Running Tonight

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The pavement and the streets were glazed with recent rain that had just started to freeze, and the first kilometer was more about skating and keeping my balance than it was about running. After that it got better and I had quite a nice run, though it was not a fast one.

I started running again a few weeks ago after the very snowy period we had here in Denmark and all the illness we had in the family. And if you’re thinking about getting out there running, I really just want to bring some encouragement to the table, because it may be cold and dark, and I may be tired in the evening, but I am genuinely enjoying my runs! I use the running app Endomondo for my iPhone to track my routes, which also adds motivation by enabling me to compare and share my runs. Also, during my last run, Mads discovered the peptalk function in Endomondo, and receiving messages like “Run faster you lazy bastard”, and “You go girl” in my headphones during my run just cracked me up.

A winter walk in Køge Marina

Anyway, most of the snow is gone, but it’s still winter here with the temperatures that follow. Last weekend, we all went for a walk in Køge Marina. Mads and I recently learned that we’re first in line for a space there that fits our boat, which is brilliant because it means we’ll have our boat (wrote about it here) much closer to home when summer and sailing season arrives.

Køge Marina

Don’t you just long for summer now? I do. We are seeing more of the sun, though, so I guess we’ll do with that for now.

A Wonderful Weekend

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Yellow 

We had such a nice weekend with wonderfully mild weather. Saturday, Mads did some work outside, building a new fence, and while he was at it, Ronja enjoyed herself for hours – literally – digging for earth worms and playing in the sand box. So while Frida had her nap, I had some quiet time for the tidying and cleaning in the house. I know the last task may not sound all that exciting, but if you’re used to having the kids running between your legs while tidying up, you consider it somewhat of a luxury to be left alone with your doings.

Sunday Mads did a half marathon – isn’t he cool? A year ago I would have never thought he was about to start running, and now he’s so serious about it. The run was in Jutland in a town called Taulov (a 180 km drive from here), and the girls and I went with him. He did the 21.1 km in 1 hour 52 minutes, which I find pretty amazing!

Buds on the Japanese Cherry Tree 

On the way home we visited my cousin and her family near Odense which is always wonderful. We got home rather late last night, and the girls fell asleep in the car. Today they have both been tired and showing signs of too little sleep, so we’re just hoping they’ll be over it by tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’re receiving a visit from the nurse who has been our regular contact since Frida was born. She specializes in clefts, and she’s going to be telling us a bit about the operation that Frida’s going through at the end of this month. I’ll be working from home so I can hear what she has to say as well – and I’m looking forward to it too, because she’s just such a warm person, and it’s a great thing that she comes here to answer our questions and prepare us for what’s coming.

Lots of fresh air

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This past weekend was spent outside in the very changing weather. Saturday we had a very nice trip to the kite festival by the Eremitage Palace. Below you see a huge bear-kite that someone had in the air. It had a smaller bear behind it, which is seen here. Ronja thought they were funny, but in this picture she is enthusiastically holding one of our own kites.

Ronja below the big bear kite

It was raining on and off while we were there, but it was so fascinating to see hundreds of kites in the air on such a small area. Ronja’s beautiful new butterfly-kite proved to be a bit difficult to keep in the air – it kept moving in one direction and towards the ground, so perhaps some tweaking is needed. However, Frida’s lively miniature clown-kite was lots of fun. I do think even Frida enjoyed looking at all the kites, and the cheerful clown-kite really caught her attention because we were able to fly it quite low.

Frida's tiny clown kite

Many people brought handbuild kites, and it was really amazing to see how much energy and creativity the true enthusiasts that were present put into it. Mads has become so hooked, I believe he may have found himself a new hobby – and the rest of us don’t mind!

Autumn

Sunday Mads and I participated in a 7.5 km run called Gribskovløbet. The girls came along in the baby joggers, and even though the route through the forest on muddy trails with gnarled tree roots proved not to be all that suitable for the baby joggers, we had a very nice time. I know I mentioned this before, but running with a child in a baby jogger presents a whole new scenario, compared to running by yourself without anything (or anyone) else to worry about. I’m only slowly adjusting to that, and quite frankly, I think it’s hard. Mads is a lot better at it than I am, but I’m determined on improving my running - even with a baby jogger. We’ll see.

Busy! Did you guess?

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Evening sky  

I’m busy at the moment, and I’m thinking you probably knew… Haven’t been sewing at all for weeks, and I’m neglecting my own blog as well as the blogs, that I follow. You know it’s bad, when your readers start asking you where you are… Sorry about that everybody (and especially you, Rikki)! :)

Bear with me – I will share what’s going on, I just need you to have a little more patience.

At the Chinese restaurant 

For the first time in ages, this past weekend was one with no plans in particular. I love that – blank days in the calendar, with spending time together as the most important thing. Friday night we all went to our favourite Chinese restaurant, and we had such a nice time. The girls were exemplary, Frida spent the entire time eating shrimp chips, and Ronja wandered cheerfully around the restaurant, twirling a bit here and there. The tablecloth had Chinese signs all over it, and we got to talking with Ronja about how those are the Chinese letters. She thought they looked rather difficult, and we asked the sweet Chinese waitress if she was able to write Ronja in Chinese. She wasn’t quite sure, but she said it would be something like what the note below shows. Mads and I joked around with the fact that she could have written “Dumb Danes” and we would be clueless…

At the Chinese restaurant     Ronja in Chinese - we think... 

Saturday we decided to take the girls for a run, meaning that Mads and I ran, each with a kid in a Baby Jogger. Mads gave me a Baby Jogger for my birthday last year, when Frida had just been born, and we recently bought another one second hand to be able to run together and bring both girls. I must admit, that to me running with a baby jogger is pretty tough. Being used to focusing only on myself, my breathing, and my running, it makes a big difference when you have to handle the baby jogger as well, not to mention being there to answer questions from your child. I hope my baby jogger running will become less of an effort with more practice. The girls enjoyed the trip, I think – until they both fell asleep.

Sunday we were all sick – Frida and I still are. Sore throats and runny noses for everyone – I’m not sure if the long trip in the fresh air was to blame, but I suspect so. Even though the girls were wrapped up pretty good, there was a strong chilly wind, and we all had mild colds to begin with. So Sunday was spent inside the house, which was ok I guess, since it was raining all through the day. We spent some time tidying up some stuff, and as the girls, Ronja in particular, needed some action in spite of the day indoors, I painted her face. Not in the nose-area, though – it still had to be wiped…

Face painting     You sure look pretty!

A princess

Ronja loves to have her face painted, she is ok at sitting still for a 4-year old, and I actually think it’s fun to do it. I’d love to be really good at it – check out for example what this woman can do… I find it amazing how simple it looks!

So anyway – I hope I’ll find time to do some sewing soon – at least I can promise you that I’m not going anywhere!

Frida below the apple tree

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At the last part of my running route, I always see two horses – well, there are quite a few horses on the trip, but these two are different. They are standing close to the road, having their grassy dinner, and looking very peaceful. There are not many people around in that area, so I always go “Hi horses” when I run by. And they turn their heads and nod kindly (well maybe that last bit is my imagination, but you get the point), and they’re probably thinking “There’s that crazy lady again – whatever is she trying to catch?”. Anyway, I like our little rendezvous. My run yesterday evening was tough, so the friendly nod from the two horses was very welcome!

Got a few shots of Frida in the shade of the apple tree, wearing her apples yesterday.

Frida wearing her apples

I was amused that Jeannine in my comments on the last post tried to guess what Frida would be wearing with the blouse for the modeled pic. Could’ve been both red pants and blue jeans, Jeannine – however with the heat we’re having, I went with the more natural look.  ;)

Looking up through the leaves

As always, I was considering several combinations of fabric for this blouse, and I’m so glad I chose to leave the fabric alone.

By the way – Frida is soooo crawling now! Not just experimenting – really crawling!

And then one final thing: We just ordered our vacation, so we’re leaving tomorrow for a week in Greece! :)

Copenhagen ZOO

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Last night after the children had been put to sleep, I was out running. I had the most beautiful scenery – the dark forest against a lavender sky, with shiny pink clouds coloured by the setting sun. I wish I could show you pictures, but my description will have to do. I had a wonderful run, though – the best yet.

Last time I was out running, was last Friday. After I posted pictures of my route to my blog that Friday night, I went to bed. And then I fell ill. I won’t go into details, just say that I spent the entire Saturday in my bed. My mother was coming Sunday, and we had so many plans for that Saturday of things that we wanted to get done – instead Mads looked after the girls while he cleaned the house, did the shopping, and patted me on the head once in a while. What an amazing guy I’ve got me!

So when my mother arrived on Sunday, I can’t say I was totally fit, but at least I wasn’t sick anymore. We had some really nice days, going to the ZOO, to Køge (the nearest commercial town), and just relaxing at home. The Copenhagen ZOO is wonderful – they just opened a new enclosure for the elephants, including a house that was designed by Norman Foster and it is quite stunning. The elephants have so much space there – you can actually tell that they are happy!

Scratchy nose...     Copenhagen ZOO 

Walking in an elephant's footsteps 

Copenhagen ZOO     Watching an elephant

I have a short note on Frida, who is taking a few leaps at the moment. She can actually crawl now. When she needs to get from A to B in a hurry, her old method (pulling and pushing her way around) is still the quickest, but she’s experimenting a lot with crawling. She also had her two upper front teeth a few days ago, so she’s chewing on everything she can get in her mouth.

Our summer vacation starts today – we haven’t got anything planned, except that we’re going to take a trip to Amsterdam to visit my brother and his wife – other than that we’ll probably start planning today… ;)