Long summer days in Denmark

I'm starting to wonder if the Danes are eternally pessimistic so as not to ever get disappointed (and remain the happiest on the planet?)....or if we have gotten really lucky on our timing of living here. We had the second in a row "best on record" summer here in Denmark. It was wonderful - so sunny and warm (of course by our new Northern European standards) and hardly any rain. We went to the beach for weeks on end - who would have thought that you would move to Denmark and it feel like you are on a beach vacation? (let's not talk about the coming dark months please...)

All these photos are taken at our favorite beach called Bellevue beach about a 1.5 mile bike ride down the road from us

 

 

We met up with friends from school at the beach several times



Flying her princess kite

And then in August the jellyfish washed up for a bit - yes, he is holding one. they don't sting apparently!

And the kids discovered crabbing - with a shoelace and a clothes pin

Here is Ron tossing the catches of the day back into the ocean

I can't overlook our July 4th party. Yes, it got patriotic. The gathering moved to the front yard and Ron and Alex rode around our roundabout a few times like this...luckily the Danes keep to themselves so we got many stares but not much else. We did surprisingly get a 'Happy 4th of July' from someone!

We are thankful for having so many visitors this summer!

First Ron's sister and family - Stephine, Mark & Alex - came to visit us. They were quite busy touring the city by bike and train most days. We took a road trip to LEGOLAND with them, where we stopped at Egeskov Castle and grounds on the way.

Raegan and Alex are up in the trees!



Wyatt was attached to Uncle Mark's shoulders the whole weekend



We talked Wyatt into the teacups at LEGOLAND! He says he had fun, not sure by looking at his face here :-)

I think the boys may have just about overloaded this little boat ride

Raegan with her favorite Lego Friends

Then our former Austin neighbors the Shopps came to visit for a weekend (they did not get the good weather unfortunately...). We went into the city for some Copenhagen street food in the rain and also to Bakken. The kids always pick up right where they left off. Raegan and Travis's war with the Dads got a little out of hand this year with all the water balloon throwing - but it was all fun!!

 Finally, our good friend April also visited - we were all so excited she came and didn't get detained in London for too long :-)  We were busy around the city and even took a ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden for the day.

Rosenborg Castle




in front of the Marble Church

Ron brought April down to our level - popping open a beer for our canal cruise!

touring Carlsberg brewery

Helsingborg Sweden

Helsingborg Sweden

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Tivoli Gardens!!

Aside from visitors, Raegan was busy with several summer camps - karate, horse riding, and volleyball. I'm so proud of her for making friends in these Danish camps where she is often one of the only kids that can speak English. She also lost her first tooth! And Wyatt went on his first pony ride.

 

We also visited Dad at work before school started.

 

Ron and I got to go to the Roskilde music festival and see the Rolling Stones!! The Stones were great. However, Ron realized he is getting too old to properly enjoy outdoor music festivals anymore :-)

And then the short summer came to a close - and Raegan started Year 2 (aka 1st grade) and Wyatt continued on in his preschool. He started his first extra-curricular activity - football (aka soccer) which is at a field on the beach down from our house - not a bad view while watching the kids play.

10 days in Northern Italy

As I am still catching up on my blog, this trip was a few months ago now!

We met my parents in Italy for 10 days in early June - starting on the Eastern coast in Venice, then moving onto Lake Garda (close to and similar to Lake Como but much bigger), and then finally on to the Italian Riviera - Riomagiorre in Cinque Terre.  Definitely one of our favorite trips ever - highly recommend a northern Italy trip to anyone!

Venice

Such a beautiful, unique city built on a system of canals - amazing a city like this even exists. We told the kids - we are going to a place where the streets are made of water! - they liked the thought of that. :-) Anyway, considering there are no cars allowed in the city, and the only way to get around is by boat, I was surprised the canal water is so clean and very pretty. It is really interesting just to walk through the winding streets and look at all the architecture and see the history in the buildings. There are beautiful very old churches on every corner.

An ally near the amazing apartment we stayed in

Palazzo Ducale

Church of San Giacomo near the Rialto bridge - first foundations date back to 421 BC

Grand Canal, near the Rialto bridge



Saint Mark's Basilica - unfortunately for us, under a lot of renovations on the outside

A kayak race along the Grand Canal

View of the Rialto bridge from the water bus (vaporetti)

Can't go to Venice without taking a very unique (but completely overpriced) gondola ride!

Lake Garda - Assenza di Brenzone

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy - about 90 min by train west of Venice. We stayed in a village on the Northeast side of the lake where the crystal clear water is surrounded by mountains - you can see the Alps in the distance. I think this location won out as the family favorite of the trip - it was a completely different vibe - a much needed break from all the crowds - so nice and relaxing as compared to Venice and Cinque Terre. And it was absolutely beautiful.

Here we are at our hotel which was right on the lake - mountains in our backyard and the pool and then beach in front.

 

 

We took a side trip to Sirmione - another village on the southern tip of the lake, where the terrain is much flatter

 

Rocca Scaligera - in Sirmione

We also went to Malcesine, a neighboring village on our side of the lake, where we took the cable car up to Monte Baldo. Such beautiful views! Couldn't have had a better day. We sat safely at the top looking down at the lake and other surrounding mountains and watched the crazy paragliders jumping back down.

Raegan at the bottom of the cable car with
the castle in Malcesine in the background



standing in snow in a sundress!

We also took a boat excursion around the lake and stopped in the town of Limone (yes it means Lemon). Ron insisted we all partake in limoncello after dinner - he was able to find various flavors to try

 

Giant lemons in Limone!

Limone

Raegan in her new Italia hat our last night on the lake beach

nice view watching the kids play in the pool

we had a great apartment - this is the view from our rooftop terrace

 

Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore

We ended our trip by traveling southwest from Lake Garda through Parma to Cinque Terre ("the 5 lands"), which is located on a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. Such great scenery here - lots of stairs as the towns are built into the sides of the steep coast! We took a boat ride up to the first of the 5 lands to the one called Monterosso al Mare for a couple hours to the sandy beach there.

Our apartment here was without air conditioning! This is normal apparently for the area but we were there during a heat wave and it was sunny and in the 90s so I don't think any of us managed to sleep well - we were situated in a great spot right above the main street with all the bars and restaurants below us, during the World Cup however, so it was noisy until late into the night! A very fun town though. Wyatt discovered he loves fried sardines. He begged me for sardines when we returned home so I got him a can. Not the same apparently :-)

View of Riomaggiore from the boat



Riomaggiore from the boat

Mom and I in Monterosso

Wyatt with his sardines, could not get enough of them

 

Ron and my Dad on the main street - right in front of our apartment