Result!

Anyone who has children knows what an impossible (and not very enjoyable) task it is to go shopping with them in tow. So far while being here I had only been able to shop in very small snippets, and not really been able to find anything.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the whole shopping experience, but it's also nice to get some results, and I had a few things on my list that I needed to find.

So, on Friday I took the morning train to Stockholm to meet up with my friend Erika and do some power shopping. We started out with a nice lunch at the top of Kulturhuset in the middle of Stockholm, just by Sergels Torg, you can see the famous glass pillar in the background:











After a whole days shopping, finally some result! Yay!












Here is everything from day 1:











Then we deserved a very well needed foot bath!











Day 2 we started by walking over to the little mall by the Ericsson Globe. I had promised Lucas to take some pictures of it, after the school assignment he did about it.



































After a bit more shopping for the last bits and pieces, we also met up with two of my UFO-friends, other expat mums I know from an Internet forum.
Tintin, the girl to the left I've met several times, both in Sweden, the UK and Holland! But I had never met Dina before, the girl to the right, although we used to chat quite a lot when she lived in Kuala Lumpur.
It's quite funny to meet someone you know so well but only have talked to via a chat, for the first time - it's like meeting a childhood friend. And, I thought she was a lot taller! :)







I had a splendid 38 hours away! Stockholm really showed itself from it's best side with gorgeous, sunny weather. Add good friends, good food and catching up with Erika, another must for me every time I come home.
Plus getting some shopping done, alone - priceless!

Skara Sommarland 2011

Today we went to Skara Sommarland with our friends Kattis, Moa and Lucas; and their auntie and cousin. Good timing to get to meet up with them, since they normally live in Skellefteå and are only in Skara this week to visit their grandparents.

It's been three years since we were last at Skara Sommarland. Linnea is now well over 100 cm, luckily (now the issue was actually the 120 cm limit instead...), so we could go on most rides.
Linnea got her back at the big swing, which was her nemesis last time:






Even though the park seemed filled to the brim with people, since it was such a beautiful, sunny day - the queues weren't all that bad. Maximum queue time we did was probably about 15-20 minutes, which is perfectly acceptable.
We went on nearly all the rides we were allowed on. Here are some photos from a few of them, this is 'Skepp O'hoj':













The new attraction, 'Rodeo':






The airplanes:












Linnea did the small cars:


















And Lucas did the 'Junior Indycart':










































We also watched the "Pirate Show", a performance where the acrobats jumped off very high hights, into a small pool:












Sommarland is actually a really nice park, for all ages of kids. Our ones enjoyed the slightly "quieter" activities too, like washing for gold, feeding the huge (!) fish, jumping on the giant air pillow, and climbing around in the mega playground:











































And hey - the mums!






Of course we had to finish off the day with some tombola playing. Unfortunately we weren't as lucky as last time when we won the STAR prize on just one bet, we did win - but only after betting rather heftily...
At least Lucas was happy, cause to him it was just all about the winning! :)









A great day at Skara Sommarland!
NEXT time, we will be able to go on even more rides - and do some more in the waterpark. Already looking forward to that!

For Daddy

Also today, was the 'Skara Elit Grand Prix' in Skara. A yearly bike race doing 1,5k laps around the center of town, for either 30 minutes or 1 hour depending on heat.
Last year we stayed and watched the whole thing, both heats, since Nathan was here and it was kind of his thing - but this year we only stayed to watch the start and the first few laps. (Well, it gets a bit monotonous to be honest...)

These photos are for Daddy, here are the kids just before the start of the first heat, the youngsters. Lucas thought it was a shame Daddy missed this, since there was so many "cool bikes like his"! :)



Lucas cheering on the 15-16 year olds.

Pancake Festival 2011

Today was the yearly 'Pancake Festival' in Skara. No, it has nothing to do with Shrove Tuesday, but rather with special, thick cherry-pancakes, which are a tradition around my parts of the country.

We participated last year as well, and then the kids bravely took part in the World Championships in pit-spitting (!). This year they weren't as easy to convince to participate, so we ended up just watching. The world record of 15,94m from 2004 didn't get beaten this year either.

As entertainment this year, they had two participants from the TV-show 'Sweden got talent' (or 'Talang' as it's called in Sweden), a girl, Sanna Persson, that sang a bit for us, and a crazy dude called Jecko - who was a bit of a magician/clown/funny man (Lucas made up the word "trollclown" in Swedish).









Personally I didn't quite enjoy his humour, but the kids loved all his slap-stick comedy and my two were, of course, right up the front!
So when it was time for an assistant to be chosen... there was Lucas! Of course!
He looooved it!

Sh... oes happens!

It was a lovely sunny day today, so we took the kids to the playground for a really long play. They enjoy so much meeting new friends at the playground, be outside and be able to play without getting sweaty. Plus we don't have playgrounds like these in Brunei!

I suffered from a shoe emergency almost straight away though, where one of my sandals literally suddenly fell apart, beyond repair.
So, I had to go find a new pair in the shoe shop.
I was so lucky, I found a pair of Swedish clogs I had spotted earlier, now on half-price! With only one pair left in the shop and being in my size - it was like it was meant to be that my shoe should break, so I could buy them!

(While shopping I also tried on a pair of soft, black leather sandals that were so incredibly comfy, I had to by them too... Oups...)

After having had two disastrous first two weeks shopping wise, I feel like finally - I'm on a roll! Yes! (I started to get worried I had lost the touch...)

Guess the poop

We are back in Skara again after three super days in Karlstad with our friends. We have really enjoyed their hospitality and it was so nice for us all to catch up again, both adults and children. The kids have been getting along really well this time and since Linda is one of my very best friends, it's important to me to make sure we see each other whenever I'm close enough!

This morning we woke up to grey skies and heavy clouds again, so the kids were actually allowed to watch a movie, cosy up on the sofa and just chill for a while.

After lunch we made another visit to Mariebergsskogen. This time to go and see the animals in the petting zoo, and to talk a walk through the forest to 'Naturum', a free exhibition about nature.
Just the building was extraordinary, partly built on stilts over the water and with huge glass windows on all sides.


















We explored for a while, there was lots of things to learn. We could listen to fish under water, feel bear fur, hear wolves, investigate how it looks inside a beehive, find out what a northern pike eats and much much more.
Linnea was - guessing the poop! :)



























Such a beautiful and well-kept place! A really nice excursion point, especially on a rainy day!