Our First Family Ski Trip

As a kid, I went skiing a lot.  I love to ski.  My friends from high school, especially Staci and Erica, know just how much fun we used to have on the slopes.  Steve too loves skiing.  So we knew living in Sweden, we would have to take our kids skiing, and we hoped they would love it as much as we do.  And...... they do!  We left Friday afternoon and drove two hours north to Kungsberget Ski Resort.  The drive was old school style, no DVD player for the kids.  It made me, once again, appreciate my parents.  How did they tolerate us for hours and hours in a car with no entertainment?   Thankfully our boys fell asleep....

Smith fell asleep just minutes later

When we arrived, we had a small hiccup, when I couldn't read the paperwork and forgot how to check in.  Thankfully, Åsa and Kattis met us in the parking lot and read our paperwork for us.  We were trying to get into the wrong flat.  We quickly found our place, unpacked, and headed to their flat where a delicious dinner awaited us.  We had a such a great time with all the couples, that we hung out until almost midnight.  The kids all played really well together as well.

The view from our kitchen

We woke the next morning very excited to get on the slopes.  What Steve and I didn't realize.... skiing with kids is A LOT of work!  First we had to make sure each of them had their thermals, clothes, wool socks, hats, gloves, ski pants, jacket and helmet on correctly.  Then for the boots.  Enough said! Then we had to carry all the skis and poles (while walking in the ski boots) from our door to the slopes.  It was not a far walk with shoes on.... ski boots on the boys... whole new ball game.  We all managed to get there in time for Chase's lesson.   Thankfully he was in a group with Nina and Felicia (the little girls we traveled with)... so all was good.  The instructor was very sweet, and spoke both english and swedish to the kids.  While Chase was in his lesson, the other two were getting acquainted with this new sport on the kids mountain.  By the time they went for their lesson, both of them were very comfortable with the lifts and the mountain.  By mid afternoon, after lunch in the lodge, and some U.S.A. vs Russia hockey, we were ready to tackle the slopes again.  Jake, Smith and I ventured on to some rougher terrain, while Åsa and Chase went to the kids mountain.  Chase was so thankful that Åsa volunteered to take him... he wasn't too keen on the bigger mountains just yet.  By this time the snow was really coming down.  Unfortunately, it was very wet snow... almost rain.  We were soaked from head to toe by the time we went inside.  Here are some pictures....

to the left of the red coat is Jake, just in front of another person

Jake under the arch

the snow was coming down

Smith, just before he ditched the poles for good

The cross country skiing for Mom and Dad was tremendous!  We spent many hours pulling and pushing one or more of these little guys around the resort.

Saturday night, Åsa and I were in charge of dinner.  With the help of the kids, we made a bunch of pizzas and it was another fabulous evening with all of our new friends.  Sunday morning we had to check out by 11:00, so Steve woke up early and was able to get a few runs in, alone, before taking all the boys to their final lessons.  At this point, all the boys graduated to the more advanced mountains, including Chase.  Jake was flying down the steep slopes with no problem at all.  Steve and I divided our time between all the boys and felt like they were all great little skiers.  Here's few pictures of Steve teaching Chase while going down one of the mountains.

Chase and Steve on the lift

Chase held our ski pole until he felt comfortable alone

Smith practicing his skills around these props

Sweet Nina.... taking a hot chocolate break

Smith cruising down the mountain

Jake during ski school... hence the shirt

Liam an Smith during their lesson

Chase 

Me and Chase 

The weekend came to a close on Sunday around 4:00.  None of the kids wanted to leave.  The parents.... well, we were wiped out!!  We are planning our next weekend of skiing, possibly around Smith's birthday in  March.  This mountain was perfect for new skiers, and the accommodations were great.   We are so fortunate to have met such amazing friends, Åsa and Jimmy.  They invited us to join them, and introduced us to some really great people.  The weekend was perfect!

The week leading up to the ski trip was full of excitement as well.  The boys went to their first Swedish dentist on Wednesday.  She was very nice and had a great way with the kids.  The experience is a little different than it is back in the U.S.  Their cleanings don't seem to be as detailed as ours, and they only go once a year.  Smith had his first cavity filled.  I was actually nervous for him, but he did fine.  She told us that he grinds his teeth (we knew that already) and when people grind, they are more susceptible to cavities.

Thursday was the second time with our "Cooking our Way Through Sweden" group.  This time Lori, Nancy and I hosted....  at Lori's apartment.    The menu consisted of: Dandelion Greens Salad with Gooseberries and Cilantro Vinaigrette, White Bean Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes, and Lime-Marinated Chicken Salad with Radicchio and Olives!  Dessert was  vanilla ice cream with blood orange preserves.  It was all delicious!!!

Swedish bread

Dandelion Greens Salad with Gooseberries and Cilantro Vinaigrette,

As usual, the company was fabulous and the food was delicious.  We are becoming pretty good Swedish chefs if I do say so myself.  To all my U.S. friends and family, the next time I have you over  for dinner, whether it be here in Sweden, or back in the states, I will cook Swedish style.

pretty table on Valentine's Day

While I was enjoying a lovely lunch with my friends, the boys were enjoying Sports Day with their friends.  The school celebrated Sports Day with each grade level partaking in various sporting activities.  Jake and Smith both went ice skating, while Chase was supposed to go sledding.  Since the weather did not cooperate, and there was no snow, they played at the park instead.  It actually poured rain all afternoon.  The older grades went skiing.  It was a fun day for everyone!  My friend Alex took a few pictures of Smith that day.

Smith is studying the five senses at school.  They had to do a project on secret agents and how they use their senses.  They all dressed up for school that day.  Since we don't have a ton of secret agent clothing hanging around our closets, we made do with what we had.  

Chase felt the need to partake in the action... check out his secret agent device he invented.....

Well... it's Tuesday and The loads of laundry that came home with us is finally complete.   It took me two straight days to do it all.  Remember, I don't have a dryer... so my apartment looked like a clothing tornado ran through it.  Chase caught a bug so he's been home sick for two days which helped me get it all folded and put away.  Speaking of laundry, before moving here, I went to Costco and loaded up on laundry detergent.  I just used the last of it.  I went to the store to buy more and a few observations came out of this outing.  1) the containers are MUCH smaller than than ours.  2) I have no idea what I bought.  There was a picture of clothes drying in the breeze on the front of the bag (yes, they come in bags.  Similar to what Method hand soap refill bags look like).  It washed my clothes just fine, but they don't smell nice like my Seventh Generation lavender scent left them.  3) I don't understand the measurements, so I guessed.

The weather this week has been amazing.  Too bad I spent most of it in the house.  The skies are blue, the sun is shining, and it's 35ºF.  My friends have been posting pictures on FB all morning so I'm swiping some of them for my blog.  Thanks Meg, Heidi and Alex.... you are all amazing photographers.

Alex captured this in the early morning

then took the same shot an hour later

Heidi took this one

Meg this is beautiful

Today is Lori's birthday and unfortunately the small lunch gathering I planned happened without me.  However, Thursday night 20 of us girls are going to Orangeriet to celebrate both Lori and Heidi's birthdays.  I will take lots of pictures and post them in my next blog.  I love the atmosphere in this place.  I am also looking forward to Saturday, when the boys and I will meet Aunt Dee Dee in Barcelona for a fun vacation.  Steve has a conference there, so he won't be having fun with us, but will still be there in spirit.  The following Friday, Steve takes the boys back to Sweden and Dee and I have a girls weekend in Barcelona.  Stay tuned for my next blog with lots and lots of pictures.

I will leave you with this funny story.....

The boys and I took the train home from school yesterday.  Upon entering, there was a very foul smell.  Of course the boys start giggling and in their "whisper voices" began saying, "someone farted mom".  Yes, I knew that... but was trying to not make a scene.  Smith gets it in his head that the lady sitting across from him is the culprit.  Why he chose her, I don't know.  But, if you've been around Smith, you know that he doesn't know how to whisper.  He turns to Jake and says, "that lady across from me is the one who farted".  Jake proceeds to laugh hysterically!  I was so mortified I wanted to crawl in a hole.