Dinner at mums

Last weekend we had dinner at mum's with Anders and Helena and the kids. Isak and Lucas seem to get on really well when they meet which is nice. Here they are watching Moraträsk together.

Moa and Jakob kissing....

Group photo!

Lingonberry picking!

For the last 3 years we have been talking about going lingon berry picking and this year we finally did it! Mormor, Jakob and I packed sandwiches and drinks and buckets and headed towards Ale where we had heard there were lots of berries. I haven't picked berries since I was a child and it brought back lots of nice memories. I just love being out in the forest especially on days like this one. Jakob seemed to really like it to. Next year we have to bring daddy and Isak as well.

We met up with Andreas, Karin and her parents as well.

Jakob took the job very seriously and worked hard trying to find as much as possible.

UGL

About a month ago I attended a course about groups and leadership. The coures was held at a castle south of Stockholm in the most beautiful surroundings. During the week nobody was allowed to leave the place and we worked from about 8 in the morning until 9pm.

Me and a collegue had to leave on the Sunday to make it to the start Monday morning. The first thing I saw when I looked through my window in the morning was this cute deer. Not quite like home.

This is the room we spent lots and lots of hours in. The course was great and I learnt lots!

In the castle we had all our meals and the food was fantastic. I put on about 3 kg in 5 days. It was worth it.

The view from the castle.

Autumn

At the end of summer we finally bought a trampoline. We have been talking about it for years but not managed to agree on what to buy. Until now... That the kids love it I don't think I need to say. Here is Isak with Carina and Nelly.

Hidden inside our red currant bushes there is a small rasberry bush. I haven't seen it before so this is the first summer we have had fresh rasberries from our backyard. Nice.

Summer is over and autumn here. I love it. Cosy evenings with candles and a fire and hopefully happy kids.

Long ago...

I haven't updated the blog for nearly 3 months, not good. Found this picture that I took just before grandma and poppa left to go back to Australia.

Last days i Italy

This was the view from our hotel room window when we woke up the next morning. I could have stayed here a lot longer, but the holiday started to lean towards the end and after breakfast we drove to Milano, dropped off the hire car and checked in to a nice hotel right in the city for our last night in Italy. I had not planned to do much shopping during this trip but an afternoon/night in Milano with 70% sales made me go a bit crazy. Even Adam was in his best shopping mood and we had a really fun day shopping together.

The trip was over all fantastic in every possible way. The food, the people, the company, the views, the weather, everything was amazing! But a week away from Jakob and Isak is also a long time and having to leave Italy felt quite nice knowing that we would soon be home with the angels.

Lake Como

To avoid making the mistake to leave finding a place to stay too late, we booked the next night on the internet from Lake Maggiore in the morning before leaving. We aimed for something with a nice view and found a place called Falchetto that seemed nice.

Before heading to the hotel we spent a few hours in the town Como wondering around, having lunch and also took a boat tour.

The view from the boat.

Finding the hotel was not very easy, especially not for Micke who was driving. The roads were very windy and got more and more narrow. We had to stop and fold in the side mirrors to make sure they didn't get scratched.

It was all worth it when we got to the top and found the hotel with this amazing view.

The afternoon was spent leaning back in chairs overlooking the lake with a cold beer and a book.

Drink in the room before dinner.

The restaurant in the hotel served delicious food. Adam started feeling sick (before dinner) and only had a little bit to eat before he went straight to bed, but that didn't stop me from enjoying a nice piece of lamb with roasted potatoes.

Lake Maggiore

After a couple of nights in the beautiful wine district we drove up to northern Italy and the lakes. We got to Lake Maggiore in the late afternoon on a Saturday and it turned out to be nearly impossible to find a place to stay. After the tourist office had helped us and called to about 20 places he found a hotel for us. The rooms where very average and all we could see from the window was the wall of another hotel.

I can't remember the name of the town we stayed in but even though it was nothing like the previous places, we had a great night. Adam and I had dinner just the two of us and when we left the hotel to find a restaurant it started bucketing with rain and we experienced one of the worst thunder stoms I have ever seen. The lighting struck a building next to us and the loud noise made us throw ourselves inside a restaurant we were walking past. Quite scary. After a running race in the rain we found a cosy pizza place and had a really nice dinner.

Barbaresco

After a night in La Morra we headed to Barbaresco village.

The boys bought some wine...

And I focused on eating...

La Morra

Late lunch in La Morra

This place was only rented out as a whole house but the owner, also had another B&B just walking distance from this place, where we decided to stay. It was not only really nice, it also gave us free access to this swimming pool!

If I every go to this part of Italy again travelling with a couple of families this would be the place to stay!

When the boys went wine tasting Zara and I spent the afternoon by the pool. Day 3 of our holiday and still nothing to complain about!

Not bad?

Once again we had a stunning view from our room in La Morra.

Zara and Micke waiting with a bottle of wine!

I think all we did on this trip was to eat and drink!

Adam was invited to the wine celler of the place where we had dinner. I had to drag him out...

Some bottles in there where very old.

Zara and I were more interested in drinking the wine than looking!

Barolo

On the road again heading toward the village of Barolo.

Barolo was another cute little town but not amazing so after a walk around we were quite satisfied and ready to leave.

Good morning!

This was the view from our balcony when we woke up the next morning.

What an amazing place and we were so lucky to find it without really looking.

After breakfast I went for a walk by myself in the little village that looked different from the night before.

Saturday market!