out on the lake and I couldn't take my eyes off the rocky outcroppings covered in Ponderosa pines and lake houses. It was my whole childhood, and I smiled the entire time. We parked the boat, swam in the lake for a bit, and then Anders and Amanda went wake surfing. It was so great to be out on the lake again.
(For those who don't know, my grandparents owned One Shot Charlie's in Harrison, Idaho, for maybe 20 years? From like the early '80s to the early 2000s? I grew up in that bar and that town.)
It was a very nice evening, and I am lucky to know such generous and special people.
* * *
While I was at ALK (and eating amazing food with my friends) for three days, the kids were in Lewiston with my mom. The dream was to spend three days with their cousins, but unfortunately, we found out the cousins were going back to school that week. They had Tuesday together, but Wednesday and Thursday, the cousins had to go to school, ice cream socials, and football practices.
My mom did a fine job taking the kids around shopping. She got Kaden some birthday gifts, took the kids thrifting, and she brought them back to Post Falls a little early so they could go to a movie. They had a nice time.
* * *
Thursday night, very late, I picked Matt up from the airport! I don't have a picture of us together. To be honest, I really didn't focus on taking many pics during this trip because I felt like I was so incredibly busy and overbooked the whole time. So just imagine a picture of me and Matt being happy to see each other!
On Friday, I had a lunch date with Amy at ALK. I picked up Republic (as I checked another restaurant off my list) and drove to the site. We ate and puzzled and chatted with Michele and Leslie. It was so nice! As an added bonus, I got to see and chat with a few other people I've missed who were around on Friday, too. I couldn't linger long though, because we had to check into our Airbnb in Cd'A.
Zac's parents and Nate and Maggie met us at the house. I had to turn around and leave so I could drive my mom's car key back to her (it was in Kaden's pocket), run an errand at Numerica, and pick up Khloe from her friend's house. We eventually made it back to the Airbnb though and had a nice visit with the Barber family (while eating pizza from Fire...check!).
After dinner, we worked on a puzzle my mom had gotten at the thrift store, and then Maggie and I went to catch the tail end of the Kootenai County Democrats' fundraiser down the road. It was fun to see and hug all my old KCDems friends and hear some of the candidates speak. It was a really nice event and I wish I could've been there for the entire thing.
Saturday, we invited lots of other family and friends over to the Airbnb to visit. My sister and her kids showed up, and we got to meet my nephew's girlfriend.
My dad and Dorothy came to visit for the day, my mom and grandma came, and I even got to see Ronn and Amy! We finished the cookbook thrift store puzzle and started a new one.
We had really nice weather for visiting out back, and even though we never got a fire pit going, it was nice to be surrounded by good friends and family.
Lisa made Kaden and I a delicious birthday cake, too!
We finished puzzle #2, and then I took Kaden and Khloe to stay the night with some friends. Khloe surprised her friend, Peyton, and it was a super fun reunion. Kaden stayed with Ty in our old cul-de-sac, and I thought it might be hard for him, but he seemed OK.
Back at the Airbnb, everyone was tired and ready for bed, so Matt and I just left to go have a beer at Crown and Thistle. This bar was not on my list of places to visit (since I didn't really know much about it), but it turned out to be amazing, and Matt and I had a really nice night there.
Sunday morning was a little quieter for visiting with the Barber family. I enjoyed seeing everyone and chatting over coffee. When we were all packed up, we said our goodbyes and then I headed back to Grandma's house!
Matt and I went to visit Josh and Kari and then came back to Grandma's for dinner. My uncle and cousin came over later in the evening, so it was good to get to see them as well. Matt and I stayed up playing Memory and Boggle Masters like old times. We watched hilarious shows together and then I passed out. I think I only got six hours of sleep every night I was there. It's hard to travel across so many time zones!
Monday morning, I met Courtney and Lindsey for breakfast at Old European. This time, I took photographic evidence of the Danish typos. :) We had a really nice breakfast together. I miss working with all of my old colleagues, even though my new colleagues are also super awesome.
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| "gar" should be "går" and "pa" should be "på" - a and å are not the same letter! |
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| "aere" should be "ære," "sa" should be "så," and "far" should be "får" - admittedly, most of these stem from the same error, but still. I really should go back with a small brush and some white paint. |
I went back in to ALK after breakfast because there were still several people I hadn't gotten around the building to see yet. I spent most of the late morning and early afternoon hugging people I've missed. It was very nice to see all their faces in person.
The rest of the day, Matt and I just stayed around visiting with Mom and Grandma until I had to go pick up the kids and take Matt to the airport. I dropped him off with some friends in the same neighborhood so he could visit for a minute while I ran door to door in my old cul-de-sac bringing all the neighbors outside for the 20 minutes I had to spare. I loved seeing everyone! Well, almost everyone (Spencer and Laurie...where were you?!!).
The kids said their sad goodbyes to their friends, I hugged all the neighbors one more time, and then I picked up Matt and took him to the airport. It's always hard to say goodbye!
Tuesday morning, we had to say goodbye to Mom and Grandma. They sure didn't want to let us go!
Our flight home was uneventful, and it was really nice to see Zac and Harrison again. It was good to visit the U.S. again, but it sure was exhausting! We'll have to come up with a better strategy the next time so that none of our visits feel rushed and so that we aren't so over-scheduled.
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When you travel between two countries, there are usually requests from both sides for things to bring from the opposite country. No one in the U.S. really wanted anything, so I just brought fancy licorice treats for everyone from my favorite gourmet Danish licorice brand. I brought Faxe Combi sodas for my nieces and nephews - Faxe Kondi is like the most popular Danish soda, and they made a special version called Faxe Combi, which had mystery flavors. You had, for example a 22% chance of getting Passionfruit, a 12% chance of getting Vanilla, and an 8% chance of getting...Salad!
I think I talked about those in a previous post with the kids, because Harrison got Salad and it was pretty funny. I didn't think it was half bad, myself, but I guess it's not what the kids want. Haha. Anyway, none of my nieces or nephews got Salad, but they still weren't fans of the flavors they did get. Oh well. It was fun anyway.
I brought Snickers, Kit-Kats, Twix, M&Ms, Skittles, and Wild Berry Skittles from Denmark, and then bought the same candies in the U.S. when we arrived. We did some taste tests and I thought that was pretty fun. All of them were distinctly different between the two countries.
We didn't really bring home any souvenirs for ourselves. We had some Cheez-Its and chocolate-covered almonds in Ziplocs from my grandma's house. I brought some things from Costco to fulfill requests from some of my Danish colleagues. I brought Zac a bunch of chocolate chips and some Top Cutter, and some Sour Patch kids and JIF peanut butter for Harrison. Zac's mom sent marmalade and butterscotch chips with us, and some little toys for Harrison from Grandpa Wade. I had hoped to gather some fun things for International Day at the kids' school, which is coming up in a couple of weeks, but there was no time.
I did remember to get Marabel a cat banana though. She loved these toys in the U.S. and I haven't found one here that she likes quite the same. She was pleased. She has left us two dead mice since I gave it to her...
Anyway, if there's something in Denmark you want to try or can't live without, let me know and I'll throw it in the bag next time I'm traveling!
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There are bound to be some regrets when you have such limited time. My biggest regret is that I didn't get to stop and see my great aunt and uncle when I was so close. I hope I get back soon to make it up to them! I don't think the kids have regrets, but I know they weren't ready to leave their friends.
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Kaden was amazed by the Cyber Trucks and the Lamborghinis driving around Seattle. Khloe was awestruck at the houses in Jack and Katie's neighborhood and she said she felt like we were in a movie. I was amazed at the size of the washing machine in the Airbnb. I guess we all get impressed by different things.
It was a good trip, overall. We got to see almost everyone we had hoped to see, I got to eat at all the restaurants I've missed, and the kids got to spend quality time with their American friends. There were definitely a couple of hard moments for me, though.
The first thing was actually just seeing so many of the things we sold or gave away before we moved. Knowing now what we do, we really should've just packed up our whole house and brought it with us. It would've been fine. Instead, we got rid of SO much. I'm glad it found good homes with people we love, but it felt strange to see it and know it wasn't ours anymore.
The second thing was the feeling I got when I drove through our old neighborhood the first time. It really wasn't seeing our old house that got to me, and I totally thought that would be the thing. Instead, it was just making the familiar drive up and out of the subdivision after dropping off the kids. I did that drive every day for 10 years, and it was bound to stir up some feelings. I wasn't even sure if they were sad. It just made me miss the familiar a little bit. I had to talk myself through it, and I wished that Zac had been in the car with me to share the moment.
Anyway, to all of you we saw, I know it's never enough time, but we were so happy to have the time we got. Thanks to those who made special trips to see us, and thanks to everyone who gave us a place to sleep.
We will see you again before you know it!
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