July 10, 2025
My mom took the boys on a walk to the bakery this morning in their new hats she and my dad gifted them yesterday. The boys selected the biggest, greenest pastry possible and ended up eating just a few bites each after refusing to share one. For homeschool this morning, Ollie and I read a Berenstain Bears book about learning to ride a bike. We’re pumped the Hoboken library has all the e-books available to borrow instantly. Lenny was excited to work on homeschool with Meme though she remarked that it was tough to keep him on task at times…
The kids built a Scottish paper craft with my parents while I went for a quick walk down the beach and through the town. Though it was just ~72 F today, the beach was quite full. Guess this is high summer temps for the Danes in this part of the country. The lifeguards (savers) were on patrol and the beach was teeming with families on the sand and in the water.
Back at the house, we had lunch and played a bit of soccer before the boys started to get restless. Driving into town yesterday, we saw signs for the circus on nearly every telephone pole and signpost. The circus was in town for just two days and today was the final day- what luck! The circus started at 3pm but we made our way to the playground nearby a bit earlier so the boys could explore a bit. This was our first Danish playground but it was great– shaded, spread out, and lots of different things for the boys to climb and explore. Len worked on his hanging and Ollie on his “beast master” moves.
Before heading into the tent, the boys caught sight of the cotton candy (candy floss) and beckoned me over. We got one wand for them to share and a few other snacks before heading into the tent. This was they boys’ first circus! Ollie used to love The Greatest Showman when he was 2ish but he says he doesn’t even remember the movie now. We watched the trailer when we got home and its been added to the movie queue.
We were wondering if the show would be in English but quickly learned it would be in Danish. After a few minutes, Ollie turned around from his seat and says to me, “MOM, its not English!!” I ensured him most of it would be visual and it wouldn’t matter.
The only animal at this circus was a stuffed lion and all acts were similar to what we’re used to– juggling, acrobatics, high wire, unicycling and clowns. Ollie and Lenny both claimed that an acrobatics performance on a spinning ladder was their favorite, but they belly laughed SO hard during the physical comedy section as the main clown kept getting drenched in water.
After the circus, we made our way back to the house to get ready for some playtime at the beach. The boys had their suits on and couldn’t wait the 5 extra minutes for me to get ready so they decided to play in the pool. Len had a hard time following directions about who he could use the water gun on and he soon lost access to that toy and devolved into tears. During the walk to the beach he kept sniffing and exclaiming, “Waterguuuuuun! Waterguuuuun!” His spirits turned around once we all entered fortress construction mode, though. Kyle took to building the castles, my Dad and me built the moat, Len started collecting rocks and Ollie worked on a tunnel. Len got really into rock collecting and insisted that we all, “wash the rocks” before adding them to the wall around the fortress. Though it was approaching 7pm, the sun was still high in the sky but neither boy was interested in taking a dip. The lifeguard stand showed the air temp as 22C and the water as 20C but we all lack the fortitude of the locals to actually go in for a swim.
Sadly, the dead seal that was seemingly odorless yesterday had entered full on decomposition by this afternoon so we had to hold our breath and run past on our way to and from the beach. The boys wanted a closer look despite the stench but were afraid to go without an adult so the inspection didn’t occur.
After the fortress construction, the boys warmed up in the hot tub while my Mom and I finished making a taco and nacho dinner. We’ve made a similar meal at all the AirBnbs we’ve stayed at despite most markets’ sparse, or nonexistent, selection of good salsa or corn tortillas. The boys then proudly taught Kyle all about the new apps on their iPads while he alternated between watching and dozing off. They finally went to bed a bit after 9 while the adults stayed up until 10ish for another sunset. I was up at a bit after 11pm and thought there was a light on upstairs but it turned out to be the last glowing embers of the sun setting.
