the red fort, old delhi

we decided to see something touristy today.  the red fort.  though it turned out that the girls seemed to be a bigger tourist attraction than the fort.  everyone had their cellphones out and were shooting away.  here i got a pic of pappa and the girls after running away and finding some peace and quiet.

 though we are in a land of incredible sights, 5 year old zoe seems to think photographing chipmunks is the highlight of the trip so far.  everytime she has spotted one she is off chasing them.  but she is starting to realize that if she approaches them slowly they do not run away...

 among the hundreds of people wishing to take photos with the girls were many school girls,  zoe decided that it was okay to take photos with other kids, but not the grown ups, so these girls were pretty happy to get a pic with this strange looking little blond monkey!

 took a break and let the girls blow off steam running around on the grounds.  as long as they kept moving people kept their space, as soon as they stopped they were surrounded.

 zoe gave me a lovely hairdo made out of a wet wipe.  very stylish.  do not know whether it is a good or bad thing that she has learned to tie real knots.

 eijla entertaining yet another crowd...

 after all the running around and flirting she crashed pretty hard...

 but zoe was still good to go, climbing and hopping and running about.  i honestly think somewhere in there she actually likes all the attention...

 pappa and the girls outside the fort where india´s flag of independence was first raised in 1947.   thomas has been getting a good work out carrying the girls so much.

 and after he worked so hard he got to end the day with a shave and a facial.  hee hee.

more than a decade later, india, finally.

nearly 12 years ago when i met thomas, my plan was to head to india on my next trip.  BUT  sometimes love is stronger than the travel bug.  however,  finally he came around and we are off to india!  yippeeeee!   eijla prepared herself well for the trip..

 after a night of flights we are arrived in delhi. the hotel sign was so sweet i could not help but take a pic.  thomas will now be known as sincerely thomas the rest of the trip...

 since we were all exhausted we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, then it was off for a bit of exploring.  for some unknown reason the hotel owner gave us a taxi free of charge for the afternoon.  he drove us around to tons of places that we were not interested in, and a very overpriced restaurant, but we got to see a little of delhi.  by the time we got back to the hotel  everyone was wiped.... but tomorrow is another day full of possibilities.

last minute stuff before we are off!

 so zoe and eijla have been really great at entertaining themselves while we have been trying to get everything ready at home.  zoe has been giving eijla ballerina lessons.  it was so cute! 

 and then of course we have been bad parents and let them watch movies now and again (okay at least once a day! but are very glad we do not have tv!).  you can see how trance like they get while watching.  yeah, our kids are addicts.

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then after months and months of having a half torn up bathroom,  we are tearing it all out.  we finally got an offer, and so hopefully we will have a real bathroom again when we come back.  so thomas has spent the last week ripping it down to the framing...

 and here we have it,  a nearly empty room... just waiting to be molded!

 so this is it.  we are off next week.  excited for a new country and lots of new adventures! 

the carpet cleaner, the ballerina, and the one and a half year old teenager

yep, as i have mentioned the cold is here,  which means that it is time to take out the carpets!  but ours have been on our back porch since last winter, so they were due for a good washing.    good thing thomas built us a nice big back deck for him to wash them on!  ha ha!

 auntie zita and fredrik brought the girls adorable tutus on their last visit.  and zoe just realized how much she loves hers,  now we cannot hardly get it off her!  she has been dancing all over the house.  gotto find some dance classes for that kid!

 yeah,  need i say more?  we are in trouble!

just an ordinary autumn

yesterday we finally made it back to the swimhall, and the österströms joined us.  it was so much fun.  i love being able to visit with such a dear friend, and all the girls love the water.  little anya thinks she can swim by herself already, no fear whatsoever.  love it.  anyway,  as an added bonus we grabbed maya and stole her for the night.  the girls had a slumber party.  they even slept in a little tent in zoe`s room.  they were so good.  we are really going to miss maya and her family so much while we are away.

we rarely have candy in our house, but thomas had bought some the other day, and turns out eijla loves salt licorice suckers.  salt licorice i said, crazy kid.

the laundry basket is an amazing toy.  the girls can play with them for hours, the problem is they keep destroying them!

 

 then there is baby.  eijla`s favorite doll.  she is crazy about it.  and insists that it is naked most of the time.  but nothing is cuter then her racing around the house screaming "baby!?!  baby!?!"  and then "dar är hon ju!"  when she finds it. 

 

enjoying the autumn weather with a long walk i the forest

today was brisk, but beautiful so the girls and i decided to take bonita for a walk in the forest.  however not the normal walk on the path, but we went exploring.  it was fun, but i can say i would not do it again with the stroller!  what a a workout!  bonita thought it was great.

 zoe somehow managed to find flowers despite the summer being long over!

 i love this jacket,  we bought it for zoe years ago at a second hand store in new york, and i was so happy when i realized it fit eijla now.  it is so nostalgic, and she looks absolutely adorable in it.

 after about an hour, we found our way back to the path, but then we needed to take a bit of a break, or rather i did.  so the girls discussed the walk so far, i love how serious eijla looks about this conversation.

and of course we stopped to enjoy the pretty colors of the fall leaves.  on the way back home we stumbled on the bookmobil!  finally learned their schedule, so looking forward to taking advantage of it next year when we get back from india.  the girls got a few books to read.  zoe managed to find a fable about elephants from india.  glad that she also is getting so excited for the trip.  just hope we get our visas back in time!

greenhouse fotoshoot and trick or treaters

we had a super yummy thomas soup out in the greenhouse for lunch yesterday.  probably our last meal out there for the year.  we have not used the "dining section" of the greenhouse so much this year.  but hopefully we will next year.  it is so cozy.

after lunch, zoe insisted on a photoshoot.  my little photo model.  she is just so darn cute. 

she took some lovely photos of  me as well.

my little pink and purple ballerina...

 

 then today was halloween, so we had a scary little ghost and a sweet little princess come trick or treating.  we had them knock on the doors upstairs as thomas and i ran from room to room trying to get there before they finished knocking on the last door.  not sure that eijla understood what was going on, but she was super happy every time she got candy for knocking on a door. booo!

pyssla and pumpkins

i have been talking about making a mirror for eijla for months.  mormor found one at a loppis and we designed the vinyls signs for it.  luckily there was a lot of space left over on the sheets, so zoe and eijla ended up with lots and lots of vinyl stickers, a real hit.

 thought that the mirror turned out really cute.  zoe took a picture of it for us.

 then we finally had the österströms over for dinner.  seems like forever since last time. good food and good company makes for a perfect evening.  since halloween is just around the corner, we got a pumpkin for the girls to carve.  they designed half the face each.

 turned out pretty cute,  eyelashes and all.  and the princesses were very proud of their artwork.

the leaves are falling

fall is here.  the cold weather has set in,  time for us to leave.  but before we do, best to have a bit of fun!  we raked all the leaves in a bit pile at the bottom of  the slide and let the girls go crazy...

 it was so much fun.  fall is also a great time of year, even if i am sad to say good bye to all my green things....

Happy birthday farfar!

so it was time to head south again, this time to celebrate farfars birthday.  eijla was a of a wild buse with moa..

 but luckily after awhile they found their groove and had a great time...

 and not sure if it was farfar snuggles or farfar wrestling. but zoe gave farfar lots of lovin'.  delicious food and great company.  happy birthday farfar. thanks for sharing with us.  the girls are lucky to have the world's greatest farfar.