Finally...photos from our Sweden trip! I know...way too many but it is too difficult to cut back further. I had over 700 photos from the trip to begin with...

Leaving the Copenhagen airport in sweet Audi wagon rental car



Driving across the bridge from Denmark to Sweden - fee $65..



Max at beach

Finn with cousin Sam

Max and Sam

Cousin Maj

My (little) brother Fredrik

Inside St Maria's church where both boys were Baptized

Our little golfer

Having a blast!

Digging to China

Morning dip with new friends Gustav and Simon



The boys' table at Marinan restaurant



Me and lovely Pia whom I had not seen since our wedding, 8 years ago!

At Ale's Stenar in Kaseberga

Arrived in Gronskara at Liselotte's place. 

Liselotte and Ella take Max for a ride in the tractor!

...and mommy and Finn too!

Max and Ella at the top of the view tower

So beautiful

Finn amongst the wild flowers



Climbing at a play structure in Gothenburg




With Mark, Oline, Jakob in Varberg, enjoying the largest (and best!) ice-cream cones ever made...



Finn at the canon at Varberg Castle

And Max too

Max and Jakob climbing in the front yard

My beautiful 6-year old

Beach in Ystad

Visiting Copenhagen

At the Lego store!  The Danes invented the Legos you know...

Some of the many street performers at Stroget, the long pedestrian street in Copenhagen

Adorable Nyhamn







Max and Finn at the animal park grounds

Petting the goats

Impromptu grill evening at our hotel





back home

sunday afternoon.  we just returned from our sweden vacation yesterday afternoon and were so exhausted i can't even describe it.  still are.  max didn't sleep a minute on the flight home.  finn got a few hours while brent and i caught perhaps an hour each.  this year's trip was great.  we did quite a bit, saw lots of people and the weather was fantastic - will follow up with a separate blog about the trip.  as always, it sure is nice to be back home after being gone though..  today has been a lazy day.  speaking for myself.  the kids went to bed at 6:30 last night....so they got up at 4:30 this morning..and so did brent and i.  however, we did crawl back in bed while the kids watched a movie.  you got to do what you have to do...in order to survive.  seriously.  we got up early enough.  since then, brent has been rather busy..

what brent did today:

went grocery shopping (with finn)
brought back coffee and breakfast burritos
cut the grass
pulled weeds
trimmed hedge
blew everything clean with lawn blower
took his car to the car wash
took my car to the car wash
played legos with max
played catch with finn


here is what i did:

watered plants outside
trimmed a rose bush and the blackberry bush
played legos with max
wrote check for finn's school for this week
signed up / paid for hot lunch for max this semester
packed finn's lunch for tomorrow
fed the boys
napped with finn
did two loads of laundry
napped again

although we each have ten items on our lists, they don't seem very even.  i'm just so tired.  finn slept for over three hours at nap time but had some dinner and hopefully he will be able to sleep again tonight.  max stayed up all day and i have to admit...spent too much time on the ipad.  he fell asleep around 5:30 and now at 7:30 is still out.  not good.  not sure how the rest of the night will go. i suspect another 4:30 start of the day for max.  and the rest of us.  and guess who is to be back at work tomorrow?  sigh.

max has been out of school for two months now.  so far, i think he has enjoyed his summer.  the first week he was off, he and luke attended a tennis camp arranged by ymca.  they had fun, learned a bit (i think) and enjoyed spending the time together.  the following week was sports camp through santa clara university which was great.  the kids got to try all kinds of sports including the favorites such as baseball, tennis and basketball. the week after that was july 4th week so there were no camps and max spent some time hanging with dad and came with me to work and had a play date or two.  thereafter, he attended two weeks of learning camp held at his school from 9 to 12 every day.  a great time to keep on track with the reading, writing and math while seeing the close buddies.  as of yesterday, we returned home from a two-and a half week vacation in sweden.  just about two more weeks of summer for our guy and then..he will become a 1st grader!  unbelievable.  

i feel so very lucky.  i have a wonderful husband, two healthy and amazing boys, have a great job and live in the most amazing place.  it is sunday night and yet another weekend is about to be over.  again, it was a great one.  i took the boys to a birthday party saturday morning, we got quite a bit done around the house and saturday evening, we visited with dear friends and walked to a restaurant for dinner.  the kids played well and we all had a fun evening.  so relaxed.  so easy.  not the least forced.  today, we took it easy in the morning and for lunch, we headed to st. pedro square as we often do.  great spot with lots of choices while being close by.  the weather has been amazing.  the boys have played, jumped on the trampoline, laid puzzles and played games.  it feels nice and cool outside now and the doors and windows are open.  the boys are shooting hoops in the drive way  with their dad.  soon, it is time for bed.  i feel very thankful and blessed - there isn't a thing i am going without or need.  it is an amazing feeling.    

carin

last weekend i went to see carin, jim and their girls in austin! mia is three and a half and twins julia (our god child) and emma just turned two in may.  it was so much fun to see them all.  i only met the girls once before and that was a year and a half ago!  they are adorable, very pretty and full of energy.  carin and jim bought a beautiful home in the southern part of austin, not too far from jim's office.  i failed to remember how green austin is - trees and green areas everywhere.  the weather was on the warm side with 104 degrees saturday (around 35 degrees celsius)!  it was wonderful to have a chance to catch up with my dear friend carin.  we looked through tons and tons of photo albums of when we were young(er) and even more amazing, if at all possible!  carin made some fabulous dinners and we had time to just hang out and play with the kids.  on sunday, jim got some help from his niece (who goes to school in austin) while carin and i went shopping.  we had a fun and successful day and i was sad to have to go home.  such a nice visit.  thanks for everything carin and jim!

Our Little Player

Second 9 is officially in the bag. Struggled a little off the tee but he did a great job keeping pace and he actually hit some impressive shots around the green (including a green-side bunker shot that I told him he should save for another day). Highlight was his first legit par on #8 (par 3 at Pruneridge). He's so excited to have his own equipment and seems to be fascinated with the game. He's watching Golf Channel almost as much as I do.

Leaving the clubhouse

En route to his first par

Arriving at the green 

i love how quiet it is in our neighborhood first thing in the morning.  like now.  completely quiet and so very peaceful.  max and i are hanging on the couch with our computers, finn and brent still asleep.  happy sunday!