Out + About: Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerod…

January 19, 2016

Although we keep meaning to see Frederiksborg Castle in the summertime, somehow we keep ending up there in the depth of winter. Don’t let these pictures fool you – it was cold that day! But worth it all the same.The Frederiksborg Castle is only about 45 minutes from Copenhagen in the town of Hillerod, and home to a portion of the National History museum and the Portrait Gallery. When you have little ones in tow, it makes for a nice digestible “culture” visit that has the added benefit of exploring a castle. The “dungeons” have a children’s section, however, it’s weirdly always been closed on our visits so I’ve never actually taken kids there. You’re supposed to be able to try on various gowns and royal attire. I mean, what toddler doesn’t love royal dress up? (Remember Viking dress-up?)In addition, the gallery space has been home to the Steve McCurry exhibit of his photographs from around the globe. If your little ones are curious about the world or its’ many cultures, this provides a multitude of jumping off points for those conversations with its vivid imagery.But the highlight here is really the beautifully manicured gardens. Overall gardens tend to be a little more wild and natural in style here in Denmark, whereas this one looks like it could be straight out of France. Regardless of season, the long alleys between trees and shrubs provide countless runways for little ones looking to burn off some steam and some energy. I’m always guaranteed a pretty silent car ride on the way home as the little ones recover from all the fresh air and running.

We’re still determined to see this place in full bloom though!

Snow Days…

January 18, 2016

Coming from the US, “snow days” are actually when life stops because there is snow…schools close down, work shuts down…sometimes, it’s a welcome day off. But more often than not, it means you have to scramble to figure out what you’ll do with your kids all day while at the same time, scrambling to figure out how you’ll work from home. But here in Denmark, snow days are exactly what they sound like – days full of that white stuff…The name of the game here lately has been snow… I grew up in North Dakota where snow was about as plentiful as air a good chunk of the year – if we had a snow day, there really was a good reason for it, like say a blizzard…or -40 weather. I was always so surprised how it little of it was necessary to shut down our capital city of Washington, DC when we lived there, where doors start locking at the mere mention of snow.But here in Denmark, snow days are a little closer to how I remember them – and while it’s coooooold here now, especially with the ocean winds, it’s not nearly as cold as it was in North Dakota. Which is a good thing since here kids are pretty serious about snow. We’ve had it on the ground now for about a week and each day in forest school they have been out sledding, making snow men, throwing it around…and building fires and making pots of mint tea to keep warm. I was even lucky enough to catch a ride around the yard in a sled myself courtesy of the forest schoolers. It’s been fun – and I think, much like when they’re out in the rain, it helps them embrace life in all kinds of weather, not just what we grow into thinking is “perfect” weather.Even in the free time, snow dominates. We went to a birthday party this weekend and no surprise, it was out in the snow – piñata and all! And when we went to visit friends, all the snow suits came out again while the girls ran up and down the banks surrounding the frozen lakes of Copenhagen. Yesterday a friend said that the best part of being outside in weather like this is that you really feel like you deserve the warmth inside when you make it back in, and he couldn’t have been more right.Does it also mean that we’ll deserve the warmth and sunshine of Abu Dhabi later on this week? Because that’s where we’re headed in a few days! Here come the sand days instead!

When do you stop being a toddler?

January 13, 2016

Somewhere sandwiched between the marathon of the winter holidays, just about everybody in our family managed to have a birthday. December is a busy time around here. For the younger ones, like my daughter, we celebrate more loudly…. for the older set, like myself, we celebrate a bit more quietly. Still, we always celebrate, grateful for another year for health and happiness.

This year, she turned 5 years old. Half a decade, and it all went by in seemingly the blink of an eye. I realize that this makes the title of the blog a bit misleading…she’s still in the trees daily, but she’s not so much a toddler anymore. She probably hasn’t been for about a year, even two, depending on whose definition you take of toddlerhood.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately since our collective birthdays, the holidays and the year-end blend into a long season of festivity and milestones. But what do I call her? A preschooler? A child? A young girl? All are accurate I suppose… But while she flits and floats away at the school gate just as soon as I drop her off these days, and begs for just ten minutes more to play when I come to pick her up, there is part of me that will always see her as the timid, slightly tearful toddler she was when we first started this school.

So the name here will stay, as a bit of a nod to that memory. While she’s no longer a toddler, I haven’t found quite the right moniker and I’m not sure that we’ll need to.

Her 5th birthday serves as a road marker for us, delineating the fact that she’s lived here in Denmark and been in the forest school system, longer than not. In fact, this has been the longest constant she’s had in her petite life thus far. Her 5th birthday also reminded me that these constants don’t, and won’t, last. This would be true regardless of our move, as this is her last year in this school – she’s “aging out” of the forest school preschool, so to speak. But with our return to the United States this summer, it’s not just the forest school that will change. There is a whole shifting world that will spin her around this year…

The shifts will be bittersweet, but part of me is excited to know also that she’s reaching the age where she will remember what she has here. She will remember the fresh air and the sense of community and the songs and the friends and the unbelievable team of teachers who have supported her transition from the girl who knew no one to the girl who knows everyone. I’ve been trying to capture more little everyday photos for her, filming clips of her and her friends, of the children singing…just little stuff so that she has some record of all of these foundations laid for her. I know I will remember it fondly, and I hope she will too.

Ps – if you’re wondering what’s going on with all these sequins and other flummery, this toddler that’s normally in the trees specifically requested a “dance party” for her birthday so dance party it was!