Mother's Day

Mother's Day here in Sweden is on Sunday but since Bob and I will be in London then, Clara surprised me with a dinner she composed and cooked herself (with a little help from mormor).

We had a three course dinner and it was excellent!

Tomorrow at this time we'll be in London.

Natural Museum of Science and Technology

Yesterday we spent the day at Tekniska museet in Stockholm (Natural Museum of Science and Technology). Great hands-on museum that we never had been to. We all enjoyed it. A favorite part was a mine exhibit.

Afterwards we went over to Kaknästornet which is an observation tower here in Stockholm. I hadn't been there since after high school when someone had a party there. The tower is 155 m tall (508 feet) and the view was great. It helped that the sun was shining from a blue sky.

Presentation and Parties

Yesterday we went to the kids school, Pärlan, to make a presentation about our trip. We showed pictures and things and the students were great; attentive, interested and full of questions (and stories "when my family and I went to a country then....":) The whole family was involved except Clara who was home sick, unfortunately.

After school Hanna had a birthday party to go to. Two of the girls from her class turned 7. The theme was Mamma Mia, a party in my taste! She had a great time and after picking her up we went straight to cousin Matilda's birthday dinner. She turned 6 and we all had a very nice time over there. Thomas's parents were there and the kids had a great time with their cousins. We had hamburgers. Fun day!

Great Weekend!

This past weekend was a long weekend due to Kristi Himmelsfärd (Ascencion Day which is a holiday in Sweden.) We really made the most of it by seeing dear friends that I have known pretty much all my life. We started out with dinner at Christina and Stefan's beautiful home downtown Stockholm. Stefan's daughter Cissi was also there. We had a great dinner and it was the first time Bob and Stefan met and they really hit it off. We took the train home late at night after a very fun evening.

The next morning we met up with the Runsten family on the train. Bob and Philip went to the Royal Palace Museum as well as Army Museum and Vivvi and I took the kids and their Estonian exchange student down to Kulturhuset (The House of Culture) where we saw an exhibit on Lennart Hellsing (famous Swedish author). The also have something called Room for Kids, with books and art and all the kids enjoyed making original art pieces. After that lunch at their house and then off to soccer practice. Philip coaches two of their sons' team and our kids went too. Another great day.

On Saturday morning we took the car and drove for a couple of hours to Kerstin and Ola in Högfors, Norberg, where they live with their sons Axel and Hugo. They had their annual pizza party for their friends and it was so much fun. They have a wood stove in the kitchen where they bake fantastic pizzas. Everyone in our family thought they were the best we've ever tasted. Great evening with a lot of fun conversations with their nice friends and neighbors and a lot of laughs. Nicklas said to me: You and your friends laugh a lot. And we do! The kids had fun too and made new friends. 

We stayed over in their cozy guest cottage and after a long, lazy breakfast the next day we started our drive back to Täby. But not before one of their friends came by with mushrooms for us  that she had picked and dried, very nice.

That was our weekend and it was great!

North of the Arctic Circle

Bob's back from a fantastic adventure north of the Arctic Circle.  I used an Eurail pass and took an overnight train from Stockholm (20 hours) to Narvik, Norway, the land of the midnight sun. 

Its about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle and even though its only May the sun was up the entire time I was there.  Thank goodness I had some 5 dollar sunglasses from Malaysia

From Narvik I took a bus to Bodo, Norway, catching a small ferry to go up a Fiord.  I had actually made this trip back in 1972 with my brothers Mike and Kevin then we had to catch 4 ferry's to get over the Fiords but in the ensuring years the Norwegians had built three new bridges cutting the number of ferry's needed.  

From Bodo I caught another overnight train to Trondheim,  This was a trip down memory lane for me because in 1972 (July 18th) my brothers Mike and Kevin had kept the entire train up to watch me turn 21.  This time it wasn't my birthday and I didn't think anyone would want to watch me turn 39 so I just slept the entire way.

In Trondheim I caught an overnight Ferry with the Hurtigrutten line that took me to Bergen.  It was an incredible trip but I was missing the family.  

The next day it was back to Stockholm were we had a big feast celebrating a great trip and a happy return 

Another Day in Stockholm

No school today so the kids and I took the train to the Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet) on Djurgården in Stockholm. It's a great museum and the kids loved it. We will absolutely go back. One part of the museum is a children's area where the kids can pretend they live in the 1800's, and everything (the store, the house, the horse and carriage etc) is child size. We also ate a great lunch there. The kids had Swedish pancakes, which of course in Sweden are called just pancakes:)

On our way home I dropped off the kids with the Runsten family for some play with their kids. 

My parents are in their summer house right now but before they left the girls did some more baking with mormor. 

Spring is in full bloom here and the apple trees in my parents' yard are very beautiful.

Now we're waiting for Bob to come home from his Norway adventure

Biking, Baking and Buddies

Today Nicklas and Clara had Bike Day at school where they learned about bike safety and how to bike in traffic. Thanks to the neighbor kids, Simon and Wilma, our kids have borrowed bikes and can participate in the activities. The kids have more independence here than back home and can bike or walk to school, the store or friends by them selves. 

While the kids were at school today I met my friend Vivvi for a walk and then she treated me to an excellent lunch at Monrads in Djursholm. We had Seafood Ceasar Salad, yummy!

The girls love to bake and with a mother who doesn't bake much they take the chance now with both mormor (grandma) and moster (my sister Anna). Nick went bike riding with his cousins Martin and Karl and their friends instead.

Bob called from Norway yesterday. He is having a good time and is experiencing the midnight sun while being up north. He also enjoyed being in Norway the weekend they won the Eurovision Song Contest by a landslide AND celebrated their National Day (Syttende Mai).

Land of the Midnight Sun

Last night Bob and I had a very nice time downtown. We walked around, had a drink in Kungsträdgården and then dinner on Birger Jarlsgatan. We are still a month away from the longest day of the year but it is already very light late in the evening and early in the morning. Last night we strolled around at about 9.30 pm and it was bright daylight (see pictures).

Today the kids had orientering at school. This very Swedish activity is something kids here do every year. Our kids had tried in Seattle at Swedish school so it was not completely new to them. But fun nevertheless.

The kids really like their school, friends and teachers. The high light of the school day, though, is playing marbles at recess.

Right now Bob is waiting to get on the train up to Narvik, Norway. The train takes 20 hours and he might even try to go skiing up there. Bob did the same trip with two of his brothers years ago and has wanted to make the same trip again and now was his chance. The rest of us will stay busy with birthday parties, kids disco, meeting up with friends and maybe going to the theatre.

Going to school

The kids have started their first week of school here in Sweden. They go to a Montessori school close to my parents house. It's a small but great school with students from pre-school through 9th grade. The kids really like it and one of the teachers said today that it's like they've been there all along. Tomorrow the whole school has orientering and on Friday night there's a school disco.

We are very happy that the kids get this experience and of course even more so that it's such a positive one.

When the kids are in school Bob and I have played golf (Bob) and taken long walks with my mom (Stina) as well as some shopping and tonight we're going out for dinner downtown.

Beautiful Stockholm

Yesterday we took the train from my parents house to downtown Stockholm. I might be a little biased but I still think Stockholm is the most beautiful city in the world. We walked around Old Town, saw the Royal Palace and the guards. Then we walked by the prime minister's official residence (his private home is just a street away from my parents.)

Before the trip to the city we went to visit the school where the kids are going to be going for the rest of the semester. The kids got a great welcome and teachers and students seem very nice. Hanna looks forward to "stuffed animal party" that her class is having soon. 

Now we just got home from a very nice evening with my sister Anna, brother-in-law Thomas and their kids at their house. The rest of the family is already sleeping (still suffering a little from jet lag) and I'm just finishing up a cup of tea before I join them.

Goodnight!