Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 (Copenhagen boat tour & Preben's party)

Today we took it easy. John P took our family on a boat tour through the many harbors in Copenhagen. (Kids were at school and Muriel had to work. She works 1 day a week on Wednesday and then does free-lance on the side for Getty Images.)


































































Later we all dressed for Uncle Preben's (big Preben - Ellis's husband) 62nd birthday party. Many of my danish relatives were present along with cousins and second cousins and there was even family from Iceland. Preben felt honored to have family from Texas and Iceland just for his b'day :-). We had a blast and the food was an amazing seafood feast.





Uncle Preben and Aunt Ellis' house. Notice the Oresond Sound is behind their house.







Here is one of several tables set up for the party.



Me, Aunt Margit, Cuz John & Corey











A sample of some of the fabulous food that was served...this must be John O's plate.







Me and the birthday boy, Preben. He's still as happy and huggable 28 years later.







Aunt Margit, me, Great Aunt Ida, and long time family friend of Ellis & Preben; Kirsten. She & her husband Finn were great company to talk too during dinner.






Above, family from Iceland (minus their 3 kids). Linda is next to me. Bottom from left to right is Linda's daughter-in-law, Linda's son and Linda's husband Ogmundur Frioriksson.






Here are the internationally woven cousins.


John P, Ellis & Muriel















Me and my favorite EU goofy girl, Muriel. She was soon dubbed "Mo" after we arrived in DK.








Big Preben, me and Little Preben.














Me and little Preben. So nice to see him again.
John & John with their cognac. We need to help them match their attire to their beverage.

Tuesday - June 3rd, 2008 (A day in Denmark with Sailing)

This morning Muriel, Corey & I went to one of many coffee shops and brought our laptops. We sat in front of a big window that faced the street. I noticed a pretty lady out of the corner of my eye biking by in her dress and heels. Muriel said that she was one of the local TV anchors....too cool. John & John went to pick up a new hood for John P's Volvo. Before we arrived in DK, the Petersen's were returning by ferry from England to France and their car caught on fire. 10 firefighters on the car deck working on their car; wish I could have seen it. All is well now.

Later the Petersen's had their new clothes washer delivered, well the delivery guy rang the door bell anyways. You see they're on the 5th floor and it's 84 steps to their flat. So John, John & a neighbor use a dolly and got the thing up to the apt. There's a work out for ya.

Around 6:00p.m. we met with our cousin Mark (Uncle Preben's son) who has a 37' sailboat. Unfortunately, Muriel couldn't join us as she was under the weather. We sailed from the Copenhagen harbor to Skovshoved harbor. We went on shore, had pizza in the harbor, then back on the boat to sail home. Arrived right at sunset. It was beautiful.































This is cousin Mark - our captain.































This is Mark's 37' sailboat...beautiful.

Monday - June 2nd, 2008 (Mons Klint)

Today the kids got to miss school as we planned a trip to Mons Klint & Klintholm. This was about a 2 hour drive to the southern part of Denmark. Here we did some serious walking. This site is where Denmark got its start...geographically wise. Here there are huge, beautiful white chalk cliffs that rest on the Baltic Sea. We walked down wooden steps (400+ steps) to the beach and then along the rocky beach for about a mile to another set of wooden steps, then up (480 steps to be exact), and then a mile through the forest back to start. While on the beach we took some terrific photos and got in the water....ok, only up to our knees. But John P, his kids and Corey got all the way wet. The water was very, very, cold. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day. This site is a must see.



















Sunday - June 1st, 2008 (Margit's summer house)

Again, the kids walked to the store to buy bread for breakfast. Afterwards, we packed our belongings and headed to the other beach on the Victory Island Bay side. There we found white sand and the kids loved it. We were there for about 1.5 hours then parted ways and headed towards Havnsos. This is where my Aunt Margit's summer house is. We arrived around 1:00 for a wonderful lunch. We then played some badmington. Tbe kids then thought it would be fun to get their water guns out while we weren't looking and spray the adults. I lost once Emily cheated and dumped the bucket of water on me. I'll get her back when the time is right. Afterwards, we all drove to the train station so that Margit could catch the train to Copenhagen, and on to her house. We drove on home from there. We all then showered, made dinner and ate in our P.J.'s.

(I'm still searching for the pics we took here...hmmm).

Saturday - May 31st, 2008 (Our 10 yr. anniv. at the Summer house)

Happy Anniversary to us. It's our 10 yr. wedding anniv. We woke up at 10:00 a.m. at the summer house. The kids had walked to the store to buy bread for breakfast. John, John & I went to the harbor's local fish market and bought fiske frikadeller (fish pattis) & lobster salad. This place had every fish imaginable layed out on tables layed out like a horse shoe. The smell was very memorable. I'm sure I was the only person breathing through my mouth. For some reason its difficult finding a place that accepts Mastercard/Visa. When we stopped at the grocery store for food for the weekend, John & I got excited because they took M.C. so we loaded up on lots of food. Sjaelland Odde is surrounded by two different waters/beaches. We first walked to Catagat Water where the beach is pretty rocky and we played/sunned there until 4:00.
















































We then went back to the house to meet the summer house owner, Louise (pronounced Lou-ee-se). She's 1/2 Icelandic & 1/2 Danish, and her 2 kids (Emma & Zacherias) and her nephew (Jens) were with her. Her husband Scott (American) could not join us. Louise couldn't get in the house, but dropped off a mower, so John mowed, while Muriel & John went to find Louise & the kids via a map she drew on the box lid and stuck under the Volvo wiper...the old fashion way (i.e. no cells....love it).
















When we were finally all together we cooked hot dogs outside and had a nice dinner.















Emily & Emma picked flowers and made small bouquets and laid them out for sale. I bought 2.




















John wanted to take me into town for an anniv. dinner at the Golden Kok, but I declined (poor John). Here Kok means Chef. This is the profession that Louise's brother is in. He is a professional Kok...yes, we had plenty of fun with that one.

The summer house has water & electricity, but is pretty bare othewise. The house is on the market to be sold, so we needed to keep it clean & empty of furniture. Below are some more pics on the inside. It's really quite nice & peaceful.






























































The kids found things to do with items provided by nature. We learned how to blow grass and pop leaves.

The bathroom is still under construction and there is a shelf top missing above the toilet & sink. Poor Muriel lost many of her personal toiletries behind the bath wall. She and John O. spent about 2 hours using a long stick, sticky chewing gum, a plastic cup and BBQ tongs to retrieve the items. It was quite comical to watch them work. Notice the silver flusher panel in the wall. Left side is a larger square for a "big flush". Smaller square is on the right for a smaller flush.















The kids set up 2 tents and they slept outside; the adults slept inside. The older girls thought it would be fun to see if they could do elephant stands. Yep, we still got it. Off to bed by 2:00 a.m. (again).





























































Friday - May 30th, 2008 (Heading to the summer house).

Went for a run 3k run with Muriel & her friend Jette after dropping off the kids at school. John & John went to pick up the rear seat for the Volvo station wagon so we can all fit in the car.
















Later that day we went to the Harbor and had ice cream and the kids played under the harbor steps and caught jelly fish.































We packed 2 days worth of clothes and left at 9:00 p.m. for a drive to Sjaelland Odde. Muriel & John have friends who have a summer house there. Arrived around 11:00 and unpacked and drank until 2:00 a.m. Here are pics of the house after we unpacked.

















































Thursday - May 29th, 2008 (In Denmark / Bakkan)


We've finally arrived in Denmark. It didn't take long before Cuz John P. put us to work. We were on a mission for a 2nd backseat for cuz John's Volvo. We drove to the local junk yard because there was a used seat available....but missing some parts, so we'll have to come back. We then drove to Amager Strand beach on the Oresund water. Its a link between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.



John with his favorite cousin...did I say that right? Yeah, I'm sure I did.















We then went home and Muriel WALKED and picked up the kids from school. Just about everyone here walks or rides their bikes to get around; its terrific. We then went to downtown Copenhagen (city center) to catch the subway and train to the Dyrehaven (forest) enroute to the Bakken amusement park.









































The kids rode rides over & over while the adults seeked locations for beer...we never had to look far. Aunt Margit rode her bike 1 hour from her home to Bakken and joined us for dinner. Notice the reflectors on her tires to get her home safely.















Bakken is where we found our biggest beer yet...don't think I've ever seen my husband so happy.

















We arrived home around 9:00 p.m. and put the kids to bed, as Emily & Theo are still in school.