How we celebrate our midsummer as a family of many nordic traditions
1) We wake up bright and early to get started on everything. I normally eat fresh pancakes on a day like today while my Uncles munch on Salmon rye bread with coffee. Uncle Denmark, Uncle Norway and big brother Sweden will all work on the foods for lunch, dinner and dessert, meat, cake fish owe my.
2) Later Uncle Norway will bring some special Red Campion flowers he collects from where he grew up to put on our flower crowns. I am still learning but its really fun to make these. All the twists and turns and sizing and colors. Its lots of fun.
3) We will then have lunch with the family. Some food made and brought by Uncle Norway for lunch is rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge) and I love how creamy it is. He also beings spekemat (cured meats).
4) Then we will work on getting leaves and flowers on the maypole and find a very special spot in our big front yard to put it in. Adults of course put the pole up.
5) We then do that dance Små Grodorna (The Little Frogs) around our Maypole while holding hands.
Before I knew how to do the dance I heard the words little frog and started hopping around like a frog. I made the family laugh.
6) Later dinner gets made. Big brother Sweden makes spare ribs and Salmon on the side. While these foods are being made me and Uncle Finland, Uncle Denmark and Uncle Norway all go to a strawberry patch near our home and pick fresh strawberries to put on top of Uncle Norways strawberry cake. The strawberries are all so fresh, juciey and very big also they are so yummy.
7) After dinner we will go down to a beach near by and make a big bonfire where Uncle Denmark starts giving a speech and sings Midsommervisen", written by the Danish poet Holger Drachmann song made in 1885 he told me.
9) Uncle Norway told me one day I will proticipate in a legend where if you sleep with 7 different midsummer flowers under your pillow you will dream of who you will marry. I wonder what that will be like when I'm older
10) Then we will stay up the rest of the day to do Uncle Icelands favorite thing watch the midnight sunset.
11) Then comes a fun part we go inside and pack for a cottage Uncle Finland books where we enjoy saunas, swimming, another bonfire, fishing and just spending time with family. During my first sauna I never realized how hot it is in one. I walked inside glasses on and screamed AHHH I CAN'T SEE . Only to be told by Uncle Finland my glasses fogged up. Needless to say I had to go without them at that time.
One time I cought a really big fish longer then my arm. I had to fight to catch it but I did. It was long, big, brown and all slippery. Also you won't belive the sandcastles Uncle Denmark builds. They come with so many windows, doors, little people and even a moat he lets me fill with water.
Midsummer with my family isn't perfect but its a very fun and loving mix of many traditions all wrapped up in one crazy loving Nordic family.
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