Look Mummy, what I can do!

There is not really a lot of playgrounds around Brunei, and to be honest we don't spend a lot of time at the ones there are either, since it's always too hot.

So we make the most of it here in Sweden and go to the playground nearly every day. It's a perfect way to entertain the kids, and they also get to interact with other kids while we are there.
It's so cool to see how fast the kids acquire new talents. F.e Lucas has (finally) learned how to swing properly (and high!) by himself, and today he also wanted to show me how he could all by himself climb the whole climbing wall:



Of course, everything takes practise, and while f.e our 5-year old might not be able to ride his bike just yet (we have agreed to practise that a lot more on our return though!), he can swim - and so can our 3-year old! Simply because that's what we do most!



Playgrounds are lots of fun though! We will miss "our" one when we leave!

To the slaughter!

Today we "slaughtered" the piggy banks!



They were quite full, and we put all the coins in two plastic bags, to bring to the toy shop - after having counted them yet again of course.




Lucas found his toy really quickly, an 'Optimus Prime'-Transformer, but Linnea took her time in choosing what to buy, and changed her mind over and over again. In the end, she stopped at some 'Pippi Långstrump'-figurines. A good choice! (We passed everything from a soft Curious George-toy to an eraser in the shape of a 100 kr-bill...)
The ladies at the shop had to work a bit for their money today!

It's here!!

Today was a big day, we were all excitingly awaiting the post this morning - the IKEA catalogue is getting distributed this week, and we assumed we would get it today (since normally there is not much other post on Tuesdays so would be a good day to hand it out), and we were right!

It's here!!!



Since last year left me utterly disappointed, I was extra happy today to get to browse it IRL, so to speak. It's just not the same to have a look online.
Now I just wish we could get an IKEA store in Brunei too (ha ha ha!)..!

Mösseberg

Today's excursion went up to a nearby mountain (well... very small mountain) Mösseberg, and to a little mini-zoo & playground there. A popular outing for families around here.
Lucas enjoyed the view, and said: "Look Mummy, we can see ALL Sweden from here!!"



It's a very child-friendly 'zoo', with mini-pigs, chickens, deers, peacocks, ponies, geese, rabbits etc. The kids were electrified to get to help feed the little goats:







They got branches of leaves for lunch!





There was also a big playground, so the kids were well entertained for a few hours!



Afterward, we went to the local cheese factory to stock up for a nice snack, and then into the center of town to browse the shops and have ice cream.

We only just got back home late this afternoon in time for dinner, and Lucas asked Mormor "How come this day ended so quickly?", so he must have had a good time!

On a rainy day

If it rains outside, but you still want to play, there is always the huge garage! The kids are having a ball on the trike and pedal car, playing postmen with lots of packets and letters to deliver - there is certainly nothing wrong with their imagination at the moment!

Our little Scrooge

While being in Sweden Linnea and Lucas have got their own little piggy banks from Mormor, to be kept here. They have been "fed" several times during the holiday, while the kids have sometimes been rewarded, or bribed (...) or just sometimes because. This week we are emptying them to go to the toy store for a bit of a shop.
Linnea has already many times emptied her piggy bank to count all her money, at one stage it was several times per day...

She keeps asking for money to put in it, and if she doesn't get any there and then, she goes hunting for some - as we all know her weakness for coins... She has been seen picking some up from Morfar's desk, and some from Daddy's wallet; but her favourite trick is getting them from returning the supermarket trolleys!

It's really a win-win for her, since she loves coming shopping and especially in this store, where children can use kiddie-sized trolleys. When we are done, she hurries to put them back, and pockets the 10 kr-coin! Ha ha! So Scrooge!

Packa pappas kappsäck

It's time for Nathan to go back, and the packing process is always a bit of a mission. Even though we are allowed to bring 30kg each on RBA, we still have to make it over to the UK somehow, and on SAS we're only allowed to take 20 kg.
It's not so easy, when you have half a Lego-shop, a bunch of new clothes and other bargain buys to pack... *Sigh*

Song of the summer

The song of this summer vacation will have to be "Fairytale" by and with Alexander Rybak. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest for this year, and he's from Norway.
Even though Nathan really didn't take to this song at all, that didn't stop it from getting played on the radio over and over (and over...) again during our roadtrip around Sweden. No matter which radio channel we tuned in to - there it was!

Here you get it in a double whammy version; the video is from the performance he did in the "Allsång på Skansen" show this summer. (Allsång på Skansen is an 'institution' in the Swedish summer!)

Saturday feast

Yesterday Mormor's family came over for dinner, all her siblings and some of my cousins.
We had prepared a real feast; with sundried tomato-and-olive chicken, horseradish marinated pork filé, bulgur-and-bean salad, potato salad, tomato-and-feta salad and more. I really enjoyed cooking (well, I don't cook too often nowadays so...) - and eating it!

Unfortunately I didn't remember to take many pictures, here are but a few, of the kids entertaining the bigger kids with their games:

Falkängen

Today we went on a little excursion. Only a short distance from here, there is a place called Falkängen (in Hällekis). It's a small street with houses from the early 1900s, where in the summertime a bunch of artists move in and show and sell their stuff. There is everything from paintings, straw creations, jewelery and ceramics to sewn things and much more.

It's a very pretty place, here are some photos:





Photographer: Lucas. He's got quite a talent actually!





This was my favourite "shop". The artist here sold candle light holders designed to hang, in trees or bushes or whatever. They were so pretty, and I wished I had unlimited luggage allowance on SAS (yes, I do need to get from Sweden to UK with them) so I could bring a bunch of these to hang in my garden for our next party.

Sigrid Storråda

We also went to see the viking ship Sigrid Storråda. It's a full scale replica of the Norweigan Goksthaship from the 10th century, which is the largest viking ship known in the world. She is rather impressive.



Sigrid Storråda was launched for the first time in 1995, after two years of hard work constructing her. Today she sails every now and then to Medieval Days around the country, and you can also book her for different occasions.



The back of the boat:



Checking out the exhibition:



Another creative self portrait!

Good friends

Today we left Nyköping and reached the last stop on our trip, for this year - Mormor and Morfar's house.

It was really good to see the Dunlop family, and it was especially good to see how good friends our kids became. Maybe it was because they were made out of the same combo - Swedish mummy and Kiwi dad?? Well, either way, Maya and Lucas really found each other.

Svidish Husmanskost

For lunch today we went down to the harbour to have some traditional Swedish husmanskost (=everyday fare). The kids got pancakes and the rest of us had Wallenbergare (which is a giant veal patty in a pool of mashed potatoes; with olive oil, a smattering of peas and a bowl of lingonberry jam), and I enjoyed a pomegranate cider with that, mmm!

I'm busy enjoying all the yummy treats and foods here in Sweden, only two weeks to go until it's back to no-pork-or-alcohol-land.

Nyköping

The past few days in Nyköping we have enjoyed the simple pleasures of life; feeding ducks, going to the playground, visiting a market in the city center, swimming in the pool, enjoying the good company of the Dunlop family. Life is good.

Öppna landskap

This morning we left the landscape of Skåne, to drive up through Sweden and to "Stockholm Syd" - Nyköping (with the airport Skavsta), actually 80 km from Stockholm...

The first part of the trip, between Helsingborg and Jönköping, I kept having the classic "Jag trivs bäst i öppna landskap"-lyrics (=I like open fields the best) in my head...
It was sooo beautiful!! You could see so, so far - and it was almost breathtaking.

Enviable garden

Jens and Karin's house is an old villa from the 1920s. The garden is a dream, full of apple trees, and - check this out, a peach tree:



They also had a glass house full of ripe grapes, mmm... what a luxury!

Artistic photo

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