Juleaftens middagen blev tilbragt hos Kate og John
(Kristians anden grantante) der deler hus med deres datter (Sarah) og hendes
familie I et gigantisk hus ca 20 minutter væk, fra hvor vi boede. Vi endte med
at være over 20 til en overdådig julemiddag med kalkun, skinke og side dishes,
der ville være thanksgiving værdig (green bean casserole, mashed sweet potatoes
with marshmallows, mega lækker stuffing osv – især den der stuffing kan jeg
slet ikke få nok af). Kate insisterer på at servere ris a la mande hver jul,
selvom det tilsyneladende ikke falder I lige god jord hos alle
familiemedlemmer. Denne version var ikke med fløde men med Cool Whip – som flere kunne fortælle mig var helt fantastisk,
at man kan spise det lige ud af bøtten osv osv men jeg fandt aldrig helt ud af
hvad det egentlig var lavet af. Uanset hvad smagte ris a la manden godt, der
var kirsebærsovs til og jeg fik scoret mandelgaven for næsen af Ulrik. Juhuuuu.
Kate havde endda opstøvet en vaskeægte marcipangris som mandelgave. Nam.
Its time for the rapport from our amazing Christmas vacation
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Christmas eve dinner took place at Kate and Johns
(Kristians other great aunt) in the giant house they share with their daughter
Sarah and her family about 20 minutes away. We ended up being more than 20
people there for an extravaganza dinner with ham, turkey and side dishes Thanksgiving
style (green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, stuffing etc).
Kate insists on serving ris a la mande every year, even though not everyone
likes it. This version was with Cool Whip instead of heavy cream – I never
really got what the difference actually is, but it was delicious which is really
the most important! Ulrik usually gets the almond every single time, but since
I spotted it in the bowl, he did not get a chance……. Kate even managed to find
a marzipan pig for the gift – yum.
Vi fik også danset om juletræet med en børne rundkreds og en
voksen rundkreds og både amerikanske og danske jule sange. Vi fik taget fusen på
dem alle sammen, da Teresa (godt hjulpet på vej af Hannah) fik startet en
omgang “nu er det jul igen” rundt I hele det store hus.
Og så var det tid til gaver, delt ud af julemanden og hans
hjælper. Der var også gaver til os – eneste krav var at alle SKULLE op og sidde
på skødet af julemanden:
We also got to walk around the Christmas tree with a kids
circle and an adult circle with American as well as Danish carols. Teresa (teaming
up with Hannah) started the “Nu er det jul
igen”-running-through-the-entire-house-holding-hands-in-a-chain to everybody’s
surprise , and then it was time for presents given out by Santa and his helper. There were even gifts
for the 5 of us – with one requirement however – everyone needed to sit on
Santas lap:
Vi fik hver en hoodie fra University of Charlotte, og jeg
var godt nok lidt spændt på Lucas reaktion, da han åbnede en blød pakke, men
drengen blev simpelthen så glad “for jeg manglede jo lige noget varmt tøj at
vokse I mor. Og se, der er også en stor lomme”.
Each of us got a hoodie from University of Charlotte and I
was a little worried about Luca’s reaction to getting a soft parcel, but he was
genuinely happy “I really needed some warm clothes that I can grow in, mom. And
look: there’s even a giant pocket!”.
Vi havde planlagt at vente med vores egne gaver indtil
julemorgen under strenge restriktioner
til eget afkom om IKKE at vække os før kl 7. Klokken blev faktisk kvart over 7
inden Teresa og Luca kom listende ind for at vække os, og jeg stod op sammen
med dem iført nattøj og uldne sokker. STOR fejl. For der var en utrolig
morgenfrisk hundehvalp inde I stuen, der meget gerne ville ud af sit sovebur og
som blev helt vild af begejstring over noget så lækkert som uldne sokker til at
starte dagen på. Av. Ungerne flygtede rimeligt hurtigt ind på deres værelse med
gaverne, mens jeg fodrede og luftede hund. Helt ærligt var det pragtfuldt at
starte jule morgen med en lille gåtur I den lune luft med kvidrende fugle og både
Kristian og jeg fik luftet os selv lidt mere I løbet af dagen. Høj sol og blå
himmel er en luksus vi ikke ser så meget til I Michigan på denne tid af året.
We had planned to wait with our own presents until Christmas
morning and strict rules about NOT having kids waking us op prior to 7 AM.
Actually we were not disturbed until 7:15 when Luca and Teresa tiptød to our
room to wake us up. I got up with them still wearing pyjamas and wollen socks –
the latter was a BIG mistake. There was
a very energetic puppy in the living room, who really wanted to get out of his
sleeping cage and almost bent over backwards of the pure joy of starting a
brand new day chasing my delicious wolly feet. Ouch. The kids escaped into
their room with their presents while I fed and walked the dog. Honestly it was
very pleasant to start Christmas morning being outside in the sunshine.
Kristian went for a run, and I treated my self to a nice long walk all by
myself later. It is much warmer down
here and with chirping birds and a blue sky. it really did feel like a treat
when compared to Michigan this time of year.
Frokosten blev serveret direkte fra grillen:
Lunch was served from directly from the barbecue:
Senere på eftermiddagen kom der børn og børnebørn forbi. Og
en meget lille julemand der havde endnu flere gaver med (inkl gaver til os –
igen):
Later that afternoon children and grand children stopped by.
And a very tiny Santa brought even more presents (including presents for us –
again):
Vi fik allesammen neongule huer med lygter i. De er mega
grimme, men intet mindre end geniale, og de har været vokset fast på ungernes
hoveder lige siden. Luca fik også en
nerf gun. Ulrik fik en nerf gun. Teresa fik en nerf gun…... Kristian fik en
nerf gun???? Det var der en god grund til, for eftermiddagen blev rundet af med
en stor kamp udenfor, alle de andre (inkl de voksne) havde nemlig også deres
nerf guns med. Det er da en juletradition af de bedre :-)
We all got neon yellow hats with build in lights. They are
ugly but nothing short of genius and they have been stuck to the heads of the
kids ever since. Then Luca got a nerf gun. Ulrik got a nerf gun. Teresa got a
nerf gun….. Kristian got a nerf gun??? With good reason, because everybody else
brought theirs as well and the afternoon ended with a nerf battle outside. A
Christmas tradition that rocks :-)
Fredag tog vi allesammen ind til byen for at besøge “Discovery
Place”. Charlotte virker til at en være en rigtig hyggelig by og jeg fik
flasbacks til San Francisco pga blå himmel og grønne træer. Jeg savner at kunne
tage ind til en større by ind I mellem, men Detroit er ligesom ikke rigtig I
kategorien af hyggelige storbyer. Discovery place er ligesom Experimentariet I
København, og alle børn (og vist også de voksne) havde travlt med at lege. Vi
spiste pita til frokost og Luca fik taget fusen på mig. Ethan på 7 år har type
1 diabetes og skal derfor måle sit blodsukker ofte og især inden et måltid.
Luca pakkede hans blodsukkermåler ud og sad klar med chippen, da Ethan havde
stukket sig I fingeren. Jeg skulle lige til at be ham om at lade være men de
klarede det simpelthen så godt I fællesskab at jeg ikke behøvede at bekymre mig (jeg tror faktisk også Luca er en
smule misundelig på Ethans insulin pumpe….).
Friday we all went to the city to visit Discovery Place. Charlotte
seems to be a very pleasant city and I had flashbacks to San Francisco due to
the blue sky and trees with green leaves on. I miss being in a big city once in
a while but Detroit doesn’t really satisfy this need. Discovery Place is a lot
like Experimentariet in Copenhagen and all the kids (and also the adults) had a
lot of fun playing with the exhibits. For lunch we went to a pita place and
there Luca really surprised me. Ethan (who is 7 years old) has type 1 diabetes
and needs to measure his blood sugar quite regularly. Luca had the glucometer
ready for him as soon as Ethan pricked his finger. I almost asked Luca to mind
his own business, but they collaborated so professionally that there was no need (I actually think Luca
is secretly jealous of Ethans insulin pump….).
Om eftermiddagen kørte vi over til Kate og John, hvor et par
drenge vist nok kom til at lege med Gillians Barbie hus. Ups.
In the afternoon we went to Kate and Johns house. A couple
of boys took great interest in Gillians Barbie house….:
Kort fortalt er vi blevet forkælet ud over alle grænser og
vi har haft det simpelthen så sjovt. Luca og Ethan blev bedste venner nærmest
med det samme og Luca har allerede proklameret at han vil huske denne her jul
resten af sit liv og “hvornår flytter vi til North Carolina?”. Teresa har
hygget sig med Hannah og fik endda en ekstra gave I form a Taylor Swifts nye
album lige inden afgang, fordi det mente Hannah helt bestemt hun godt kunne
bruge. Vi savner faktisk også allerede Charlie (den skøre hundehvalp) men
eftersom vi allerede er blevet inviteret på sommerferie, med I Disneyworld til
maj og har fået at vide at vi er mere end velkomne til næste jul, så tror jeg
det bliver svært at undgå at se dem alle sammen igen. Det har været een af
vores bedste juleferier nogensinde og vi er både taknemmelige og rørte over at
have mødt så meget gæstfrihed.
We have been spoiled rotten and had a lot of fun as well.
Luca and Ethan became best friends instantly and Luca proclaimed that he will
remember this Christmas for the rest of his life and “when do we get to move to
North Carolina?”. Teresa enjoyed hanging out with Hannah and even got an extra
gift right before we left – the new Taylor Swift CD because Hannah thought
Teresa would really need it. We actually also miss Charlie (the crazy puppy)
but since we have already been invited for the summer, to join for a
Disneyworld trip in May and have been told that we are more than welcome to
show up for Christmas next year, I do think it will be hard to avoid seeing
everybody again. It has indeed been one of our best Christmas breaks ever, and
we are very grateful and touched by experiencing this much hospitality.
