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Thursday evening we attended a Saint Lucia musical recital hosted by the daycare that Helena's daughter attends. It was extremely cold outside, but the kids were all so adorable!

Friday we struck out for our own in Malmo again, and spent some time in the Malmo Museum, which was wonderful! It's a museum with art, historical castle artifacts, and an aquarium and zoo in the basement! It was quite a lot of fun to explore.

The plan for Friday evening was to take the train back to Burlov, where we'd meet Michael, and then take a bus back into Malmo to go to "Andy's Playhouse", a large indoor playground for kids. We took the wrong train, and ended up in Lund. Heading back we thought we were taking a train that stopped in Burlov, but instead it went straight on to Malmo. The train was packed, so Carina and I stood at the front of a car, while the twins sat several row behind us. At the front with us was a small group of extremely boisterous people, who at first made me feel very worried that we might have a bad situation on our hands. Suddenly, the guy closest to me offered me the beer he was drinking! When I declined he then had his friend offer me some of his beverage, which was explained to me as something homemade. I took a polite sniff, and quickly declined -- it was clearly very potent moonshine! The guy next to me proceeded to talk my ear off while Carina was engaged by the girl in this group. As it turns out, they were all heading to the Marilyn Manson concert in Copenhagen, and although drunk they were pleasant enough to chat with. They continued to offer us booze, and even invited us to join them at the concert. It was at this time that we rolled into the Malmo station, which provided us a convenient graceful exit.

Back in Malmo we called Michael to explain our situation. He told us which bus to take toward our destination, and he said he would meet us there. After several false starts we decided that the time spent trying to figure out the bus system would be better spent walking the dozen or so blocks to where we were going. This was, in fact, a big mistake, and we arrived at the destination bus stop substantially later than intended. Thankfully, Andy's Playhouse was still open, and the kids (and adults!) got to enjoy a lively 30 minutes frolicking there.

The facility was really nice: lots of mesh and rope climbing surfaces, tunnels and tubes, slides and obstacles. We played a bit of chase, and then simply ran abound before discovering a courtyard inside the maze armed with air guns that shot soft balls. We took turns shooting and being shot, and everyone had a great time. If we get the opportunity to go back, it would be a great place to spend several hours in order to wear out the kids!

Friday night we stayed up extremely late chatting with Michael, Helena, and their friend Frank. I went to bed at 4:30, and Carina and Helena turned in about an hour after that. We were all up again at 7 AM in order to catch the train to Malmo. There I bought tickets literally just in time to board the X-2000 high speed train to Linkoping. Carina and the kids stayed at the platform while I purchased the tickets, and it was a scene straight out of a movie as I rushed down the platform, waving the tickets in my hand as the final boarding call was announced! Safely on board we had a quiet ride through the Swedish countryside. The train, to my surprise, had (for pay) on-board wireless internet, and the captive portal splash page showed a real-time display of the train's position!

We've now spent the afternoon with friends of Carina's mother, who remember Carina from when she was a baby living here. They're extremely gracious hosts, and we've had a wonderful time chatting with them and their children (and grandchildren!), talking about the differences between Sweden and the U.S., as well as just sharing personal stories and getting to know one another.

We left Monday afternoon for our winter vacation. After a boring 9 hours on the plane, we arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark. After a short conflict with the payphone, we met with Michael Heilemann for lunch. Even though we only spent a brief time together, it was a real treat to meet him! I've known Michael for several years through his work on WordPress and K2, and more recently with Habari.

After lunch we took the train to Malmo, Sweden, where we were picked up by Carina's penpal's husband, Michael. The reason we're staying in Malmo is for Carina and her penpal, Helena, to finally meet -- they've been friends for almost twenty years, and have spoken on the phone a number of times but had never met one another! Helena, Michael, and their daughter Linnea are wonderful people, and we're so thankful to have such warm hosts. We stayed up (very!) late Tuesday and Wednesday night simply talking.

Tuesday we stopped at Linnea's daycare, where we had a small tour. We're going back tonight for a children's Saint Lucia concert, which should be a lot of fun. Wednesday, after a late start, we wandered around Malmo. This proved more taxing than we expected, as the twins didn't respond well to the lack of structure. Carina and I were glad to be seeing the city, and learning our way around, but the twins wanted something a little more rewarding.

I knew that it gets dark early in the afternoon here during winter, but I wasn't prepared for what an effect it had on me! At 4 PM it was very dark, and my body and brain insisted that it must be past 9. It was a long couple of hours until it was 9, and I had to keep reminding myself that I had no business being tired!

Before we left for the trip I had purchased walkie talkies at Radio Shack, so that we could communicate across moderate distances should we split up for any reason. The clerk, upon learning that I was going abroad, tried to sell me a GPS unit -- "You don't want to get lost," he said. I replied "Yes, I do!" and I meant it: getting lost is how you find those great little treasures that make a trip so rewarding: a cafe hidden away somewhere, or an unexpected event that you never would have found otherwise. Just such a thing happened to us while looking for a restaurant on Wednesday night: we walked back toward the city center and saw a lot of police officers -- a lot more than we had seen through the day. As we approach the square, we saw several hundred motorcycles lined up, with a very large crowd watching them. Perplexed, we asked one of the bystanders what was happening. "Santa Claus" he said, matter-of-factly. "Malmo tradition, for ten or fifteen years." Indeed, at the front of the group of motorcycles were several riders dressed like Santa Claus! We started taking photographs, and then shortly after the riders set off for a drive through town, led by a dozen Santa Clauses!

My sister is getting married in December, so we're all going to Kiev, Ukraine to be with her for the occasion. Carina observed that since we're heading that far east anyway, we should make an effort to stop in Sweden for at least a couple days in order to visit her friends and family there. And so tickets were purchased, and vacation time was requested from work.

Lots of drama ensued between the purchase of the tickets and last night, when the final piece of the puzzle fell into place as Carina found our lost passports (I had already purchased a new RFID-enabled passport when I was unable to locate my old one). Other drama was caused by Carina's employer, but that was solved when she accepted a new job offer.

So, in mid-December we'll be flying to Sweden for a little over a week. After that we fly to Kiev for Ann's wedding. We're tentatively planning a trip to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone while we're there.

If anyone reading this is in Sweden or Ukraine (or anywhere reasonably close) and would like to get together, please let me know! I'd love to meet you.

We went to Key West, Florida this weekend to celebrate the marriage of Brooke and Matt. I went to school with Brooke, and she's been a good friend for many years. I'm absolutely delighted that she and Matt have committed their lives to one another, and I'm honored that she invited Carina and I to share the moment.

Tom joined us on the flight down, and Amie and Duffy picked us up at the Fort Lauderdale airport Friday evening. We had an extremely long drive down US 1 to Key West, but much of the time was spent laughing and giggling that I will always remember it as one of the best rides I've ever enjoyed. Many jokes made that night will cause side-splitting laughter amongst us for a long time to come. We rolled into Key West around 11 PM, dropped our stuff into our hotel rooms and then set out to enjoy a few relaxing drinks. We connected with Brooke and Matt, and the relaxing notion slipped our minds. We stayed out late, and had considerably more fun that I would have imagined after a long day of travel.

Saturday morning we woke up reasonably early and walked to Blue Heaven for breakfast. I've never dined with wild chickens walking around, so it was a unique experience. On the walk back we passed the Hemmingway house, but declined to pay the $11/person admission fee. We were all a little tired and worn-out from the night before, so we split up for a quick nap in our rooms before venturing out to the beach. We drove to Fort Zachary Taylor and enjoyed a swim, the sun, and a small bite to eat. After another brief nap, we cleaned up and climbed into the shuttle taking us to Brooke's wedding. The weather was gorgeous, and the sunset was spectacular. The service was short, but very sweet. We watched for a bit as wedding photos were taken, and then climbed back into the van to go to the reception at Schooner Wharf Bar. It was a pleasant, cool evening filled with good food and good conversation. We stayed late, and walked with Brooke and Matt as they decided to continue the party at Capt. Tony's Saloon. I was exhausted, so I dragged Carina back to the hotel with me. I don't know how Brooke and Matt did it -- they must have had only a few hours sleep all weekend!

Sunday morning Duffy joined Carina and I for breakfast at Pepe's Cafe, and then out for a snorkel trip. We had really wanted to go SCUBA diving, but settled for trying snorkeling. It was very windy as we went out, and there was a good deal of chop in the water as we jumped in. It took me a while to get the rhythm of the water so that I could swim without swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. It was a lot more exertion than I expected, and the water wasn't quite as clear as I would have liked. Nonetheless, I had a good time. I saw a gigantic barracuda, nearly as long as I am tall, and a number of colorful fish. I spotted a large grouper, and turned my head to watch him swim away. When I turned my head back to look in front of me, I found myself staring at a large jellyfish less then two feet away! Carina didn't enjoy snorkeling as much as I did. She never found a good way to keep water our of her mouth, and ended up feeling quite ill from swallowing too much of it. She only snorkeled for about half the time. On the plus side, though, she didn't feel at all seasick on the trip to or from the dive spot! Usually Carina feels wretched, even with Dramamine, when taking a boat ride on choppy water.

We had another short nap, and then reconnected with Amie and Tom for a late lunch. Afterwards we drove to the official southernmost spot in the US.

We shared drinks at the Southernmost Cafe, and then made our way back to Mallory Square in order to join up with Brooke and Matt to watch the sunset. We never did connect with them, and we never did see the sunset (it was occluded by storm clouds off in the distance), but we did enjoy drinks along the water's edge. Immediately next to us was Dominique's Cat Show. This "cat show for cat people" was surreal, and we found ourselves captivated by how bizarre the whole thing was. I took a video with my Treo, but haven't yet reviewed it to see if it's of sufficient quality to make clear how weird the show was. You can try some of the YouTube videos of the Catman show to get a feel for it.

We joined a large group of Brooke and Matt's other friends for dinner at Red Fish Blue Fish, while Tom and Amie went on one of the walking ghost tours of the city. Afterwards, we all joined up again for a nightcap before retiring to our hotel rooms. We awoke early Monday morning, and made the long drive up US 1 to Fort Lauderdale. Again, we were able to make the drive entertaining (often by repeating the jokes from the drive down!) and made excellent time getting back to the airport. After a few uneventful flights, we were home.

I liked Key West, but I'm not in any rush to go back. I had a superb weekend, in no small part due to the wonderful company of friends and loved ones. I hope Brooke and Matt had as much fun as we did, and I wish them a lifetime of happiness together!

We ran into Duffy while eating ice cream one afternoon prior to our trip. We told him of our plans, and the major sites we hoped to see. Duffy, ever the comedian, said "Don't forget the Mint! You can ask for free samples!" The twins laughed very hard at this, and the Mint became fixed in Tyler's mind as a mandatory component of our trip.

Tuesday morning I woke extra early in order to get in line for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to obtain tickets for admission to the tour. When the alarm went off at 5:30 AM Tyler, lying in the bed next to me, exclaimed "Stupid!" She was clearly dreaming, but I took her outburst as prophetic: who would really get in line by 6 AM for this thing? I snoozed for a bit, before finally showering and then riding the metro. On my way across the Mall I saw that the line for tickets to the Washington Monument was already staggeringly long. I arrived at the Bureau right around 7 AM. I stopped counting the people in line when I reached 100. I simply took my position at the end, and hunkered down to wait.

By 7:45, there were probably three hundred people in line. The Bureau only dispenses about 600 tickets per day, and most of the folks in line were collecting tickets for their families, just like me. Around ten till someone came out to tally up how many tickets each person wanted. About twenty people behind me he announced "Okay, that's it. No more tickets left. The rest of you need to come back tomorrow." The line suddenly truncated, and a large crowd slowly dispersed. For the next 40 minutes, people continued to trickle toward the line, only to be turned away.

I got tickets for the 10:15 tour, and then immediately felt a bit lost. I had nothing to do until the tour started! It would have been foolish to spend the time and the $1.35 to take the metro back to the hotel. None of the Smithsonian buildings were open. I wandered about, got coffee and a bagel from a cafe nowhere close to the Mall, and then strolled back. I still had another 40 minutes to waste, so I simply sat and waited at the entrance to the Bureau. Carina and the twins finally arrived, and we went in to the tour.

Having worked in a commercial printing facility for a number of years, the operation that I saw wasn't entirely fascinating. Nor did I see anything that really justified the strict prohibition against any photography inside the building. The process of Intaglio printing was new to me, but the other aspects of printing the currency was largely just offset printing. Tyler, however, was engrossed in the process. The tour was very obviously one of the high points of the trip for her, and I'm glad we made the time to do it. Tayler, too, enjoyed the tour. She's often asked questions like "what's the largest bill ever made?" The tour guide cheerfully announced that bills larger than $100 are no longer printed, and haven't been in circulation in decades. The only way to acquire them now is through collectors.

After that, we stuffed ourselves into the van and headed home. Without a doubt, this was the best family trip we've ever taken. The kids were positively delightful: very little fighting or bickering, only a little bit of whining, and they were genuinely interested in the sites we saw. Tyler purchased a book of famous speeches at Arlington National Cemetery in order to learn more about both John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Tayler asked a lot of thoughtful questions that merit better explanations than I was able to extemporaneously provide, and I'm looking forward to doing some research with her to help us both get answers.

The drive home was blissfully uneventful.