Hannibal's Axiom

We've not kept this as up to date as we would have liked to, and the primary reason for that is one word: Planning. Traveling around Hungary for a day trip, or all the way to another country takes TIME to plan. It's worth it. So very worth it. Admittedly, I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to more or less just say, "Oh, let's go here." Or "Oh, let's do this.", and then we would go and have a grand ol' time. I didn't appreciate the volume of questions that needed answers, and that they actually need answers in order to have the dream vacation you're hoping for. Here's a smattering of questions that the Sheens of Hungary have asked in the last few weeks:

How are you going to get there?
Where are you going to stay when you get there?
What are you going to eat?
Is there breakfast where you're going to stay?
Do you need to bring clothing for a 4 days? 6? 8?
Or is there laundry available?
Should we purchase a rail pass?
What about a metro pass?
Or a bus pass?
Or is there a tourist pass?
That costs how much?
Is there a place to stay close to a bus/metro/train station?
How often do those run?
Where can they get you to?
How much walking are you going to be doing?
Are you going to have all your luggage with you?
Should you just rent a vehicle instead?
Do you plan on purchasing souvenirs?
Do you need extra luggage for that?
Oh, and what are you going to do when you get there?
What are their hours?
Are they closed for renovations or anything when you get there?
Do you need to reserve tickets?
Wait, you can't reserve tickets for when you're going to be there?
Do you need to change the whole schedule?
Where do you want to go after you've finished at the first stop?
Does the metro pass sound more beneficial now?
Should you start looking at renting a car?

It's an intimidating list, and I think it really only scratches the surface of everything needing to be sorted out before going somewhere. Add to that list the needs, personalities, and behaviors of 5 children and two adults, and it seems to get infinitely more complicated and difficult.

It seems to. It's not when you ask for help. It's not when you involve your kids in the research and decision process.

We just finished a whirlwind 4 day trip to Sweden & Denmark. We flew to Sweden on a Friday afternoon, drove across the border and over to Billund Denmark in a little over 4 hours. We slept in a super room at the Legoland Village, enjoyed a fantastic breakfast the next morning, and then spent the rest of the day at Legoland, going on every ride we could until they turned the rides off. We then drove back from Billund over the Odense Denmark, and stayed at a hostel that didn't exactly live up to what we expected from reviews online. In the morning we drove to Copenhagen, saw the original Christus statue, went to Church, and toured around before heading back to Malmö, Sweden to sleep. We enjoyed another superb breakfast, including REAL Swedish meatballs, before checking out the Turning Torso building and nearby parks and beach, before visiting Folkets part, and finally flying back to Debrecen.

Evan picked going to LEGOLand in Billund in lieu of a birthday party in the US before coming to Debrecen. Abby created a presentation of all the things that we could do in an afternoon in Copenhagen. Collin created a presentation of what to knock out in a morning in Malmö. Livy & Will were willing participants, and well behaved. Amy took care of hotel accommodations. I booked the rental vehicle. We may not be participating in swim team, soccer, basketball or other organized activities here in Debrecen, but we are definitely playing a team sport. And it makes it totally worth it.

So what's Hannibal's Axiom? "I love it when a plan comes together!" #ateam4life

Anyhow, enjoy a WHOLE BUNCH of pictures of the adventures!

My buddies on the flight to Sweden 

Some of the cool seating areas in Malmö airport

Ikea in the wild!

Crossing the Øresund bridge

Through the tunnel after the Øresund bridge

First play area at LegoLand village

Caged & wild animals

I think he mad it all the way on this

I was running out of steam at this point. It was like 10pm and the sun was still out. :D

One of my 5 pro-putt-putters

Wild raccoons!

Abby! That's a wolf! 

Bears!

Beavers!

Last play area of the night

Sun finally setting! Needed to get to bed for LegoLand the next day!

One more adventure before LegoLand

Will's not convinced yet

So much to see..

To be scared of...

To be impressed by.

Ninjago!

Rides with longer lines had these great areas for kids in the middle. Build, build, build!

Only downside was parents weren't allowed. Kids only!

Taking in a tour around the pirates. 

Putting himself in prison

Underwater prison?

Hold your breath, Livy!

Sharkbait! Oo ha ha!

End of a great day at Legoland!

After a full day at Legoland we started driving to Odense, and the kids quickly let me know we hadn't fed them enough. We stopped at this place about 15 minutes outside of Billund. I was certain it would be closed. It wasn't. And we were SO glad it wasn't. The food was FANTASTIC.

And this was the view behind it. If it wasn't such a sleepy town that we stopped in, I imagine this place would have been crazy busy!

Danhostel grounds in Odense.

Abby knocking on the door of Hans Christian Andersen's birthplace door in Odense

And Will, Livy & Collin

And Evan showed us how the house was leaning slightly to the left. It was too bad we didn't have more time to see inside.

I even took a turn knocking. Because it's cool for adults.

The original Christus statue. Shortly after they let us in, a group came it to - as far as I could tell - perform an infant baptism, so we didn't stick around to disrupt them. But this was a very special place. So glad we made the time to come here.

Trip Advisor FTW. Brunch did not disappoint!

Livy and the Little Mermaid statue.  And one of the tour bus mobs.

Parking took longer than expected, so we didn't get to see all of the National Museum, but it was pretty interesting. We also walked out with a Hans Christian Andersen selection of stories, and started with the Snow Queen. Any guesses what movie is based on that story?

Christianborg Slot

We were able to visit the Copenhagen temple in Denmark.

It was expectedly closed late Sunday afternoon, but it was great to get there. We asked the kids tonight what was something that they didn't think they would like, but ended up really enjoying. Evan said "The Temple". It was pretty awesome to hear that he liked it that much. ...But then he clarified "The Temple ride at Legoland". :-/

Rooftop garden at the Hotel Garden in Malmö.

More of the rooftop garden.

Turning Torso tower and Turning Evan

Turning Torso Collin

Abby and Will just outside the Turning Torso building. 

This was in one of the many parks from the Turning Torso building down to the beach in Malmö. The kids just loved it there.

Collin and the Malmö coat of arms, something he found in his research.

Proof that Amy and I were both there!

Abby with the Øresund bridge in the background.

Getting as close to the water as we dared.

Posing time on one of the hills at the coastline

And me taking a picture of Amy taking the previous picture

Will hanging out with Miko the clown in Folkets park. 

Easily the biggest climbing structure I've ever seen

Will checking out the flower at Folkets park

The instigators getting wetter than they were supposed to, just before our flight back.