Family Madsen Blog: August 2015

Here comes a very short description of our amazing vacation and time spent in Minnesota this year. As usual we had a wonderful time visiting lots of family and friends and getting to participate in lots of fun activities. This year I felt we were really good at communicating with each other and having realistic expectations. We were able to do a lot of things but also really enjoy down time and relaxation. It was fun to see the boys' reaction to our vacation this year. Silas woke up most mornings asking, "What are we going to do today Mommy?"...No matter what the answer was he gave the same response with the biggest and energetic looking eyes. "Okay!"

At 4 years old, Silas was able to try a lot of things for the first time. For example: going down a really long waterslide by himself, tubing behind the speed boat, going on a jetski and ordering his own food. He loved playing with his American friends and whenever we had to go home he was always dissapointed and wanted to stay more! Silas is also at an age where you can actually engage in a conversation with him and get answers that are more than yes or no. So it was fun to see him talking with the other kids his age, and also with Grandma, Uncle Johnny, Grandpa and Lizzie. It seemed like they all got to know him a bit better.

Benjamin turned 1½ while we were there and he also began saying a lot more sounds. His favorites were "uh-oh", "all gone", and "tractor", He laughed a lot and also showed us his adventurous sides while climbing at the playgrounds and in the water. He loved playing in any type of sand, and with a bucket of water beside him, he could entertain himself for hours. Benjamin suprised us with learning how to sleep past 6am many days, so that was also a nice break. Right away when we got to MN we sensed that Benjamin really wanted Dad (Søren). This "daddy's boy" behavior only thickened during our stay, and at some points I wasn't even allowed to hold him. The funny thing though is that as soon as we got back to DK that immediately stopped. Interesting. Benjamin also had fun with the other kids his age, exploring their playrooms and practicing his words....there is a video og Benjamin and Adam (Our friends Holly and Dave's 1½ year old) saying "uh-oh" repeatedly after each other! :-)

As for us, we enjoyed watching our life. Watching our boys have so much fun doing so many different things. We enjoyed evenings talking, and evenings out with friends or on a date. Grandma was so generous in watching the boys many times so we could get out and explore the city. We even had 2 evenings where we were able to go to a restaurant with some of our friends. We enjoyed so much getting to eat at our own tempo and actually ordering appetizers. It was much appreciated and enjoyed.

Otherwise I think I will just let the pictures tell themselves. We feel so blessed for our time there and are so grateful for our lives, friends and family. Oh and there are pictures from our week in Florida in the previous post!