Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Was really looking forward to the holidays and it was lovely having my in-laws to visit. We got great weather over the holidays - cold, but perfect sunshine. And of course we ate lots of chocolate :) Hope everyone enjoyed the hols! I even managed to go for a 16km run as part of our Aarhus city half-marathon preparations :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is one of those times during the year when I want to be in Ireland. Obviously, having a day off work is nice(!), but I actually love getting involved in St. Patrick's Day activities and wearing fresh shamrock on my lapel. My sister was over visiting last weekend, so she brought over some 'Irish things'. This included a lovely t-shirt for Asger and his own St. Patrick's Day badge :) Yes, he'll be wearing green all day today! I had a look at the parade from Dublin city centre on the RTE player - it's a nice reminder of the celebrations at home today. Hopefully we'll make it to Dublin in the near future for St. Patrick's Day. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the online activities.

Training for the Aarhus City Half Marathon

I decided to sign up for a half marathon - my first since 2012. Actually, the last one I did was also the Aarhus city one. So, perhaps it's a sign, or something like that. A few friends are also doing it, so it was a great way to focus again and get back into running since Asger arrived in May 2014. Running really does give me such a buzz - something I never would have said 10 years ago. Training is going ok - starting off slowly at 5km, and hoping to build up the distance steadily.... Looking forward to June :)

The Great British Bake Off

I had heard about this programme and how everyone was getting very excited about the new series. I wasn't sure I wanted to watch another reality TV show - they all just start blending into one another, and it's not entertaining anymore. But I had a look at this show last night. They are at the quarter-finals stage, so all 5 contestants are good at baking. I really like baking, so thought it might actually be good to pick up a few hints.

I really enjoyed the whole thing - the format, the baking, the interaction with the presenters. But most of all the show made me want to do two things: 1. eat cake while watching the show, preferable a slice of victoria sponge, and 2. start baking. Luckily it was 10pm, and I couldn't do either. I don't think this programme would be very good for my waistline :) Wonder if it's only on once a week....oh, the wait!

Asdis and Berglind get married

So our trip to Iceland finally came around - and it was time for Asdis and Berglind's wedding! That was the main reason we were going to Iceland this summer, and of course, we have been talking about going back since our last trip in 2009, so it was the perfect excuse! We arrived in Reykjavik on the Wednesday before the wedding on the Saturday, so had two and a bit days to drive up to Akureyri. This trip was very different to the last one, where we camped and drove around Iceland with action-packed days. This time we were taking it nice and easy with Asger, but that means still being able to enjoy the amazing scenery and great food!

We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast located very near to the church, so it was easy to get there on the Saturday. The church was lovely, really unusual design with large windows along the sides. It was such a beautiful ceremony - I didn't know the opening song would be so moving, so usually I get a little teary-eyed as the ceremony progresses, but this time it happened straight away! And neither of us could find the tissues. Asger was there to keep everyone entertained, and just waited until the girls got married before taking his afternoon nap :) We had a lovely time at the reception at a restaurant in the city - Asger slept through the speeches and music! Food, company and celebrations were great.

While in Iceland we were able to visit some places we had been before (geysirs) and some new places we hadn't seen before (penninsula near to Reykjavik). The scenery is truly amazing and breathtaking. Most days we had blue skies and sunshine, but around 10 degrees, so it felt like really nice autumn/winter weather (even though it was August!). This was Asger's first trip abroad, so first time on a plane, which went really well. I owe Esben big time - he got the nappy change on the plane - and we know how pokey those toilets are :) Of course, we just keep talking about our next trip back to Iceland, but in the winter this time with snow all around :)

Asger's arrival

9 days overdue and getting a little anxious - but at 11.30pm on Tuesday 20 May it all kicked off. Fast forward to 4.11am Wednesday 21 May when Asger entered the world! I thought that I would be way more emotional but to be honest, I was so happy to see him and for him to be lying on me, I didn't have time to get emotional! It was great having Esben with me the whole time - he was a great support, especially during those 'I can't push any longer' moments.

It's a lovely feeling to finally get to meet the little one who has been on the inside for the past 9 months and say 'so you're the one who has been kicking and punching me for the last month - that was so adorable!'. Happy times :)

Trip to Spreewald and Berlin

We had planned a trip to Berlin during the second weekend of August to visit Nora, Simon and Holger (or Hølgær as he is sometimes known). And they had a great suggestion - let's take a trip to Spreewald - the home of the gerkin! Where you can hire a canoe and paddle around miles of canals in lovely sunny weather. Yep, my perfect idea of a weekend away! But we would also get to see Berlin (we love Berlin). We arrived Friday evening, and had a lovely catch up over good German beers, before setting off on Saturday morning to Spreewald. The train trip was a little over an hour, and we picked up Holger on the way. We were staying in a lovely apartment in a GDR-style building (oh so new for us, but brought back a lot of childhood memories for Nora and Holger), just a 5-minute walk from the town centre. On Saturday we did the important things - went food/drink shopping and book the canoe trip for Sunday. We managed to get a 5-seater canoe, so this was going to be a fun Sunday outing along the numerous canals, meeting at various intersections, and the possibility of following several routes along the way. 

After a fun evening of playing Sagaland (I won't go into it! Let's just say everyone had their own tactics, and we were all ruthless), eating homemade pizza and drinking beers, the next morning we picked up our boat at 9.30 and set off on an "adventure". The surroundings were beautiful: cozy houses and restaurants sitting along the river bank, which we stopped off at on the way. And at other times it was just the five of us in our canoe - pure silence apart from the noise of nature - wonderful!

On Monday it was time to leave Spreewald, and head back to Berlin - or from one lovely place to another! We met up with friends of Simon and Nora, ate ice-cream, relaxed in a lovely park area (which used to be an airport/runway!), and simply enjoyed the lovely sunny weather. And we finished the evening off with a visit to the beergarden - well, when in Rome :) Looking forward to the next trip to Berlin already (which is in November for Nora and Simon's wedding!)