The Barbers Return!

...But just for two weeks. Don't get too excited.

Yes, thanks to some fortunate timing and the perks of my job, we were finally able to make our first return trip to the U.S. as a family!

As part of a project I'm on at work, we semi-regularly schedule face-to-face meetings between the Post Falls and Hørsholm team members. These are four days of in-person collaborating, and this time, we were scheduled to meet in Post Falls. With some nudging from my end, we booked the meetings in Week 7. We can't really pull the kids out of school for more than a week to travel, but Week 7 happens to be their Winter Break, so the timing of the meetings actually allowed us to be gone for two weeks without much impact on the kids' education. And with the company paying for my plane ticket and rental car, the cost of our trip was reduced a little.

Zac wasn't crazy about the idea of getting on an airplane, but after what can only be described as a mantrum (man+tantrum), he came around. I knew he would.

He didn't want to board the animals for two whole weeks in the cold weather though. They're both pretty old and we agreed they might struggle at a boarding facility for that long. I know there are apps for everything, so I just searched for one that matched pet owners with pet sitters. I was pleased to find one, and even more pleased to see a filter for people willing to stay in your home with the animals. I made a profile for the animals and entered our dates, and just like that, we got connected with Federica.

Of course we were a little nervous about inviting a stranger into our home, giving them a key, and leaving the country. I went through a lot of scenarios in my head. My biggest fear was that she wouldn't show up and that Han would die of neglect, but we invited her over to the house to introduce her (and her little dog) to Han and Marabel, and she seemed perfectly normal. This is a high trust country, and we leaned in. Spoiler: the animals are alive, they were well cared for, she sent lots of pictures, and I'm pretty sure none of our things are missing.

* * *

Our travel was fairly uneventful. Long, but smooth as could be. We got our rental car upgraded in size for free to a rental van, which was very handy since we were laden with luggage. I purposefully packed the suitcases light so we'd have lots of room to take things home with us. Several Danes requested things from the U.S., but funnily enough, no one in the U.S. requested anything from Denmark...I guess pickled herring and black licorice are an acquired taste.

The first thing Kaden and Khloe wanted to do was go to Walmart. They needed to pick out candy to bring back for their friends, and Kaden wanted some chocolate milk and Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches. I wanted Jell-O for international day, some toiletries to leave at my grandma's house, and few other things to pick up for people.

The first thing I noticed is that life in Denmark has changed me. I'm perfectly happy to go to the store and have one option for maple syrup. I enjoy the lack of commercialism. Stepping into Walmart had me almost laughing at the absurdity of our American culture of consumerism and excess.

I mean, first we saw the Valentine's Day aisles and it was alarming. There were multiple bright pink rows of cards and candy and giant stuffed animals, balloons, window stickers, cheap toys, headbands and beads, and almost anything you can think of that could be marketed in a pink-and-red theme. I know I've been exposed to this my entire life, but stepping a way for a bit and coming back to it was overwhelming.

Next, we went to the toiletries. I was seriously confused by Dove making a deodorant in a dessert scent. Pecan butter crunch sounds like a delicious dessert, but is that really something we want to smell like all day?

When I finally got over my disbelief at the fact this deodorant exists, I turned the corner to find that Dove did a collaboration with Crumbl Cookie. 

WHY, America?! How did we get here?! Why is this normal?!

Anyway, the rest of our trip around Walmart was very similar. We had a good time laughing at how many granola bar and cereal and sports drink choices exist. We found a forgotten treasure trove of absurd choices and filled a cart.

I showed this picture to my Danish friend and she said, "I don't know what any of that is."

* * *

Zac's parents rented a house for us for our first week as a way to have a mutual gathering spot. It's hard to impose on a single family member during the stay if you want to invite people over or have a birthday party or anything, so this was nice. They stayed there with us, which gave the kids a couple days to enjoy Nana's cooking and games with Grandpa.

Zac's brother and his wife also made the journey over from Montana to visit with us. It was really good to see everyone. We went out for Mexican food, played ping pong, and visited while drinking strong American beers.

Harrison had his 9th birthday during our visit, so he got to eat doughnuts for breakfast, a delicacy that is not quite the same in Denmark.

Harrison and my dad, who share a birthday, were in the same place at the same time for a celebration! We hosted a little party at the rental house (permission granted, of course) with Papa Murphy's pizza and a sundae bar.

Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents...it was a really nice get-together. Harrison was showered with Mike & Ike candies, cash, Hot Wheels, books, and Nerf darts - all extremely cool (and packable) gifts.

It was fun to have so much family around at once (even if it was a little loud), and I'm glad we all squeezed ourselves into a group photo.

It was also the first time Harrison got to meet his Uncle Dave from Alaska! Dave is my older half-brother who doesn't make it down to the contiguous 48 states very often. Kaden and Khloe met him when they were very small, but they don't have a memory of that, so it was fun that he showed up for the occasion!

Saturday morning after checking out of the rental house, we went to breakfast at Old European. You guys will not BELIEVE who was there...

All of the original members of Foreign DNA!

Maybe you guys don't remember Foreign DNA, but they were huge in Post Falls in the early 2000s. We still rock out to their songs in the car. I followed their career from the very beginning and to see them all together at breakfast was a real treat. They've all gone their separate ways, done other projects, and played in other bands, but they're just as cool now as they were back then. Oh, also, my brother was a founding member.

Zac and I went for a hike around Tubbs Hill with Matt while he was there for the weekend.

I love Tubbs Hill. It's been such a constant in my life, and I'd be remiss if I didn't go visit it while I was in town. I played in the bushes at the base during my mom's softball games as a kid. I learned to swim in the waters beneath its rocky face. I collected flowers for my biology project in high school. I went there with friends, with dates, and with my two little babies, Kaden and Khloe, almost every week when I was a destitute single mother. Zac proposed to me on Tubbs Hill, and it's the embodiment of the things I miss while I'm in Denmark - the trees, the rocks, the lake. I was in heaven.

* * *

We moved into the second floor of my grandma's house over the weekend. She was happy to have the company and immediately put me to work helping with a difficult 1000-piece puzzle she's been struggling to start. She pulled out the card table, I opened the box, and we set to work sorting edge pieces while the Olympics blared in the background.

We didn't know we'd be in the U.S. for Super Bowl Sunday, but it was a fun coincidence. Not that we enjoy watching football or anything, but it's exciting to be swept up in the pageantry, plus the Seahawks were playing and when you grow up in north Idaho without a football team, the Seahawks are kind of your default. We watched Green Day play, then I hit up Super 1 for some beer. I got my grandma a Bud Light Chelada because she doesn't drink anything else, and we had a nice time watching the game, puzzling, and drinking beer together as the Seahawks killed it.

* * *

The kids were in Lewiston for the weekend to visit their cousins. They had an excellent visit, but unfortunately, the boys contracted a norovirus and had to be quarantined for a few days when they returned. Were my strict biological containment protocols completely mad? Some might say yes, but I'm pleased to say that no one else in our shared space contracted it. The biologist won the day!

I had to work Monday through Thursday, but Zac was able to come out and get some drinks with us at the brewery afterward. He did a lot of little chores for my grandma during the day and shuttle kids around to their friends' houses. I had very productive and engaging meetings. We briefly attended a retirement party for one of our former colleagues, Zac got beers with his old buddies, and I got to see almost everyone at work that I set out to visit. There's never enough time!!

My mom stayed with us at my grandma's house, so we played games in the evenings and ate Chinese food and puzzled. She beat us at Trivial Pursuit, so she was flying high, and there was plenty of junk food to keep our sugar high going all week.

On Friday night, I finished the insanely difficult puzzle before I started packing.

Well, I ALMOST finished it. We were missing two pieces. We looked everywhere. They were right together, too, so it was odd. We expertly packed the random items people had requested us to bring back from the U.S., which was no small task. We had a container of macadamia clusters from Costco, big bags of Blue Diamond almonds, several bottles of melatonin, a laptop computer, a load of sour candy, and a KitchenAid all-metal meat grinder attachment. We loaded up peanut butter M&Ms for our colleagues, exotic American candies for the kids to share with their friends, and record sleeves, hair dye, and our Shutterfly yearbook. It was a good haul.

The goodbyes were said and we got ourselves to the airport with plenty of time to spare. As we settled in to wait for boarding, Khloe gasped and said, "Oh no!"

She had used the missing pieces of the puzzle as a bookmark (why?) and forgotten about them. Let's hope I can keep them safe until we head to the U.S. again!

* * *

Living abroad for two and a half years has certainly changed the way we think about some of the things in our homeland, but it hasn't changed how we feel about our friends and family (or Tubbs Hill). It's always nice to see everyone, and it always goes by too fast. Thanks to everyone who traveled to spend time with us, who treated us to food, and who provided us lodging. We had a nice visit, and I think even Zac is glad he got on the plane.

As always, we encourage you all to come visit us anytime you can (and to reach out if we can help fund the travel or make it easier in any way). We don't have bath soap that smells like a birthday cake cookie here, but there are castles and a well-functioning government, so that's something!