July 2011

A few random James pictures found later on various camera cards:

               


Happy Birthday Thomas!

Thomas has been looking forward to this day for many months - not just the birthday itself, but the day that the preschool group comes to visit.  Finally on Friday the 8th, after much wistful anticipation on Thomas' part and running around on his parents', the little red bus pulled up, and the troops descended.

               

We had expected 18 3-6 year-olds, but in the end there were only 8 and two adults, so the atmosphere was actually very relaxed and in no time everyone had found something to play with.  As lunchtime approached, the daily routines were quickly implemented, including queueing for washing hands and waiting until everyone is seated before digging in.

                   

The rather unusual cake is inspired by the current toy of choice among Thomas and his friends: Lego Ninjago, a sort of combination spinning-top Lego minifig collision game.  The cake itself is chocolate, the red sugar paste icing folded in a way approximating the Ninja robes, the eyebrows are liquorice Skippers Pipes and the eyes another classic Danish liquorice candy (Poletter).  The surrounding winegums are, believe it or not, standard fare for kiddie birthday cakes.  Good thing the fruit skewers were a popular choice during the main meal!

                Video of the birthday song 

The gang headed out again after lunch, and after a whirlwind cleanup everything looked more or less back to normal, and Jonathan headed in to work.  Thomas and Cindy played a couple of rounds on his new "Bamse & Kylling" (Bear and Chicken) game, then headed out for some mum & son time in town.


Thomas' actual birthday followed a couple of days later, on Sunday the 10th.  He woke up early as usual, chanting "I'm 5! I'm 5!" but was very good about waiting until everyone was up, before opening his presents.

The haul included some Ninjago figures, some Bakugan toys (bit like Transformers), some normal Lego, a new Wii sports games pack, and a red Denmark football (soccer) shirt which he wore for the rest of his day.  Thomas is really into football at the moment, champing at the bit to join a real team and constantly asking whether his England / Barcelona / Argentina or alternative football kit is washed yet!

We spent the rest of the morning at Capella Play with Marvin and family, where Thomas and Marvin reacquainted themselves with all the activities and James rediscovered his beloved traffic lights.  This time he can almost reach the tricycle pedals!

               

Back home for more play and eventually dinner, Thomas was careful to make sure there would also be cake for his "real" birthday - this time a slightly healthier carrot cake, resplendent in Barcelona football colours.

               


Crazy weather

On the evening of July 2, central Copenhagen got approx 2 months worth of rain in 2½ hours.  Many streets and particularly highway underpasses were underwater, and lots of homes and businesses found their basements flooded with rainwater, overflowing sewer water or both.

From our safe vantage point on the 4th floor, we watched the occasional passing car pushing a bow wave ahead of them, and the soggy cyclists climbing out of a taxi to wade across the parking lot through water over their ankles!

       

Our neighborhood looked fairly normal again a few hours later, but the local power and transportation systems are still recovering a week and a half later, and the insurance companies are very busy.


Fun at Home

Naturally the Blankley boys each have their own laptops - though the operating style is rather different!

                   

Meanwhile the garden on the balcony is doing well, with peppers, snow peas and various herbs on their way up and the first pod peas having been harvested before Thomas' birthday.

        Video of James driving his bike around the sofa

Out and about

Now that James has got the hang of the balance bike, he's like a man possessed.  We've made some joint outings with both boys on their respective bikes, and James is surprisingly good at stopping when told (inspired partially by his traffic light obsession!)  A local kindergarden has a perfect playground with enclosed "roads" for small cyclists.

               

Updated 30.10.2011