midsommarsafton

cannot believe that it is already midsummers.  time is just flying by.  in preparation of heading to the annermalms, we made a big salad, and our little mini quiches.  eijla was a great help with the quiches.  she was so focused, just check out that tongue!

then of course we had to pick wildflowers.  midsommars is just not midsommars without them, luckily they grow on the side of the road almost everywhere around here, but you had to be quick between the massive downpours, ah swedish midsommars, rain, rain, rain.

the girls hopped into the pool almost as soon as we got there.  good think it is heated, or they would have been icicles. 

after a dip and some food, the girls decided they wanted to go on a wildflower hunt, zoe volunteered me as the adult chaperone, which was my honor.  luckily it had stopped raining but there were plenty of puddles to splash in.

here are the girls with their find,  enough daisies to make daisy chain crowns for everyone.

rebecka found a leash that was small enough for eijla baby puppy, and she had great fun taking it for walks all afternoon.

then it was time to decorate the midsommars stång.  everyone added their own little unique touches.

zoe, our little flower princess, helped to make sure amanda´s crown was just right.  amanda sure was patient with her, i think it took zoe 15 minutes until she was satisfied with her work. :)

due to rain, and food being ready, we missed the dancing around the midsommars stång this year.  though maybe christer and jessica got up in the middle of the night and did is just for fun when the rain stopped!  ha ha.  after a delicious dinner it was snuggles and dessert.  i think eijla wants to go and live with rebecka!

precious moments

so as summer tends to be for us, it is work, work, work.  but since it stays light so late, we are often bad parents and keep the girls up a little bit later so we can spend more time with them.  so we do get our snuggles in.  i have learned to really appreciate the time we get with them.  we were so spoiled in india.  but i miss my girls now.  here are a couple of recent pics that just melt my heart.  eijla giving her baby puppy snuggles in the hammock, baby puppy has replaced her baby elephant, which replaced her baby, which she carried around india for five months.  i suppose we should be grateful that she is not so attached to just one toy, but it makes you wonder about her loyalties.  ha ha.

 then zoe, our little artist.  here she is proudly displaying one of her most recent masterpieces.  that kid has creativity just pouring out of her. 

and lastly,  sadly, i have not had much time for the greenhouse, i think thomas actually waters it more than i do now, but luckily it is still going strong and the green is getting greener.  yeah!

we miss pappa!

thomas has been away working most of the week, so i have been trying to survive what it must be like to be a single mom.  i do not know how people do it. get up insanely early, get the girls ready, drop them at dagis (daycare), work all day, pick them up, go home, make dinner, feed kids, put kids to bed, clean up, and try to get in bed at a decent time to do it all over again the next day! so when the weekend came we made the best of of it.  we had popcorn and a movie, we made the girls favorite cookies, molasses.  yeah, that is cookie dough...

 then there was lots of princess dress up and dancing.  eijla has some moves!

 and i of course just think that she is so damn cute.

then there were lots more snuggles.  seems like anya has gotten the chicken pox, so we are going to head over there tomorrow to try and see if they can rub off on our girls.

when pappa is away, the girls will play

thomas has been working all kinds of crazy long hours, including nights and weekends.  we miss him terribly, but do not let it spoil our fun.  so when monica called up and said their pipes were clogged.  we happily opened our bathing services to them.  though we got lovely company in return.  the girls had a great time together.  since thomas and i have been working so much, we have not had time to meet up so it was a fun surprise.  the girls of course hit the field for flowers...

 then we made dinner, zoe and maya made the salad all by themselves, and it was really delicious.  they were pretty proud of themselves, as well they should have been, yums!

 it worked out pretty good for me as well, as i had a fotoshoot that evening, and they watched the girls for me.  luckily it was timed just right and we missed the rain, the pics are on my foto blog.
 and i could not help but put this one in,  anya took full advantage of the bathtub and accessories.  cracks me up. thanks family österström for all the fun!

they finally tied the knot

after more than two decades together, thomas´ brother, anders and his sambo cilla got married.  it was a cute little wedding, and they all looked great.   a huge congratulations to herr och fru thoren! 

we left the girls with mormor, and headed south, where we hooked up with farmor and farfar and off to the wedding we went.  it was a terrific party, cheers to the newlyweds! skål!

 there was delicious food, and lots of fun.

 my only complaint is this is what i had to sit across from this all evening!  just kidding, i love my swedish meatball.

there are more pics of the wedding on my fotoblog should you care to take a look.

sweden´s 4 th of july is on the 6th of june

today was sweden´s national day, so we were all free from work.  so we convinced farmor and farfar to come up for a visit. they have not been able to come up since we were home, so we were pretty excited to show them what we have been up to.  eijla and farfar chilled in the hammock and traded snuggles.

 zoe showed farmor her new sparkly butterfly tattoo, and well, um, snuggled.

 after lunch the ipad came out; fun for the whole family.  zoe taught farmor and farfar how to play her games,  right now she is really into these games where she buy and sells and takes care of fish.  she is an expert at it.

 then for dessert there was pappa´s homemade blueberry sorbert.   it was a pretty popular item, i am sure eijla would have put this bite in her mouth if farfar would have let her!

 and with blueberry sorbert, comes purple mouth!  yeah!

thanks for coming up and visiting farmor and farfar, it was a real treat.  kramar.