Sledding in Denmark!! Dec 2012

We went to go visit my wonderful cousins Trine and Morton in Denmark and they took us sledding on this huge hill! It was so fun and not like any sledding that I have ever done before. All these wonderful pictures were taken by Trine- thank you, thank you! Here we are on our way....

 The sky was beautiful!

 A and I went together and it was so fast!!

 What goes up must come down!

 Ray went with L and they both loved the speed! After they were down the hill L would giggle and giggle!

What comes down must go back up!!

This was by far the best sledding day of my life and I'm sure it was the best in A and L's lives as well. Thank you so much to Trine and Morton for the wonderful adventure and the great photos!!

 Lucas loves to wear big shoes these days.  Here he is in the kitchen at Trine and Morton's house.

 A with her first snow man of the year!

On the train on our way home!

Our first big snow!

The first big snow of the year fell on the same day we went to the Kulturen Jul Market.  This was one of our favorite Christmas events last year but this year the kids were so focused on then snow that we didn't stay that long.  To begin with it took us over an hour to walk to Kulturen because we were having a lot of fun in the snow! Here we are in front of the iconic Lund house which also happens to be Ray's bosses house.  

 A could have stayed outside for hours just rolling around in the snow and using her sled to dig.  She was so happy!

 Lucas also had fun but he is not able to use his hands as well with gloves on which was frustrating to him.

 Here we are at Kulturen.

 A is sitting on top of the bus in the Kulturen playground with her new friends Oskar and Oliver.

 I am really having trouble taking pictures in the darkness these days :-)

 This is a view of Tunaparken from our balcony.  Doesn't it look like Narnia!

 Another view from our balcony. The taller building on the right is where the kids go to school.  Love the convenience.

 The kids are sitting on our sledding hill with the apartment complex in the background.

Goodness, kid snow pictures are cute!!

Lucas' first Thanksgiving dinner and Tivoli in Denmark in December

We went to an American Women's Club of Malmo Thanksgiving dinner event and Lucas ate some traditional American Thanksgiving food!  It was a lot of fun to eat some of the usual stuff and meet some new friends.

 The next day we headed to Copenhagen to go to Tivoli.  We didn't make it before Christmas last year and so the reindeer were sleeping. You may remember this picture from last year when the reindeer were sleeping:

Well this year they were awake!  After a quick picture near some pretty trees we went right to the reindeer.

They were beautiful and A and L were very interested in them!

This is where we waited to see Santa Claus, he is behind that window.  No cameras allowed. He was very nice and told us he spoke English, Danish, and Swedish! After a quick chat with the kids (A wants a princess dress and L wants a baby) we smiled for the picture.  In Denmark instead of "cheese" (ost in Danish and Swedish, not a good word for smiling!) they say "applesin!" (which means orange in both Swedish and Danish).

Just like last year the theme was Russian Christmas and this is the Tivoli version of St. Basil's Cathedral known from the Red Square in the Kremlin, featuring a 21 m tower with onion domes and a carillon. Inside was a cool ride, a teddy bear Christmas tree that Annalise loved, and a place to drink hot chocolate and eat yummy snacks!

This is Lucas' first ride on the carousel!

Here the kids are playing on the playground. It was really cold but the kids had a blast!

Just like last year there was awesome decorations and lights and everything but it is hard to take pictures of things when it is so dark! Overall in was a really fun day and now we have a cool Santa picture with a Danish Santa!

Playing during November!

Lucas and I continue to frequent Kulan the open preschool.  Here is with his friend Ebba,

 and painting,

 and painting,

 and painting!

Here A and L are in front of the library while we wait for the bus in the morning.  Since we have moved to our new apartment and the kids stayed at Kobjers until the middle of November we have been taking the bus to and from Kobjers which is a 30 minute or more commute.  Soon we will go back to a 2-3 minute walk to school which we all love! But we will miss the kids and teachers at Kobjers, especially A.

 Here A and L are on their first day of school at Duvkullan. Well Lucas' second first day of school since he is returning to Duvkullan.

 Our friend Erin was in Sweden on a business trip and we were able to spend a few days with her! One of the big shopping streets already decorated for Christmas is behind them.  We also had goose dinner while Erin was in Lund. This is a unique tradition in Skane. We had no problem eating goose after all the years doing battle with them in Denver.

I took A to a children's fair in Norafalladen.  She loves to get her face painted!

 Lucas looking big in his snowsuit!  I remember last year it swallowed him up.

 More painting at Kulan this time with his friend A.

 This is one of our favorite fika places, Mormors!

 Lucas loves to show off his smile these days!! And he is proud to be sitting on the bus by himself.

 November is full of colder temperatures and darkness which can be a little yuck but we are counting down the days until our trip to the US in December.  I heard A tell a stranger on the bus that she is from England so maybe it is time for her to return to her birthplace!