One Beautiful Day

These are all from just a few hours on Sunday, May 23, which was unquestionably the most beautiful weather we’ve had since August of last year, when Molli was about a month or two old (but technically not even due).

We begin with Molli’s afternoon nap, taken in her usual outdoor location. This shot is taken out our kitchen window without any zoom. This is why it took me so long to get used to the idea. But if you wander around our courtyard during the daytime, whatever the weather (even in snow), you’ll see at least a couple of prams out like this.

The big surprise is that Molli’s not in the pram… she’s in one of the boxes in the garbage area!

We went into the city to meet John, Sandie, and Liam in a garden I’d never been to. We had to pass through the courtyard of the Folketing (parliament) to get into it. Molli’s reaction to the Folketing itself was instructive. You can almost see her saying “Stop! Stop! I want nothing to do with this institution!”

There was a little fountain in the garden, and the mothers and infants lined themselves up on its edge to watch the ducks.

In the midst of this duck viewing, a mommy duck waddled out from some shrubbery, across the path, and toward the fountain, along with 4-5 of her little ducklings. All the parents gathered their children around to behold the cute little ducklings—and all were at a loss for words when a male duck came waddling purposefully over and forced himself upon the mommy duck right in front of her little ones. The children watched, open-mouthed with awe, confusion, and fear, while parents smirked or fretted according to their temperament.

I got video, but decency forbids me from sharing it.

Here are the three of us by the fountain:

There was a klezmer band playing outdoors in front of the royal library (behind those big green shrubs looming in the background), and while John ran over with Liam to get some shots of their performance we plopped Molli onto the grass near a flowerbed to see what she’d do. She didn’t do much, but she did it adorably:

She loved the little daisies and actually managed to pluck one or two.

This next doesn’t look as spectacular in this small form, but it’s one of my favorite all-time photos of Molli now.

And the next one don’t suck, neither (the thing rising in the background is the fountain I spoke of earlier, which wasn’t visible in any of the other shots):

By this time John had returned with Liam, and he plopped him down a few feet away from Molli and we all stood back to see what would happen (but braced for the worst after our experience with the ducks).

Sure enough, once he raised his hat high enough to see, he began his approach.

Once he got close enough, however, it was Molli that made the first move.

Liam then nearly sparked a crisis by lunging for Molli’s beloved sut:

After they’d been separated and the dust had cleared, they simply sat and babbled quietly to one another.

Time required to persuade Molli to grasp a tulip in such a way that I can photograph her: about five minutes. Number of photographs I can shoot before she tears it to shreds: one. And it’s not very good. But it’s okay.

I suppose here she’s just reflecting on the pleasure of ripping that flower apart:

By now the time had come to leave the park and go somewhere with beer. We headed straight for the nearby stork fountain (at Højbroplads, the big square right near Nikolaikirken where we got married). The umbrellas you see in the distance are part of the outdoor cafe there.

We didn’t need any umbrella. And these mammoth beers, easily a full liter each, were only 69 kroner each. (Yes, there is something wrong with me when I say any amount of beer that fits in a glass is “only” twelve bucks.)

Yes, Star Wars is everywhere over here, also: this is at the Kongens Nytorv metro station. (The poster is hanging on the back of the elevator column.)

But I wonder if this Jagermeister ad campaign is running in the states?

I’m guessing it’s not. (And you should see the television spots!)