Glædelig Advent og 1. december

Dansk (english below):

Så blev det (endelig) december! Og hvis december er lig med sne, julelys og kakao så er det i sandhed blevet december her. 

Som skrevet i sidste blogindlæg, så faldt der i weekenden 20 cm. sne. så vi fik fundet kælkene frem og drukker masser af kakao.

Da min søster og hendes familie besøgte os, kom de med både et kalenderlys og julekalendere til os alle. Så i weekenden blev der også tid til at lave en kalenderdekoration og selvfølgelig få tændt vores adventskrans (i år købt på Amazon😊). Desuden er julekalenderen udvalgt (blandt dem man kan se i udlandet fra DRTV), så nu kan december og julehyggen bare komme an. 

I søndags (1. søndag i advent) havde jeg fornøjelsen af at spille til gudstjenesten i kirken (igen). Der var selvfølgelig jule-/adventssange på programmet. Desuden blev både Mary og jeg spurgt om vi ville spille med til "speciel music" indslaget også - hvilket vi jo selvfølgelig sagde ja til😁. 

Det kan ses/høres her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIvpdcr3tL4

Musikken starter ved 9:40 og "Special Music" ved 30:40.

Nu glæder vi os til en skøn, om end meget anderledes, december måned end vi er vant til. Normalt er kalenderen jo fyldt med masser af traditioner som div. advents- og julemarkeder, koncerter med flere af Marys kor, julefrokoster, konfekt og alt muligt at andet godt. I år føler vi, at december i hvert fald er startet i et andet gear end normalt. Lad os se om det også forbliver sådan. 

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English (translated through google translate):

So it was (finally) December! And if December equals snow, Christmas lights and cocoa, then it has truly become December here. 

As written in the last blog post, 20 cm. of snow fell over the weekend. so we managed to find the sleds and drink lots of cocoa.

When my sister and her family visited us, they brought both a calendar candle and Christmas calendars for all of us. So this weekend there was also time to make a calendar decoration and of course light our Advent wreath (this year bought on Amazon😊). In addition, the Christmas calendar has been selected (among those that you can see abroad from DRTV), so now December and the Christmas cheer can just arrive. 

Last Sunday (1st Sunday in Advent) I had the pleasure of playing at the church service (again). Of course, there were Christmas/Advent songs on the program. In addition, both Mary and I were asked if we wanted to play for the "special music" feature as well - which we of course said yes to😁.

It can be seen/heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIvpdcr3tL4

The music starts at 9:40 and "Special Music" at 30:40.

Now we are looking forward to a wonderful, and very different, December than we are used to. Normally the calendar is filled with lots of traditions such as various Advent and Christmas markets, concerts with several of Mary's choirs, Christmas parties, confectionery and all sorts of other good things. This year we feel that December has at least started in a different gear than usual. Let's see if it stays that way.

Thanksgiving!

Dansk (English below): 

Selvom Thanksgiving ikke er en dansk højtid, så er det noget vi har fejret sammen lige siden vi mødte hinanden tilbage i 2005. Første gang var i Iowa (hos en af vores Watermark-venner). Siden er det blevet til 18 år i Danmark med skønne venner. Nu her 20 år senere er vi så tilbage i USA igen og kan få den "fulde" oplevelse endnu engang. 

Drengene (og Mary) havde fri fra skole allerede fra tirsdag og resten af ugen. Vi havde bestemt os for at vi (endelig) skulle besøge Great Wolf Lodge. Dette hotel, med indbygget vandland (ala Lalandia), ligger tæt ved lufthavnen i Minneapolis, så hvert år, når vi kører forbi, har spørgsmålet lydt "Skal vi ikke nok prøve det i år". Takket være en fantastisk tilbud kom tiden endelig hvor forventningerne kunne indfries. Vi havde en overnatning fra tirsdag til onsdag med svømning begge dage. Det var to skønne dage med masser af hygge både i poolen, i arkaden og på hotelværelset. 

Arcade fun!

Game night

Torsdag var det så endelig tid til Thanksgiving. Dagen startede ud stille og roligt hvor alle kunne tage det i deres tempo. Vi var inviteret ud til Grandpa og Liz sammen med Johnny og Molly til kl. 15.00, hvor menuen bød på en lækker traditionel Thanksgiving feast. Inden vi tog afsted fik vi også oplevet Macy's Thanksgiving Parade" og en smugle Football som begge er ikoniske og en del af den fulde oplevelse. 

Video chat with our danish Thanksgiving friends

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV

Thanksgiving at Grandpa and Liz's

Vi havde en skøn dag, hvor vi endelig kunne få lov til at fejre den med vores amerikanske siden af familien. 

Fredag besøgte vi Marys moster og onkel i Winona hvor vi blev forkælet dagen igennem med både mad, selskab og gode oplevelser. Om aftenen var der varslet snestom, så vi tog køreturen (2½ time) hjem igen og lørdag vågnede vi op til 20 cm sne. Så resten af weekenden gik selvfølgelig med div. sneaktiviteter. 

En lille sidenote: Mandag var der forældresamtaler for alle tre drenge. De fik alle meget ros og lærerne fortalte at de var rigtig glade for at have dem i klassen.  

English (translated by Gemini): 

Even though Thanksgiving is not a Danish holiday, it is something we have celebrated together ever since we met back in 2005. The first time was in Iowa (hosted at one of our Watermark friends). Since then, it has been 18 years in Denmark with lovely friends. Now, 20 years later, we are back in the US again and can have the "full" experience once more.

The boys (and Mary) were off from school from Tuesday and for the rest of the week. We decided that we should (finally) visit Great Wolf Lodge. This hotel with an built-in water park (like Lalandia) is close to the airport in Minneapolis, so every year, when we drive past, the question has been "Shouldn't we try it this year?" Thanks to a fantastic offer, the time finally came when the anticipation could be fulfilled. We had an overnight stay from Tuesday to Wednesday with swimming both days. It was two wonderful days filled with lots of fun, both in the pool, in the arcade, and in the hotel room.

Thursday, it was finally time for Thanksgiving. The day started out calm and slow, where everyone could take it at their own pace. We were invited to Grandpa and Liz's, along with Johnny and Molly, for 3:00 PM, where the menu offered a delicious traditional Thanksgiving feast. Before we left, we also experienced Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and a little bit of Football, both of which are iconic and part of the full experience. We had a wonderful day where we finally got to celebrate it with our American side of the family.

On Friday, we visited Mary's aunt and uncle in Winona where we were spoiled throughout the day with food, company, and great experiences. A snowstorm was forecasted for the evening, so we took the drive (2½ hours) home again, and on Saturday, we woke up to 20 cm of snow. So, the rest of the weekend was, of course, spent with various snow activities.

A little side note: On Monday, there were parent-teacher conferences for all three boys. They all received much praise, and the teachers said that they were very happy to have them in the class.

Halloween USA

Last week was the holiday Halloween here in the US. Of course the decorating and festivities started a lot earlier, as Søren mentioned.  Halloween and Fall are synomous here, meaning they go hand in hand;  orange colors, pumpkins and ghourds.  And then there are the spider webs and skeletons, but I would say mostly just lots of Fall colors.  We noticed a lot of people have big blow up Halloween decorations now a days.  See this one of Bluey and family dressed up!  

The boys and I were excited about getting to do Halloween festivities for weeks before Halloween.  We had secured costumes at least a week ahead of time. ;-) Liam as a monkey, Benjamin as his favorite Barcelona player Jamine Yamal, and Silas (after a bit debate about not being allowed to dress up as scary or murderous things) dressed up as a magician.  

The day of Halloween we went to the Trunk or Treat event at our church.  The concept is that people decorate their trunks with a theme and park in a parking lot so people can come visit and get candy. The themes here were very light - popular cartoon characters, movie themes, etc.  My favorite was the Christian themed trunk that was a cat theme and said "God's love is Purr-fect".  It was a nice event to reach out to the community and spread happiness.

Afterwards the boys and I headed to Grandpa and Lizzie's house to say trick or treat! It was fun to get to see them, as we've never been able to do that before, and Silas got to show a magic trick.  

During dinner we were all prepared to hand out candy to trick or treaters, but as it was raining slightly we only had 2 guests before we ourselves went out in the neighborhood.   The boys were excited to go real trick or treating this year, as their previous experiences with trick or treating have included me going from room to room of our own house, changing hats and outfits, so they could say "trick or treat" at each door and get some candy!  They've loved it, but were excited about the REAL DEAL!

We all wanted to go together so we just left a bowl full of candy on the front step. 

Just a little candy ;-)

 Walking around in the neighborhood was such a joy.  All three boys had a great time and were very brave walking up to doors and saying "trick or treat".  Of course a lot of the people handing out candy wanted to talk to them, and ask them questions, so they really got a cultural experience out of it.  We also learnd that people don't just give out one piece of candy, they give out at least 2 or 3, and sometimes even a whole handfull! Some families had built a campfire in their front yards and were sitting around hanging out and passing out candy. It was very cosy.  We enjoyed seeing some houses that had really decorated a lot.  

A few places had moving statues that would sing a spooky song or start moving and blink their eyes, and that was fun too.  There wasn't a single place that had any really scary or gory items. It was just a festive night with lots of activity in the streets and friendly people.  All in all a great family experience. 

We walked around for almost 2 hours and when we got home around 8:30pm the boys quickly poured out their candy and started sorting it.  It was fun to see types of candy I had forgotten about, for example "Butterfingers"....there were lots of Snickers and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.  The boys got to eat a few pieces for bed, but I think we have plenty of candy for the next long time!

Efterår

Så er det blevet efterår i Minnesota. Vejret er stadig ret lunt her sidst i oktober, hvor vi stadig har flere dage med op til 15 graders varme. Måske egentlig ikke meget varmere end i Danmark, men det føles bare sådan da solen skinner mere og det blæser markant mindre. Nå ja.. og så regner det nærmest aldrig. Det må vel næsten være det perfekte efterårsvejr. Og krydrer man det med alle de utrolig flotte farver på træerne, så kunne efterår nærmest gå hen og blive en favorit årstid. 

Noget andet der er populær i USA i efterår, er at besøge et æble og græskar farm.  (Apple and Pumpkin Orchards).  Disse farm laver aktiviteter, arrangerer selv pluk græskar og æbler, dyr man kan kigge på og foder, og food trucks, på deres grund.  Der er tradition for en skøn lørdag eftermiddag at besøg disser farms og få en god familie oplevelse.  Vi besøgte er ret stor Orchard i år, Fall Harvest Orchard. 

https://www.fallharvestorchard.com/

Vi havde en dejlig dag hvor vi fyrrede æbler ud af kanoner, spiste æblestykker med karamel, kiggede på dyr, og nyd de smukke efterårsdag i over 30grader celsius varme :-)

I USA er efterår er også lig med Halloween. Utrolig mange huse har været "pyntet op" i en måned nu. Både med hyggelige og "uhyggelige" ting. Hvem vidste man kunne få "julelys" i orange farver? Drengene har glædet sig til ENDELIG at "måtte" fejre Halloween (det har deres far nemlig ikke givet dem lov til hjemme i Danmark). Så i morgen (d. 31. oktober) skal den bare have hele armen. Mon ikke amerikaneren i familien skriver om det senere..

Besøg fra Danmark

Et længe ventet besøg fra familien hjemme i Danmark er nu veloverstået. Vi har alle sammen set frem imod besøget fra min søster og svoger og deres 3 skønne børn. Jeg hentede dem i lufthavnen torsdag d. 9. oktober og de rejste hjem igen d. 23. oktober. Så (næsten) 14 skønne dage sammen, kun lige afbrudt deres tur til New York. Det var helt fantastisk at være sammen igen og vise dem rundt i vores nye dagligdag og Minnesota generelt. Mary og drengene var stadig i skole nogle af dagene men der var også fridage hvor vi alle kunne tage på udflugter og bl.a. opleve downtown Minneapolis og St. Paul, The North Shore og selvfølgelig “Mall of America”. Men meget af tiden gik også bare med hygge i vores hus, småture og besøg.

Celina og Liam fik lov til at fejre lidt fødselsdag sammen - som de plejer

Orono High School Football kamp

Kultural oplevelse: Boot Beer (sodavand)

1. ud af mange picnic's 

Minneapolis

Det blev også til besøg på drengenes skole.
Her Silas' High School

Drengene har i år ingen egentlig efterårsferie, men de havde dog torsdag, fredag fri (i uge 42) pga. MEA (Minnesota Educator Academy). Så da Familien Laursen var kommet tilbage fra NY to vi op til Lake Superior og området som kaldes ”The North Shore”, der ligger i den nordøstlige del af Minnesota. Vi boede på Pequaywan Inn der ligger ca. 3½ time væk. Vi havde 3 skønne dage i det flotteste efterårsvejr.  

Det kan være koldt på toppen - Palisade Head

Skønne vandreture

Glaspuster i Duluth

Splitrock Lighthouse

 Vi brugte også en hel dag i ”Mall of America” - det største shopping center i USA! Her blev der både tid til hygge, shopping, ture i forlystelsesparken og mv. På 9 timer nåede vi måske at se ca. 1/3 af hele centeret!

"Activate"

På øverste etage med forlystelsesparken i baggrunden

The Arcade