Egeskov Slot

I was told that that translates to Oakwoods Castle. We were there with playgroup on Friday, and at this moment last Friday seems so far away, but I'll try to remember some highlights.

The castle and castle grounds were beautiful. This castle even had a large moat. A trickle of a stream came into the grounds on the north side, was damned up (the moat), and then flowed out to the south/south west.

This is a picture of Peter taking a picture of the knight.


I'm sorry to say that the inside of the castle wasn't that spectacular. First, this castle still has inhabitants - a duke and his wife I think - for at least some parts of the year. Therefore, only a small portion of the castle is open to visitors. On the inside it looks like the large *homes* on the shows I've been watching on BBC. I don't know why, but in my head I was expecting a medieval type castle...cold, dark, a bit scary. It was not that.

The highpoint for ALL the kids - as always - was the big playground. New here was an extremely tall spiral staircase that led up up up. Then you would cross over a suspended bridge to another tree and bridge, and on and on, and you would get back down via another spiral staircase. Peter (and I) made it a little over half way up when he decided he would rather not play on the bridges. You could see through the holes in the metal stairs as you went up, and that's what did him in I think.




Since were all worn out, I decided that I wanted to go out for a burger dinner। I have to say, it can be nearly impossible to find a place to eat (especially on a weekend) here is Odense. At least we've wised up and are now trying to call and make a reservation. But now we need to learn to call at least one night in advance, maybe more. And we just don't do that. After a bit of wandering, we ended up at a burger tavernish place in the mall. It was not too crowded, the service was good, and so was the burger. Peter was just happy to have ice AND a straw with his water.

And just for fun, here is a photo of what it looks outside our place at 10:30 at night. Your mind just doesn't want to turn off when its this light outside.

Out and About

Yesterday was oh-so-windy so we stayed close to home, played games, and practiced our letters. Since today was not quite as windy we tried to go the European automobile museum that is not too far from our place. I checked out the web page – it said open daily 5/7 through (I can’t remember when). Anyway, I thought it was open; its after may 7th.

I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS forget that they switch the month and date. So yep, it was closed (its not July 5th yet).

Having a whole day ahead of us, I tried out some new bike paths. At one point our path turned to gravel, then a bit later into a gravel field road. When I thought Pete and I were basically in the middle of nowhere, we heard children playing. It turned out to be a skov bornehaven. Skov means forest, and these bornehavens load the kids onto a bus and take them outdoors somewhere to play and frolic all day long. These are immensely popular here.

Then we headed on over to the craft store at the mall. I wanted to get Pete some straight kid-size scissors. We found some (yippee), plus we found some paints.



Here is Pete in jeans - running and eating some candy. He looks so much older. Don't worry grandma, he's still just little boy.

Peter, Peter, Peter

Peter, Peter, Peter...No, I'm not quoting Jan Brady, but did you know there is a songbird with exactly that same call? I won't tell you its name here, or people googling bad words might visit this page, and I don't want that to happen.

Anyway...Peter has been pretty *fantastisk* (try to say that Danish word out loud, just try it, I had to practice it for days) lately about trying foods. He may not want seconds, but I've gotten more new stuff in him lately than in the last 4 years of his life. And I'm pretty confident that cucumber and nectarines can be considered part of his diet now. Wow, cucumber along with carrots makes TWO! edible vegetables in Pete's world. Right now they are selling these mini cucumbers in the stores. They are the size of skinny, but big, pickles and they are smooth on the outside. They make for great monster teeth.



And he is still happy to do a bit of art now and then. He is getting good at cutting and tracing. He gets frustrated with coloring because I think he wants it to be perfect, but he can't do that yet. So, I deliberately color out of the lines to show him that its OK.


Also, with the strike going on its second week, I've decided to make a schedule for each day. It varies, and he has some input. It says when we'll go outside, when we'll have book time, alone play time. This is working out better than me telling him what I think we should do. If I simply say - the schedule says its time for a walk - then he goes along with it better. One of the best things about Pete is that in his mind a rule is rule, no need to question it.

And here's another cute photo from our day at legoland (our friend took this picture). Crazy kids.

Reptile Zoo

Friday, playgroup was slated to go to Terrariett, but we were the only ones that made it there. That's probably OK too, I don't think the little girls in playgroup would have really liked it much, a few too many loose (but well fed) cockroaches.

Pete's refection in the turtle aquarium. These guys were neat. The aquarium next to it had giant, grey, gross sea worms.


Lots of the lizard pens were not totally enclosed. I guess they can't climb smooth surfaces, only bumpy.



Pete standing on the rat poison box. You see these things all over DK. Speaking of rats, we asked the keeper what the giant python ate - maybe that's what all those guinea pigs were for? Nope, he said. The big snake doesn't care much for guinea pigs, he prefers dead (but warmed up) rats or bunnies.





This guys kept pacing his cage, if he got out he'd be gone in a flash.


And here is Pete later that day looking too cute in his bright blue muscle shirt.

Peterbacca no more

Pete was looking a bit scraggly, so I took advantage of him being home and me having the car to go and get him a haircut this morning. Usually the man will spike Pete's hair, but today he got a mohawk.


Pete's big obsession right now (other than his new key and key chain from Legoland) is muscle shirts. He has to wear one everyday, if he doesn't he will just "die" from being too hot. So don't be fooled by the photo, its nice here, but not above 65 degrees.

We were at Legoland yesterday with friends. Unlike last time, it was cool out, but it didn't rain, and it wasn't a holiday, so there were no lines for the rides. Plus we saw the 4D movie (that means a 3D movie plus wind and a squirt of water), and the aquarium.





Pete picked out a street cleaner truck at the Legoland gift shop. We put it together last night, and then he did it again himself (for the most part) this morning. This is good because in the past Peter wants to keep whatever is built together - forever. And we are trying to show him that much of the fun with legos is taking them apart and then putting them back together again. Peter also picked out a Chewbacca lego key chain (thanks Lone) - which he has named Harry. I finally found a spare key to put on it, and now he won't stay away from the cupboard. Locking, unlocking, sticking things in, taking them out. Maybe its a good time to read The Indian In The Cupboard.

Odense Zoo

Well, the strike is on, and rather than stay at home, Pete and I went off to the zoo for a few hours. New on this visit - The tiger pen is all fixed up and the tiger is out of quarantine, so that was quite nice to see. It was laying right next to the fence...honestly, you could have pet it, and it was just HUGE.





This is part of the tiger pen display - a poacher's car, crashed through the fence, full of guns, coffee, and vodka.



The other "new" thing at the zoo would be the plants. All the trees have leaves, and there are flower and plants everywhere. It was a nice change.

Climb Every Mountain

That's Pete's motto. Friday we visited an exhibit on the six senses at the Brandts Museum downtown. It was quite contemporary, so some of the rooms "I got", and some were over my head. The kids enjoyed it - so that's all that really matters.

Pete climbed the statue out front, the one out back, the amphitheatre stage, and miscellaneous other things downtown. Happily, here nobody cares - so go for it. Lots of the statues downtown had a t-shirt strapped to them some way or another regarding the daycare strike - something like..equal pay and/for equal education.




Here are the boys - watching a dump truck and crane outside the museum. I knew something was up when the room got quiet. They kind of all just zombied over to the window and kept staring.


We were right downtown next to the walking streets and good shops, so after we parted with the group I got Pete some sandals. I spent some moola and got good ones. It was either that, or shopping around for half the summer trying to find decent ones for a lower price. Now we don't have to think about it anymore. In case you're wondering, Peter's been taping tools to his arms, turning himself into a fighting machine.


Just for Dave - At dinner the other night Pete asked who God was. I said that its like the same little speck stuck to your skin, and the table, and the tree. And that when we do nice things, we feel a tickle from that speck. Pete said - Oh, so I do something nice and then I have to itch?

Saturday we went to a BBQ on a farm (American wife, and Danish husband). First we had Danish coffee - coffee, bread & butter, and cakes. Then, as *is custom* we went for hike on the farm, and the kids played hide and seek in the wheat fields. And yep, those are chicken nuggets on the grill. Can you believe that they took the longest to cook?