Meet the Parents.

I got off the plane in the Copenhagen airport and walked as fast as I could without running or looking stupid to the baggage claim. As soon as I walked in there, I spotted a white head. I walked up to it to see Lorin reading on his new iPad and Nanna reading on her kindle. How I missed my parents. I gave them each a big hug. It took about 45 seconds and things were back to normal. Which was strange because in my head things were going to be different. I'm not sure how different, but somehow they were going to be. I was glad they weren't.

After a few hours, Nanna was commenting (she doesn't complain) that her feet hurt. She was wearing white leather addidas sneakers, the ugliest shoes I have ever seen. We went to a shoe store and started trying on shoes. She refused to buy any because they were too expensive. But she also refuesed to put on her ugly sneakers. I told her, "You have to either buy some or put the ugly ones back on. Lorin is done shopping."
"I'd rather go barefoot"
"You can't go barefoot. It's raining"
"Why did I even bring these shoes? I had my comfortable ones packed and put these in instead."
"Well, why don't you buy this pair. They're comfortable AND cute"
"The pair I didn't bring looked just like that. Why did I switch them? Oh Judy."
"I'm sorry you didn't bring that pair. Why don't you decide so we can go?"
"I should have brought that pair. These ones are leather so I thought it'd be good that they were water resistant. I haven't worn them in years. Now I know why. They hurt."
I just started laughing. Then she started laughing. And then we were in a fit of giggles in the middle of the department store shoe section. It was like we'd spent the last 3 months together. It was good.

This morning, we were standing by the canal. Lorin was rummaging in his backpack, and Nanna's sunglasses fell into the water. I was the only one who noticed, but for some reason, I didn't say anything. A few seconds later, Nanna said, "Lorin, I think I'll put on my sunglasses"
I said, "I think they just fell in the water."
Nanna said, "Oh Lorin! This is a disaster. Oh no! Those are m'good sunglasses. I need them."
Lorin said, "´Well, I think they're gone. We'll buy you another pair."
Nanna, looking down said, "If I had a pole I could get them. I need a pole. I could just swipe them over to the side and pick them up." And with that she ran off.
Lorin and I started taking pictures. After 11 snaps of the shutter Lorin said, "look, the sunglasses are floating back. Why don't you go down and get them."
So I clamoured under the railing and onto the edge of the canal. Which is about 10 inches wide. I pressed my back along the wall. I was side stepping over when Nanna came up with a wooden pole 20 feet long.
"Look, I've got a pole" She lowered it into the water and started trying to push the sunglasses toward me. I was afraid she was going to knock me off. So I grabbed onto it "let go, I'll get them". As I looked up, I realized we had attracted a crowd of people.
Nanna said, "No, no, no, it is easier to control the pole from above."
"Just let go. I'll do it" I said. And she let go of the pole. I carefully pulled the glasses toward me. I handed Nanna the pole, reached down, and picked the glasses out of the water.
Nanna was happy, "good job Hannah! I'm going to go put the pole back."
As I side stepped along the small edge, I saw Lorin, camera in hand.
Lorin said, "Well that was worth the whole trip to Europe!"
I climbed over the railing and up the steps. Nanna met us at the top. I handed her the glasses and asked, "So where did you get that pole anyway?"
"Oh, I found it sitting on the dock."

Today, I got to use Lorin's new super gread D300s. The one he bought because he missed me. It was so nice. I love that camera so much. I like the way it feels when you take a picture. It's smooth, almost no vibration. I took several hundred pictures today. So much fun.


ps. Please forgive typos. I'm writing on a Danish keyboard.