We are now home from Denmark, but this was the last Day of our trip - Axel's baptism. It was a great day and Axel was adorable. Annika had her own part in the ceremony, wiping the water from Axel. We obviously missed Godmother Genevieve, but Axel wore the cross she gave him and we all thought of her.
Tonight was the midsummer celebrtion (Wikipedia explanation below) We took a witch Emma made and brought it to Erik's forest where we burned it. Annika hated it - and was much more interested in the frogs and FarFar's tractor. We went to the local town celebration later - and Annika hated that one as well. It's hard to explain how a big fire is okay when we have always told her it is bad.
Axel's baptism is tomorrow and then we go home Monday. this will most likely be my last posting from here, but will put up more pictures when we get home.
"In Denmark, the solstitial celebration is called Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve"). It was an official holiday until 1770, and in accordance with the Danish tradition of celebrating a holiday on the evening before the actual day, it takes place on the evening of 23 June. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.
It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings, by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.). In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witchburnings from 1540 to 1693 (but unofficially a witch was lynched as late as 1897). This burning sends the witch to Bloksbjerg, the mountain 'Brocken' in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day."
beautiful couple of days in Denmark. I am trying to get lots of pics while the weather holds as we know it can change any day. Mine and Eriks beautiful garden.. it takes so much work that Erik has Annika in training on the tractor. We have really just been hanging out, so nice. Annika did not know what to do when she came upon Morten and I napping in the garden - we must have been tired because apparently she tried to wake us up by tickling our feet! Our big excursion today was to the Odense zoo - the petting zoo was a hit. Oh, Annika is eating like a true Dane - in one picture it may look like she is eating cereal, however, it is a true danish summer delicacy - rhubarb soup with cornflakes. It was pink, so obviously Annika couldn´t get enough!
Farm life in Denmark is hard work for little girls... strawberrys must be picked, the fish must be fed, the flowers watered. Annika at least got to relax a little after farfar and farmor had her doing the chores. The weather continues to be amazing. It was the warmest day of the year in Denmark today, 89 degrees in the shade. We think the the hot weather is adding to the jetlag and making it hard for the kids to sleep, but every night is getting a bit better. Axel had his first solid food yesterday, the picture you see is before things got really messy, he was not quite sure what to do with it. Hope all is well stateside.
