May the 4th, Eurovision, and Active Kiddos
It's May, and in Denmark, that means long daylight hours, all the spring green plants you could ask for, and a bunch of fun things to get excited about.
Family Stuff
It was Mother's Day, and that falls on the same day in Denmark as it does in the U.S. We don't really go too overboard for Mother's Day or Father's Day in general, but the kids always like to do something. In the past, they've gone a little crazy and it ends up being more stressful than relaxing. This year was actually perfect. I got homemade cards from Khloe and Harrison, Kaden rubbed my feet and shoulders, and Zac and I got to walk to a part of the forest that we can never take the kids to because they complain about how far it is!
It's a really cute and funny card if you know Family Guy. And if not, I hope you enjoyed it anyway!
After I snuggled all my kiddos and thanked them for the very thoughtful gifts, Zac and I packed a bag for our little walk.
The goal was to hike through Nebbegårds Plantage to Elleskovstien and Sjælsø. Elleskov is an alder forest (Alnus glutinosa, for all you ALK peeps!), and they call it the mangrove forest of Denmark because it's under water some of the year, so the alder trees grow up from the extra-moist soil and they don't really care. They have a sort of stabilizing base made out of adventitious roots that help them thrive here when most other trees wouldn't. Since the ground is usually very wet, there's a wooden foot bridge that winds through the area, elevating you just a bit out of the mud. There are lovely birds and insects, and a lot of other wildlife you don't really see unless it's a specific time of year. I read that pike run through there in the wet season, although we haven't walked through there when the water is running so I can't confirm this.
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| Look at this little orange-tip fella courting this orange-tip lady. |
It was a lovely day. We sat by the lake and drank a Carlsberg while we watched the swans and the ducks, we Seek-ed and Merlin-ed insects and birds, and we pondered over the abandoned buildings on the other side of the forest. Old military center? Former government compound? Maybe the old refugee center and school? Who knows. Anyway, it was very pleasant, and a fine Mother's Day activity.
May the 4th Be With You
I know that I have not been living up to your expectations with my May the 4th celebrations lately, but I assure you that Star Wars still lives large in my heart every day. If we had a big house (or local friends), I would have at least hosted a small party, but alas. Maybe one day.
I didn't let it fall by the wayside though, no sir. My Boba Fett helmet accompanied me as I completed my mundane chores.
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| Coffee on the terrace |
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| Yoga |
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| Weightlifting |
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| Aerobics |
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| Laundry |
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| Haircuts |
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| A light beer on the terrace after dinner with the cat |
Star Wars isn't just about one day, it's a whole lifestyle. I'm here to represent. (Still have to find my people here in Denmark though...)
Khloe!
What a busy little bee. She has been working with different art media, and speaking of Star Wars, she drew Anakin with charcoals!
She also painted her first commissioned artwork for someone at school.
Her and her friends always get so cute and creative for each others' birthdays. They make each other the sweetest gifts, and it's just awesome to see a group of girls be so kind to each other.
Her class took a trip to the Louisiana Art Museum (I guess that means Kaden is the only one in our family who hasn't been there yet!) to participate in a workshop called Body, Gender, and Identity, led by an art historian.
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| Khloe's the one in the black shirt with the bun on the left. Photo credit: NIS |
Her class also got to go the Experimentarium to dissect a heart and lungs from a pig. She texted me and said, "Mom, I took a picture of me holding a heart for you." I thought it was a very sweet text, totally forgetting midday that she was at the Experimentarium, so the picture was surprising and very funny to me. What a sweet girl.
Also, she landed her first Danish babysitting gig. My colleague's babysitter canceled due to a medical issue and Khloe stepped in! The kids are young (maybe 3 and 6?), and they don't speak English at all, of course, but Khloe was not deterred. She has met them before and knows their house, so it was not completely unfamiliar, but she prepared anyway. The cutest part was that she wrote some Danish phrases on her arm as a quick reference!
The babysitting went very well, and I hope she will get to do it again. She's really good with little kids!
Harrison
Harrison is wrapping up swimming lessons and has been very active with the nicer weather. Of course, the snow and rain don't ever deter him from being outdoors, but now he's in and out constantly.
One incredible accomplishment is that he (finally) learned to tie his own shoes! I know eight is kind of old for that, but he gets easily frustrated and when he starts breaking down, we just back off, so it was awesome that he just sat down a few weeks ago, totally determined to make it happen.
He loves singing and playing the piano. He's been working on writing the piano music for a song called Into the Depths, and the other day, he decided to start writing the lyrics for it. In a bold turn of events, he decided it should be written in Portuguese (which he does not speak but is dabbling in on Duolingo), so he just translated it all.
He and his friends have grand adventures on the playground at school every day. A couple of weeks ago, they were picking up trash on the playground during one of their breaks. Apparently, they call themselves The Creepy Dentists when they do that, because one time, they touched wet red peppers and it made it look like there was blood all over their gloves. Harrison was especially proud that he lost a tooth later in the day, so there was actual blood from his mouth all over. Creepy Dentists, indeed.
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| Photo credit: NIS |
Kaden
Kaden has been especially helpful around the house lately (for a price). He's learned a lot about how to take care of a home from Zac. He did a really nice job washing the windows (to let in all that wonderful Danish sunshine!), and he cleaned the whole fridge and freezer so that it sparkled.
He helps take care of the landscaping, too, once in a while, so it's nice to have a willing employee to do some of the things we can't find the energy for.
His baseball is still going well. He enjoys it a lot more now that practices are outdoors all the time. He has gotten to play catcher at a few of the recent practices where pitchers are working on their exercises. We have been volunteering on the food crew for the Development League tournaments, so we get to watch the games and help the team, which is nice.
He's also very excited because the Danish government just changed the age at which you can drive unaccompanied (during daylight hours) from 18 to 17, so I guess we will have to figure out how to apply for his learner's permit soon!
Eurovision 2025
Have I ever mentioned Eurovision on this blog before? Maybe not.
Eurovision is a European (mostly) song competition. Each participating country has a local competition to determine which artist or group will represent them in the contest. The whole thing started in Switzerland 69 years ago. There are, of course, rules about age, number of people on stage at once, song duration, etc., but the content and language of the songs is wide open. Acts range from moving, emotional ballads to the most absolutely ridiculous and fun catchy pop songs. Anything goes, and I love it.
The coolest part about the competition is that it's not a season-long affair like realty song competitions in the U.S. It's literally aired in three portions. All contestants perform in one of two Semi-Final airings (a Tuesday night and the following Thursday night), and then those who move on all compete on Saturday night at the Finals. So it's three evenings of your life, no commercial interruptions during the entire airing, and hilarious, energetic hosts that change every year.
I first discovered Eurovision in 2018 on a trip to Denmark. I was here for work, and I turned on the TV to watch a show before I went to sleep. There was this song competition on every channel I flipped to, so I got stuck watching it. I think I watched two or three acts before I was sitting up on the edge of my bed hoping Hungary would win. I was SO invested. Sadly, I had to travel back to the U.S. before the finals, and it was practically impossible to find a way to watch, so I had to wait a few weeks and just read about it. (Hungary did not win.)
In 2023, they started streaming it live on Peacock, so before we moved to Denmark, I was actually able to turn on Eurovision in the living room midday to watch the semifinals. No one else in the house seemed as excited as I was, but now that we live in Denmark and we can watch it live on DRTV, I put a reminder in my calendar, Zac buys special snacks, and the (older) kids get to stay up late on school nights, and Harrison gets to try to make it all the way through the four-hour finale. It's fun!
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| No, we don't own a TV yet... |
Harrison didn't quite make it this year. He tried hard.
Denmark made it to the finals this year but did not win. My personal favorites were Luxembourg, Sweden, Estonia, Iceland, and Italy.
If you want to experience the Eurovision vibe, I recommend watching the 2025 performances from Estonia (https://youtu.be/9b9Z5HSCXOI?si=nA-8MzT72o1gaxRY) and Sweden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSh7U3m9KgA), or, for a very special treat, watch Windows95 man from last year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nidDtyS0Wo).
God bless Eurovision.
Han and Marabel
They're doing things.
Zac and Lindsey
We do stuff, too! Mostly, we work and go to Danish class and watch re-runs before we fall asleep exhausted, but that doesn't mean we aren't cool.
For example, I am propagating lots of little plant starts to try to fix a sad plant at work.
Zac plays the most beautiful guitar songs in the evenings.
I'm still biking to and from work, but it counts for something now because it's "Vi Cykler til Arbejde" month! (Please note the sad plant in my basket - this is the one I'm fixing with my previously mentioned propagations.)
Ice cream season has started at work, so Zac has been treated to ice cream several times in the last week in his department, and the canteen served us cones with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream in waffle cones topped with strawberry guf. I was so excited that I didn't take a photo of mine, but I did take a photo of my colleague eating his ice cream cone with a knife and fork. Please be aware, this is not a Danish thing, or even a European thing. This is a Thomas thing. :)
The sun is setting around 9:30 p.m., but it stays light until about 10:30 p.m.
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So there you have it! Next week, we take our Module 4 Danish exams (only one module to go after that!), we have visitors coming in two-and-a-half weeks, the kids have their school overnight trips on the horizon, and it's almost time for Copenhell!
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