Ice hockey

We ended a really nice weekend with taking Jakob to a live hockey match for the first time ever. Mormor looked after Isak.
We met up with last nights dinner friends and Jakob was happy to sit next to Felix.

Anders was there with Moa and Lucas and later in the match Jakob wanted to sit next to Moa. Lucas got really tired so Anders took him home before the last period but Moa stayed with us. Jakob and Moa had lots of fun together but didn't watch much of the hockey.

Stopping at Kvantum on the way home.

Moa's birthday party!

The sun always shines when Moa has her kids birthday party! this year they had 16 kids over!! for hamburger lunch and some cakes and ice cream. Very much appreciated by everyone but especially by Isak.
The yearly treasure hunt!

Isak who was the youngest child at the party couldn't quite keep up with the other kids. By the time he got to them they were gone again. He gave up in the end and played his own games.

And cleaned up everyones plates and cups.

Dinner with friends

Last night we were invited to Maria, Mattias and Felix. We had a nice dinner, ate lots of sweets, played soccer and outdoor floor ball and planned a ski trip next year.
Isak spent most of the evening eating something but went to sleep nicely in the travel cot filled up with sugar.

Two tired boys having a night snack on the couch.

Fun in the sun

After a nice and cool week summer came back on the weekend. Jakob, mormor and I went to a market day in one of the nearby suburbs on Saturday. The first thing we saw was a fire truck. A real one! Jakob got to sit in it and try on a helmet, very exciting.

Moa, Lucas and Helena were also there!

No pony riding this time but at least they got to go in a carriage pulled by Henning.

Jakob having a drink and a hot dog before leaving. We had parked the car outside Stinas parents house so before going home we popped in for a nice fika.

Last day!

Friday was my last day of maternity leave before going back to work again. I made it in to a great day. I had a nice morning with Jakob and Isak and we all rode the bike to dagis, and after I had dropped them off I rode in to the city for a one hour hot stone massage. It was amazing! after that I caught up with Stina for lunch and after that with Jenny for a fika. I rode the bike home and picked up the kids on the way. We relaxed for a while before we went to McDonalds for dinner together with mormor. We haven't been there for a long time and it was actually fun. The food is not great and it is not the cosiest place to have dinner but Jakob and Isak ate a lot, were really happy and it was nice to not have to cook and clean. Jakob got to stay up a bit later after Isak went to bed and that time in the evening with Jakob is often the highlight of the day.

Isak 18 months

Isak is now 18 months old and is ready to start day care next week which mean me going back to work full time again. Over the last two weeks he has been training at dagis starting with only a few hours a day and the second week staying for 6 hours every day. It has been going really great. He waves to me with a smile when I leave and looks sort of happy when I come to pick him up but keep playing with whatever he is doing. All the carers are back from holidays and have had a good chance to get to know Isak (they have only had about 6 children to look after). They have all changed his nappy, put him to bed, fed him etc etc and even though he has his one favourite lady he is quite happy being looked after by either of them. The last week he didn't sleep very well there but it doesn't seem to effect him so much other then that he after a bad day sleep can sleep up to nearly 14 hours at night.
Next week Jakob and Isak will be at dagis from about 7.30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. Most children will be back at dagis so from being only 6 there in the last week I think there will be nearly 20 children. Hopefully Isak will cope ok but I am sure I will have some tired children in the evenings.

It is hard to believe that Isak is now 18 months! He is a great child to be around, he just makes us happy. He is still a great sleeper. When we put him down at around 7pm he waves to us in the bed with a smile and wakes up normally between 7-8 in the morning. He loves lollies and ice cream and cakes and everything that is not good for you (just like mummy) but he also eats his porridge and other meals quite well. As long as there are no cakes near him...

He is not talking very much, he says mamma about 500 times a day and tack (thank you) when he points at something he wants to eat. He is starting to understand a lot though and we understand him quite well even though there are no words coming out of his mouth.

Kickbike!

Jakob loooves the kickbike he got from grandma and poppa when they were here and Isak also looooves Jakob's kickbike. So after trying to solve fight after fight when Isak tries to take Jakob's kickbike we bought him his own. Isak is now back being a happy child again!

Day care

Isak has now had his second day at child care. Yesterday we stayed for 1,5 hours and I was there the whole time. The place was nearly empty, all the kids are still on holidays, only Jakob and Isak and two other new kids were there. A good start for Isak I think, he gets to know the place with all the different rooms and toys and also the carers without too many disruptions.

Today I left after half an hour. Isak waved to me but didn't start crying. Not sure if he really understood what was happening. When I came back just over an hour later he was happy playing outside and did not seem to really care about me coming back. Stina, his carer, told me that everything had gone very well.

Tomorrow Isak will have lunch at dagis for the first time and if everything goes well he will have a sleep there on Thursday. Will be interesting to see how that goes!

Catching up on things!

Today has been a day of catching up on things. Catching up on being with the kids, cleaning, washing, exercising, emailing, blogging, cooking etc etc. It has been a great day.
Yesterday Isak got to try a festis for the first time. I probably don't need to say that he loved it. After drinking it all he carried the box around for hours trying to suck out the last drops.

Fun in the sun!

Jane and John have left and the New York trip is over. Life is going back to normal. Isak starts dagis on Monday and I go back to work in a couple of weeks. We have had a great summer but it is nice to go back to normal routines again. We had a nice evening last night just the four of us. Jakob and Isak were going crazy in the new water sprinkler and Adam and I just enjoyed being home together all of us.

Jakob and the neighbours grand daugther played together after dinner and after Isak had gone to bed we had some special time on the sofa together watching a dvd and eating lollies.

Grandparents leaving

Yesterday the Australian flag hanging on the side of our house was taken down, Jane and John left in the afternoon. Their last day was sunny, like all the other days they have had the last four weeks so we had a nice bbq lunch outside before they had to go to the airport.
Last picture of Jane and John with Jakob and Isak.

Jane's 60th!

In only a few days Jane is turning 60 but since she will be in Italy for her birthday we celebrated her the day before they left Luleå. First we had some drinks at home and she got some presents. Jakob had picked a tea mug for her that he was very proud of.
In the evening we went to BBB for dinner. We realised that it was the first time the 4 of us have been out for dinner in Sweden! Mum very nicely looked after Jakob and Isak so we could make this happen. We couldn't have picked a better night. The weather was beautiful and sunny and we had a great table by the water.

Coming home from New York!

Being away from Jakob and Isak is always hard even though it is a nice feeling to miss them and nice for Adam and me to have some time together just us. Mum and Jakob picked us up from the airport and words can't describe how nice it was to see him again. I am dreading having to be away from them for 5 weeks when they go to Adelaide in November without me.
Isak was waiting at home for us and he gave me the nicest hug and biggest smile when he saw me.
Jane and John have done an amazing job with the children when we have been away. A week is a long time but they have had no problems at all and the kids have had a great time. They have slept well at night, eaten well and been happy. Jakob spent a day with Linus and a day with mormor to give Jane and John a bit of a break :-)

New York!!

After nearly a year of planning the day was finally here. Adam and I together with Zara and Micke were going to New York for 6 nights!! Jakob and Isak were left home with Adam's parents. We were so excited that we had to have a drink at Arlanda at 10.30 in the morning. It was great!

Day 1 New York

We probably overdid day 1 a bit. The city was extremly hot, over 40 degrees with now wind at all. We squeezed in 2 bus trips which was pretty stupid. The first one took us from the hotel in the middle of Manhattan to the southern end of the island. The second one took us on a two hours trip to Brooklyn.

Zara and Micke had to get off in Brooklyn, Zara was throwing up from the heat. I got a bad head ache later in the day and had to sleep for a couple of hours before going out for dinner. We saw a lot and also did some shopping so apart from the heat it was a good day!

Ground Zero

Harlem

I just love Harlem. I have been to Harlem once before and loved it. I felt the same this time. There is something about Harlem, can't put my finger on what it is but I just really like being there. Not that I have seen much more than the main street. But anyway. After walking around doing a some shopping Zara and I walked ahead of the slow boys to find the quite new restaurant Red Rooster owned by Marcus Samuelsson, a famous Swedish chef. Zara and I walked in and fell in love with the place. I didn't know much about it and had no expectations but all I can say is that it was great.
After a glass of wine in the bar the boys turned up and we got a table.

My hamburger was great and not at all like the one at Spotted pig (se later post).

Adam had chicken.

We were probably not cool enough for the place especially since Micke got told off for showing his bum. At least we got a good laugh :-)