Saturday Aug10th

  I seem to be adjusting well to the time change, can't say the rest of the clan is doing as well.  The boys struggled going to bed last night.  I felt so sorry for them (and us) at midnight when they were still awake.  They couldn't fall asleep and panic set in causing lots of tears.  Chase fell asleep at 10:00 but Jake and Smith not until 1:30am.  At 10:00 this morning I was prying them off their pillows.  Poor babies!!!!

  I was able to run for the first time since we arrived here.   It took me about 15 minutes to study the map and  plan a route where I was sure to make it back.  I happen to be married to a geography connoisseur so there's a lot of pressure on me to master the streets and train stops of Stockholm.  I was not born with the "directional" gene (however, I AM better than 2 of my 3 sisters...  Sorry Dee and A) so it's going to take a little while for me to venture too far from home.  Steve presented a route complete with landmarks and all,  so I was able to go for a long run.  It's amazing how running in the city is a nice distraction from all the discomforts of exercise.  Did I mention the weather was perfect too...  70 degrees and low humidity.  

Speaking of running, Steve and I both needed new sneakers so one thing on our to-do list today was find a running store and make a purchase.  Mission accomplished!!!!  New sneakers for everyone.

We spent a good hour in that store, the boys were fascinated with the treadmill.  The guys that helped us were patient, knowledgable, really friendly and spoke perfect English.  As we were leaving, the key was in the door.  It was then that we realized they closed 20 minutes ago.  Europeans don't mess around with vacation and time off.  The stores close around 4:00 on Saturday.  

Along with sneaker shopping, we took the boys to their new school.  I can't believe I forgot to take a picture.  :(. Then I spotted the most amazing site.  This picture does not do it justice, so let me explain.  Rows of fresh produce!!!!  I was so excited I couldn't contain myself.  Unfortunately, we didn't have bags with us ( in Sweden you must bring your own grocery bags when you shop) so I couldn't make a purchase....  But guess where I'll be tomorrow!!!!!  

 

While I was marveling over the strawberries, the boys were drooling over the soccer jerseys.  Steve was just as excited so each boy came home with one.  Chase put on his right away and proceeded to ask everyone who came within 3 feet of him if they liked his new jersey.  

This little square had some neat shopping and apparently Jake enjoyed taking pictures of me while I was browsing. 

The Clappers (Claudette, Creg and their son Ryan) invited us over for dinner tonight.  We planned on stopping at a liquor store on the way and bringing a bottle of wine.  I should've realized if the shoe stores closed at 4:00, the liquor stores wouldn't stay open all night.  Needless to say, we showed up empty handed because we couldn't even find a bakery open.  Thankfully, we know them well enough that she gave me a free pass!  Thanks Claudette!  She even had Jake sleep over.  :). The dinner was amazing and she went through all the trouble of making it gluten-free.  She even found a gluten-free bakery for desserts.  We are very lucky to have them as friends!!!!

Remember  the crate?  The one that cost us a fortune in Orlando and then was lost in Amsterdam????  Well it finally arrived at 8:00 this evening.  Hey...  Only 48 hours later...  Not too bad!  Steve was able to run back to our apartment after dinner and meet the guy.  Success!

I always knew Sweden was a liberal country, but didn't realize that regular t.v. (MTV for one) doesn't bleep out their cursing.  Makes for an interesting evening with your children.  No...no...  We weren't watching MTV with our kids, thankfully we realized this little fact about t.v. When our children were sleeping.  Oh and we also discovered as we were flipping channels that porn seems to be played freely at night as well.  Once  again, we didn't keep it on (I know that was your next thought).  I'm blown away that my kids can flip on the t.v. at night and be exposed to some terrible things.  We will have to work on parental controls. 

One more thing that drives me crazy about Sweden....  People do not walk on the right side of the street.  Instead they wAlk in the center and do not move over to share the sidewalk when you're walking towards them.  I feel like I'm playing Chicken every time I walk.  At first I was darting every which way apologizing for bumping... But I'm quickly learning to stand my ground.  I can play this game too!!!!

We found out that we can move into our place Friday morning.  I'm beyond thrilled to get out of this tiny, loud apartment.  I never thought I would say this, being that my father was a NYC firefighter, but I can't stand the fire trucks here.  They are so loud they wake up the dead each time they go by our apartment, which by the way is 10 times a day!  It's gotten to the point where Chase announces to whomever is in the room that Mommy hates this sound!  Heeheee

I will end this post with some pictures of my bathroom.  I couldn't capture the entire room so I'm showing how the shower and laundry room meet.  One day I will laugh at this!!!

We had another great day today!!!  Based on this little peanut's face, I know he did too!