Still snow

We spent a wonderful weekend with my mom and dad, the kids had missed them a lot and Emelie did not leave grandmas side :o)

Today was my first day at work. It was exciting and a tiny bit scary. I will be involved in a development project which seems very challenging and interesting. After being "available" for the family for a long time, we all have to get used to the life of two full time working parents again! (Hello, crazy mornings ;o)

I believe it is a little more difficult for the teachers at school and pre-school to appreciate the fact that I, also have a "real career" which is just as important as X's dad, who wears a tie to work... I'm not complaining, just saying that I don't think they would call X's dad if they were short of teachers one day, and ask if he could come to school early... at 1.30..?

Anyway, Nikolaj seems to be doing pretty good already, in pre-school, and Emelie is happy in school. She loves having her girlfriends again, but we all miss you a lot at Pinewoods!!!

We still have snow in Denmark, but not as much as in Sweden, as you can see on the picture! The Danes are pretty fed up with snow and cold weather after 2½ months of it, but Emelie and Nikolaj love it! I have had enough after 1 week. Come spring!

Cold

Back in Denmark, and naturally, first thing we do is catch a cold. Emelie is down with a sore throat and so am I, I can feel it getting worse by the hour. Well, I suppose it's something we need to get through after missing out on all the winter colds!

Grandma and granddad are on their way and will arrive in an hour or so, I have missed them so much! Almost 4 months without my mom and dad, that is much too long! Now, I'll fill up with some nice hot coffee!

Tooth out!

This is Emelies new smile :o) She didn't even realise that she'd lost the second front tooth.

Today was the first day back in school and kindergarten. It went well for both of them, they have been looking forward to it!

I had a job interview which I'm hoping went ok, so maybe from Monday, I'll sit in a new location. (Still for NNE though.) Now we're baking bread and just enjoying being at HOME!

Leaving USA

The last day arrived and it started with a shock. The fire alarm at Embassy suites in Raleigh went off at 2.30 in the night! Jens was out saying goodbye to his work friends, so I was alone with the kids. We dressed quickly and started to walk the stairs to go outsid. It was cold!! Luckily enough it was a false alarm, so we could go back to our rooms after a little while. It was not easy to persuade E&N to go back to sleep after that!
Anyway, the Sunday we spent with wonderful friends, who were so kind to have us for the departure day, and drive us to the airport. Thank you so much Kirkegaard framily :o)))
It was with a great deal of sadness we took off, leaving the US that we love! We have met so much kindness, and we are so blessed to be able to get these impressions and memories to share as a family!
Now we have just arrived in a snowy Denmark after many hours of flying. It went OK, but we are all exhausted and jet lagged. It is very nice to be in my house again! The smell of home, and my paintings and all familiar things! Now, we have about 250 kilos of baggage to unpack (I'm not kidding...)

Daytona beach resort

Daytona beach is pretty, but not as posh as Palm beach. It's quite chilly, so no bathing on the agenda today, but we've tried the indoor pool, and now we're heading out for the kid's museum (I wish they had those in Denmark, they are so great!) and I will have the possibility for some last minute shopping (only small articles though, the suitcases as sooooo full...).

Leaving Orlando

We've been packing the huge suitcases again today, and tomorrow we head for Daytona beach for three days. I went to Magic kingdom myself with the kids to give Jens a break (howcome it doesn't always feel like being on vacation when you have a family with you? ;o)) and let him do the packing. It feels like we've seen what there is to see at Disney world now, but it's been fun!

Crocodiles!

Today we finally got a bit of the summer temperatures again, and we went on a boat trip in the Florida swamps. We were hoping to see some crocodiles, and not only did we get to see one, but it was also an amazing experience and very beautiful on the lake. We got to see this pretty bird who was hatching two eggs, two crocodiles, a water snake and lots of birds. It was terrific!








Yesterday we had a special day also. Not so much because it was
Valentine's day (I don't think Jens would have noticed unless I had informed him ;o) but Emelie got a special treat on our visit to Hollywood studios.
Emelie and I were waiting outside a theater to go in and see the Beauty and the Beast show. We were early, to get good seats, and there weren't very many people. Then a man who worked at Disney came up to us and asked Emelie if she wanted to be the special princess in the show. He let us know that we would get special seats right in front of the stage and that at the end of the show, Emelie would be taken to the stage and get a special gift. Emelie enjoyed the show but she was very concentrated on the task she had been given... She recieved a rose from the prince and princess and that made her (and our) day. What a lovely thing to happen! Nikolaj slept through the entire show... it is hard work to walk around in the park!
After the show however, Nikolaj got to meet his favourites, Lightning McQueen and Mater! He was so excited!!

Disney

We've spent a few days in Kissimmee outside of Orlando, and we've been to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and yesterday, we went to Hollywood studios. The visit at Hollywood studios was in fact the best so far, with a race car stunt event that was very cool, and which Nikolaj loved, and some dancing that Emelie liked a lot.

Here is a pic of me and Emelie with Mrs Incredible... girl power :o) (Nikolaj refuses to say hi to any of the Disney characters, he's thinks they're scary)

Belize

We were all looking forward to seing Belize and the coral reefs outside the country, which are the worlds second largest. However, we learned that there were not really any beaches close to Belize city, and it was quite windy, so we stayed on board.

Emelie spent a lot of time on the water slide and I was mesmerized by the colour of the ocean.

This is how the ship looks like from above.

Isla Roatan, Honduras

On the third day of the cruise, we reached Isla Roatan, a tiny island off the coast of Honduras, which at first sight didn't seem like a lot. We got off, and caught a taxi to the beach. We crossed the hilly island, through the djungle, on bad roads, and then we stepped out to this...

Roatan was nice because it seemed unexploited and genuine. The water was so warm and clear, and some people were playing music, "Jamaican style" reggae, which just suited the place.

This suited the place just perfect too :o))

Cruising

We are back from cruising the Caribbean, and it was awsome. We were cut off from phone and internet however, so I'll try to sum up the events of the week.

We boarded the Carnival Valor from Miami on Sunday. As expected, we had to wait in line for quite a while to actually get aboard, but once we did, we had access to all kinds of things to enjoy. Free ice cream being one of them...

We got two connected rooms with windows to the ocean and they were fine, it was cool to watch the boat sail out of Miami. Finally on our way!

The concept was, that breakfast and lunch was eaten from a buffet (or buffets, as there were several to choose from) and dinner was served in a "real" restaurant. The food was fantastic, and the service even better. I don't know how they could manage to serve that many meals to that many people!

Anyway, the first night and day we spent onboard the ship, sailing toward Crand Cayman, and we explored the kid's club, Camp Carnival, the pools and so on.

Next morning, we woke up to the sight of azul ocean. After a while we made it to the beach and it was beautiful.

This seemed like a piece of paradise. Warm water and beautiful views!

Miami

We drove to Miami this morning, it's very warm outside, but cloudy. We got to the street close to the ocean and with kids fighting in the back seat we didn't drive around a lot to find the best stretch, we just drove in to the first public parking we could find. When we were about to pay for the parking, the guy there informed us that this part of the beach was only for naked bathing.... so after little (no) debating we carried on to the next parking lot ;o)
The beach was nice but windy, I went in (nice and warm water) but the children just played in the sand.
Then we drove to The Blue hotel, we've gone for a little splurge and are
staying at a 5 star hotel tonight. And it is certainly nice! It is maybe 35C in the pool and 28C in the air. I like it!!

Palm beach part II

We started the day at the beach in Boca Raton, 35 minutes from West Palm Beach. Lovely place, with a nice playground and a lot of palm trees!
Emelie found a coconut on the beach.















This is how (some of) the locals get around in Palm Beach...

And this is how some lucky few get to spend the winter season... imagine having a house with direct access to your speedboat :o)






After cruising around among the rich and famous, we went to Playmobile funpark, a great place to play with tons pf playmobile toys practically for free (1 dollar/person!). That place was super!












After all that fun we headed back to the hotel and went for the pool. It's been nice and warm today, but tomorrow they say we're having thunderstorms. We're packing tonight to head for Miami tomorrow morning!

West Palm Beach

Finally we made it to West Palm Beach. It's very nice, though we've only seen the hotel so far ;o) The hotel is having a grand opening (was opened in August, but tonight the official opening party is taking place) so they are serving free food and drinks! We didnt't know, so that was a good surprise.
Jens, E and N tried the outdoor pool (it's about 23C) and I hit the fitness room, it was great after all those hours in the car!!

I am determined to get in better shape before we head for Denmark, and it's improving, I don't suffer as much anymore, when I work out ;o)

Tomorrow we are going to drive to the beach in Palm Beach to play and build some sandcastles, and then we're heading for Playmobile funpark which looks like fun!

from Savannah to palm beach

Savannah was pretty! We went to a steak house right next to the hotel and met owner Toni, who had fled from Croatia during the war in 95. He served the most delicious meal, and I loved the fact that the orange slice in the water came from an orange tree in his own garden. Now we are close to the Florida border, still a long drive ahead of us.

This is an old ship that was anchored in Savannah harbor.

And with this you can get from one side of the river to the other. Cute, isn't it?

gadgets!

We are on our way after saying farewell to the great students and teachers at Pinewood Montessori. We are so thankful for the way you have cared for emelie and nikolaj. We will miss you and never forget you! Now we are in the car, and I'm playing with our new toy, a Google nexus phone. It's nice! Hopefully I can manage to update the blog frequently from it. We're on our way to Savannah Georgia and will stay there tonight. It's a long drive to Florida

Moving out!

After emptying the house, cleaning for a week (feels like ;o) and finally moving out this morning, we are now at The Washington Duke inn, relaxing after a trip to the pool. It is very nice! I could stay here for a few days if I had to ;o) The car is so full I'm afraid it will explode. I have to admit I have underestimated the amount of stuff we have accumulated in only a few months!

We will travel back with 8 big suitcases, 2 small + hand luggage... The airline people are going to love us.

Last week we tried to take a few family pics. These are some of the results...

We didn't succeed in making an actual family picture. Hopefully we can do that on the vacation!

The plan is now, to leave from school tomorrow at 1 pm, drive for 4-5 hours, take a dinner- and play break and then continue on to Palm Beach. We'll stay there for three days, and then go to Miami for one night. On Sunday 31st we board a cruise for the Caribbean. I'm starting to get really excited about it now, I've had only moving and getting ready in my head. It will be nice to be together all of us. Jens has worked too much in the US, and he is also looking forward to a lot of family time!

And now... in english!

Uha, det har visst blivit lite sparsamt med bloggandet! Men nu sitter jag på hotellet, och tänker att jag ska vara lite mer blogg aktiv på vår semester som börjar imorgon.
Nyhet är att jag kommer att skriva på engelska, då jag hoppas att vännerna på Pinewood montessori school ska följa med oss!
So, friends and family, from now this will be in english!