Dressin' Up and Goin' Out

Ruby has started to enjoy playing her own version of dress-up--she loves to put on hats or wear things around her neck (mostly things that don't belong around her neck!). She has also started to try dressing up her stuffed animals! This morning she was trying to put a pair of her socks on her bear--it was just too cute! Anyhow, here are a few more pictures from the last few weeks!

I think that Ruby looks like a rapper or something in this hat! This hat was actually mine last winter, but she seems to have adopted it this year. She loves that she can put it on herself and enjoys wearing it around the house... and "no", we don't keep our house so cold that she needs a stocking cap!

Here's another shot of Rappin' Ruby!

At first glance, this just looks like a cute picture. If you look closer, you'll notice that Ruby's legs are jammed into one leg "hole". The last few weeks she has insisted on climbing up into her Tripp Trapp all the time. Of course half the time (or more) she ends up in a very awkward position!

Two weeks ago Copenhagen hosted their annual "Kulturnatten" (Culture Night). There were hundreds of activities going on all over the city until past midnight including lots of music, a costumed rollerblade race around the city, and many exhibits. One of the places that we visited was the Vet School where they were giving out free soft serve in their dairy lab, had exhibits on how gummy bears (wine gums here) are made and flavored, exhibits on apples (including free fresh cider), and even some microscopes to look at the critters in our drinking water. Watch out world, I think we have a budding scientist on our hands!

The highlight of Jared's Culture Night experience happened at the big Dairy Expo where he learned how to milk a cow--and then sampled the milk (EEEWW!). The expo was called "Milk in a 1000 Ways" (translated into Danish, of course). They had literally hundreds of types of cheeses, milk, cream, and butter to sample--delicious! We really enjoyed it and only wished that we had the same variety in the grocery stores...

Fabulous Fall

We have really had a very fun (and busy) couple of weeks. We've enjoyed the cool fall days and thankfully haven't had too much rain, so we've been able to get out and enjoy them some. I have SO many good pictures to share, that I'm going to do a few posts of just pictures and captions (since I know that's what most of you like to see anyhow!).

Ruby loves to play with her dollies. Poor Trixie has pretty horrible hairdo after months of being carried around by her lovely locks. Note the angel wings on our little angel!

Our little Cookie Monster! Ruby loves the chocolate filling the best and scraps out every last bit before starting on the cookie--what a mess!

A few weeks ago we met our friends Grace and Nathan (mom and son) down at a park near church. Ruby and Nathan had a ball playing--especially with the pebbles which made there way into every nook and cranny of Ruby's clothes, stroller, and diaper bag!

Ruby's favorite thing to do at the park is going down the slide. She likes to climb the ladder too, but prefers the challenge of scaling the slide itself for her next ride. What a daredevil!

Wheee! What a ride! When can I go again?

A Quiet Couple of Weeks

Greetings from Soborg! We are enjoying a brisk, but clear morning today--hurray! We actually had to turn on the heat last night though as it really has been cooling down quite a bit. Last year at this time (yes, we've been here over a year--can you believe it!?!) we were enjoying lots of balmy and beautiful days. I sure hope that this October will be as pleasant as the last. We could really use a few more trips to the zoo and a visit to Tivoli (open for Halloween this year) before the snow comes.

Jared caught Ruby a few times wearing her new hat. Some of you MIGHT recognize this hat as being her tights last year around this time! Ruby loves to root through her shoes, socks, and tights and generally comes out wearing all of her tights around her neck and head as an elaborate headdress/boa! I'm sure she had some help from Daddy to get this "hat" secure though. You never know what those two are going to get up to. They certainly have a lot of fun giggling together and couldn't love each other any more. I think that Ruby has really enjoyed having extra Daddy time in the evenings (when I'm occasionally napping or laying down). He's definitely a lot more fun than Mommy these days!

Jared made Ruby this little chair out of some scrap wood he found in the garage. This is now Ruby's official "movie chair" and she isn't at all shy about climbing in and then shouting her lungs out until I "get the message". Of course, most of the time I got the message a long time ago and she just isn't getting my response ('no movies today, Ruby!')! I think it would be fun to get a little pint sized table for her and maybe she'd start getting interested in coloring, play-dough, and painting a bit more.

Here's a picture of Ruby eating her apples. It's the only way that I could keep her still long enough to have a picture with me. She sure does love running around outside and especially loves being Daddy's little helper. He always has some little chore for her that has her running from one end of the garden to the other.



Well, I guess there really hasn't been much going on here the last few weeks, so I suppose that's all I really have for you today. I'll leave you with our best effort at a family picture. If you click on the picture you'll see that Ruby is trying to squirm out of my arms. She doesn't quite get the point of waiting around for something as trivial as a picture! Oh well, we're capturing her as she is today. We'll have plenty of perfectly posed pictures in the years to come. So long for now...

Backyard Bonanza

After a very short "Indian Summer" it seems that autumn has arrived in Denmark. Cooler weather and grey skies accompanied by ever-shortening days are a bit hard to take at times, but we have enjoyed our sunny days as well. Here are a few pictures of Ruby "apple picking" in our backyard. I guess most of the apples were too high for her so she decided to try netting a few--thanks to Daddy I'm sure! I'm not sure if she had much luck, but it looks like she had fun trying!

This seems to have been an odd year for our fruit trees. We had a plum tree loaded with fruit, but it all seemed to ferment on the tree and really wasn't edible. Then the largest apple tree never put on more than about a dozen fruit and I don't think that the quince tree did either (both of which were loaded when we came last fall). The small "Christmas apple" tree, however, has been loaded with smallish apples that Ruby LOVES! The only problem is that she isn't very discriminating when it comes to apple selection--the first one that catches her eye is THE ONE, whether or not a snail has just been dining on it--YUCK!

I think that it's surprising that she happily munches right off the apple and will even go on to eat the seeds and stem if you aren't careful to watch her! On the other hand, if I cut the same apple up, she isn't likely to finish more than a slice or two. I guess she's just a hunter and gatherer at heart and only wants to eat what she finds on her own! Another odd habit that she has picked up is that she'll only eat a banana if it's still in the peel. If I dare to take it out or slice it up, she won't touch it. These are the oddities of toddlerhood that can drive you half crazy if you aren't careful to see the humor in it all!

Jared brought me out last weekend to take pictures of him and Ruby with his two "prize" sunflowers. I would guess that they are about 9 or 10 feet tall and are really beautiful. They have put up with our schizophrenic Danish summer like champs and are easily as big as the ones we grew in Idaho. I would like to save the seeds for snacking on this winter, but with a whole week of rain in the forecast, I'm afraid that they might rot before they get big enough to dry...we'll see. On another "backyard update", I'm sorry that I kind of gave up on following the tadpoles this summer. Our pond got overtaken by duckweed and it really just got too hard to keep track of them. From what I've seen, there are STILL lots of tadpoles in there that never did mature. Jared said that he's seen quite a few frogs around the pond, but I guess I've never been at the right place at the right time. Maybe next year...

I'll close with this picture of Ruby sniffing the sunflowers. Smelling flowers is one of her favorite outdoor activities (well, that and digging!), which makes for v-e-r-y l-o-n-g walks!

If you think of us way over here in Denmark, say a prayer for us and our little family. I've been sick a lot over the last few weeks, which has made things hard for everyone. Hopefully, things will shape up in the coming week and I'll be back to my old self! Hope you're enjoying the first day of October wherever you are...