Update

Time flies and especially fast when you have a lousy internet connection and have to sit in the middle of the stairs to get a choppy wireless connection. I miss my blogs and I barely check mail. But in a way it has its relaxing charm as well, being offline so much.

The kids are turning into Swedish summerkids, which is lovely to see! Walking barefoot on gravel, dirty toes and fingers blue from blueberry picking in the woods at the country house. Ok, I bribed them a little with the blueberries, as I wanted to get enough berries to make a pie. I had to bribe them with a candy each, but it was so worth it - not having to pick all the berries my self :-).

Sven is reluctantly beginning to walk. He has mastered a full six steps - but that was close to a week ago, and after that adventure he quickly regressed back to crawling. But I am pretty confindent he will get a hang of it by the time he starts college...

Claes arrives tomorrow, after three weeks in Charlotte and we are all VERY eager to see him! Especially me :-)!!

Back to normal

Well the Swedish summer has returned to normal. After almost two weeks of fantastic weather, today was cloudy, slightly drizzling and high of 63 - Now that's so much more familiar ;-).

Hopefully the sun will return soon again, so that we can go out to the house in the archipelago. Being there is pure peace for the soul... And even more so if Sven isn't there ;-).

I'm loving It

Dinnertime at McDonnald's. I am ordering Happy Meals for the kids (Oh, McDonnald's here are miles ahead of the US when it comes to nutricious thinking for the kids. Not only can you choose between fries and apple slices - There are also bread sticks, bean salad (not that I know how many children eat bean salad, but hey, it's an option :-)), only skim milk, no chocolate milk option and all meals come with a choice of apple slices or carrots even if you order fries. Not bad!) and Mathilda wants a cheeseburger but without mustard, pickles and onions (yes my daughter is a picky eater, but hey, she's eating meat!!! Good golly!)

Me:... And then I would like a Happy Meal with a cheeseburger, only ketchup on it...
Girl behind counter....Uuuuuhh....Uuuummm... So you don't want the meat and cheese then?...

Noooo, that's why I ordered a cheeseburger when all I actually wanted was a hamburger bun with ketchup...

She eventually got it, but I think she double checked with me like three times first. I just smiled and thought happy thoughts....

A day at the zoo

Today the kids and I went with my old friend, and Elias's god father, Henrik, to Skansen, which is an outdoor museum combined with zoo. For anyone interested in Swedish history, and what Sweden used to look like, it is a great place! The animal exhibits are primarily Nordic/Swedish animals such as Moose, Brown bear, Wolfs and Seals.

It was a very hot day, so none of the animals were really out and about unfortunately (but understandibly), but we did get to see a mother Brown Bear and her year-old cubs playing around which was pretty cool. The kids also enjoyed petting a cow and getting Lynx face paintings. Most of all, however, they enjoyed getting ice cream and going for some rides at the small children's amusement area. So much for trying to expose them for Swedish culture :-).

Afterwards, I had promised to take the kids on the subway, a promise they made sure I kept (despite hoping that a day at Skansen would make them forget it, I had no such luck). So while Henrik took the car (and Sven, thank god) a stop further down town, I took Mathilda and Elias through escalators and train. They both thoroughly enjoyed it, and when asked what his favorite animal had been at the Skansen, Elias replied "I don't know, they were not so fun. But riding the subway was really exciting and my favorite part! When can we do it again?"

Oh well. I shouldn't complain, at least they are easily entertained...