a more convenient way to see jaipur!

so today we were a little smarter and hired an autorickshaw for the day to take us around.  we headed off to the further out sites so we were really grateful for the convenience.  the girls love riding in the autorickshaws.  though of course they would never fly in sweden, which we have to explain to zoe multiple times a day, though the last few times she asked, i just blamed it on the swedish weather!

first we stopped at royal gaitor, basically a cemtary for the big guys, lucky for us it is not big the tourist trail (both indian and westerner).  so the girls could run around and explore and have fun without being harassed.  they had a great time,  and i found the carvings to amazing.

 then we headed up to amber fort,  up on the hills overlooking jaipur.  eijla managed to throw up on me and her just as we got there, so after we cleaned ourselves up, thomas and eijla took it easy out in the courtyard while zoe and i went in and explored the fort...

 the fort was an amazing maze of all kinds of interesting rooms and buildings, but luckily we found our way out in the end and back to thomas and eijla.  eijla was of course charming all the indians.

 she even made friends with one of the cleaning ladies.  everyone finds her doll so interesting and asks where we got it.  funny the things different cultures find interesting.

 then zoe stopped to feed the pigeons outside the fort.  she could not get them to eat out of her hand no matter how much she tried,  maybe it is because five year olds are very wiggly!

 on the way back to town we stopped for some food and then at the jal mahal,  well, okay near the jal mahal.  a "floating" palace, a damn they have built here has drowned out the first few floors of the palace.  all in all a great day.  even met a magician boy who wowed us with his magic. 

we walked and we walked and we walked....

jaipur looked so much smaller on the map.  thought it was only a short walk to the old city, but i was wrong.  we walked, a lot today.  the poor girls are almost constantly harassed by indians wanting to touch them or take a picture, but we found this little rooftop temple where we could relax for a minute and get our breath back. 

 we walked around most of the old city.  and stopped off at the jantar mantar, an observatory type complex built some hundreds of years ago.  quite interesting all kinds of things to calculate the time, or the position of the stars.  here we are by what they say is the worlds largest sundial.  by the end of the day we were exhausted from walking, so it was a autorickshaw back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

a little cuteness in delhi

Yesterday was our last day in delhi.  looking forward to getting to a slightly smaller big city.  we walked around.  checked out random things and stopped for chai and a lassi when the mood took us.  managed to get a cellphone and sim card. but apparently getting a sim card is similar to getting a visa, so it was a hassle to get passport fotos and everything, but in the end somebody finally sold us one. 

 then today it was our first indian train ride.  the girls loved it.  zoe build a fort up on the over bunk, and they crawled up and down and all around.  so tomorrow jaipur awaits!

the wilder side of delhi

as per zoe wishes we headed off to the zoo yesterday, after spending a couple hours getting our train tickets for saturday.  it was a warm afternoon, so i think  a lot of the animals were feeling it.  but zoe took lots of pics, and you can see some of them on her new blog.

 we saw deer, crocodiles, jaguars, lions, and even this super balancing monkey (okay, so it is a gibbon).

 zoe found her own wild animal in the zoo,  after seeing the bengali tiger, eijla decided she was a cat too.

we even saw a white tiger, my first. pretty amazing looking animal.

 

it was a fun day at the zoo, but if was off to dinner and a bit of market wandering...

 

after a long day, and we wound down with some delicious indian chai and coffee.  and of course some snuggles from a very tired little girl.

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.

. 

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!