a big girl bedroom makeover

on sunday, sabin's room got transformed from little girl room to big girl room. we took her bed down from its legs and moved things around. we didn't repaint it, since the paint was still pretty fresh (and since the house is for sale), so it's still two shades of pink.

we moved the bookshelf over by the door to act a bit as a room divider and create a more inviting play space.

we haven't yet moved the stuff on the wall that used to be under the bed and above the desk, so the clock is in kind of a funny spot.

we decided to shelves the books in color order, using (for the most part) the ROY G BIV rainbow order (plus white, brown and black down at the end). we're pretty pleased with how it looks.

since's sabin's bed will be used more like a couch when she has friends over, i'm making a sturdy bedspread and pillows with the bright, cheery fabric below. i'm backing it with fleece, to make it soft and usable as a blankie to cuddle up in and watch t.v. as well. we do love ikea, they have such bright, cheery fabric designs.

sabin feels the room suits her much better now and she's looking forward to hanging some things on the wall. she had really been complaining about the lack of wall space since the only wall was previously blocked by her bed and the other one is a vaulted wall that's hard to hang things on. the only new item will be the new bedspread, otherwise, we got a totally new look just by changing things around. but it feels so fresh and different, it's like having a whole new room.

Which Way to the Witch?

Halloween has come and gone.

The candy bags are full.

The costumes tossed aside.

The pumpkins are rotten.

Addie was a witch this year.

Almost as cute as the Humbug Witch

But, it is hard to be as cute in real life
as an illustration.

These little rugrats come close.
Addie - Witch
Aiden - Army Guy
Keegan - Fisherman
Tryllen - Batman

Fun was had by all. I wonder what Addie will be next year? She has been a cheerleader, an Asian Princess, Butterfly, a cat, and others we have already forgotten. I also wonder how many more years we have before she no longer wants to dress up.

Do you only celebrate a Fall festival, or is there Halloween and Trick-or-Treating there too?

Pumpkin Carving- USA

Tonight we carved pumpkins
-Jack-o-Lanterns-

This is the first year Addie
was willing to scoop most of the
inside out.

This was also the first year Addie was allowed
to use the carving tools to carve her own pumpkin.

Addie's signature is a heart nose.

I think these are the best
Jack-o-Lanterns yet.

In order from left to right pumpkins were carved by :
Mom, mom, dad, Keegan, Aiden, Addie, Tryllen, Aiden&mom
Addie and Tryllen later made a two sided pumpkin- one happy, one scary

the potato holiday!

last week was the autumn holiday - called efterårsferie - here in denmark. that meant a week off from school! yay! it's a traditional harvest holiday, where once the kids had to be let out of school to be at home to help with the potato harvest. of course, these days, it's just a holiday as kids aren't really involved in harvesting potato crops anymore.

at our house, the father thinks that we should use the opportunity to tour around denmark and see all of the tiniest, most obscure museums the country has to offer. and we usually go to the westernmost point of denmark at blåvandshuk, just to feel the wind from the north sea on our faces. and let me tell you, that wind was blowing the day we were there. here are some highlights in pictures....

tivoli, the beautiful gardens/amusement park in the center of copenhagen is all decked out for halloween during the autumn holiday, so we started out there.

where sabin got cotton candy in a dark purplish-grey color, meant to look like spiderwebs.

next stop, koldinghus, in kolding (that's in jutland, the bit of denmark that's actually attached to the rest of europe - rather than being an island, like the one we live on).

we tried to get sabin to chop some wood, but she couldn't get the axe out of that stump.

the next day, we found a maritime museum and aquarium in esbjerg, over on the west coast of denmark.

despite the windy, grey day, we went to see some colossal statues on the beach in esbjerg.

see how big they are? they're a little surreal, sitting there, looking out at the north sea. that tiny little dark spot in the middle is sabin, so it gives you an idea of the size.

then we went to the very windy beach at the west coast at blåvandshuk.

this picture sort of conveys how windy it was.

tho' it was windy, it wasn't actually that cold, the wind was strangely warm.

sabin found a little starfish on the beach.

then it was on to the little museum in randbøldal, to play with all of the water apparatus.

it was really fun.

our friend mig, from scotland, came with us.

after that we went to århus, to den gamle by (the old town) where we looked at all of the reconstructed buildings from all over denmark and tried all manner of traditional things...like stilts and riding in a horse-drawn carriage. that evening, we headed home.

we were sad to see it end, but we do love the efterårsferie. this week, was back to a regular old school and work week and there won't be any holidays again 'til christmas.

Sick

Addie is sick.
She has
1) a fever
2) a cough
3) a bit of a sore throat
4) just doesn't feel good-feeling

She didn't have a fighting chance between the various viruses being spread in her hometown and school. She fought the good fight, but fell victim on Saturday. She was at Grandma's house and had to come home early due to being sick.

From 1,200ft to 12,000 ft in a week

Buller has been from here to there and back again.
We left Minnesota with Buller in tow on August 13th.

We drove from Minnesota to Pierre SD the first day. We stopped at 1 am and slept for 4 hours in the hotel. Luckily Buller and the kids had fallen asleep long before that in the van. The next day we were back on the road by 6 am. We drove until we reached Colorado. We were determined to reach our destination quickly. That night we stayed in Idaho Springs, CO. We camped in a tent by a small (very small) spring feed stream that is part of the hot springs there.

We drove across the entire state of Colorado the next day. Driving from the Plains to the the top of the Rocky Mountains and back down the Western slope toward Grand Junction, CO. Once in Junction we finished the last 100 miles by heading South down two canyons. We finally arrived in the small town of Naturita, CO.

The next six pictures were taken on the last 100 miles. It is a scenic by-way. It is one of my favorite drives ever, and one that the kids did well on considering that one side of the road is a straight 1000 ft drop (I actually don't know how far down it is, but it is a straight drop down) and the other side of the road is a sheer 500ft cliff up.
Red Rock is the feature attraction in Gateway, CO. Center point of the two canyons.
Buller felt at home. We had a hard time getting him back in the van to reach our destination. We finally convinced him that where we were going would be lizard heaven. That is we had him convinced until he ran into a lizard friend (can you see the lizard? he is brown.) Like all lizards we had to trick him. Was he ever that naughty for you? Maybe it is the little lizard that persuaded him?


The kids became very good at lining up for pictures by the time the trip was over.

Looking at the spring. We visited two natural springs and filled our water bottles. The water is fresh and clean as it is filtered naturally through the mountain.



The Dolores River

"Fairy Palace" behind cabins that we stayed in. Does this rock look magical enough for fairies to live in?

The first place we went (daytrip) was Ouray. There is a hot spring swimming pool there. After visiting a water fall, and having a picnic in the park, us and 20 friends enjoyed the rest of the day in the springs going from the very very hot part of the pools to the freezing cold water slide area and back and forth.

Part of the Cascade Falls, in Telluride CO

The next day was spent in Telluride. This town was known for it's mining. Today it is more of a tourist area. After a yummy lunch at the bakery we went up to another waterfall (or as close as little legs can get us) and then road the gondola to the top of the ski area and had a look around then, back down for ice cream in the car on the way back to the cabin

Buckeye Reservoir in Utah. Natural lakes are few and far between in Colorado. Reservoirs are man made lakes. (can you see Buller hanging out in the sun?)

The water level had dropped so low that the shore line had become quite muddy. The kids found this quite fun. Addie's suit still shows the "fun" in each mud spot stain today. Good thing we have a new one for next year already. No worries.

We are ready to head back across Colorado. Picture taken in front of the little cabin we called home for the week. The van and trailer were repacked and ready to go. Our next destination was Estes Park.
We had a great trip. Including several days in Estes National Park where we finally tracked down a herd of elk. We went from our elevation of 1200ft up to 12,000ft. and back down again. We were gone for 14 days.

Buller has now been to Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (we had him waving as we went past your grandparent's area), Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah. He has seen forests, prairies, mountains, semi-arid desert, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, mountain streams, and waterfalls.

If you look back through the blog, you will see that Buller has been to school, he has been camping, and hiking, biking, down the Mississippi River in a canoe. Buller was at family celebrations, and listened to bedtime stories snuggled in a loft bed.

He has watched Addie go from second to third grade.

He traveled short distances - to Grandma's, Headwater's of the Mississippi, in town for a statue walk, or just to the couch to watch t.v.

He learned about Earth Day, and how to fish and garden in Minnesota. He cooked a hotdish, and learned about fashion. He read favorite books, and packed school lunches.pictures of taking pictures

He has been busy.
Yes, we even showed him just how big Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox really are.
But, we have a problem.
Buller won't get out of the van. He has been clinging to his Colorado river rock on the dashboard of our van since we returned. Seems he misses Denmark, and he misses you Sabin. Buller wants to come home. Although it is a strange time for a robin to fly North (most are gone for the winter now) we are wondering if Early is ready to fly the coop too?

Addie has a brilliant idea. She doesn't want to shut your blog down, rather keep it open and post on it when you two have something you want to share. Halloween and Thanksgiving, Christmas, Addie's birthday - there are lots of things coming up. Thing to share. When you want to. I think it is brilliant.

What do you think Sabin?

Road Trippin'

Buller has been one busy lizard! He has been on quite the trip in the last (almost) two weeks. I thought for a while we may not get him to return when he made it to SW Colorado and found a lizard friend in the red rocks - but we got him back in the car and he is now sleeping soundly on his river rock he has adopted from the Dolores River in CO.

We have so much to tell you. Can't wait to return home to faster internet and share all the adventures Buller has been having!