A Sunny Saturday

Yesterday morning I woke up to a BEAUTIFUL sunny day in Denmark. By the time I was dressed, all the windows and doors were open, and sunlight and fresh air were streaming in. Because it was a fairly typical (and therefore totally fantastic) Saturday, I thought it would be nice to commemorate the day here to give you a little more insight into my daily routine with the Hellesens. Maybe then you will be able to understand why I am so sad about leaving.

Getting everything set up in the backyard 

In accordance with my new lifestyle, I was up, dressed, and had eaten breakfast with the family by 9:30am (by contrast, in the States I would NEVER be up and functional before 11am on a weekend). Immediately after our meal, Lars and Mira went into the backyard to put the trampoline together! Trampolines are a huge deal in Denmark. When I walk/bike through the neighborhood, I see tons of them in the backyards of all the neighbors. Now that spring has arrived, I not only see the trampoline, but also kids flying through the air and with the sounds of the metal springs squeaking. I was very excited to try ours out.

boing! boing! 

playing "popcorn" 

Go Mira go!

All that jumping is exhausting 

After our trampoline fun, we took a break to do some chores around the house. As is normal on Saturdays with the Hellesens, music was blasting throughout the living room/dining room/kitchen while we worked and I danced around as I vacuumed the floor and emptied the dishwasher. There is something about pastries for breakfast, jumping on a trampoline, and then communal chores hour to loud music that just puts you in a good mood.

Back outside, Mira and I played with the dogs and on the swing.

Junior has turned an old child's swing into a toy for himself

Then, Mira and I decided to play Just Dance (our absolute favorite activity).

I was not aware that this photo was being taken... I promise we are better than we look here (well, I hope so at least)

This is my favorite song for us to do. As you can see, I have 4 stars!!!! I mostly love it because it is a true partner dance. I definitely want to get a video of us doing this before I leave. It is quite adorable/hilarious 

One of Mira's favorite songs (and my other favorite): What Makes You Beautiful... she has 5 STARS!

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lars was undergoing a de-aging process: a haircut and shave. Helle always says that he looks 15 years younger after a cut and a shave. She might be right! :-)

Mira and Helle then went out the door to Mira's horseback riding, and Kasper sped off to his soccer game. I blogged a bit, did a good portion of a take-home essay, and got very suddenly depressed thinking about the fact that this is the last Saturday I am spending with my host family. Just then, Lars called me into the computer room to show me... yes, you guess it... YouTube videos! :-) 

In his element...

We watched a couple of great live music performances and continued my ongoing education about popular music (from the 80s through today). I postponed more work for a later time given that there are only so many more opportunities for me to procrastinate by watching funny videos online with Lars! I think it was a good decision. 

Then he and I hopped on our bikes and went to watch Kasper's soccer game. 

Where we sat/watched

Back home I took a nap! I couldn't help myself... jumping, dancing, cleaning, biking, and working left me exhausted. After twenty minutes Mira came home from riding and woke me. We decided to take a 3 minute jump outside to wake me up (it totally worked). 

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner of homemade pizza (prepared by Helle) and then fantastic homemade hazelnut dessert bread coated in homemade butter (prepared by Mira). Our dinner was nice and long, and we discussed things like parenting styles, good/bad decisions, education and relationships. It ended abruptly when we realized that we'd been talking for about an hour and a half and Helle's show has started 20 minutes before!

I helped clean up the kitchen and do the dishes and then joined the rest of the family to retire to the living room for Mira's dessert and Downton Abbey (!!!!!), which is now on in Denmark.

The baker with a plate of our delicious treats!

We made it a relatively early night, a good thing because we've had a busy Sunday too. I fell asleep happy, but considering what things I will miss most here. Weekends (be they filled with rain, snow, or sun) spent with the Hellesens may be right at the tippy top of my list.