Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ale

Today Adam was doing some painting at home so I decided to take Jakob for a daytrip to Ale where I knew that mormor and morfar were. As soon as we got there Jakob wanted to go and see the sheep so after a quick lunch at Maggi's Åsa and I took him down to Åsa's place where she keep a few sheeps.

Jakob gets so excited and a bit scared at the same time when he meets animals, so he oftens runs up to the really quickly and scares them, and get scared himself. I am trying to teach him to be calm, gentle and not scream around animals. He is getting better and better at it and noticed that when he stood still the sheep came closer but ran away as soon as he moved fast.
We saw some horses, lots of dogs and also some cows on our trip to the country side.


We also walked down to a little cafe in the village and Jakob played with the swings for a while before he got an ice cream and also ate almost all of my cake.








Ikea!

A couple of days ago I spent a day at Ikea with my friend Stina. It's about 1 1/2 drive from Luleå so I don't go there as often as I went to Ikea in Adelaide. Jakob stayed with mormor and morfar the whole day and had a great time. They took him to a nice outdoor playground and also to a place where they have animals to look at and lots of space to play outdoors. When I came home in the evening and asked him what he had been up to all he talked about was how he helped morfar to take the rubbish out. It is so funny. You do all this fun things for the kids and sometimes what they appreciate the most is the little things.
Our day at Ikea was great. The place was full of tourists from Finland, Norway and of course Sweden but to be there without Jakob is so relaxing that it didn't bother me at all. We did some good shopping and had a nice lunch. On the way home we stopped in Kalix and visited Adam at the golf club. After hearing so much about the place it was nice to see it with my own eyes.

Night at home with friends

One night when Lotta was here we decided to get some friends together for dinner. Sigrid and Niklas came with their 10 weeks old baby girl Vina and also Jocke who did all the cooking. Lotta, Sigrid, Niklas and I all went to highschool together and Jocke also became a good friend around highschool time and we had lots of fun together, and still have, same but different. Adam came home from work aorund 9ish and joined us all. It was a great night with great company and great food!

Fun at Leos

The other day Jakob and I went to Leo's together with my friend Lotta and her kids Linnea and Elias. As always Jakob had a great time even though it was a bit too crowded with older kids sometimes running over the little ones. For the first time Jakob managed to climb up to all slides himself which is great (I can't keep up with him...). Still have to run after him everywhere of course but at least I don't have to climb up everywhere.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Another nice day

This morning Jakob woke up at 9 am which is the latest he has ever slept in. Adam had the day off so we have just been at home the whole day playing at the back of the house, realxing and having fun. Later in the afternoon the neighbours grandchild Filippa who is 5 came over and asked for Jakob. He got SO happy and ran out to play with her. She took him to the playground for a while, kicked the ball with him and looked after him so well. After dinner (we had take away pizza, yummy) she came back with some more family members and played in the pool and the water slide. I was cold just watching them but it didn't seem to bother them and they had so much fun. Jakob LOVES Filippa.

Lotta and the family coming to stay!

Last night Lotta and the kids came over for dinner and to stay for the night. After the kids being a bit shy in the beginning they started playing and having fun with the water slide and playing basket. Jakob loved hanging out with the older kids.


When we finally managed to get the kids inside (it was gettin late) they started playing with the pool table...


... and contiuned in to the bedroom where they played like crazy... we all had great fun!







The beach!

The other day Jakob and I met up with Lotta and her two kids Elias and Linnea on the beach. Lotta and I have known each other since we were about 12 and we also went to high school together. She now lives in the south of Sweden and is only here for holidays.


Sara and Kalle


Yesterday a friend from the old days at the riding club came over to visit. She now lives in the south of Sweden on a farm with cows and horses and they are just buliding an indoor riding arena on their farm. What a dream!! I haven't seen her for quite a few years even though it feels like it was yesterday. Not only because I follow her blog, but because I think that's just the way it is with some old friends. You just take over where you finished last time. That is so nice and something I missed during my years in Australia.

Home sweet home!

After a few days away it was nice to come home again. The day after we stayed hom the whole day apart from a trip to the grocery shop and did some washing, vaccuming (Jakob followed me around with his little vaccum cleaner, so cute) and and played outside. We had a great day the two of us. He is so fun to be with and talks all the time. Sometimes he puts his arm around me, looks me in the eyes and says: I have to hold on to you so you don't fall down mummy. It sounds so adorable. He is still very active which we think is a good think, but can of course be quite exahausting. He only sits still if he has an ice cream in his hand :-)

Piteå caravan park!

On Sunday last week Jakob and I drove to Piteå which is about an hour south of Luleå. They have a great big caravan park right next to the ocean where we used to go a lot as kids. Anders and his family had stayed there for a few nights in mum and dads caravan and on Sunday mum and dad took over, and Jakob and I. Adam was working. Jakob got to play with Moa for a abit before they left and after that we went straigth to the beach.

Jakob loves playing in the sand and he makes sand cakes, fill up buckets with water and drive around with trucks etc. Luckily he is quite happy doing it on his own so I don't have to be too involved. Mormor and morfar also spent a lot of time playing with him on the beach.
Most days were warm and nice and the beach is really child friendly with shallow water and lots of little puddles with quite warm water.







This nice shirt with an elefphant we bought Jakob in Thailand nearly 2 years ago. Doesn't he look good in it?
The 3 days in Piteå went really quick and it was a great break from city life, and also nice for me to not have to worry about cooking, celaning, washing etc. Jakob loved the caravan life so I am sure we will do it again soon, hopefully with daddy.



A day at the caravan park

The days at the caravan park were filled with playing on the beach, playing with other kids and mormor and morfar, reading, eating (mainly ice cream...), and a little bit of sleeping.

Jakob having a chat with morfar.
One night we had hamburgers and sasuages for dinner.



The only way to get Jakob to sleep during the day is to take him for a drive in the car. Here is in a deep sleep in his new car seat.



Jakob and I shared bed in the caravan, something that we have never done before. It worked really well and Jakob loved sleeping in there. It was nice waking up next to him in the morning.



The nights...

Every night at the caravan park we took a walk down to the "centre" for an ice cream and som fun.



Jakob was really scared of all the rides but one night he tried the train with mormor. He was really scared but still did it and he has talked about it a lot after.






Walking back to the caravan. It looks like it is in the middle of the day but it is around 8 in the evening.



Last day in Piteå

Tuesday was the last day in Piteå for me and Jakob but mormor and morfar stayed for another few days. Maggi came to join them and she also brought her scissors so that Jakob could have a haircut. It wasn't quite at easy for Maggi to do the job this time because Jakob started walking around after a few minutes but the end result was still really good.
Morfar getting rid of all the hair...

The night was beautiful and warm and Jakob and some other kids on the street played and had great fun together. When I finally managed to put Jakob's pyjamas on and get him into the car at 8.30 it was still 27 degrees outside. Jakob fell asleep within minutes and woke up 8 am the next morning. Not bad.






Saturday, June 27, 2009

Article

Today there was an article about Adam in the local newspaper. I have used Googles translating service to translate the text so as you can see it is not so good, but hopefully you will understand most of it.


Australia will to get the Golf in Kalix Kalix golf club has a new coach and president. His name is Adam Wozniak and will highlight the Golf of Kalix to higher altitudes. - Here is wonderful, "he says.


Despite the Polish-sounding name is Adam Wozniak born and raised in Australia, but the parents originate from Poland. That he ended up in Luleå (he lives there) is because he met his future wife is from there. The family moved to Luleå in November last year and not long after, so was Adam Wozniak job of Kalix golf club. - Here are quite wonderful. The track is perfect and is wonderful here at the beautiful river. Moreover, only two kilometers from the center. There are not many golf courses that do. He also says that those who are natives here do not understand enough to appreciate the track. Adam Wozniak sees two main tasks in its work: n n To improve the club's finances. n n To raise the level of the players. - The membership is between 650 and 700, but we would like to start more. And as standards, I have seen some talented players, both young and old. But I'll try to improve the level of the whole club, "says Adam Wozniak. Like winter Naturally, he is obviously a good golfer, but it's playing to come in second place. - Can not play as much himself. It is education and training of players every day, "says Adam Wozniak who enjoy nature when he is on the track. He also think that Linnaeus path as it is called, is one of the best here. - It is absolutely one of the best in North and West. And we will make it even better. Golf season is short but intense, and some would Adam Wozniak wish it were longer. - But I also thrive in the winter, despite the darkness. It's nice having four seasons.

Alice birthday!

After a nice morning on the beach Jakob had a short sleep in the car before we went to Alice birthday party. She turned 3 today!


Fishing was one of the highlights at the party. Jakob focused on his task to catch one...


Jakob showing Alice a picture of him and me that was in the local newspaper the other week. We went to a trotting competition and someone took a photo of us.



The beach!

This morning Jakob and I went to the beach really early together with my friend Carina. It was so nice to get there before everyone else and it was so warm and nice. Jakob couldn't decide which cap to take so he put both on his head.
The water was beautiful but cold!


Jakob having a 2 minute break from playing while eating some strawberries.

More guests

Not long after Alice left Jakob got some new play mates. Andreas and Karin came over for a play and after Jakob went to bed we had a nice bbq together.

Friday afternoon!

I had a work dinner Thursday night and Adam was working late so Jakob stayed at mormor and morfars place. I had a great night out, and it was nice to wake up in the morning and not have to get up so early. Adam had the day off too so we spent the morning doing some things around the house and went in to the city for a really nice lunch together.
In the afternoon Alice, Maria and Melvin came over to play for a while. The kids love playing with the water!

Holidays!

Thursday this week I worked my last day before having 6 weeks off!! I have taken 2 weeks parental leave and 4 weeks annual leave.

Summer is here!


The weather this week has been great and for the first time we have been able to sit outside and eat without being cold. It has almost been too hot for me! Stina visited one night after work and had some dinner and cake.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Jakob's new pool

After seeing how much Jakob loved the water yesterday at Moa's we went to get him his own pool today. We did have one in Australia but it didn't make the move over to Sweden :-(
Jakob was so patient filling it up with ice cold water...

Finally ready to be used!!! I was cold watching him but the temperature didn't seem to bother Jakob.

Saturday afternoon at Moa's

After a very quiet and lazy morning at home we walked over to see Moa and the rest of the family. Moa had set up a swimming pool with a slide and the kids loved it!! Jakob got his head under water a few times when he first tried the slide, and got quite scared, but he got his confidence back and kept going back in.