The Rest of June

 Physicals:

Besides the regular sports physical, Florida now requires that all athletes receive an EKG to check their heart health prior to playing athletics. School was offering the EKGs on campus so these two knocked that out and then enjoy some ice cream afterwards. 

Blazer Strong:

Both of the C's are part of school's summer strength and conditioning program. Cruz has also had weekly basketball practices throughout the month. 

Mahj: 

All three kids got their first mahjong this month. Rowan's is not pictured. I probably sound like a crazy lady about mahjong but trust me, if you play, you'll get it! And its been the first game in forever that everyone is so excited to play :) 

Bible Study: 

Cora hosted a small group of school friends for their first Bible Study of the summer. 

Dance Recital: 

Coco was a star in her dance recital. She was in all the shows except for one and shined so brightly! I volunteered for the Friday night show and was a ticket taker so I got to see her dance then. The whole family came on Saturday night to cheer her on for the final show. 

Auditions: 

Team auditions were a little bit more stressful this year as Cora was hoping to move up to her studio's top Senior level team. She felt good going into auditions and was so so excited to find out that she made it. I'm so proud of how hard she works. This girl is an Ambassador- she's looked up to the girls on this team since third grade! 

Father's Day: 

We returned from our trip ready to celebrate the best dad! We love you! 

Core Training Techniques: 

Cora and I had three days of rest after returning to the U.S. before we headed off to Ft. Lauderdale for a dance intensive/traning that lasted three days. Cora took pilates, HIIT class, plyometrics and lots of ballet and technique class. She came away stronger and more confident. 

She was one of three students awarded this t-shirt for hard work, growth and dedication. 

Our hotel in FLL happened to be hosting the Brazilian World Cup team. The security was crazy- at some points there were over fifty police and swat team members. We had to wear special wristbands and everything. When the team arrived, Cora decided she wanted to wait so we did. We got up close and personal with the players even though we didn't know who any were. :)   

Slow down summer!

Summer Vacation Part II: The Fab Five

 Bergen, Norway: 

We boarded a FinnAir flight from Helsinki to Bergen bright and early and were rewarded with the most beautiful fjord views.

The Norwegian vibe was a lot of gnomes, trolls, beards and fair isle. We used public transportation to get from the airport and then I assured my family that our apartment was only a ten minute walk from the bus stop. I didn't realize it was ten minutes entirely up hills/stairs. No one complained though. 

Lunch was reindeer hot dogs at the cutest little stand. 

Kids got pizza next door! :) 

We had a little bit of time to kill before our afternoon activity so we headed to Bryggen Wharf, found a seat and enjoyed sunshine, ice cream and people watching. 

Everyone was excited to explore Bergen on Segways. Although after walking up the hills, I was nervous about riding a Segway up and down them. 

The other family on our tour were from Tennessee and their kids go to Grace Christian Academy. We knew a lot of mutual people. What a small world.

Love these beautiful views! 

 

This totem pole was a gift from Seattle in the 1970's to celebrate Bergen's 900th anniversary. 

We loved our little apartment! 

It stayed light so late- this was almost midnight. 

Our second day in Norway started with a Starbucks run and Cora accidentally leaving her phone in Starbucks. They were so kind and held it for us until we could pick it up the next day. 

We hopped our first train of many for a long day exploring Norway's fjords. While there are small fjords near Bergen, we wanted to see a really cool one. :) 

First train went from Bergen to Myrdal....

There we hopped onto the scenic Flam Railway. 

This ride had the most gorgeous views. 

We arrived in the town of Flam midmorning and went to find some lunch. 

Pretty lunch views... 

Pretty girl! :) 

We boarded our cruise through the Naeroyfjord. This is on the Unesco World Heritage list and because of. that, boats are fully electrical to protect the environment. This provided such a smooth and quiet ride. 

The views were gorgeous. 

We alternated places on the boat to get the best views. 

I loved these colorful little houses on the edge of the fjord. 

I don't know but they're cute! :) 

We arrived back to Bergen around 10:30 PM but there was still enough light for a few photos! 

Copenhagen, Denmark: 

We had a low-key travel day due to how the flights worked out. I woke up and made the trek to Starbucks and 7-11 for breakfast and everyone else slept in and packed up. 

We took a later afternoon flight from Bergen to Copenhagen on Norwegian. 

We checked in at the Marriott, the kids used Uber Eats for some McDonalds 

and Rog and I headed out on a date night. We wandered the city, chose a delicious and authentic restaurant and enjoyed some time together. 

Our last full day was spent exploring Copenhagen by bike. 

Our first stop was the backside of Christiansborg Palace 

Our guide was super long winded so I'm pretty sure the kids had AirPods in and music going the entire time. :) 

Nyhavn Harbor 

We celebrated our 30th country as a family in Denmark! I'm so incredibly grateful that we've been able to explore so much of the world with our kids. 

Amalienborg Palace- winter residence of the royal family so they were not there when we visited. 

Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid. 

We biked through the Kastellet- a military site 

We walked and had a late lunch. Food was SO pricey everywhere we went. Everyone was over my picture taking at this point. 

We closed out a fabulous trip at the famous Tivoli Gardens- one of the worlds oldest amusement parks. It opened in 1843 and is so charming. 

The rides were a lot of fun and we had a blast inspite of the bumper cars and the largest coaster being closed unbeknownst to us. 

The Rutschebanen was the highlight. It opened in 1914 and is the third oldest coaster still in operation. It was cool because it has a manual braking system so a "brakeman" rides along with you to slow the coaster. It was so fun. 

No visit to Denmark would be complete without a visit to a Lego Store. Denmark is home of the lego and the stores were incredible. 

We walked back to hotel for mahjong and bed before we started out trek home the next day. 

My travel mahjong set was the real MVP. There hasn't been a game that everyone is so into playing in a long time and my very favorite moments of the trip were spent in the evenings around a table playing with my people. 

This trip was extra special knowing that a lot will change over the next year. Next summer might look different but I am so grateful for this time away with my fab family of five in five fab countries.