My dad was at the airport to pick us all up this time, and the kids were thrilled to see him and also that they were going to be travelling in his "Mystery Machine" (camper van!), little did we know at the time that he might almost have brought us back to Denmark in the Mystery Machine!! That evening my sisters and brother in law came over and we had a great meal together, cooked by my lovely "step-mother". R & S finally got to meet their baby cousin, and covered him with lots of slobbery kisses and bear-hugs. I am not sure he really appreciated all the attention, but it was very sweet to watch! He has grown so much in three weeks (obviously!)
I love the fact that he almost looks the same size as S in the photograph... Thursday was my dad's birthday, so the children woke him up very early by jumping on him and singing happy birthday repeatedly until he got up! After a day of a drastic haircut for S, and shoe shopping for the pair of them (both a fraction of the price than in DK!), we went out for dinner to celebrate at a Chinese restaurant (I know I have mentioned this before but how nice it was to have really spicy food!). S spent the entire meal asking "if the chocolate cake was coming now", which kind of spoilt the birthday cake surprise a bit, but never mind! Friday evening we got to spend some time with my brother and sister in law, before it was time to go to my Mum's house early on the Saturday afternoon. By this point, it was becoming clearer to us that we wouldn't be flying for a few days. We felt incredibly lucky compared to a lot of stranded people though, we were all together after all and staying with family. The fact that my mum lives in an especially beautiful area meant it really wasn't that much of a hardship. It's even more beautiful at this time of year, and it really brought it home to me how stunning England can be. When we are there we try and go for as many walks as we can and this time even got to see a barn owl that we inadvertently disturbed whilst we were investigating an ancient timber framed barn. It was amazing! Having had a slight obsession for Labyrinth as a child, I found myself secretly hoping it would turn into David Bowie... I had to take some photos of the bluebell woods, that aren't quite out yet, but very nearly. 
The wood anemones were out though, shame my current camera doesn't do them any justice! It's so true that you really do take things for granted when they are on your doorstep! I am not saying that Denmark isn't pretty, it's just a different shade of green, and just a teeny weeny bit flatter... The weather was also warm and beautiful and at times we might have sniggered at our (ever eager to capture what might be the summer)fellow countrymen in their shorts and flip-flops... We had another birthday celebration on the Sunday, this time a joint one for my mum and my grandmother. Spending time with my family whilst we were over was perfect. I just feel sad that we due to circumstances beyond our control we weren't able to see any friends on this visit. The whole reason for the visit was to see the baby and spend time with my sister, and celebrate the birthdays of course, and I always find it very difficult dividing time equally between family and friends when we are only home for a couple of days. This time any plans to see people were kind of hijacked by what was happening with our travel plans, one minute we were going to be around for longer than expected and the next minute we were frantically packing and going to the airport...At least we are back again in August so will hopefully make up for that...
Anyway, back to this epic blog entry... That Monday was my lovely Mum's birthday. We had quite a quiet day together,
apart from the wheelbarrow races with their Uncles... That evening we went to the local pub to celebrate, where we enjoyed some typical English pub grub 
... why did all the pubs across England decide to serve Scampi anyway? This meal also prompted me to sadly reflect that I am now actually old. I only observed this whilst eating as I noticed that I now actually like tartare sauce. I will like Parma Violets next and carry them around in my handbag, I am sure of it. Our last day was pretty much taken up with will we/won't we/will we won't we be able to get home and frantically cancelling meetings and appointments for the Wednesday. I have to give the Dane's their due, something that would be met with "sorry I can't help you" in a "computer says no" voice in the UK, was dealt with "yes, of course, we understand. Leave it with us and we will deal with it for you"...
So now we are back. Heathrow's terminal five was surreal. I expected it to be so over-crowded, it was half empty! I felt sorry for the people so obviously stranded who had been there for a while. I felt almost fraudulent going straight to baggage drop and then through security without a cancellation appearing on the screen for us. The flight was uneventful, but you could see the strange light brown smoggy fug below that had caused all the trouble in the first place. I have to say though, it was kind of nice to be reminded that we aren't ultimately in charge. An eventful trip...
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