May 11, 2016 - So Much to Say

There has been a LOT going on for our family these days.  Kristoffer and I are both having a very busy week of work, coinciding with our final weeks here in Dar.  Right before I started "exam season" at IST (my 4th year conducting exams here), we had one crazy week where we both packed out of our house AND bought a new house in America!  We don't actually close on our house until June 30th, but everything went well (offer, home inspection, appraisal, etc) and it's almost ours.  This is a huge step for Kristoffer and me - finally feeling all grown up with a home of our own. 

So we had this going on here in Dar...

...at the same time that my parents had this going on for us in Maryland...

 That was a very big week!

(Note that it was torrentially raining in Dar as they loaded the truck...and I cried like a baby!)

Throughout it all, the kids have been mostly great.  I would be remiss to say that Grace and Noah aren't without some anxiety and serious emotions related to our move.  That is completely normal, of course, and I would be worried if they weren't having some big feelings!  After all, they have never lived outside of East Africa and they both feel very connected to the wonderful lives they have lived here.  We are muddling our way through more frequent temper tantrums, more frequent iPad time (with all favorite toys currently on a ship bound for America), and seemingly endless bickering between them.  I have braced myself that this is only the beginning - as there is SO much change to come...and I am trying to be more patient both with them and with myself. But anyway, it's not all bad...

Noah has had some great times with his friends these days...

 And really enjoyed "Sports Day" at his school!

(I know I am biased, but he really is the cutest...isn't he?!?!)

Grace, as usual, is a social butterfly.  Hula hooping is a big part of her life these days and today her "hula hoop club" did a performance at an assembly for the whole school!  I have never in my life been able to hula hoop - but she has the perfect build for it and loves to do it!  She's a wiz!

I was treated to a special Mother's Day breakfast in bed (one of my favorite things! I've missed it since last year!) and have a true "gift" coming up in that I'm going away to Naivasha, Kenya for a few days next week with some of my friends from Nairobi.  I haven't seen them in 4 years and can't wait for some kid-free time with them!  Woo hoo!

And our Aya...sweet Aya...has been perfecting her pout, as you can see here.

She is so full of energy and enthusiasm and loves to play at school and make up her own songs and generally is so fun and funny.  But she has some extreme-toddler moments where she is just a real handful.  I am not sure how much she understands that things are changing - certainly her bedroom is almost empty now! It was very sad when we packed up her rocking chair...before it went on the truck she was like, "Open my chair!"  Aya is young enough that we know she won't remember this part of her life - but that also makes me a little bit sad.  She LOVES Oliver and I will feel very sad when we have to say goodbye to her.  Certainly Aya views Oliver as her best friend and one of the most important people in her life... and she won't really know that we're saying goodbye, probably forever. I am sure she will "get over" her  relatively quickly, but I also know that she will miss her incredibly for awhile. This transition is emotional!

Did I forget about Kristoffer?  He is working, working, working.  And doing some running and swimming on the side, but mostly just working!  After a short trip to Kenya next week, work should calm down a little bit for him as he starts to prepare for working from DC instead.  We had a wonderful evening at the yacht club last week where he had a great sunset swim with the kids and we enjoyed pizza night at the new "banda" (they've only been building it for years...) overlooking the beach.  Something we will miss about Dar, for sure!

So that's where we are and how we are these days.  

In 5 weeks, we will say a sweet goodbye to Tanzania! 

LMW

June 20, 2015 - Fourth and Final Nordic School Circus

This year we saw the Nordic School Circus for the last time.  As always it was a very sweet way to end the year.  Noah's performed as a circus dog - specifically, a Dalmatian.  He took his role very seriously. Especially because he knew he would get a "treat" at the end :)

You can see his cute little dog act below.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MR-E5RQivik" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Grace and her best friend Mattias attempted a stand-up comedy act.  It had to do with singing "the itsy bitsy spider" in different languages...Mattias (who is Swedish) started off in Danish and Grace (who is Danish) started off in Swedish and then they ended up in English.  I thought they were going to through Norwegian or Kiswahili in there but that didn't quite happen.  People were a little bit unsure of what was going on, but Grace and Mattias thought they were hilarious so that was great. And they clearly did not have stage fright! See below...

At the end there was the annual singing of both the Swedish National Anthem and the Tanzanian National Anthem (almost my favorite part).  I wished Kristoffer had been here for it, but he was in Uganda.  I was reminded of last year when Noah performed for the first time (the year before he would not!) and how it was the first time we had Aya out in Dar at 6 weeks old.  This time she sat in my lap, rocking to the music and wondering why exactly her nap was interrupted for this crazy show!

And with that, we say goodbye to the Nordic School.  

We wish you all the best.

Cheers,

LMW

April 15, 2015 - Belated Easter

Better late than never?

This might go down in history as the least documented family holiday we've ever had.  Literally.  And what was documented was done so quite poorly. Our Canon camera battery died and I couldn't find the charger (of course) and then some water got under the screen of my iPhone case (which I didn't know) and I couldn't get it to work (you'll notice a picture below of me holding my phone in such a way - I kept sliding or typing and nothing was happening! ARGH!).  Sigh, this was a bummer because it was Aya's first Easter.  

But the kids woke up to the Easter Bunny having visited.  The Easter Bunny was pretty tricky this year (the kids didn't like that SO much) and, in fact, there weren't soooo many eggs to hunt for because maybe the Easter Bunny's shipment of plastic eggs did not arrive to Tanzania via courier as expected.  But anyway...the morning was nice and we got ready for a big brunch with 4 other families that we hosted at our house.  I missed going to church, as I do.  

The brunch was supposed to be pot-luck and super casual - both of those things came true.  It was also just a bit louder than we expected, but honestly, what were we thinking?!  13 adults, 8 kids and 3 babies!  LOUD!  But it was fun and nice to be with our "Dar family" for the holiday to make it seem less like every other Sunday.  I was super nostalgic for last Easter which happened right after Kristoffer, Grace, and Noah arrived in Boston and with my family and was the day before Aya's birthday.  I was pretty much unknowingly in labor that day - I was super uncomfortable, and yet I remember it as a really great holiday.

So anyway, with our brunch bunch we also did an Easter egg hunt outside and Grace and Noah decorated a fantastic Easter Bunny cake (no, it did not look like the one on Pinterest, but had WAY more character...don't you think?).   It was a nice day!

No more holidays to look forward to until 4th of July.  By hook or by crook, we are determined to somehow be in America for it this year (first time in 6 years!).  Can't wait for that!

LMW

February 13, 2015 - This Year's Fastelavn

Fastelavn is a Nordic, especially a Danish, tradition that involves kids dressing up in costumes and hitting a barrel/pinata for goodie bags.  A simple-minded American like myself might think of it as the "Danish Halloween."  And today was the day!

Noah was insanely cute in full costume as Darth Vader, including black winter gloves and black socks in 95F weather [No, that is not an exaggeration.  That was the temperature.  I checked!]. My favorite part of the whole event was when he first got into his costume ALL of the kids in his class were so amazed.  They were telling him how cool it was and asking to try on his helmet, try his light saber, press the "buttons".  I could tell by the look on his face that this otherwise little-bit-of-a-loner really FELT cool.  He told me, "Everybody loves my costume the most!  Can you believe it?!"  So the thick layer of sweat covering his whole body was worth it for that moment when the world was his oyster.

He even tried bobbing for apples!

When I just flashed back to last year's Fastelavn I realized that Grace is wearing the exact same "costume" (literally...just different leggings!).  Hmmm...not very creative on our part, but I encouraged her to try something new (Elsa, anyone?) and she just insisted that she could only be a dragon.  At least you can compare the pictures and see that she has grown!

When I think back to last year's party, it was hot, I was "very" pregnant, it was the day before Grace's birthday party, and I was really hoping to not go into premature labor before I got to Boston.  How quickly that year has gone!

And I know, I know...what about my New Year's Resolution to blog more!  Well, we had a good run in January, didn't we?  More on that tomorrow...

LMW

January 1, 2015 - Ringing in the New Year

Starting off the new year with a new post!  That's a good way to be better than last year, for sure.  We had a lot of fun celebrating last night with Kristoffer's family.  There were crazy hats, lots of decorations, party poppers, and very exciting fireworks...not to mention some great food, drinks, and happy company! Truly a great way to say goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015.

 A catered dinner was so lovely!

 Kristoffer relived his days training the Royal Queen's Guard in the military.  Noah was fascinated!

 Like every New Year's Eve, at 6 pm sharp the Queen addresses the nation.  I learned that she is the only one in any country who does it LIVE!  And you know, Danes love their Queen!

 Aya stayed up so late trying on hats and playing with everyone.  She was down just before midnight actually - ack! The fireworks outside and excited siblings made it pretty hard to sleep.

 Noah and Uncle Rasmus even started planning for what Santa should bring NEXT Christmas!

We spent a lot of time outside watching and lighting fireworks.  Noah was a little bit scared but found out that the sparklers were just his speed.

Grace, on the other hand, might have a future in pyrotechnics.  She LOVED lighting small fireworks with her cousins and running away from them.  Hans had bought some big ones that we watched while the kids were still awake.  It was really fun! (also, this American was a little freaked out...but notice the safety goggles.)  

Hoping this was the first of many happy nights in the coming year.  We are starting to pack up now and will head back to Tanzania in two more days. It's been a really great Christmas trip to Denmark, and we're also looking forward to getting the kids back into the regular routines of everyday life.  That's what keeps this time of year so special!

Again, Happy New Year!

LMW