Out and about

Ad and Ava at the ever-popular petting zoo in Slottskogen (above).
Ad with the kids (in dashing life vests) at Maritiman, the "museum of floating ships" on the river, where Ava got to go in a U-boat and Julian got to almost fall in the river multiple times.
Julian and his girlfriend and classmate Milena by the penguins in Slottskogen. She was the lucky recipient of his first kiss (otherwise known as the let-me-suck-your-nose maneuver).
Having a cuddle in Gränna, a small town on Lake Vättern (about 1 1/2 hours from Gothenburg).
Walking the catwalk in Jonköping.

Stockholm

Sonja and I took the kids to Stockholm for a couple of nights and got back late last night. We took the fast train from Gothenburg, so it only took 3 hours to get there (that's approximately 133 trips walking up and down the aisles with Julian in case you were wondering). This is a picture of him NOT trying to grab the computer cords of everyone in our car.

We had a tiny hotel room in a great location (Norrmalm) that had a summer deal of about $110/night including a huge breakfast buffet (with lots of herring). The room was so small that we kept getting looks from people at breakfast wondering (I think) how we all managed to fit. It wasn't too bad, actually. We just scooted the two twin beds together for Ava, Sonja and I to share, and then we put JJ's crib in the other 4 sq. ft. of available space in the room. No problem!

Stockholm, built on 14 islands, is grand and busy and gorgeous. It was founded in 1252, 400 years before Gothenburg, and you can tell. There's nothing like the Old Town (see pic of me and Julian) in Gothenburg, and the old buildings and streets are really beautiful, if very touristy. Anyway, what did we do? We visited a couple museums ("No, don't touch that tapestry Ava!" "Ack, don't sit on that priceless chair!!"), rode around the city on some boats, ate lots of ice cream, played in some parks, and walked all over town. Ava totally amazed us with her ability to walk/run all day with no complaining. She is a great, and very chatty, travel companion. Julian was really good, too, and was pretty happy to chill out in his stroller as long as we were outside and moving around.

I have to say I really liked Stockholm, and I'm sure there would be more work opportunities for me there, but after seeing the city I'm very happy that we didn't end up there. I'm liking the slower pace of things and the friendly West coasters in Gothenburg.

Coolest place

It was an eventful, if rainy, weekend. There was Midsommar, a big deal in Sweden that requires people to eat copious amounts of potatoes, herring, and strawberries and dance around maypoles, preferably with flower wreaths on their heads. Then Adrian turned 42 (Happy Birthday Honey!) and Julian went from taking 1 step to walking across the room within 24 hours. Love that little Frankenstein walk they do!

And then we went to the coolest place today called Nordens Ark, a wildlife sanctuary for endangered animals about an hour up the coast from us. Now I know it doesn't sound exciting, and I was fully prepared for a sort of lame day out, but even in the drizzle it was amazing. It's a huge, beautiful park cut out of a forest and filled with tigers, wolves, wolverines, snow leopards, owls, otters and reindeer (see picture of sad, creepy-looking one below. I guess they mate in the spring and then give up all pretense of trying to look attractive until next year).

The kids, fully decked out in their awesome Swedish rain outfits (so practical, do they have these in the Northwest?), loved it.

I think we need a boat

Of course we will never get a boat because, as I learned working at boats.com, only crazy people with too much money own boats. However, after visiting the island of Marstrand about 50 km north of Gothenburg on a perfectly clear, 80-degree day, I can see how one might go crazy and purchase such a thing. Then you could toodle off to a little rock outcropping in the archipelago and get sun-burned while eating sausages and drinking beer. Fab!

Summer in Sweden

If you're from the Bay Area you kind of take the weather for granted. Most of the time it's comfortable out -- maybe a little too windy or a little too foggy, but basically you can go about your day not thinking much about the atmosphere. The Swedes do not take good weather for granted. Period. The drive to make the most of a sunny day is almost palpable ... or maybe that's the smoke from one of those funny little disposable grills everyone uses? At any rate, it's been a gorgeous month (unlike last May when it rained for 6 weeks straight), and we are doing our Swede-like best to enjoy the sun.

Last weekend we went to the 700th anniversary of the Bohus Fortress. Leave it to the Swedes to have like 10 fun things for kids to do there, including try on costumes (see princess Ava photo), play with swords, make jewelry, etc. Then on Tuesday we went with a few new friends to Deljon (pronounced "Del-unpronouncable glutteral w sound-n" in case you were wondering) to a little lake. Let me say that once we GOT to the lake it was lovely and we grilled on a disposable grill and everything. The picture of naked person on beach is Ava about 35 seconds after we arrived. The trip there was one of those "why-am-I-an-expat" experiences. First we all marched from the apartment to the parking lot where our rental car is with all of our beach stuff. Then I drove us all over town in circles to get to the lake, which should be like a 5 minute drive away because driving in a new city is just NOT nice. Then I parked in the wrong lot and ended up having to march Julian, Ava and Sonja 1.5 miles in the hot sun to the lake, just in time for Julian to need a nap, and Julian only takes a nap in his crib. His crib was NOT at the beach. Then we did the whole thing in the other direction, including the driving in circles bit.

Anyway, I needed a very large glass of (insanely expensive) wine after this outing, and happily, Sandy, Traci and a very funny Dutch woman named Merel were obliging. I think this picture of Sandy and Traci was taken around 9pm -- very cool to have light so late.

And finally I have to include this picture of Ava and Sonja that they took when they went to visit the moose in Slottskogen today because they are so darned cute.

Auntie Sonie's here!

My lovely and very patient sister, Sonja, arrived on Thursday.

She'll stay with us until mid-August to watch the kids, cook all our meals, do the laundry and give me a daily massage. No no, just kidding -- we're only planning on taking mild advantage of her kind and generous nature so that she relishes her 20's even more when she goes home! It's already been a huge help having her here. Like last night, when Ava fell out of bed 3 times, Auntie Sonja sorted her out and Adrian and I slept, blissfully unaware, in the other room. Well, to be more precise, we were trying to get Julian back to sleep at 4am because he has a fever, but you get the idea.

Sonja and Ava are sharing a room, much to the delight of Ava. She's been peppering Sonja with important life questions like "What do lions eat?" and "Why did Jaffar called Aladdin a 'street rat'?" at all hours of the day and night. She also put a sign on the door that apparently reads "No Boys Allowed, Even Julian and Daddy." Somehow Daddy IS allowed in to read books at bedtime, go figure.

These pictures are from our outing to the town of Varberg, about 60 km south of Goteborg. Behind Adrian and the girls is the nicely restored Kallbadhuset (Cold Bath House), where you can bathe naked in the sea if you're so inclined.