Summer to Fall 2010

It’s been a while since we had any pictures. It’s worth noting for the historical record that when I started the new job at Nordisk Film I got a hot new iPhone 4, and it’s the first handheld device I’ve ever had that didn’t make me nostalgic for the old toaster phones. I’ve been shooting a lot of pictures directly onto Facebook, so I haven’t felt that I’ve been depriving the girls’ American family by not having more stuff here. (It’s so obvious to us now, but years from now this 2 month lapse may seem inexplicable.)

So we pick up not long after the Lees left in August, with the arrival of the cats. The cats Emma and Charlee have already made an appearance here or on Facebook, so I’m not going to glut the blog with them, but it’s fun to remember how Maddie tortured them in those early days, when she thought the dangle toy was a cat whip.

I also mentioned I’d painted the foyer and hallway white and that I’d opted not to share pictures. Well, hell, this is the historical record! See how much lighter it is?

I just like this next shot.

A couple of weeks into Molli Malou’s schooling there was a big evening picnic for all the kids, their families, and the faculty and staff. Molli Malou’s class sang a song. (The hats are cute, but they’re a public relations campaign for traffic awareness: they all say, “I’m new in traffic” in Danish. Because, you know, someone driving too fast down a little residential street is going to think twice when they see the kid they’re about to hit is wearing one of those.)

How quickly kittens become cats!

Trine’s friend Janne blew through town and chicksene were reunited for an afternoon.

And starting at Nordisk Film I did a lot of traveling, which gave me the opportunity to take pictures of things like this crazy fountain in front of the Swedish opera or theatre in Stockholm.

And generic shots of the Nordic capitals, like these of Stockholm, which seemed somehow much more “urban” than Copenhagen.

Øst, vest — hjemme bedst. (East, west — home best.)

(Even if the suddenly rarely-home Daddy isn’t enough to get Molli Malou’s attention away from the DSi.)

Maddie has discovered Teletubbies, as I’ve mentioned, and expects them to appear on all media. And miraculously, they do. Unlike her sister, who only got to “watch” them on DVDs, Maddie also knows they can be seen on laptops and telephones.

(“Molli Malou, do you know when Mor and Daddy were little, phones were connected to the walls with wires and all you could do was talk and listen.” Laughter.)

We finally made the trip to Frilandsmuseet, the “museum” comparable to Bethpage village or Williamsburg, basically a bubble in time. Except the Danish bubble goes back as far as the 13th century.

ME: Look, Molli Malou, no toys. Do you know what kids played with back then?
MM: What, Daddy?
ME: Rocks.

Ha ha ha. I’m amused, right? I’ve been clever.

Half an hour later Molli Malou hands me a tiny handful of stones and pebbles.

“What’s that, sweetie?”

“I got you some toys.” Snicker snicker. She’s quick!

I swear this is the first actual anvil I’ve seen as an adult that looks just like the ones Wile E. Coyote used to drop on Roadrunner:

Trine tries her hand at some woman’s work: turning the thing that makes grain into flour.

Back home, Molli Malou entertains her little sister with a unicorn-drawn chariot.

And little sister never wants her picture taken: she just wants the camera. Lately we’re getting a lot of shots that look like the following:

Molli Malou, bug collector:

Maddie Marie: swing junkie.

A plane! Bye bye!

Mad composer at work:

Her first composition:

Now we’re up to this past weekend, when we took a little tour out in Hareskov (“Hare Woods”):

The flash kills the intrigue of the tree you’re about to see: to the naked eye, it was a dark and gloomy cave, and Molli Malou was sure there were foxes or something living in there.

The girls had kept their distance while Daddy took those pictures.

“Daddy, are you sure there’s not a fox in there?”

And there you have it! We’re all caught up!

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I really have been trying to find a way to compile the video I made from this summer, but no matter what I do it keeps crashing the computer. I’ve even tried downloading other video-making software, but none of them seem to work. I’ll keep working at it, even though there’s already a backlog of other videos I want to cobble together and publish. Probably the best bet is to stop trying to be so damn clever and just post unedited videos directly to YouTube from the phone.