Sports, Castles, Elections, and the Ugliest Mitten

Oh, October, you were so lovely! We got super lucky and had some beautiful jacket-weather days. It made for some nice walks, good bike rides, and easy ventures out into the world.

For example, we have been setting aside time at least once a week to go look at houses from our "saved" list. We keep looking for the perfect house in the perfect location. We've found those two things separately, but it's challenging to find both in the same property, unfortunately. Well, at least in our price range.

It is fun to go explore all the different kinds of Danish homes, though. I like watching the kids run around and imagine which room would be their own, what we could do in the garden, and how they would spend their days. After one such adventure, we made a pit stop on the way back to our current home.

Yes, we finally went up to Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerød! The castle was originally built in the 17th century and has been rebuilt and refurbished over time so that it remains a huge and lovely oasis right in the middle of a kind-of-big municipality. It used to be a royal residence, but now, it houses art from big-name Danish artists and historical exhibitions.

We didn't pay to go into the castle since we were just on our way back from looking at a house -  we just wanted to go walk around the Baroque gardens before fall set in too hard.

The gardens are immaculately maintained, and there are currently sculptures of roman gods sprinkled throughout the gigantic space. We had a nice time walking through the area as a family, reading the plates on the different statues, and gazing at the castle from across the lake.

We walked all over looking for ice cream, but alas, came up empty-handed. I'm sure we'll go back in the summer, visit the interior, and then stroll the gardens again with ice cream in hand!

* * *

Han and Marabel are still alive and kicking. Well, they don't kick very far, but you get it. Marabel thinks it's too cold out now, so we are glad she has some good sense and stays indoors most of the time. She's too bony to be out in the wind and rain. She's been very cuddly.

Han got some new toys, and he's been happily destroying them in the living room. There is stuffing everywhere, but he's happy.

* * *

In the spirit of finding things to do indoors when the weather is too chilly, I decided to try to learn the yarn work art of nålebinding. It's basically single-needle knitting, and it pre-dates knitting and crocheting. It was used primarily to make very warm socks and mittens, and it's a little challenging to get started because there aren't patterns or gauges - you just use your thumb to create loops! That means everything is truly one-of-a-kind.

There are many stitches, but they are all kind of variations on just a couple of stitches. I decided I should learn two different types to start with, and I made a couple of long chains several weeks ago with varying success using the Oslo stitch (which maybe is also called the Finnish 1+1). I was home sick for a couple of days this month though, and I thought it was a good time to work up to something larger.

First, I tried to learn the Finnish 2+2 stitch and make a mitten. I practiced getting started and also connecting the chain to itself.

It went really well, and I was pretty excited. When I got to the hand, I successfully also increased my stitches to make it wider, and when I got to where the thumb should be, I left a very nice looking space to attach a thumb later. I worked up the hand, and when my pinky finger was almost covered, I thought maybe I should start decreasing. I practiced some methods of decreasing, but quickly realized I went too far in too quickly.

No matter. It was a practice mitten from the start. I was learning.

As you can see, it looked super dorky at the fingertip section because of my error, but at least I knew what I did wrong. The aesthetics were not improved by the fact that I ran out of my orange/gray/cream yarn and had to start attaching gray/pink. It also became very clear to me that I left too large of a thumb hole, because the thumb was massive. But again, at least I knew what I did wrong.

It could've been a decent little mitten, but instead, it's a hilarious abomination filled with evidence of my learning-by-doing strategy. I did much better on my second try. See below. :)

Now, I just need to go get some more of the same yarn and hope I can make one match for the other side! These will be super warm in the winter. At work, we have regular "Strik og Drik" ("Knit and Drink") meetings planned throughout the winter after work to work on our yarn crafts, and I'm glad I can join in now.

* * *

Just like last year, there was a dance for Khloe's class at the school. The dance is not exactly like the school dances we had in the U.S. during junior high and high school. They are taught traditional dances, partnered with someone (by height), and then they perform the traditional dances at the start and end of the night. The rest of the evening is more like we all experienced, with drinks and snacks and a DJ. 

I'm so glad Khloe has a nice group of friends to spend time with. They all get ready together and help each other, and it's so sweet.

Khloe is in the blue dress - it's hard to tell because she chose not to wear her glasses (for about 10 minutes...)

* * *

I mentioned last time that Kaden had joined a baseball team, and unlike his basketball club experience, this one has been very positive. He likes the coaches and the team, and he's having a good time. He feels like he's developing some skill and gets excited to tell us about practice when he gets home.

I bought him some equipment and it was like early Christmas when the boxes started arriving. He's really happy with his stuff.

* * *

OK, most of the time, Zac picks our concerts. I don't mind. I love being along for the ride and they're always good. But when I saw that Crash Test Dummies were playing at Loppen, I had a little freak-out. I mean, yes, they have one song that everyone knows, but it's a great song. Plus...nostalgia, anyone?!

Unfortunately, I waffled too long and it sold out alarmingly quickly. I pouted for days.

Apparently, other people were pouting, too, because a few weeks later, they announced that they were adding a matinee show! I swooped.

Zac said, "You're only buying those for the nostalgia."

I told him, "You bet I am!"

The show was at Loppen, so I knew we'd be just a few feet from the band that I watched on MTV in the '90s. We got there at a respectable time, walked around Christiania for a bit, and got a great spot just a few rows from the front.

A possibly autistic and very enthusiastic fan ended up shouting the name of every song before they played it and then singing each one loudly in my ear for the first half of the show. Somehow, he accomplished this as he uncomfortably pressed his body further and further into mine. I tried to be a good sport, because he was clearly having the time of his life and seemed oblivious to the social faux pas he was committing, but finally, Zac made a space for me on the other side of him. SuperFan happily moved into my spot and started pressing his body into the man in front of him and elbowed him in the head every now and then just for good measure.

There were several show highlights. Ellen whipped out an accordion for a few different songs, which was quite enjoyable and a welcome surprise. The keyboard player surprised everyone with a keytar and really rocked it. Everyone seemed to really enjoy playing the show.

Of course, "Mmm Mmm Mmm" was the last song of the encore, but it was worth the wait. I generally don't like to be a nuisance with my phone at the concert, but I did want to capture a snippet of the song. The first one I tried to take discreetly ended up having only other people's phones in the shot, so I tried to relocate slightly. Please enjoy a quick moment of nostalgia with me.

We aren't used to getting out of concerts so early in the evening. We didn't know what to do with ourselves! We walked to Pico Pizza and got some little sourdough varieties, so that was fun. On the way, we passed a bar we hadn't heard about before and heard live music coming from inside, so we checked it out on the way back from dinner.

It's actually a small brewery with a cozy atmosphere! We each tried a different beer and found a cool table halfway down the staircase under the stage. The sound was quite good, and in a stroke of luck, we got to hear a '90s cover band playing some hits from the U.S. and Danish charts. It was such a fun night! 

* * *

There are some Danes that don't like Halloween very much because they either disagree with the kind of sacrilegious aspect of it or because they think it's overshadowing Fastelavn, but some Danes like it a lot, and as I mentioned last year, they only go scary, horrifying, and gory, never cutesy.

Bakken, the oldest amusement park in the world, turns the tunnels and tracks under their water ride into a kind of haunted house each year.

It seemed terrifying in all of the ads, and Zac really wanted to take Kaden and Khloe. We were thinking Scarywood on steroids. I said I would go and find a ride to go on with Harrison, and then we could just walk around and eat ice cream.

We picked a night during their autumn break from school. I was a little sick, but we made it happen anyway. We took the train down the coast to Dyrehaven and walked over while the owls in the forest squeaked at us to get us in the spooky spirit.

Entrance to Bakken is free, but you have to pay to go on rides. It's so crazy though - you just stand in line, and when you get to the front, you either MobilePay (kind of like Venmo) or pay with a card to get on the ride. It's pretty easy.

Zac and the older kids went to stand in the line for Rædselsdybet, and Harrison and I spied some swan boat things gliding around a track high above the haunted spaces. We got in line to check it out, and it turns out that there is a sweet ride where two people can sit in a sort of giant swan pedal boat attached to a track in the air. You just pedal yourselves around and look out over all the screams and the fog. It was really fun.

Afterward, we got ice cream and wandered through the replica of the town from the classic Danish TV show Matador. It was lovely.

Sadly, the other half of the family was only mildly frightened by the whole spooky experience. It was not like Scarywood on steroids, or even like Scarywood at all. But they still had fun, and maybe Harrison and I will join them next year.

On the way back to the train station, Harrison saw the full moon through the fall leaves and wanted to take a picture. Of course, cell phone pics of the moon are notoriously poor quality, but I think he captured a nice moment in time anyway.

Bakken was a good initiation into the witchy season, and it was fun to see that the canteen at work got into the spirit as well. We had jack-o-lantern bread loaves, ghost cakes covered in marzipan sheets, and even the chef came out of the kitchen in costume. We hope it was a costume, anyway.

Kaden and his friends bought masks to go trick-or-treating in, but his plans fell through and he ended up staying home, cooking a nice pasta dinner for him and his siblings, and hanging out watching movies. Zac and I tried out the masks when they came. Good quality for the price, tough to breath.

Khloe wore my Halloween dress and I painted her face so she looked sort of like a skeletal Victorian woman. It was pretty spooky.

Harrison wanted to be a SWAT agent, and even though we agreed it wasn't super scary, we figured it could be scary-adjacent. He was warm, at least.

Now, Zac and I don't like to pass up an opportunity to get into costume, but as you'll see in a minute, we had other plans for Halloween. Still, he put on the front half of the Darth Vader helmet with a beanie and unsheathed his lightsaber for trick-or-treating.

We set out a foam cooler (Danes call these "flamingos" and I still don't really understand why) full of candy for the trick-or-treaters and walked Khloe and Harrison around the neighborhood for about an hour. It was still a little early when we set out, so they didn't hit very many houses, but when Zac and I left, they went out again and improved their haul.

I do love seeing the decorations that people put out. 

The kids came home and watched some shows and ate snacks, and they only went to bed a little bit late (it was a school night).

Zac and I got on a train to Copenhagen because Graveyard and Baroness were touring Europe together and we knew it would be an excellent show.

It was. Duh.

Before Baroness released their last album, Stone, they had made an Instagram post asking people just to put in their email address with no context. I did, and then later, I got a postcard in the mail with some original art by John (frontman of the band) and an offer to pre-order a special pressing of the album that would only be available to people who entered their email address during this short window of time. We did order it, of course, and we received a very nice album with a signed inner sleeve.

That was pretty cool, and we saved the postcard to have it framed. Zac had the good idea to bring it with us and see if we could get them to sign it. We hung around by the stage after the show and then Nick and Seb, the bassist and drummer, came out to gather up some of their things. I called to them and handed them the postcard with a Sharpie and asked nicely if they would sign it for us. They did, and then Nick said that the other two would be out soon. Only Gina came out, but she was so nice, and she took the card back for John to sign it, too.

* * *

The next day, November 1st, was J-dag! It falls on the first Friday in November each year, and it is the day that Tuborg releases its Christmas beer (Julebryg). Venues all over Denmark host J-dag parties, and at 8:59 p.m., the kegs are tapped (or the cans are opened) and everyone starts the Christmas beer season.

Zac had the day off, but I had to work. We had purchased some Christmas beers in advance, so we did open up a few over the course of the evening. So far, I think the To Øl Jule Sovs Hazy IPA is my favorite, but there are so many more to go before Christmas...haha! Zac likes the Jacobsen Christmas Ale.

* * *

Harrison played for his school's Year 3 football team in a tournament against the other localized international schools last weekend. He got to play defender and goalkeeper! He wrote his own blog about that though, so I won't say much here. :)

* * *

Obviously, Zac and I get to go to a bunch of concerts. The kids don't express much interest and are totally fine staying home and not having us tell them when to go to sleep. We do want to share the magic with them though! It's just that we think Harrison would be a mess if we had to leave Copenhagen at like midnight and then still take a metro and a train home, and then walk 40 minutes home from the station. It's too much for little ones! Even the bigger ones might be miserable in that situation.

I found the solution, though. Magtens Korridorer, Jacob's old band (and a very well-known Danish group) was playing a concert at Mantziusgården! This was a good trial concert for the family for three reasons: First, as I mentioned, they are well known in Denmark, so it was a good cultural event where the kids could maybe practice listening to Danish a bit. Second, now we can finally tell Jacob we have been to a MK concert. Third, it was RIGHT NEAR OUR HOUSE. Done deal.

Unfortunately, Kaden was pretty down on attending a Danish concert for a band that plays music he doesn't know. He wanted to have a sleepover with his friends. After he tried listing practically everyone I know in Denmark in hopes I would want to bring one of them instead of him, I finally told Khloe she could invite a friend and he could stay home and have his sleepover.

Khloe found a friend to go and our family set off with a replacement kid in tow.

Things that went well: Khloe and her friend had a nice time. We found out there is a really nice little concert venue in our town. We got to see Magtens Korridorer play. The coat check and bar were efficient.

Things that could have gone better: Harrison was absolutely beat from his football tournament earlier in the day and he wouldn't nap. There was an opening band, so that sapped all of his energy, and by the time we got to the main attraction, he was trying pretty hard to just keep his eyes open. He made it through about four songs.

Zac had to leave to take him home, and I stayed to finish the show with the girls.

The show was good, but we have decided that the crowd at Mantziusgården is too "snooty rich" for us. It was like they had no idea how to enjoy a concert or share a standing-room-only concert space. The average age was like 65 and they were kind of...I don't know. It was just weird. Not like all the other cool crowds we've been in. That was kind of a bummer, and it was a bummer that Kaden didn't come. I guess we won't try anymore family concert expeditions for a while.

* * *

I did get confirmation that mine and Zac's ballots were accepted!

As you can probably guess, the election didn't go the way we hoped it would, but it's probably best to avoid political discussions, so I'll just say that Denmark and many other European countries were very invested in this election, and I don't think it went the way they wanted it to, either. Case in point:

I think Zac and I are especially concerned for Ukraine, and if any one of our friends or family members is suddenly interested in moving to Denmark, I have a lot of experiences to share.

* * *

On a positive note, the frost is holding off and I might actually reach my goal of riding my bike to work 100 times this year! Today was 88!

And I'll wrap it up there. I have to go try a new Christmas beer, anyway. It's Friday, ya'll!