Simone's Graduation Party

A few short days... or was it nights : after we arrived back in Denmark, we hosted Simone's graduation dinner. There were many bonuses to this tactic, one of which was that the house was perfectly clean and ready for a party, and secondly we ordered dinner in from a catering company in town. It was reasonably priced, even for Denmark standards, and eliminated the need for a lot of additional stress! It was a really lovely evening, and the food was really delicious! Contrary to standard temperatures in Denmark, the weather was sweltering hot, and Finn even broke down and changed into shorts after some of the guests arrived wearing them! Simone has completed Danish high school and an additional two years of schooling in what we would equate to general education requirements with a business focus. She is taking the year off to work and save money, and plans to take a trip around the globe with her girlfriend as soon as they have saved enough to visit the places they would like to. She is a hard working and lovely young woman, with a good head on her shoulders. We are really proud of all that she has done, and are convinced that she will do well, no matter what she decides to do after her globe trotting!

The trip back to DK

The trip back to Denmark was uneventful, so much so that the girls even slept for awhile. Max kept me company in the airport while the chicks were snoozing, and even giggled with me while we recorded Bailey trying to fight the sandman. HILARIOUS footage, and I promise to put in on here if I can figure out how!!! Sleep was more attractive than the Eiffel tower this time around, so it is still on our list of sights to see. We arrived in MI with three suitcases and returned to Denmark with nine suitcases and two guitars. We actually had to leave a suitcase in Hamburg for awhile, because all of the luggage and people didn't fit in our car! No suprize really, because they barely fit in an American Jeep Commander! :) It was a long journey back, but we arrived safely and were happy to finally sleep in our own beds! :)

Herning to Hamburg to Frankfurt to Detroit

The cozy patio and the would be travelers and chauffer!


The Blockhouse

The peacock


Our original flight to MI was planned and we were ready! We had packed light, only three suitcases, and were ready for the trip! The kids had finished the last day of school for the year and we were Michigan bound. This time our adventures began in Hamburg, Germany.

We started out with snacks and our movie player and hit the road. The plan? We were to stay at Andrea's flat in Hamburg, wake up early and fly to MI the next morning. We arrived with good time to explore the city a little and even ate at a reasonably priced German/Americanesque restaurant called the Blockhouse. Honestly, it is a chain restaurant that is kid friendly with menus that mimic Ruby Tuesday's. Andrea's flat was directly in front of the Hamburg Art Museum, and really lovely! It couldn't have been more perfect for us! The childrens beds were made and there were even chocolates set out for us to enjoy! Sooo nice! Andrea's peacock greeted us at the door with his mate the Zebra...much to Sophie's dismay! ;) She walked around the Zebra rug whenever possible, and never took her eyes off of the Peacock!

So, we set out early the next morning - with sleepy but eager faces, and arrived at the airport, loaded the luggage, said our goodbyes to Finnie and prepared to board our flight

1. First announcement: approximately 15 minutes behind
2. Second announcement: a half hour delay
3. Third announcement: the flight has been cancelled entirely please proceed to the counters where you will be reassigned a flight and new boarding passes.

Cue camera to approximately 200 travelers scrambling to the ticket counter in stampede-like fashion, before this mom and her three sleepy children could even stand! Needless to say...we were last in line! Approximately 3 hours later, we finally made it to the ticket counter where the woman asked..."Your final destination?", to which I replied, "Detroit, MI, USA", and her jaw visibly dropped. Some mumbling in German to three supervisors and she explained..."We have no flights for you for approximately 2-3 days." You can imagine my face..."Whaaat?". After a few more whispered conversations in German and the woman returns and states that they might have an option to fly us out the next day via our nightmare carrier Lufthansa, to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Detroit! At this point, we agree take our luggage and wait...again...but this time for Finnie's return as he had made it almost back to Denmark before he had to turn tail and come collect us again! As Charlie Brown would say, "GOOD GRIEF!!"

Fortunately, we were able to return to Andrea's and explored Hamburg a bit more. It is a lovely city with lots of shops and sidewalk cafes. We decided that after a morning like that...we needed something that was good for the soul... Ice Cream !!!





Finnie giving poor Philip the news that he would be staying in Hamburg for one more night.

On the airport shuttle in Hamburg

The best part about having your flight rescheduled? Getting upgraded to Business Class for an 8 hour trip!

Bailey and Max relaxing in first class luxury! There is something to be said for receiving ice cream sundaes three times from Germany to Detroit! It was good to be a kid this time around. (Ok, so it wasn't to rough for me either...I was handed champagne and an orange juice immediately after boarding)