Swedish Summer

Well, I was very excited to stay here in Stockholm for the summer.  We suffered through the dark winter, and I thought it only appropriate to stay in Sweden at the best time of the year.   I keep hearing locals talk about "Swedish Summer" and now I know exactly what they mean.  Besides a few days in May, where the temperatures reached 70ºF, I've been wearing pants, jackets, and sometimes sweaters everyday.  This is not what I consider summer.  I love the heat, the sun, the pool, the beach, and everything else that we consider "summer".  If we didn't have all these guests visiting us, I would be feeling very sad.  But, since we do have a full line up of family and friends visiting us from the states, this summer is, and will be perfect.

Aunt Dee and Uncle Jimmy were here for a week

How can it possibly be July already?  I have been thrilled to have my 15 year old niece here with us this summer.  I love not only having a girl in the house, but I love having a teenager as well.  Since she lives in Florida, I don't feel too bad that the weather has been horrible this month.  At least she's getting a change of pace.  

Me and Nat

Dee and Jimmy's visit flew by.  Despite the awful weather, we covered a lot of ground, and found time for a Fika each day (Jimmy's favorite pastime).  They arrived just in time for Midsummer, a huge holiday here in Sweden.  It's the official start of summer where many Swedes begin their 5-6 week vacation, the sun only sets for a few hours, and Stockholm becomes a ghost town.  People warned me that Midsummer Eve is the time to celebrate, and since there were only  a handful of city dwellers still here, we decided to have a very traditional Midsummer in Skansen.  Despite the empty city, Djurgården was packed with tourists and some remaining Swedes.  The weather was cold and rainy, so it wasn't exactly the evening we had planned for.  Finding a restaurant that was open that night was VERY difficult.  We made our own fun, and quickly realized that next year, we leave the city and head to an island.  Here are some pictures of us celebrating....

Steve and Jimmy making wreathes 

Chase wearing his wreathe

We love having Nat with us

Steve jumped right in and made a wreathe for Chase.  Traditionally, they go on the Maypole, where adults and children dance around, singing traditional Swedish songs.  We were not able to get close enough to the Maypole, the crowds were too large, but we did hear the songs as we walked by.  We were too busy looking for food to worry about the crowds.  The Swedes eat pickled herring, boiled new potatoes with fresh dill sour cream and chives.  We opted for "Swedish Pizza", which tasted like bacon wrapped in a pancake.  Not sure I want to know the exact ingredients, but it was fun to try it.  

Daddy chowing.... Smith's not so sure

Dee and Jimmy liked it

A lot of alcohol, specifically beer and Shnapps is consumed on the Eve.  We chose to pass on the Schnapp, but did enjoy some wine later that night.  We sat on Strandvagan, looking at the water, drinking wine, champagne, and hot chocolate.  Then decided to roam the streets, trying to find a restaurant that was open.  I am still amazed at how empty the city was that night.  We did find one place that was hopping, the noise could be heard from blocks away..... Fridays.  Yes, we spent Midsummer Eve at Fridays.  I will say, it was a great crowd, American food, and a fun night with family.  

The next day we went on a Segway Tour of Djurgården.  This was definitely the highlight of the week  for the crew.  Nat and I were the only ones that followed the Segway "rules".  Dee tried, but crashed into a tree midway through the tour.  Jim and Steve, well, let's just say, they made our poor tour guide so nervous that she told us after that she will never forget her "American group".  I was so cold that I stood as stiff as a board for the entire 90 minutes.  My toes were completely numb by the time we finished, and a much needed Fika was enjoyed afterwards.

The tours of Stockholm did not stop there.  It was fun going on these tours with everyone, and now,  I am an expert on parts of the city that I haven't spent a lot of time in before.  Södermalm tour was my favorite so far.  The guide was excellent.  Her sense of humor added so much to the experience.  She was actually the same guide that I had at the City Hall tour with Sandi and John.  (Do you guys remember her?).  I love Södermalm, and I realized that I don't go here enough.  It's a huge island that has a very unique feel.  It has been compared to Brooklyn and other "trendy/artsy" areas of NYC.  SoFo was Dee's favorite part of Södermalm, even though we didn't spend as much time in there as we would have liked.  We were able to see the home of Mikail Blomkivist, journalist in Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,  located at Bellmansgatan 1.  Several scenes in the movie were set here.  The views on Södermalm are the best in the city.  It is set very high on cliffs overlooking the waterways.

Me, Dee and Jim after our tour

Dee and Jim

Our next tour took place on Gamla Stan (Old Town).  I mentioned in my past blogs how much I love this area of Stockholm as well.  This tour was not quite as entertaining. The guide was extremely long winded, and there were twice as many people in the group than on the Söder tour.  Dee and I got ourselves into a little bit of trouble when we started taking pictures of one of the group members because she looked identical to one of our friends from Florida.  She was less than happy with us..... causing Dee and I to laugh like school girls in a classroom with a mean teacher.  We ended up leaving this tour early and having fika at Chokladkoppen on Stortorget. They make the best hot chocolate (and even had lactose free milk), so I could indulge.

hot chocolate with a touch of love

Steve met us at Orangeriet after our tours and we were able to show Dee and Jim one of our favorite hangouts on Kungsholmen.  We walked home afterwards, enjoying the nice night.

selfie on the walk home

beautiful view of another favorite restaurant/bar

Other adventures we took with Dee and Jimmy were a trip to  Östermalms Saluhall.  Dee loves this place as much as I do.  We ate good ol Swedish cuisine and then walked around in the rain for the next hour.  I would say they got a dose of Swedish life that day.  Of course we had to squeeze in another fika, and what better day to do it then a cold, rainy day.  We also took a boat tour and saw Stockholm from the waterways.  This two hour tour was full of information and also full of beautiful views.  The boys were not quite as entertained, but thankfully there was a snack bar on the boat that kept them happy.

The week ended with a dinner out at Grand Escalier with Dee and Jimmy, while Natalie babysat the boys.  Before dinner, we visited the Ice Bar and had a lot of laughs drinking on ice (literally).  My favorite quote of the night:  Dee:  "I wonder how they clean these glasses."  For those that don't know, EVERYTHING in the bar is made of ice, including the glasses.

The much dreaded Thursday morning arrived where we had to say goodbye to Dee and Jimmy.  I love having guests visit, but I hate saying goodbye.  Being so far away from friends and family is the hardest part of this journey.  We are so thankful that so many of you took the time, and spent the money to come visit us this summer.  These are memories that will be treasured forever!

The good news is that Natalie is with us for six more weeks.

Nat, me and Dee

After saying goodbye, we all jumped into our mini van (first time we have ever taken one) to Jake's tournament in Vasteras.  It was cold and raining (shocker) most of the weekend, but the boys pulled out a bunch of wins to earn a spot in the quarter finals.  This tournament is one of the largest in Sweden, where there were many good teams.  After a hard fight, we lost, and headed home on Sunday.  Natalie deserves praise.  She suffered through it all, in the rain, and never complained once. I even had to wake her up very early a few of the days.  Did I mention that ALL THREE boys were car sick on the way up?  Yes, I cleaned up vomit three times.  One of those three (name withheld) even managed to throw up in my bag.  After the first incident, I was prepared with a bag, in case we had a round two.  When second son claimed he was going to be sick, I handed him a bag and relaxed a bit.  After hearing, "sorry mom, the bag had a whole in it and now throw-up is in your carry-on bag", I wasn't so relaxed anymore.   So poor Nat, had to spend the entire car ride in the back with these little monsters puking everywhere.  

We did have time to kill between games, so we found a mini golf near the field.  The man who owns it lived in Florida for 20 years and just moved back to Sweden.

Pirate Golf was a hit!  We took these pictures for you Bebop:

Sunday was a day of straightening the house, doing lots and lots of laundry (in my washer/dryer that takes three hours to do one load), and filling our refrigerator with food for the week.  Natalie was finally able to unpack and move into her "own" room.  We spent the week doing a lot of things and shopping was one of them.  I'm finally able to shop with a girl, instead of chasing three wild boys around the store.  Jake and I went to the library and signed up for a library card, and decided that we like the library system here much better.  It's a self check-out, and Jake loved the independence.  And... the librarians were actually nice.  Although there are english books in the library here, we were choosing Swedish books.  Yes, Sofia, our tutor, has us reading swedish picture books.  Even though it took us over an hour to complete one book, we are proud to say we did it!  

That evening, Smith really wanted to go to the park.  Nobody in the family was volunteering to take him. Chase was ready for bed, Jake was relaxing, Steve was working.  Nat jumped up and happily said she'd go.  She also told Smith that she would ride Chase's scooter so he would have someone to ride with.  Did I mention that Natalie is a sweetheart!  The three of us headed to Rålambshovparken and had a great time.  There were a lot of people picnicking and hanging out on the grass, even though they all had warm clothes and blankets around them.  Nat climbed, jumped, scooted, zip lined, and really enjoyed herself at this park.  I met an American woman that was visiting for the week.  We got home close to 10:00pm, but it felt like 6pm with the sky being so bright.

Nat and Smith racing down the street

 Harley girl

Smitty zip lining

cousins

Nat Zipping

The next day we all headed back to the same park and played basketball as well.  After the park, we came home and played board games.  I love that Nat likes games as much as I do.  I finally have someone in the house that will play with me.  Sequence and Rummikub have become our new favorites.  

Chase taking a shot

Smith riding his scooter all around the park

Jake watching his shot

Nat playing Chase's favorite game.... Connect 4.

World Cup Soccer is on all the time in our house. I've even become hooked on it.  Baseball is a thing of the past for me, at least for the next few years.  Swedes don't even know what a softball is.  I've become the true definition of soccer mom.  Jake told me the other day that he's impressed how much I've learned about soccer.  My skills on the field are not quite as impressive as the knowledge in my head.   We decided to go to O'Leary's and watch some World Cup games, but before hand we played a bit of bowling.  Nat, Smith and I were on a team against Chase, Dad and Jake.  It doesn't matter who won, it was good family fun!  hahahah

Nat got a strike

Chase did a dance after each roll

Jakey with his running start

Big push chase

Go Smitty Go!

Brotherly love

Yesterday we had a lot of errands to run before we started packing.  The boys needed shoes, we had to buy suntan lotion, (since we haven't had any need for up to this point), and take care of some other miscellaneous things.  I took the boys to what is known as a "great" children's shoe store, Barniko Specialiten on St. Eriksgatan.  This the second time I've gone here and they have been closed for some random reason.  I think I have just officially boycotted this place for good.  As we walked home, we passed Stockholm Cupcake.  Many friends here in Stockholm have told me about this place,  so we stopped in for a taste.  I must say, besides being the most expensive dessert I've ever bought my children, they weren't anything to write home about.  The boys actually said they didn't want then ever again.  When the owner looked over after Smith made that comment, I decided it was time to go and never come back.

before they took a bite

The night ended with a 9pm bike ride for the entire family.  We cruised around our island, Kungsholmen, then stopped for shakes/ice cream at 10:30.  It was a late night, but super fun.  Smith rediscovered his love of bike riding, after a year of not being on one.  I realized the next morning, when my butt bones hurt like the devil, that I haven't been on a Spin bike in a year.  That made me very sad.  I used to tell all my newbies to get through the pain, continue to come to class for three days, and you will not feel that hurt again.  Wow, I am a newbie on the bike now.  

Nats on her rent-a-bike

Today was packed full with fingerprinting and renewing our Swedish residence cards.  If you have been following this blog from day one, then you will remember the nightmare of a time we had trying to get these cards in the first place.  The second time around, much easier.  We were in and out in less than 30 minutes.  We are old pros at this stuff now.  I guess when you make every mistake the first time around, you become an expert!

The rest of the day was spent preparing for our trip.  We are officially all packed for our 8 days in Portugal.  Steve got a dose of what having a teenage girl is like, while packing for a trip.  It was so nice to watch him compromise and let Nat keep all of her shoes and jackets (yes, she is packing jackets for an 80 degree vacation) in the suitcase.  I'm very proud of both of them.  Nat for standing her ground and insisting that she needs every article of clothing that is in that bag, and Steve, for going with the flow and moving us into a larger suitcase.  

The Payne's (plus 1) are heading out tomorrow morning... bright and early for 8 days of sun, beach, water sports, and lots of fun in Portugal.  

Smith insisted that I use this picture somewhere in my blog