Fika

Yesterday we went to visit Maria and her family after picking up Jakob from dagis. Jakob said to me in the car before we got there: Mummy, I think I love Alice.

Lunch with Sara

Yesterday I had lunch in the city with an old friend of mine. We used to hang out a lot when we were younger both at the riding club and also doing other things. We haven't seen each other for many years so it was nice to catch up again and get an update on each others lives.

Leos

Easter Monday was a perfect day for indoor playing after being out in the snow a lot latley. We all went to Leos and caught up with Zara, Micke, Finn and Lykke and also Maria, Andreas, Alice and Melvin. Mum and dad came for a couple of hours as well and had lunch with us.

Grandma and poppa

Jakob never gets enough of playing with grandma and poppa and makes the most of their stay here. They also look after Isak a lot which gives me and Adam time to do other things. I have been going for quite a few walks, a good start to my new healthier life.

Gråsjälören

After a grey morning the clouds disappeared and the rest of the day was sunny and beautiful. We packed the bags with food and took the car in to the city to walk across the ice to a small island Gråsjälören only 30 min walk from the main land. When we got there we were lucky to get a table next to a fire place in the middle of all the people.

Jakob spent the whole time playing with his "stjärtlapp" (see photo). Isak fell asleep as we left home and didn't wake up until we put him back in the car on the way home. He is hard work that child ;-)

Anneli was also there enjoying the sunshine. She had some sausages and hot chocolate with us before we walked home again.

Adam and I bought some new beanies yesterday on special at a sport store in the city. He bought a white and a grey one and I bought a pink one. A very bright pink one as you can see...

Walking home

After a few hours on the island we walked home to get back before Isak needed a feed.

Walking on the ice road was easy...

... but as we got closer to the mainland there was a lot of water everywhere. Jakob loved walking through the puddles and since we were on the way home we let him do it. I guess I don't need to mention that he was wet all the way up to his waist when we got to the car.

At home

Jakob is still being very nice and caring with his little brother but I wonder what will happen when grandma and poppa leaves. He is now getting so much attention and always has someone to play with that it might be difficult for him to go back to just being with us again when the leave. Hopefully it won't be a problem and we just have to make sure we do everything we can to help the brothers staying friends.

3 generations together.

Isak looks so cute in the car seat but I had to be quick with the camera because normally he falls asleep as soon as I put him in the seat. He is a very happy baby and he smiles a lot even when he is tired.

Måttsund

Only 20 minutes drive from our house we have a ski slope that is actually quite good. Yesterday we went there to let Jane and John have a go at skiing. Jane tried too but I didn't get a photo of her.

The learning slope now has a belt on the ground that drags you up a bit. You can stand on it on your skis or just on your feet. Jakob just loved it and kept going up and sliding down for hours.

It was nearly impossible to get Jakob to sit down for a drink and when we finally did it was only for a few minutes before he got up again.
Adam and I also did some skiing while Jane and John looked after Isak (who was asleep of course) and Jakob.

When we came home the boys stayed outside and tried to get rid of some snow and ice from our driveway. Jakob was a great helper.

Winter

The Aussies have been very fascinated by the snow and for a couple of days they were watching the snow on our shed slowly sliding down. When it finally fell to the ground we were out so we missed it all.

John cooling his beers in the snow...

My birthday!

Good Friday was a very good day because it was my birthday!! I got some very nice presents in the morning from Adam, Jakob and Isak and from Adam's parents. I am a very lucky person!
After lunch Åsa, Mikael and Maggi came over to celebrate the big happening (me turning 36, hard to believe).


It didn't take long before Jakob dragged Maggi in to his room to build garages for all his cars. Nice for poppa and grandma to get a break from playing car games.

Later in the afternoon mum and dad came over for dinner. Anders and the family were also supposed to come but they got sick and had to cancel. Jakob who had looked forward to playing with Moa got very disappointed :-(

Isak and John

Coming back from the ski trip was nice, especially when John and Jane were at home helping with the kids. Adam and I were very tired so it was nice to get some help with Jakob and Isak.

While we were away Jane and John kept themselves busy by shovelling snow, catching the bus to the city, having dinner with my parents and watching basket ball one night (thanks Maria for organising it all!!).

Kåbdalis!

Earlier in the week we went on a ski trip to Kåbdalis with a group of friends and their children. This is the cabin that we stayed in. Three families stayed in the bottom one and 2 in the top one.

We stayed in the bottom apartment with Sigrid and her family and Sara with family. Sara's son Liam and Sigrid's Elvin are similar age and get on really well so Jakob spent a lot of time following them around trying to be involved in their games that sometimes were a bit too advanced for him. He really looks up to the older boys but of course he is not so fun to them. Here he is getting some quality time with Elvin.

I tried to get a photo of our room where you could see where we all slept. Isak is in the left corner and Jakob in the right corner.

Jakob slept on a small borrowed mattress on the floor and he really liked it. We had no problem putting him to bed in the evenings, he was so tired at the end of the day and also thought it was quite cosy sleeping all of us toghether in a room.

The trip went very well and Adam and I and the kids had a great time. Adam improved his skiing a lot and I got to ski for an hour two of the days. I used to ski a lot when I was younger but as I got older the horses started taking up all of my time. I have always loved it and I hope it will be a family activity that we will do more of in the future. Jakob had his first go but wasn't so in to it. One mistace was that we had not prepared him for it at all and I also think he is a bit too young. I took him up in the lift, which went well, but taking him down was a nightmare. I had him between my legs and had to hold him in my arms the whole way down. I was stuffed when we got to the bottom.

Isak has been very easy going the whole trip and when he is outside in the pram he just sleeps. Day 2 he slept for 4 hours, the whole time we were outside pretty much. The last day he fell asleep when I put my skis on. Slept through me skiing, Adam skiing, us having lunch, the nearly 2 hour drive home and started crying as we turned the car off outside our house at home. Can't complain about that.

Hope this ski trip will be a tradition that we do every year!

Crazy evenings

Trying to get everyone together in the evning for dinner was a bit of a challenge but I think it worked out quite well. 10 adults and 10 kids in one small cabin is not the perfect combination.

A few fights between the youngest boys and some difficulties sitting still for dinner but apart from that it went well. When the kids finally went to sleep in the evening the adults got to enjoy some quiet time before hitting the pillow. One night we had a sauna and the second night we just sat up talking and eating lollies.

The kids had dinner first. ..

And then the adults...
And as always Isak just slept through it all...

BBQ in the sun

The second day we finally saw the sun and it turned in to a really nice and warm day! after skiing in the morning we all met up for an afternoon bbq next to the cabin where we were staying.

Zara and Sara feeding the girls...

...while Isak just slept through all the fun.

Outdoor activities

I got to see Adam on slalom skis for the first time and I have to say that he is doing very very well. He can now get up with the lift by himself and get down without any problems, even the more difficult slopes.

Adam is sitting in the chair lift in the middle of the picture, a bit hard to see though...

The hill looks pretty beautiful when the sky is blue, I love it!

Jakob is normally very scared of snow mobiles but this time he wanted to try and sit on one, after I had promised him that nobody would start it.

The other kids also had a bit of fun riding the snow mobile. They only had a couple of small fights over who was going to sit where...

Fun in the snow...

Jakob's never ending energy level never stops impressing me. He was sliding down and walking up for hours without getting so tired. I was tired from just watching him.

Walking up in the deep snow is quite hard, I know because I tried it once and got exhausted.