(Moving) Around the World in How Many Days?

Well, sorry for the lack of posts recently. Those who are actually reading this will know that I have not been good about posting this whole year.

Sweden
The last news I had for you included a trip to Sweden. Well, since then, we have visited Sweden twice. The first trip was about 10 days, and the second one was almost two weeks.

Why, oh, why would you make that trip with two very young children twice? Well, it wasn't to see the sights (which is good since we didn't get to do much of that). For those of you who don't know, we are moving to Sweden sometime in December or January. T's job is taking us there, and we even have a house that we are closing on in January (that was the purpose of trip #2). This has been in the works/up in the air for a while, and we are finally moving forward with it. It is an exciting/scary time for us, but I think it will be great for the kids to experience a different culture and learn a new language.

Back to the adventures in Sweden... Our first trip took us to three separate parts of Sweden. The first few days of our trip we spent in Trosa. We have some friends there who hosted us for the few days it took to adjust to the time difference (a lot harder with two kids who keep waking each other up when Mommy and Daddy are trying to get to sleep). They took us to church and fishing (I caught a good-sized walleye). They also took us to furniture stores (since we will have to purchase some furniture when we move). It was great to fellowship with them.

A view from the boat when we went fishing

Timo pulling the boat closer so people could get on board

Timo's dad and Kristen driving the boat


AJ and Daddy fishing


AJ in the backpack

Åke holding up the fish that Timo's dad caught

Bringing my fish in

Here I am with the fish I caught.

Kristen at the park in Trosa. She still has chocolate on her face from the ice cream we ate on our way there.

AJ and I at the park

Timo and the fish he caught the next day. I stayed back with the kids while he went fishing again.

Timo and his fish.

The second portion of the trip took us to Stockholm. The first day, we visited the Vasa Museum, an interesting place built around a ship that sunk on its maiden voyage and spent about 300 years underwater before being recovered. The rest of the time in Stockholm was spent just exploring the streets of the downtown area. The time frame for doing that was cut short due to little ones needing to nap. I am looking forward to visiting the city again once we move and have more time. Timothy spent almost the whole time we were there in meetings.

Our room at the Grand Hotel, Stockholm

Another view of our room. I would say that for the money, you don't get a lot more than at other hotels.

Our bathroom in the Grand Hotel.

Our view from our hotel room in Stockholm.

Brock and the kids. Brock helped carry them around for me, since we lost our stroller in the Copenhagen airport.

A model of the original Vasa, complete with sails.

A model of the ship as it capsized.

Kristen looking up with a wooden lady at the Vasa Museum

This is what they used to recover the cannons after the ship had sunk.

A lion's head at a cannon port on the original ship.

What the inside of the Vasa would have looked like when at sea.

One of the original cannons in a reconstructed version of the side of the ship.

A view from above of the original Vasa ship

Brock with the kids in Stockholm

Timo and the kids on Gamla Stan in Stockholm

The final portion took us to a town further south where T will be working. We explored the downtown area a little, met with a realtor, and ventured into some of the neighborhoods to see where we might like to look for housing on our next trip.

A view of the river from our hotel room in Norrköping.

Another view from our hotel room in Norrköping

Overall, it was a busy trip, but the nice thing is that there are a ton of ice cream places open during the summer and Swedish ice cream is gooooood -- especially their soft serve. There is even a restaurant only open during the summer where all they serve is ice cream. They have various creative concoctions on the menu, and it was difficult deciding what to try. It's a good thing we did a lot of walking, too. Otherwise, I probably would have gained 10 lbs.

Our second trip was just full of house-hunting. There is not a lot of exciting news except that we signed a contract the morning we left to go back up to Stockholm. It is a new house, and we even got to pick out some of the colors and the backsplash in the kitchen.

Living the Life of a Mom

Okay, so I know it has been a LONG time since I have updated. My kids took turns being sick this winter. I am on a first-name basis with much of the staff at my pediatrician's office because we were in there so often.
CHURCH
On a more positive note, I started a MOPS group at our church at the beginning of the year, so I have been busy as coordinator of the group. I have also been busy being involved in an outreach ministry and serving on the hostess committee at our church. Most of the church activities are winding down for the summer, but I have other things to look forward to in the upcoming months.
TRAVEL
This year, I have traveled to Golden and Tulsa. Not that much, but we are looking at going on a trip to Sweden soon. This will hopefully be fun, but I am not sure how the kids will handle the 7 hour time change. Most people here are jealous. I am excited, but the prospect makes me sleepy. At least I will have some interesting news to blog about when I get back. I also want to take the kids on a road trip this summer, but we will have to see about that.
KIDS
The kids are doing well. K is reading a lot, learning some musical terms, and enjoying just being a kid. She is also a big helper. She helps me with the laundry, helps unload the dishwasher, helps take care of AJ, and sets the table almost every night. She likes coloring, splashing in puddles after a rainstorm, and playing in her play kitchen. AJ is crawling and exploring, keeping me on my toes. He is such a happy baby. Some people have nicknamed him "Smiley".

Finally Here

Well, I am finally announcing the birth of my baby 3 weeks after his arrival. For those of you who don't know, AJ was born Oct 15, weighed 8 lb 12 oz, and measured 21 inches long. I was so glad to finally have him after weeks of false labor!
My mom has been here to help me get enough rest during these first few weeks (it has been so nice). Reality will set in once she leaves, I am sure.

At the Zoo

Well, we took Kristen on her first trip to the zoo this weekend. I was afraid it would be too hot and too crowded (being a holiday weekend), but it ended up being neither. Although the temperature was warm, it was not unbearable (even to my pregnant self). We didn't see all of the exhibits (we did get to see the ones I thought Kristen would enjoy most, though), but four hours was enough for me, and Kristen was overdue for a nap.

Kristen fell asleep on the two-hour drive home, but woke up talking about the zoo. I think she would go every day if she had her way. Maybe if it weren't so far away...

Here are some pictures from the day.

I thought Kristen made a cute butterfly...


and egg.

One of the highlights for Kristen was the train. This morning, she was making train noises, both the whistle and the CHOOchoochoochoo.

Another highlight was this statue of a tortoise (a turtle without teeth). She liked holding onto his head and rocking back and forth.


One of the highlights for me was getting to pet a white rhino, which, we learned, is called that not because of its color, but because of a faulty translation of the word wide (from its wide mouth). Kristen was a little hesitant to pet him, but she did finally reach out her hand. I thought it was especially thoughtful of the zoo people to have hand sanitizer available after we pet him. :)