Halloween

Wednesday this week, Malin said that she did not want to have the same vampire dress as last year for this Halloween. The selection of Halloween outfits is fairly limited in Sweden; witches, ghosts, vampires, Draculas and demons. Then I remembered that last year when we were in the US, I bought a velvet fabric with pink glittering spiders on it. I found it and took one of Malin’s dresses as a pattern and started to cut and sew. It has been a very long time since I sew a dress…. but a Halloween dress does not need any fancy details. It has been a full agenda for this Halloween weekend. Friday night Malin went to a disco at school, dressed as Monsters high Barbie, while Jesper went to a party celebrating the end of the soccer season. Mark and I had two hours on our own….but unfortunately we had too many errands to run so we only had time for a sushi dinner at the new mall. It tasted good and we actually had some time to talk.

Saturday, we had a birthday party for Malin with all the girls in her class plus the girls that she takes art class with, 15 girls! This year we had asked Malin’s dance teacher, Johanna, if we could be at the dance house and if she could have a dance class with the girls for an hour. Said and done. They got to learn a few steps to “Popular” a very popular song among the kids here. After the class we had FIKA with cake and cookies. It turned out great.
Jesper missed her party since he had a floor ball game to win.

But the day was not over yet……we went home and Malin had to get ready to go to another birthday party, now dressed in the new Halloween dress. They ate pancakes and danced to the Wii game “Just dance 3”. Full speed.

When Malin came home we carved our pumpkin. We had chosen a witch pattern this year.

Today, the pace is somewhat slower. Malin has a dance class and Jesper has two hockey games, then tonight they are going trick or treating with some friends.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Hockey goalie

No snow on the ground yet….but the focus has switched from soccer to hockey, a lot of hockey. Jesper has ice-hockey practice three times a week. Since he likes to be goalie in hockey as well, he does a double pass at each practice, one hour as goalie and one as a regular player. Last weekend was the first games of the season.
You should notice Jespers’ height compared to the goal. When you look at a goalie in NHL, the top of the goal is around their waist….

Earrings

Yesterday, Malin and I had a girls-only day. Mark and Jesper headed out early for a soccer tournament in Örebro. Malin and I started with a stay-at-home breakfast, a breakfast with a little bit of everything that last a little bit longer than a weekday breakfast. Malin then had art class; they are trying to make a mosaic motive now. So impressing to see their creative results.

The time had then finally come when Malin was allowed to get her ear pierced. She has been asking for that for a long time and we promised her on her birthday that she could do it soon. We headed down-town and went into a saloon. She got to pick-out which pair of ear-rings she wanted. She counted to three then BANG. She did not make a sound. The girls at the saloon said that many girls scream and do not want to do the second ear, but Malin did not hesitate. She is pretty proud of her ear-rings and wants to show and tell.

After that we had some sushi for lunch, before we headed over to H&M for some shopping. She had gotten a gift certificate for her birthday so we wanted to see if they had any good shirts or dresses. We did not find anything interesting there but we found some cool clothes at a couple of other stores. Her boots were falling apart so we found a new pair. By this time our feet were aching so we bought some candy and went home to watch Mamma Mia, the movie. We sang along and ate our candy.

When the boys came home she got to show off her new wardrobe.

Today the guys are going to Örebro again. Jesper’s team won all their games yesterday. No more shopping today for Malin and me, we need to focus on homework and housework.

Malin is 8

Malin turned 8 this past Monday. My dad, sister and brother came this weekend and we started to celebrate Malin already on Sunday. We ate strawberry cake and Malin got presents from her wish list; a new Ken Barbie, a bathrobe and a one-piece.
Monday we celebrated again, as we always do, with strawberry cake in the morning. However, with her new bed it was difficult to eat the cake in bed.

We also associate Malins birthday with when we moved into our house. In 2003, mid-october it was -9 C outside, so we know winter is just around the corner.

Fall is here

Last weekend we went up to my dad. On Saturday we headed out to the woods and had a pick-nick. We saw plenty of mushrooms, but only a few that we recognized as edible. We picked apples and made the first apple cake for the fall. The temperatures were below free at night and the leaves are turning. Fall is here.

Now we are back from another relaxing fall weekend with good friends, tasty food and great weather. For three years now, we; three families with kids in the same age, have spent a weekend in a cabin in the woods by a lake just outside of Västerås. Friday night when we got there, we ate and then pretty much just crashed after a full week at school and work. Saturday, the sun was shining and after a hardy breakfast we headed out in the woods with our baskets to find some chanterelles.

Just behind the cabin we started to find mushrooms. We left a few there and headed further into the woods. It was great fun to see everybody, especially the kids, get excited when they found sooooo many mushrooms. Of course we also had some fika in the woods. If you have been visiting us, you know what fika is. We were heading back with full baskets but could not stop picking since we saw mushrooms everywhere. Then we spent the afternoon cleaning mushrooms while talking and discussing various topics. The kids were running around playing hide-and-seek or trying to catch some fish.

Our inflatable kayak got some use as the sun was setting.

Picking corn

Newly picked corn, so hot so the butter melts with a pinch of salt….that has become one of our traditions. In the beginning of September, every year since Jesper was born; we go out to a local farm and pick corn. Then we go directly home and cook and eat them. It tastes great!

Back to daily routines

The kids are clean, the beds are clean, the clothes are clean and I think we are ready for yet another whirlwind week of our weekday routines. The speed is picking up, this week Malin will start gymnastics and swimming, but it is not until the ice-hockey starts for real that we are up to hurricane strength in our whirlwind.

We have spent our weekends doing some projects at home. You will have to come and visit in order to see our progress. Otherwise, the weekends has been filled with soccer games and hockey practices. One Saturday, Malin got to try to sew, she made a pillow, and she liked it. This is the first year in school that she will have ”slöjd”, that is one semester with carpentry classes and the next with sewing classes.

Norway

Back at work and back to more daily routines. The kids start school on Monday. So they have a few days left to just play.

After the moose-park we continued up to Alfta. The next day the weather was nice so we headed to Galven, but after lunch it turned a little bit too chilly even for the kids. After celebrating my brother’s birthday we started our trip to Norway. Our first stop was Röros, a former mining village that is on the Unesco World Heritage list. At the cabin for the night, we had a trampoline, which was great for the kids after a full day in the car.

The next day we were ready for the amazing landscape; waterfalls, scenic views and serpentine roads. First we climbed up Trollstigen, a serpentine road with 11 hairpin turns on the mountain wall. We made it all the way up but unfortunately we could not see further than an arms-length at the top.

We continued to drive and the sun came out and we could have lunch with a view.
We took a ferry over a fjord in order to get to our next stop, Geiranger, a village at the end of the fjord which often is pictured as representing the Norwegian fjords with a huge cruise-ship anchored in the middle. Then we climbed out of the fjord and waded in water from a glacier before we climbed to 1500 meters above sea level to Dalsnibba with yet another amazing 360° view.

I do not know how many tunnels we went through during our 5-day trip, we lost count the 2nd day. However, what we do remember is the feeling of coming out of every tunnel surrounded by new mountains or looking at new fjords or small cabins up on the hillside.
After settling in our cabin for the night, Mark, Jesper and I took a walk up to a glacier. Cool feeling standing in the middle of the mountains look at the glacier.

Our 3rd Unesco site was the Urnes stave church just outside Sognedal. We took a break from the car and jumped on to a train in Flåm that took us up the mountain, 864m. It was an old train that squeaked in every turn so they should have given you earplugs with the ticket.

The 4th day, Bergen was on the agenda. The kids wanted to do a treasure hunt up at Mt. Floyen, the highest point in Bergen. It turned out that it was a fairly challenging walk with a vague map, but we made it and the kids were rewarded with a “Bergen” yo-yo each….

We drove over Hardangervidda on our way to our last night in Geilo. A very different landscape but as captivating. On our way to Olso, the next day, roadwork took us on smaller roads, passing Utöya where the massacre occurred just 2 weeks earlier. Very sad and unreal.

In Oslo we picked two museums to visit, the Viking museum and the Kon-Tiki museum. Then we drove all the way back to Västerås, completing our 2500 km road trip.

I think I took over 500 pictures during this trip.

Liseberg

Marks parents arrived last Thursday and we are taking a few trips here and there with them. Friday we went to Asköviken, a nature reserv in Västerås that is a big bird habitat, where they have seen up to 250 different kinds of birds. We did not see more than 10 and could identify even fewer…. But it was very nice scenery.

Saturday we headed down to Anders and Tina. We sat on their porch and ate shrimp and crayfish when the rain was hammering on the roof. It was cosy and tasted very good. Liseberg, the amusement park in Göteborg, was next on the agenda. It was chilly and rain was in the air, but we headed out anyway. The kids had been there before, but since they both were about 20 cm taller this time they were allowed to go on more of the rides. This was popular, especially for Malin. She is fearless. The worst rides she is still too short to be allowed on, time will tell where her limits are. It was a good thing that Mark and Anders also had ”all-you-can-ride” bands.

I am not so much for the rides, I take pictures and play on the fortune wheels where you can win loads of candy and chocolate. And for the first time I won!!!. A huge Toblerone!

In the evening, Mark and I had tickets for a Roxette concert. When we headed to the concert the others took another loop around the rides for 3 more hours. The kids had a great day. The concert was good, everybody sang along for the most known songs, like ” It must have been love”, and ”Dressed for success”. I have listened to their music for 25 years!!

Back in Västerås we just took it easy for a couple of days. Talking, swimming and in the evening the kids and grandma and grandpa played a new game, Rummycube.

Yesterday we went to a moose park just outside Sala. You ride on a trailer behind an old tractor and go into different fenced in areas and Leffe, the owner, make the moose, male, females and calves, come to eat out of a bucket so everybody gets to touch a moose. Amazing feeling to be that close to such a large animal.

Pictures will come later.

Alfta

Back in Västerås after a week in Alfta. Marks parents just arrived this morning so we are just having a slow day at home. The temperature is 20 C, quite a contrast to >40C in North Carolina.

It was not so warm in Alfta so we had to come up with alternatives to Galven. One day we went to Järvzoo, a zoo in Järvsö close to where my dad lives. The animals in the park are Nordic mammals and birds, for example wolves, bear, moose, wolverines and musk ox. A bear cub called Hedda, put on the best show, first on her own and then she started to jump at her sleeping mother, who then started to play with her cub.Monday morning when we woke up the sun was out and the plan was made for the day, Galven. This was Jespers chance to get a day at Galven this summer. Always nice, but this day was on the cool-side even for Swedes. Then it was time for our traditional evening to feed the calves and milk the cows. Always fun to take part of this routine.

Vacation

Today, Jesper has the last day of two weeks of ice-hockey camp.

Last week he was in Katrineholm, about an hour south of Västerås all week with activities 12 hours per day, 4 was on the ice. Very strange to watch them practice ice-hockey in the middle of summer.

When he practiced, Mark, me and Malin took the opportunity to explore the area of Katrineholm with about an hour radius. One day we went to Vingåker factory outlet, with the focus to find suites and business pants for Mark. He was pleased and we picked-up a few other pieces of clothing as well.

Another day we went to Nyköping, a small town on the east coast, and a natural park close by called Stendörren. We took a hike in the woods, dipped our feet in the water and watched boats of various sizes pass through the narrow path into this natural harbor. We will be back there with our kayak to try the waters out some more.
We left Jesper for a couple of days and went back to Västerås. Sara, my dad and Märta came to visit us. We have been living in Västerås for 13 years and one thing I have been wanting to do is to cruise on Hjälmare canal. Hjälmare canal is a path of water that connects Lake Mälaren with Lake Hjälmaren. This year the timing was right and we had a beautiful day on the water. We went through 9 different locks since Hjälmaren is 22 meters higher than Mälaren.


The timing was also right for my dad to experience Power Meet in Västerås. For a few days in July every summer, Västerås is invaded by thousands of old cars, mostly old American cars of various conditions. On Friday night there was an arranged cursing where the 200 nicest cars were allowed to cruise through down. Later the rest of the cars joined the cruising as well.

This week, Jesper has had hockey camp in Västerås, with focus on games and he has been the goalie all week. Mark worked and Malin and I went up to Alfta. Yesterday, we finally had the first Galven day of the summer and by looking at the forecast, maybe the last. But it turned out to be a true Galven day with many relatives on the beach. It turns out that they have had many Galven days earlier this summer without us.
Today, is it raining, so Sara and Malin is enjoying the day with scrapbooking, drawing and other crafts.