You may be wondering “Where are the other 2 members of your immediate family?” or thinking “ok, kinda tired of seeing you and the youngest only, would love to see pics of the other 2 as well!” And you are not alone in these thoughts!
The eldest has a very demanding social life – especially once Denmark began to enter Phase 2 of re-opening and then really especially since school ended mid- June.
She is up and out of the apartment by about lunchtime every day and we don’t see her again until 8:30 or 9:00pm.
And when she is around, she is certainly a 14 yo when it comes to having her picture taken. Which is to say, she hates it, often refuses but is always ready with a glare or glower.
The majority of the time I honor this request, but I also sometimes don’t because I know I would regret it – not having very many pictures of her.
MBH has been working all the time. We had all sorts of plans for traveling and hosting visitors for April, May, June, and July. All of which were canceled because, COVID19. This plus the quarantine/lock down meant there just wasn’t a whole lot else for him to do. So he’s kind of been kicking a$$ and taking names with his job this whole time.
In any case, here are a whole lot of photos since about January 2020 to prove to you that we’re still all together…
This post is dedicated to MBH and the eldest.
Rome, January 2020
Santa Maria Basilica, Rome, January 2020
She uses her hair very strategically.
Also, on a scale of 1 – 10 annoyed with all the photos, 10 being the most annoyed, his look is saying “about a 5 right now”
Rome, January 2020, near Vatican City.
I do remember they were having a rather interesting convo but can’t for the life of me remember what it was about.
Rome, near St. Peter’s, January 2020
I could not promise full shots of the eldest…
Vatican City, January 2020.
(she’s glaring, and the photo is a bit blurry due to having to take it quickly)
January 2020
Walk in front of her and take a quick selfie over my shoulder.
And my “take a selfie with eldest behind me” tactic clearly failed.
She had caught on and devised more tactics of her own.
She graciously held up a salted almond for us all to see.
Eldest 1, Mom: 0
Baths of Caracalla, Rome, January 2020
This place had really good desserts and all espresso in Italy is incredible. After lunch we’d order dessert and coffee and they would tell us “oh go ahead and sit down! we’ll bring it to you!” and we thought nothing of it.
Except the delivery charge (from downstairs to upstairs) quadrupled-to-decupled the cost.
Did you do a double-take with the word “decupled?” For the sake of transparency, I’ll confess that I googled “word to describe multiply by 10” In any case, this was a little trick to charge tourists/customers more.
But we learned to insist on waiting for the dessert and coffee and just carrying it to our table ourselves.
Rome, 2020
“When all else fails, I’ll just cover my face with my hands.”
Dinner at our Airbnb in Rome.
Groceries, bread, produce, wine, in Italy are so inexpensive and incredibly high quality, so I cooked simple meals just about every night.
Overlooking the Roman Forum.
Only allowing one eye in photos became a consistent tactic with the eldest.
A family photo of us all smiling!
Or is it a look of resignation?
While it might look like both girls are messing around on their phones during these fascinating lectures about Mechanical Engineering of Ancient Roman Structures, I can tell you that often they’d hear something in the lecture, not want to interrupt, and so would look it up on their phones…
This concludes the photos from our fabulous trip to Rome in late January 2020. It’s definitely not all of them. We were there for 7 days and I took dozens, if not hundreds every day. But I decided I’d have some mercy on those who dare read this post.
Back in Denmark. 2020
Theoretically I could get close to a week’s worth of groceries in one trip – with a backpack, 2 bike bags, and 2 – 4 wegman’s bags hanging from bike handlebars – but balancing all that even for a few blocks gets tricky. I’ve tried it a few times and then realized it was easier and safer to just go shopping more frequently.
Not to mention bagging so many groceries as all grocery stores in Denmark are “bag your own.”
Going to the store more frequently is made easier by the fact that we are a 2 min bike ride from at least 5 grocery stores but I do have my 2 favorites: the 24hr Netto (super cheap, super close, limited selection and kinda disorganized) and the Fotex at the Osterbro shopping center (more selection, more consistent selection, a bit more expensive).
MBH accompanied me to our 24hr netto here and here he is, waiting to bag our groceries for me.
Sorry sweetie, it’s your 14th birthday and I’m going to take a picture.
But I’m going to smirk and glare.
Him helping her plan and design a science experiment.
Because she’s pretty sharp and will immediately say “Why are you asking me that? ARE YOU PUTTING THIS ON THE BLOG?
MOM, WHY? MOOOOOMMMMMMMM”
followed by the glare.
It was low-key because, well, Covid19 and the country was still on lockdown.
I asked for french fries.
Lots and lots of french fries – one of my top 5 favorite foods. And they definitely taste better with mayo… Bring on all the salt and fat!
Also, the eldest with what is becoming my favorite expression. She gets it from her father.
I was a bit nervous about it, but I think it turned out ok.
Me: stunned silence, then many minutes of LMAO’ing.
um, no. Not Bok Choy.
But I’m going to make you guess. Or GTG (Go To Google).
For breakfast #3? Snack #10? lunch #2?
I cannot recall.
But Nutella has become a staple in the Kelley household.
And while I can’t recall the exact date of this photo, it was definitely since the pandemic started.
Otherwise there never would have been a bottle of hand sanitizer on the kitchen counter…
We were going to bike around and explore but it was chillier and windier and cloudier than we had expected. So we turned around after about 30 minutes and headed back to the train station. Stopped for lunch.
The fries were hot hot hot!
The youngest had just found this out and was not happy.
Fortunately, the 20mph winds that day were from the west so we had a lovely tailwind the whole way.
The rapeseed flower fields are just glorious. Like vast carpets of yellow all throughout the Denmark countryside.
Yeesh, isn’t this post done yet?
lol. no.
I’m making up for lost months here!
Plus, lots of people (ok, maybe 2) said they couldn’t wait to read more!
About 10 pictures left…
Hang in there. Or bail! It’s ok! I won’t be mad!
These posts are approximately 97% for my own entertainment and record-keeping. I can only hope that others enjoy them too.
So we went to find his grave.
And we found it!
A clear map at one of the graveyard entrances made it possible.
About a 9.5.
Mostly because she’s very very excited but trying to play it as cool and chill as possible. And also annoying mom has to take pictures…GOSH!
Was hoping for a smile but no such luck.
It was all delicious but our favorite was the chicken bastilla (Moroccan chicken pie – closest to the upside down flower pot)
Great reading! Quiet day – very hot and humid- McLeod and I were going to go on an early bike ride and eat breakfast- I had a flat tre – a random new one! Walked back to the Y – went to breakfast – worked in the yard until noon – have either four giant squash or up ripe pumpkins- TBD-
Love and miss you all- I am house sitting for Conoly and Matt – easier her with four dogs six chickens and a change of scenery!
Love to all!
Mom / Nana
I love it all. You will be SO happy that you did this and the kids will want to read it to remember everything. Wish I were there visiting you right now! Missing you all the time!!!!!