Visiting Oslo and Aarhus

We are off!

I love this shot I got of our good friends, Robin and Jim, as we cast off from Copenhagen.  We have state rooms next to each other and our balconies connect.  How cool is that?

The few cruises I have been on have been similar in the way that we board the ship in early afternoon and usually set sail around dinner.  I think that is of course by design, everyone is usually so busy eating and drinking that we hardly know we are at sea.

The best part is when you wake up in the morning and open your drapes you are usually docked at your first port.

Magic.

Or Oslo, Norway.

This is the view from our state room.

The old fortress in Oslo.

We visited this lovely city just 4 days before they commemorated the awful attack that occurred last year on July 22.

She was mowing an interesting design into the grass.

We boarded our bus and visited the Open Air Museum.

A great glimpse of life in Norway long ago.  I have Norwegian heritage and I loved imagining my ancestors living in a house like this long ago.

Our guide told us that there are more Norwegians living in the US than in Norway and I think the majority are living in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Living an isolated life in one of these small houses would be so difficult.  I can see why they tried to find their fortunes in the New World.

Norway enjoys about 18-20 hours of sunlight in the summer  { in the south ~ 24 hours in the north }  So of course the winter is the opposite. 

Can you imagine? 

This was a church that had been moved to the location.  Very beautiful and very dark inside.

Next we visited the Vigeland Sculpture Park.  

We were so fortunate to have a guide with a real love for this park and she gave us great insight into the sculptures.

These were all created by one man, and they were his vision of the human condition from birth to death.

It is one of the most visited places in Norway.

The last stop in Oslo was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump.  It was the site of the '52 Olympics. 

It was perched at the top of the city and we had a fabulous view over the city and out to the sea.

{oops ~ should have edited out my finger!}

Later that evening back on the ship ~ our favorite pastime.  Dinner!  

Our second port of call was Aarhus, Denmark.

We visited an open air museum there also.  

We went into the city center to their cathedral.

Our guide told us that there is always a ship in a Danish church.

{Can you spot the ship hanging in the photo below?}

She also told us that few Danes go to church.  It is mostly Christmas and Easter.  I am very afraid that it appears that a lot of Europe is very secular.

I remember a bishop from Uganda once telling our church, that once Europeans and Americans came to Africa to spread the word of God, and now maybe it's time for the Africans to repay the favor and send missionaries to Europe.  I think he's right.

One of my very favorite things to do in Europe is to visit old churches and see the beauty that was created to worship God.  I pray that their faith returns and that these lovely places of worship are filled with something besides tourists.

Back on the ship after 2 full days of touring.  It was a lovely sunset viewed from our balcony.

We have lots more to see on our cruise.  I am documenting this mostly for us to remember ~ but you are welcome to come along.  

Copenhagen

We left Texas and flew to New York, to Laguardia, and lucky for us, had a connecting flight to London leaving from JFK.  {don't ask how that happened!}   Insert a hot cab ride and a long layover.  Then into London and change terminals, which means leave security and go out and try to find the subway to take us to another terminal.  {while hauling all of our luggage}  Then, board another flight to Copenhagen, then a cab to the hotel.  

Finally, after about 24 hours of travel, this is the view that greets you from your hotel room. 

Lovely and worth it.

A canal view of Copenhagen, Denmark. 

We joined our good friends from Kansas at the hotel and it was so good to see them.  They, too, are celebrating 35 years.  

After dinner in the hotel and a great night of sleep we started the morning on one of those Hop on Hop off tours.  Our tour started with a canal tour and then we switched to a bus.

I think those tours are a great way to get a feel for a city in a short amount of time.

We passed under LOTS of these bridges and they are low.  Like you have to duck your head low.

See

Rosenborg Castle 

2 guards guarding the entrance to the royal jewels.

And here is the most photographed site in Copenhagen ~ according to our guide.

Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid

Lots of canals, and I thought they were so picturesque.

We were on our way the next day to the museum and happened upon this building.  We didn't know what it was but it looked important.  

It was lovely.  Lots of state events are held here in the beautiful rooms that we toured.  Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures but it was gorgeous.  I do love a nice palace:-)

Check it out here.

On our way back to our hotel I snapped a pic of this building just because...

I've no clue what it is.

We had a half day the day we arrived, then a full day, and then a morning before we boarded our ship.  We didn't see a lot, but I did feel like we hit the highlights.  

Copenhagen is a lovely city, bicycles everywhere ~ water everywhere ~

What a lovely start to our adventure.

More to come:-) 

Has It Been 35 Years?

Bob and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in June.  It really does not seem possible that it could be that long.  If I could do the math I would figure out what percent of our lives we've been together.  More than half for sure, and getting close to 75% I think.  We have been blessed in so many ways, and are thankful for each and every day.

We took a Mediterranean Cruise for our 30th, and decided to take another cruise for this one.

Can you guess where we are?

I try to take a picture of each countries' flags ~ but I confess that I didn't know them either.

But I do now:-)

This is not the Red Cross, this is the Danish flag.

Norway

Germany

Estonia

Russia

Sweden

and I've searched my photos over and over, but I can't find the flag of Finland.   We did go there too, so just imagine a white flag with a blue cross. 

As you probably can guess, we went on a Baltic cruise.  It was pretty terrific ~ but kind of hard to describe.  When you go to England or France or Italy, it is easy to tell everyone what sights you've seen.  They are all so familiar to everyone.

These places were not as familiar to me so visiting on a cruise ship was a great way to get a little taste of each country.  But hard to tell just what you saw to the folks back home.  No "name brand" monuments to tell about. {well, the Berlin wall is kinda famous as are a few of the palaces in St. Petersburg}

We went on the Emerald Princess, and I didn't take one picture of the ship.  Luckily for you, we took the very same ship on it's inaugural year to the Mediterranean.  Here is a fuzzy picture of the ship docked in Ephesus, Turkey.

It's big.

~ Really big ~

But the rooms are small.

{flowers are from my 30th trip too ~ no flowers for 35 ~ hmmm}

Just in case you want to see a cruise ship potty ~ it's this small.

For the next few days I will be posting about our trip.  Mostly for my memory.  Please come back if you would like to see some random shots taken from buses and boats.  This was a trip that did not produce stellar photos ~ but we have some stellar memories.

And that's what it's all about.

Happy Birthday!

Today our girls turn 33!  How can that be?

We returned last night from our 35th anniversary trip, just in time to celebrate with our girls today. 

Jessica and her boys~ 

Laura and her kids~

Jackson is enjoying his ice cream.  He ate every bite of dinner and the huge bowl of ice cream and then I saw him raise the bowl.  Do you see the melted ice cream running out of the bowl?  What a sweet mess that boy is!

We missed these little monkeys while we were gone.  I'll be blogging about our trip as I sort through the photos and try to figure out my pictures.  

We had a marvelous time but we are so glad to be home and sleeping in our own bed.  There is nothing like HOME! 

 Today it was wonderful to spend time with our girls and their families ~ we are so proud of them and the families they are raising.  We love you Laura and Jessica!

{ and lest I forget, my brother and sister, also twins, were born on this day 46 years ago ~ Happy Birthday Ross and Amy! }

Red, White, and BOOM!

I am a little late to all of the parties ~ July 8, instead of the 4th.  But as a grandma I have to share my grands, and  our daughter Jessica spent the week in Kansas and just returned yesterday.

So we celebrated as a family today with a little red, white and BOOM!  

{if I knew how to edit, I would remove the pile of "real life" from the high chair.  That is where I pile stuff in anticipation of my girls coming over.  Little things they have forgotten or things I am trying to unload give them.}

A setting for a "big" kid.

And one for  a little.

Yummy

Greeting our cousins we haven't seen in awhile.

Aren't these the cutest little nut cups?  I am so happy I found red white and blue gummies.  Because I really am not interested in gummy candy they keep really well at my house.  My grands love them and so do my son in laws.

You've got to have red, white and blue drinks too!

We were going to grill, but I forgot I had bought red, white, and blue pasta {no picture ~ but CUTE from Costco} so, the menu was changed to pasta and meatballs.

We still had to eat our chips and cheese.  Those are cute little chip holders from World Market.

I was going to make the fruit skewers that were all over Pinterest, but I only had the short skewers.  This is called improvise, but I think it turned out cute.

And for our art project, the kids stamped white stars on blue paper and Elizabeth cut out all of the steamers and we just stapled the whole thing together to make our patriotic windsocks.

I did not have one patriotic book to read.  Gasp!  I had given the book The Star Spangled Banner and a book about George Washington that I purchased at Mount Vernon to the kids earlier this summer.  Hopefully the moms will read them to them. 

The kids have all reached the 100 book mark, so we will celebrate this week with lunch out and a trip to the TOY store.  Fun for all I'm sure.

Here is my list thus far ...

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2.  Corduroy

3.  The Story of Ferdinand

4.  The Runaway Bunny

5.  Make Way for Ducklings

6.  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

7.  If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

8.  Doctor De Soto

9.  Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

10.  Goodnight Moon

11.  Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First

12.  Pretty Salma, A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa

13.  Madeline

14.  Thunder Cake

15.  On A Summer Day

16.  Swimmy

17.  Caps For Sale

18.  Tikki Tikki Tembo

                          19. Zomo The Rabbit, A Trickster Tale from West Africa

 20.  The Snowy Day

  21.  Chicken Little

22.  The Three Bears

look here, here, and here for Grandma's Camp Read A Lot posts.

I have got to get reading to the kids to even come close to their records.  I was hoping for 50 books, but I guess we'll see.

We are kind of in the midst of a whole house overhaul ~ it's kind of like "If you give a mouse a cookie" style of decorating.  The new floors required new baseboards in some rooms, and a whole house cleaning of some serious dust.  Then perhaps some new accessories and on and on.  You get the picture.  I hope to start to post some pictures of the spic and span spaces soon.  I'd like to get back into regular posting.  

For now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day, and I hope you all will have a great week!