2017 throwback

This year is about to end, and once more I am surprised when I look back. Days in Michigan in the winter feels long and monotonous, and I tend to forget all the wonderful experiences we have had throughout the year. So here it goes - highlights of 2017:

The year started sunny and beyond beautiful in the Bay Area, where we got to spend January 1st in Bodega Bay:

 Followed by some serious chocolate and icecream overlad:

Then we got back to Michigan and decided to get out and about just a little bit. But Detroit zoo did not really meet our expectations.....

February was spent by the pool side as it is the prime time of synchronized swimming:

And of course I always suffer from super serious cabin fever at that time of year and try to use sheer willpower to make spring arrive early. That never really seems to work, but Luca was a good companion to get out with me and cut down some trees to put inside in a vase..... to stare at...... until they bloom

We also got to walk llamas for the first time EVER! Who even knew you could take them for a walk?

And then came April and spring break and a wonderful trip to Toronto, where we got our cravings for big city atmosphere satisfied:

In May I had the pleasure of going back to Copenhagen for the first time in years. It was one of the most exhausting trips I have ever made. Science, collaborations, meetings, friends, family and "romkugler" all mixed up in way too little time. It felt amazing to be back home, while at the same time it made me realize that we will probably not come back to live there - and that is OK.

We also took a trip down to Cincinnati in Ohio, for a(nother) synchronized swim meet. Those Ohio girls - the synchrogators - were amazing. And it was fun to watch all Teresa's hard work come together in the routines:

The end of May also brings pool season. Highly anticipated in this family:

And last, but not least, it was also around this time we became a two-cars-family. I truly think this was one of the best days in Kristian's life in a long time:

I decided to spend a sunny early summer weekend on my biggest DIY project ever. Re-upholstering a couch. In the middle of it I felt like it was a very wrong idea, but luckily the end result turned out to be something I am quite proud of. Here is our living room during the mid-couch-crisis:

Then we got to go North on the first camping trip of the year. Lake Michigan in the summer..... aaaaah :-)

Followed by another and longer camping trip with my sister who came to spend a few weeks with us. But first Teresa needed to spend her birthday gift:

And if any of you ever wonder if you can kill a teenagers dream of becoming a pilot by giving them an instructed flying lesson? Well, that does NOT work.......

While we were up north we got to take Christine to one of our all time favorite spots in the state: Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor (Man, I could really eat one of those grilled cheese sandwiches they have right now):

 And then came start of school. With Luca being quite nervous of moving into Middle School (usually not the best of times in any kids life - probably related to that super awkward age). Well, he loves it. And embraces everything he can get away with including school sports:

And we have come to the point in life where we can add helping kids with college applications to our parent CV. Here's Ulrik's mandatory contour drawn self portrait for applying to Art and Design school:

Our parenting skills also upgraded to "teaching teenagers how to drive". Or well, Kristian's parenting skills that is. I do not gracefully embrace the experience of being stuck in a car with a teen behind the wheel. Ahem.

We got to spend sunny, warm, and wonderful autumn days with a visit to the Frederick Meijer Gardens:

With runs in Detroit:

Succulent binging (is it even possible not to love succulents?)

And getting our fingers stuck in Halloween deco at Target:

Now it is the time of year where Christmas is right around the corner, and where Luca's love of lusekatter has become so overwhelming that he spends his own allowance on saffron:

We can't wait to escape the cold for a bit and drive down south to North Carolina, where we get to spend Christmas in our wonderful extended family here in the states. So long Michigan winter (and please please please do not be too harsh on us next year, OK?)

Snow and presents

One week to go (sort of) and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! A little too much for my preference - since I really do not like snow too much. It looks pretty. To that I can agree. But I am terrified of driving in it, I can’t bike, and the buses are constantly delayed. Here I am on my way from work to the bus stop a few nights ago:

On the other end of the spectrum is the greatest snow lover of all:

He goes outside and literally rubs himself in the snow, burying his entire head, while his tail spins like a helicopter. Kind of cute❤️

Luca also likes snow. And with the perfect packing snow today due to higher temperatures it took about 20 minutes to build this beauty:

Otherwise it has all been about presents lately. Friday was the annual lab Christmas party with “pakkeleg” in its most obnoxious version. With lying and cheating and stealing. Since Teresa could not make it (she was in Chicago with her German class) Luca stepped up and got himself some - ehm - awesome stuff. Who would not want a toilet mug.......

I got more exotic presents. Can’t wait to try the curries:

Today we went shopping for the last Christmas presents. We are spending Christmas in North Carolina and this time we are part of the secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas Eve. Everybody makes a card with a wish list and then every person draw one card and buys one present for someone else. Luca made up his list quite fast:

Wonder what his favorite thing is......

The definition of a “poopwich” and more about the much dreaded board game

Bailey is an exceptionally good dog, but sometimes there’s massive glitch. Like last night where Luca and I took him out for a walk. We let him off the leash, which is usually no problem at all, but this time he disappeared into the bushes and did not come out. We heard him crashing though the thicket until there was silence........ and no sight of the dog. I honestly worried that he might have gotten stuck somewhere so I went and got Ulrik and together we tried to follow his paw prints in the snow. Not very helpful.

Until the dog happily reappears carrying something rather big while wagging his tail excessively. Ulrik thought it was maybe a dead animal...... it was frozen poop with a hotdog in the middle🤢 And the smell....... 🤮.......

Hence the name “poopwich” and hence a super embarrassed dog being so terrified of his angry owners that he (almost) jumped into the bathing tub all by himself.

Besides washing dogs it has also been the weekend where we finally got started on Luca’s board game. It is an assignment from Language Arts, where they have to turn a book into a board game. Luca chose “prisoner B-3087” about a Jewish boy surviving 5 years of concentration camps.

Easy peasy, right........

But I think we did it quite well. We went to scrap box and found a pizza box for the game a Holocaust calendar enough little thingies to make Luca get excited. For the marvelous sum of 5$ total.

Here he is with the front of his game:

And here he is adding the actual game inside the box:

We have come up with a game where your chance of survival is 67% as about one third of all Jews were killed during World War 2. During the game you will encounter specific scenarios described in the book and you will roll a dice to see if you survive.

It has also been the weekend where we finally got ourselves a Christmas tree. Last year we did not buy one and this year we just never really got around to it. And despite absolutely refusing to get a plastic tree it is somehow quite appealing not having to deal with a fresh tree every year. And before I could think twice one of my colleagues showed up with a nice looking artificial tree, that he never used himself. Et viola:

I guess our Americanization is running at full speed these days😬😉

Goodbye November - hello December

We have now lived in the US for so long that Thanksgiving starts feeling like a good old friend rather than a fluffy unrelatable concept. I like having a time of the year dedicated to being grateful (and for now I’ll turn the blind eye on how the Indians were treated and the people injured during Black Friday shopping for 2$ waffle makers). And on top of this it marks the first break from school of the school year.

This year we spent Thanksgiving with some of my colleagues. I had bragged about my amazing maple-bacon-pecan pie. I have made it once before where it turned out to be out-of-this-world delicious. This time? Not so much.....😬I still haven’t figured out how it got that dry but it sure did look nice:

And after over eating all night and getting home way late there’s nothing quite as wonderful as setting the alarm for 5:30 to go Black Friday shopping, right?

Teresa and I (or maybe it was just me.....) made the grand plan of getting some of those awesome gift card JC Penny’s usually gives out. Well, this year they decided to pass them out Thursday night, and we were not the only super disappointed early birds. We walked around the mall for a bit and did not find a single thing we wanted to buy. After 45 minutes we decided to give up, go home, get the car and drive to Target instead. We did not get any really good deals, but we got all the Christmas shopping for family back in Denmark all done.

And then we blinked and suddenly it was December:

And quite to my surprise Kristian has made me an advent calendar! For the first time in 20 years (I still remember opening a present containing hollandaise sauce......)! I have to admit that I was a little scared to start opening the gifts, but the first two have been awesome. Here are my “fleece navidad” socks:

And we have started looking out for gifts for “pakkeleg” (the infamous Danish gift exchange game, where you are allowed to lie and cheat and steal - needless to say all (or maybe most..... or at least some) of my colleagues love it. Unfortunately Teresa won’t be home for it this year as she is going to Chicago with her German class. This has caused quite the comments form my coworkers: “yay. Team Frikke is one member down. That means that there will actually be gifts for the rest of us” or “Phew. I remember sitting next to her last year. She cheated SO much” or - from the professor himself - “remember, Danes can never be trusted!”.

I have no idea where they got their misconceptions about Danes from......