Welcome to part one.
I don’t know how many parts this post is going to have, but since I’ve only culled the photos down to around 350, and since regular life is already underway, it seems reasonable to give myself a sense of forward progress, however unrealistic, by taking the summer one chunk at a time.
The pictures before me begin not long after the girls’ school year ended; the last pic of the whole pile was taken within moments of our arrival back home from the states. So we’re only dealing with a single month — but a very eventful one.
I should also mention up front that I’ve cannibalized a lot of other peoples’ pictures — I’ll try to give credit where it’s due, but please forgive me any omissions (or incorrect attributions).
First, just for the permanent record, Trine forwarded me a couple of interesting screenshots at some point during the summer, and since they have no real chronological significance I’ll just get them out of the way right up front.
The first is an analysis of the first name “Molli” from Danmarks Statistik:
It’s saying there are currently 19 Danes named Molli, and that the name peaked in 2008. I think we all know who paved the way for the other eighteen!
Surprisingly, there are almost twice as many Maddies as there are Mollis: a total of 36 Danes are named Maddie, with 14 girls receiving the name last year alone.
Interesting stuff, right?
Also interesting: for no discernible reason, Didi finally began to enjoy swimming in July.
And, as seen on Facebook, and also for no discernible reason, I got the sweetest card I think I’ve ever received in my life one random July afternoon.
(As Uncle Gene commented: “Some.”)
The girls spent a few days with Mormo up at a summer house in Rørvig. Maddie surprised me one morning by texting me a whole slew of pictures.
Here, for example, is where she slept.
And here is the yard.
Mormor also shared some pictures with us.
Meanwhile, Morfar was staying with us and one evening while the girls were away Trine insisted we take him to the Værløse Bio Café, which had proved such a surprising treat with Nana and Pop Pop. Unfortunately they don’t serve their great home-made smørrebrød plate for dinner, so we ended up at the Chinese place (Hai Long). I replied to Maddie’s SMS pictures with one of my own, just to show we could have fun, too.
The great evening terrace beautification project continued apace.
When the girls returned from Rørvig, there was time for handball with Morfar…
…and our first family game of Risk. (It didn’t last long.)
One weekend afternoon we embarked on a bike ride that ended up covering about 35 kilometers, or about 20 miles.
We basically rode across the school yard, through the old golf course, wound our way around Furesø and through some plush neighborhoods into Dyrehaven, whence we made our way down the coast to Tuborgbvej before catching the train at Svanemøllen Station to return home.
I never new the path along the northwest shore of Furesø included a boardwalk.
We stopped for lunch somewhere around. . . well, I forget, but it was a pretty spot for a picnic on a float, and the girls and I entertained ourselves by hiding Trine’s bike when she went to the bathroom.
We stopped for ice cream around the Royal Yacht Club (or whatever it’s called).
The next day we made a trip into Tivoli. On our way in we passed a sign on a little lunch restaurant that cracked me up:
(I only wish I’d been there to take a picture before they blacked out the “A.”)
Maddie finally worked up the courage to ride the Roller Coaster — the original one, with no other name than “The Roller Coaster.” (Rutschebanen.)
It was fun to watch the girls on the Tilt a Whirl thing: Molli was so blasé she almost looked bored, while Maddie seemed to be having a massive anxiety attack through the whole ride:
The Golden Tower:
Do you dare, Molli Malou?
YES! She dared! The only ride in the park she has not yet taken is the Airplanes that whirl around with a force of 2.5 Gs and nearly gave Daddy a heart attack. I may yet end up having to ride it with her before the end of the season.
That trip to Tivoli was the day before our departure for America, so it seems like a nice clean point to break off. Stay tuned! Much, much more to follow!
