This picture says it all.... we had laughs, we shared stories, we explored, we played soccer, we wrestled, we were boys, we had some quarrels, but one thing is for sure, we didn't miss a beat, even after a year of not living in the same counter.....we had a GREAT time together.
A lot of ground was covered in a week and the weather cooperated. Speaking of weather, I guess summer in Sweden begins in July. June was cold, rainy, and yucky.... July has been warm (sometimes hot, but I'm not saying that too loud in case I jinx it), sunny, and beautiful.
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| A lot of sunbathers all over Stockholm's beaches |
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| wearing the same clothes that we wore in Portugal |
The week started on Sunday when Meghann, Andrew and Will knocked on our door. The hugs and smiles were priceless. The boys were so excited to see each other, that my neighbors on the first floor heard them. Thankfully, 99% of the tenants in our building are on holiday.... so the boys got away with a lot of jumping, yelling, wrestling, and ball playing in the apartment.
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| burgers and fries |
Natalie locked herself in her room whenever she could escape the bedlam out here. As long as we kept them active outside, the inside time was very manageable. Five boys in a city apartment makes for......well.... lots of creative "mommy" activities.
We played games.....
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| Beat The Parents |
And watched movies.....
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| they were not happy with me for taking this picture and disturbing their movie |
And, believe it or not, even slept.....
We started the week off with a tour of Stockholm International School. We were lucky to have caught the front office open, and they were kind enough to let us wander the halls, showing the boys our classrooms and stomping grounds. We then walked to a favorite, Humlegården, where they joined a group of boys and played a match. It was quite the match, ending in penalty shootouts. During the few time-outs that they took, the boys munched on kanelbullens (Swedish cinnamon buns) and drank lots of water. Meghan and I learned very quickly to bring at least five water bottles everywhere we went. These were some very thirsty boys.
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| soccer pitch at Humlegården |
The jet lag was starting to kick in for the Gavin boys, but they hung in there and found the energy to slide down the skatepark dirtying up all of their shorts.
Tuesday we went paddle boating and then had a picnic on Djurgården. The only time it rained all week was when we were out on the water. Thankfully the rain only lasted for ten minutes and the clouds moved on quickly.
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| a beautiful view from the water |
Starving is an understatement.... because these boys were practically attacking us for food when we exited the boats. We threw some snacks their way to hold them over as we walked looking for the perfect place to picnic.
The birds were swarming.... and we refused to sit anywhere near them.
We walked a bit further and found the perfect spot.
Fully equipped with a tree for climbing....
After our picnic, we headed to Östermalms Saluhall in search of ice cream.
We took a quick tour of the place and headed outside in the square where there was plenty of ice cream to be found. On the way home, the Gavins were able to experience city living as we stopped in the grocery store to pick up food for dinner. Everyone carried something home... our quote of the night, "grab a chicken" and home we walked. Another common quote of the week, "Use your Swedish voice". Trust me when I tell you that the boys (including mine) never learned how to use Swedish voices. I"m not sure it even exists in their little bodies.
Wednesday was here and it was time to celebrate one special 10 year olds birthday. We started our day with a workout in the park. The boys played soccer, basketball, and ping pong while Meghann and I got in a quick workout.
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| Meghann on the elliptical in the park |
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| me pushing Will and Smith |
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| Chase taking a break in the sand |
Since Jake got to pick the activities and food.... here's how the day went.
Pizza from Primo before heading out to bowling.
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| Jake got a birthday STRIKE |
After bowling, the plan was to head to Phil's Burgers for dinner. As I might have mentioned in my last blog, the city is very quiet this time of year. Many restaurants close for the month of July and Phil's was one of them. Must be nice to open a business in April and still be able to close for the summer. After a bit of disappointment, Jake settled for burgers at Texas Longhorn.
Upon entering the restaurant, the boys were all chatting about the day. We all know that Americans are louder than Swedes, however, the boys were not being obnoxious. The hostess sat us next to a family of four (two kids our boys' ages). I happen to glance at the parents as we were sitting, and I caught the dad in the middle of an eye roll. Nope, he was not happy that we were sitting next to them. The kids were staring, mouths open, at our boys chatting. Of course I had to capture the moment by snapping a picture of the pleasant parents. I will also note that this family did not speak more than five words to each other the entire dinner.
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| look at the lovely couple at the back table staring our way |
After dinner the boys picked out their favorite donut and we headed home for some Swedish/American birthday singing. For some reason, videos will not work once I upload them to this blog...so if you want to hear my boys singing in Swedish, see my Facebook page.
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| make a wish birthday boy |
That night my computer experience a minor crash. Thank God Meghann was here, my techi friend, to fix it. She worked on it for two days and cleaned out a bunch of junk inside that crazy machine. By the time Steve returned from America ( he was visiting his dad for a few days), the computer was working like a champ.
Thursday was my favorite day of the week. We woke up and decided that the weather was too perfect not to take a ferry ride to Fjäderholmen. We packed lunches and caught the ferry at Slussen for an amazing day on the island.
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| Andrew scoring a goal |
Some of us sat at the table.....
And some used the blanket....
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| Smith loves a picnic in the park |
In order to capture this photo, to get the boys to actually look at me, I decided to trick them and yell "hurry look, there's a huge bird over my head". Well.... I must have jinxed myself, because as those words were coming out of my mouth, a huge bird swooped down, and tried to eat the food off of the table. We screamed and ran away... and the boys were looking at us like we were crazy! Nat, Meg and I laughed so hard we choked on our food.
After an hour or so of playing and eating, we decided to venture out and see what else the island had to offer. Chase had his walking stick, which he carried most of the way.
We stumbled upon the cliffs which had amazing views. The weather was very warm, so many sunbathers were relaxing in the sun. Smith was in his element climbing every rock and cliff he saw. We spent at least thirty minutes climbing.
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| Smith's in green |
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| Chase following his big brother |
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| Me and the boys |
Meghann and I dragged them off of the rocks so we could see the shops, glass blowing, and look for ice cream. The boys discovered this little gem and spent the rest of the time playing in the water.
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| the views were beautiful |
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| This cruise ship passed as they were playing in the water |
The ferry was returning to bring us back to Stockholm, so it was time to wrap up our fun day.
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| Chase loving it here |
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| Nat enjoying the climb |
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| Smith giving me a smile |
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| So blessed to call her my friend |
We returned home to a daddy that we haven't seen in four days. With that daddy, came a new bike for Jake, from Bebop and Kiki. Jake and Steve have been biking everyday since then.
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| One happy boy |
If you ask the kids what their favorite thing to do in Stockholm is, they will probably all say Gröna Lund. No matter where you live in the world, all kids have this in common.... they love amusement parks.
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| Nat and the gang with their feet hanging down |
The older kids were so good with Chase. They all went on his rides and made sure he was having a good time too.
gg
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| Will trying to enter the FUN HOUSE |
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| Jake doing the same... Chase and Steve are in the middle |
Me and my vertigo and Meniere's disease did not enjoy the park as much as everyone else. I was smart enough not to go on any rides, but what I didn't realize, was that just being in the park would trigger all of my symptoms. After three hours, my brain and eyes were on information overload and a migraine headache set in. I managed to make it through the day, but when I came home, it was bedtime for mommy. I had to close my eyes and let it all disappear. What's important is that the kids had a great time.... and Nat won this ginormous candy box.
The final day of their trip arrived and we decided that a day in the pool would be a fun way to say goodbye. The Gavins and the Paynes would spend every summer together in the pool all day long... so what better way to spend our last day together. Eriksdalsbadet is Stockholm's biggest equatic center. There are a five pools...the favorite for the kids, the indoor fun zone. The fastest water slides around. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures indoors so I was secretly snapping. The kids played for hours and we had to drag them out.
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| outdoor pool |
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| outdoor event pool |
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| The boys swam laps for old time sake |
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| We miss swim team terribly |
After the water park we walked to the subway
and headed to Hötorget for soccer jerseys and lunch at Kungshallen. That evening Steve took the boys to play soccer while the girls headed to Gamla Stan for a girls night out.
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| Jake loves his new soccer kit |
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| The teams all here |
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| The red soccer uniforms |
We walked, shopped, and ate at a very delicious Mediterranean restaurant. And of course... we had fika.
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| so delicious |
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| the most delicious hot chocolate |
After a year of living in Stockholm, I finally found the smallest statue.... Järnpojkelittle (which means boy looking at the moon). Meghann,
girl looking at the moon.
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| Nat and I were so happy to be with little boy looking at the moon |
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| Our walk home from Gamla Stan... I look like a bag lady |
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| My favorite place for candy |
Sunday morning arrived and it was time to say goodbye to our very special friends. It means so much to us that you flew all this way to visit us, and we will miss you terribly. Until we see you again... we have these wonderful memories fresh in our minds.
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| sad goodbyes |
The past two days we've done hours and hours of laundry, started packing our clothes for our move in three weeks, and cleaned the house for our next set of guests that arrive on Thursday. We still found time for fun though. Natalie did my nails.... she likes doing nails and I don't. We all went on a bike ride around Kungsholmen and then ate dinner at Piren, a restaurant on the water that I've been meaning to try for months now. It was delicious and the view of the water was beautiful. The restaurant is surrounded by a boardwalk where many people are out sunbathing, swimming, and relaxing.
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| Smith on the boardwalk before dinner |
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| Natalie loved these seats outside of Piren |
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| Nat and Uncle Buddy at Piren |
We are so bummed to be moving off of this island. It's not only beautiful, but there is so much to do.
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| The boys throwing rocks into the water on our bike ride |
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| Nat posing on the cliffs |
Monday night after dinner, Natalie and I went for a long walk and the boys went to the field to play soccer. Did I mention that Natalie knows her way around our neighborhood. She had to remind me of where the closest Subway (sandwiches) was to our house.
Tuesday night Steve and I took Natalie out to dinner. We wanted to spend some QT with her before she goes home next weekend. I'm really going to miss her when she leaves. The boys will too.... even though they tease her and annoy her, they really do love having her here.
The next few weeks will be a bit crazy for me with the Kenney's visiting, our trip to London, and our move into the new apartment. I will probably not be posting again until late August.
To all my Stockholm friends that are coming back soon... you will be happy to know that we have all new buses in the city. It's awesome.
Happy "rest of the summer" everyone!
and headed to Hötorget for soccer jerseys and lunch at Kungshallen. That evening Steve took the boys to play soccer while the girls headed to Gamla Stan for a girls night out.
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