A Suitable Celebration...

It is very important turning 6 you know, you need a proper "grown up" party to acknowledge the fact! Yesterday was party day, no boys allowed (apart from obligatory little brother and Daddy of course)! As my music tastes are a bit too eclectic for the average six year old (no Lady Gaga on our shelves), I was grateful to good old Spotify for saving the day. It worked quite well as each girl loved choosing a song to put on (which meant we had to listen to Aqua's "Barbie girl" more than once), and the dance routines that appeared alongside were quite spectacular (it proved quite tricky at times for those of us trying to keep a straight face!)...

The party held a couple of small challenges, but nothing defeated us... For example, at the suggestion of Musical Statues, I was met with several blank faces, but once I had explained the rules to them, we discovered that actually I hadn't meant Musical Statues, I had in fact meant "Stop Dance" (silly me!!)... Pin the Tail on the Donkey also went down well, even if they did look at me as if I was completely mad when I produced the blindfold! R enjoyed introducing a few English party traditions to her friends, and the party bags went down a treat at the end, not the done thing here it seems! Her little brother didn't seem to mind being the only male guest present, he had a great time (especially "mine-sweeping" the girls plates when they were busy dancing)!

A big thank you to my lovely husband for helping to provide the entertainment! He not only taught them "The Macarena", but "Oops up Side Your Head". I was able to sleep soundly last night safe in the knowledge that if we ever happen upon hard times we will be OK, as he should be able to gain immediate employment as a cruise ship entertainer!

Today has been mostly about taking it easy, a family lunch and an easy "tea" (try explaining that one!) of sandwiches and cakes left over from yesterday (untouched by small hands I hasten to add). Lesson in parenting #523 - don't ever bother making sandwiches for a children's party....

Togetherness

Today's Gallery theme is togetherness, so I chose this one taken on the beach last July. Brother and sister - mostly the best of friends, occasionally the worst of enemies!

I hope it will also remind those of us living here, stuck in the midst of day three of bitter cold gale force winds, that summer does indeed exist here in Denmark.

Visit Sticky Fingers for some more Gallery entries...

Six

R turned six today! Her specifications for her party invite were quite complicated, but we got there in the end with half a potato and paint all over the place! Said party had to be postponed to this weekend unfortunately due to THE bug, but we celebrated with a little birthday tea today! Luckily the specifications for her cake were not quite as complicated (she knows I am not in my mother's decorating league!), as long as it had purple on it somewhere, which I cheated at ever so slightly!
R has grown so much in one year, taller and wiser, and with her first two missing teeth! She is beginning to enjoy reading, which she is gradually mastering. I love watching that "light-bulb" moment when she sounds a word out and it suddenly makes sense! School is slowly becoming something she enjoys rather than dreads, which is also nice! As I have said before, putting your child in a foreign school can be daunting initially, gone are the familiar things that they rely on to start up conversations and friendships (something like Cinderella in one language is obviously something completely different in another)! It's nice to see her interacting with her peers from all over the world more confidently as she gets bigger, and appreciating different cultures and languages, a verified global citizen! Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

Owls appear to be one of the themes of my week! We spotted this one at the Royal Library yesterday. The architectural space inside the new building (The Black Diamond) is amazing, and I loved the sympathetic way the architects have "married" it to the attached old building from 1906 by carrying themes from one building to the other. It's worth doing a guided tour if you can, not only because you get access to the storage rooms which are beautiful, but you get to hear all of the insider stories too, like the one about the Book Thief! If books and architecture aren't your thing, then it has a really good restaurant!

Fastelavnboller

It's not quite that time again yet, but these amazing cakes are now in the shops and what better way to start a Sunday (occasionally!)?

One Year On....

A very happy first birthday to my blog! I can't believe it's really been a year already! I have really enjoyed writing this, and keeping a record of our time here. I hope I haven't bored too many people so far...!



This photo was taken at the ever fabulous Ruby on Sunday evening. They are running a promotion in February called Bloody Sunday, where Bloody Mary's and imaginative variations of the theme are the order of the day. After a good few days at the hands of sickness in our house, a cancelled trip (and cabin fever threatening to strike at any moment), I would personally like to call the evening The Sunday Sanity Saver. This was a Rosehip Mary with Pisco Capel, port, rosehip jam, black pepper and lemon juice! Delicious!

Cheers!

All Things Skeletal....

What better to do on a wet and windy afternoon in Copenhagen? Visit the Zoological Museum of course...Especially if you have a little boy who is obsessed with all things skeletal, slimy, dissected or stuffed (and a young girl who claims not to be interested in such "boys" things, but is secretly fascinated...). OK, it's not the biggest Museum in the world, but it's stuffed to the rafters with interesting and strangely arranged exhibits, (I do think they need to find a taxidermist with a bit more imagination in some instances though - see above!) but this place can more than happily fill up a couple of hours (you are also encouraged to touch and feel your way around a lot of the displays here, which the children loved!).

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The whale skeletons are really impressive, especially the Bowhead with its baleen (or frond like "teeth" useful for corsets and collar stiffeners once upon a time I believe) intact, although R wanted to know why it had a curtain in its mouth. S is still making a recovery from his rather spectacular tummy bug, so I am sure we could have actually spent longer here, but doubtless we will return.

I will leave you with my favourite photograph of the day, I have called it "How Long Did You Say You've Been Waiting For The Bus?"

Comfort Food...

This evening I wanted to make something that could be classed as comfort food, but also incorporated Chinese New Year a little bit, and this is what I came up with - Gyoza (I love Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks!), not strictly Chinese obviously, but still good (we didn't eat 40 between us by the way, although we probably could if really pushed, but they do freeze really well!). Why the comfort food? To get over my disappointment at the postponement of a weekend trip to London, put off at the last minute due to a sick small boy (nothing serious just a tummy bug). Nevermind, will try again in a few weeks (thanks for making it so clear exactly how much extra you are charging to change flight dates by the way Norwegian Airlines!!)! Anyway, Happy Year of the Rabbit everyone...