Jet lag

We only slept a few hours Thursday night. Four I believe. Although we were tired on Friday morning, we decided to head to Santa Cruz for some beach time and all of us seemed to feel pretty good. The boys didn't even fall asleep in the car on the way home like they normally do. Shortly after we got home, they both went down for naps. The hours went by and although we tried, it seemed impossible to get either of them to really wake up. We decided to let them sleep and deal with them waking up in the middle of the night. It happened. Finn got a bottle and diaper change and some point and went back to sleep. Max woke up around 3:30am and ate breakfast. At 4:30am, both Max and Finn were ready to start their day..we have been up since then. Time is now about 5pm and I am longing for the chance for all of us to hit the sack. Zzzzzzzzz....

Home, sweet home

We are back home as of late last night/this morning. The kids did relatively well on the way home, considering. The route back via Chicago is nothing short of dreadful and we vow to never ever travel via Chicago to or from Europe again. Todd picked us up in the middle of the night which was very nice of him. Everyone was exhausted. Although we only slept for a few hours, it was good sleep in our own beds. Today, the kids are exploring and playing while we are finishing up unpacking and doing some laundry. The weather is amazing, the backyard in full bloom and we found that we have lots of tomatoes, a couple of huge cucumbers and soon plenty of squash from our garden. We have decided to expand it and grow more of our own veggies.

Thanks to Mom and everyone else in my family for the hospitality and visits. It was great to see everyone and we miss you all! Wish the distance between the US and Sweden was a bit closer for sure. Hugs to everyone!

Today, we are probably heading to the beach or maybe just hanging out in our backyard. Happy weekend!

We are spending our last day in Ystad, Sweden before heading home tomorrow. The weather is awesome. Wish it had been like this every day! It makes all the difference. We just got back from lunch at Marinan where we met up with Petra & Bjorn and their little ones; Sofia & Oscar. It was so great to see them! It had been since 2006 since we saw them last. Much too long. Last night, Max, Brent, my mom and uncle Leif were out sailing on board the old ship; "Helene". Max has been looking forward to being on board the old Pirate Ship since we first arrived and was excited. The weather was great and they had a nice time. Meeting up with family for an early dinner tonight at Ystad Brewery and then we need to get the last few items packed so we can be ready for tomorrow.

Oresund runt

We took a trip around Oresund today, me, mom, Fredrik, Karin, Max, Sam and Maj. Brent and Finn decided to stay behind and unfortunately Viktoria wasn't able to go since she wasn't feeling well. We had a nice time. The train ride from Malmo to Helsingborg was rather difficult due to the the train being overcrowded but from there, the trip got better. The boat ride over to Helsingor went well and fast and Max thought it was pretty cool to ride the large ferry. Shortly after we arrived, the weather turned for the better, the rain stopped and the sun peeked out. We had lunch near a square and sat outside. Helsingor sure is a quaint town. Totally adorable. We walked to Kronoberg's Castle which was nice. Max and Sam ran all around and were given ice-cream afterwards as promised. Brent and Finn spent the day in Malmo and walked all around the town. Now the boys are asleep and we should do the same. G'nite!

Everything depends on the weather

Before we left home for our overseas trip to Sweden, I checked the 10-day weather forecast for Ystad, my hometown. From what I remember, it looked as if it was going to be decent. Two years ago, when we last traveled to Sweden, the weather was great the entire time. We were away for a couple of weeks in the month of July and from then on, I decided to only book Sweden vacation in the month of July since the chance of scoring nice weather is at its highest. At least that is what I thought. We have been here for just about one week now. On Tuesday last week when we arrived, the weather was beautiful and I kind of expected that it would stay that way. Funny how quickly one forgets. I should know after growing up here that the weather changes dramatically from one day to the next. I'm not sure anyone here really studies the weather and if they do, I don't believe they really know what they are talking about. It is proven from one day to the next. The news report says that the weather will be nice the following day and most likely, they are wrong. I think out of six days here, two and-a-half or three have been nice. It is pretty taxing when you are counting on being able to spend time outside. Especially with small kids who go bonkers while inside for too long. Today, it was supposed to rain. It did. In the early hours of the day. Thereafter, it was sunny and beautiful so today was a great day. Some of the highlights so far;

Max and Finn meeting their cousins Sam (almost two) and Maj (eight weeks) for the first time.

Enjoying coffee mochas from Espresso House (although my Linda-mocha from Starbucks is better)

Eating LOTS of Swedish candy (which really is the best in the world)!

Scoring a kid's bike for Max on a site equivalent of Craigslist that he is having lots of fun with.

Drinking great Chardonnay at the patio of Store Thor (I just wish smoking wasn't allowed on the patios..)

Awesome fish/shellfish stew (for me, not Brent) for dinner at restaurant Marinan overlooking the beach while kids playing in the sand beside us.

Max swimming in the Baltic Sea in his wetsuit.

Walking all around my hometown which is so much smaller than it once seemed.

Eating amazing ice-cream, including licorice flavor - yum!

Spending a beautiful day in Malmo strolling around, drinking coffee, shopping.


When the weather is great, there is no better place. When it isn't...well, let's say that I can NEVER live where it rains a lot ever again in my life. I am certain.

The flight

On Monday, July 11th, we left home to spend nearly three weeks in Sweden. I tried to prepare myself for the flight, which is nothing short of miserable. Especially the thought of traveling with kids. A 4-year old and an 11-month old. In addition, our flight left from SFO with a connection in Chicago, my most hated airport. Since we like flying with SAS who has reasonable pricing compared to other airlines and charge less for children vs. adults, flying via Chicago was a must. They did away with the SFO-Seattle-Copenhagen route a couple of years ago which is ridiculous. The Scandinavian population in the upper Northwest of the US is pretty large. Doing away with the Seattle hub really was dumb. And inconvenient for us at that. Anyhow, we had a couple of hours at SFO, got checked in, through security, ate lunch and made our way through the terminal towards our gate. Of course, the flight was late coming in from Chicago. By nearly two hours. Shocker. Waiting around at the airport at the beginning of hours and hours of traveling isn't the most fun. We finally took off and were on our way. The boys did well and both slept some. However, at the end of the 4-hour flight, Max said; "it is too far going to Sweden. I don't want to go". Ok, great. Since our flight was so late arriving, we didn't have much time at O'Hare. The distance from the terminal in which we arrived to the International terminal couldn't have been further so we rushed and made it with just about 10 minutes to go. Stressed and sweaty. NIce way to start the 8 hour + trip to Copenhagen. We took off around 10:30 pm. It had been a long day. It helped that the SAS crew was awesome, dinner was served promptly and our boys were given something to help them sleep. While Max and Finn slept well, there were some other babies on the plane just in front of us who didn't, so Brent and I didn't get many minutes of shut-eye. Around 2:30 or 3am, I woke up and tried to find an extra blanket for Finn in case he was cold. I rummaged around by our feet but couln'd find one. Brent was awake and pointed out that Max was laying on the floor sleeping. Huh, I had no idea but whatever works. Shortly thereafter, I felt something brushing against my leg. I thought it was Max waking up. I look down and I see....a cat. Yes - a cat! I reach down and pick it up. It is a huge, striped, beautiful and (thankfully) friendly cat. I say out loud; " I found a cat". People look at me, just as surprised as I am. I call over the flight attendant and inform her of the cat I found. She just says; "Oh" and takes the cat and disappears. I never heard anything else about the cat and never saw who it belonged to. Pretty strange. We were tired when we arrived in Copenhagen but got the bags pretty quickly and my brother met us at the airport and helped us with all the suitcases on and off the train all the way to mom's house. Finally, we had arrived. It was around 4pm local time on Tuesday, the 12th.

Checkups

I took both boys to the Doc on Wednesday this week. Max for his 4-year checkup (just about 3 weeks following his birthday) and Finn for his 9-month visit (just 2 months late..). The appointments were late in the day; 4:30 and 4:45. Good planning, I thought. After nap time for both of them and I didn't have to miss too much time at work. We didn't wait many minutes, were taken back and Max was weighed and measured. Thereafter, he had tests performed to check both his vision and hearing. No issues, all went well. We were shown to a room and while Max sits perfectly still in one of the guest chairs, reading books provided by the Doctor's office, Finn is weighed and measured. Finn is not still for a second. He moves all around, wants down on the floor. He is thrashing and whining, literally tearing the layer of paper on the examination chair/bed (placed there for sanitary reasons) and tries to eat it! Who is this child? Is he hungry? Colista assured me that he had eaten just before I picked him up. Tired? Not sure. Since Finn started walking, he isn't too keen on just being held and kept on the lap. He wants down. He wants to walk. The nurse makes a comment "wow, he must keep you busy". Yep, that's right, I think. The Doc comes in. It isn't the kids' regular pediatrician who is on vacation. He examines Max. Checks ears, nose, listens to his lungs and etc. Max is perfect and still and does what the Doc asks him to do. He is given two shots and doesn't make a sound. Perfect. All this while I can barely hold onto Finn. I let him down. He takes off. He wants to get under the computer table where all the cables are connected to the wall. Not good. He wants to get in behind the examination table and almost gets stuck back there. Sigh. The Doc checks Finn. Healthy, yes. We talk about the boys' growth charts but can barely hear each other talk. Finn is loud and not happy to be there. I say; "I guess I know now what we are in for as we travel to Sweden on Monday"...and the Doc blurts out; "you need Benadryl"! I am so happy to be reminded of what I meant to ask the Doctor about, specifically how I can possibly travel so far with my two little boys and stay sane! Later in the week I went to Walgreens and now have some Benadryl in our possession. We hope to be somewhat prepared for the very, very long plane ride ahead of us. Wish us luck...