Friday at Stenegård & Thunderstorm

We weren't sure what to do today but all we knew is that we should stop by the tourist agency and ask them! I knew Vicki & Paul wanted to go for a hike in the woods but I thought it would be best to wait for them to arrive and have them ask since I didn't know exactly what they were looking for. We saw the same gal who came to evaluate our house and she gave them some great tips on hikes. One of the trails started at Stenegård and that worked for us since we weren't interested in joining them (Fredrik's foot is still sore to walk on) but we could wait and have the kids play until they were done.

The horse carriage ride.

House Cleaning Day & the E4

We didn't do much today but do some projects around the house (like the new blinds in the living room!) and clean the house in preparation of my friend and her husband to arrive. She lives near me back home and we met in a business networking group. Well, I was surprised to see she was planning on being in Sweden during the same time we were! They were visiting a friend who lives just south of Stockholm and they seemed to be up to the challenge of driving up to the Swedish countryside. They ran into a lot of construction which slowed them down so it took them a bit longer to arrive than they anticipated.

My friend Vicki and her husband Paul. I got to enjoy one of my bottles of wine that have been sitting here at the house since I got here. I don't like drinking alone. 

Jarvzoo Photos

It took me several days to find the time to sort through the hundreds of photos that Fredrik took at Jarvzoo. If I didn't mention it before ... this is a fairly unique zoo which has only animals that live in Sweden. It is a nice nature walk as well. I will have to find a way to share more photos later but for now ... there is this blog!

Wolves!

Jarvzoo & Tooth Fairy

So, today was the day we planned to visit Jarvzoo which is a small zoo located right here in town. It is fairly unique in that it only features animals that live in Sweden. It is also a bit of a nature walk since you walk through the forest on these wooden paths and view the animals in their natural habitats. I am not in the mood to go through our 300 photos that we took of all the animals but I will post them soon. We saw a lot of animals and if you go early then you can see them feed the animals (which helps make sure you see most animals).

Do you spot something missing?

A Day with Maj & Ingvar

We had no real plans today except various projects around the house and more laundry. We had the electrician here at the house bright and early at 8am. I slept while most of it was going on ... or tried to! We now have both the tumble dryer and the drying cabinet working at the same time and he also fixed a few broken outlets too. The last thing he did was install our light in our small bathroom since one of the outlets was converted to a different outlet when the previous owner used it for an office. It feels like things are coming together at last!

Our bathroom is finally done!

A New Dryer!

I have never been so excited to get a laundry appliance! Today was the day that our dryer was to be delivered! I don't know why we didn't think of it before but we could have bought one a few weeks ago and just unplug the drying cabinet so I could have fluffy clothes. The electrician is due to come tomorrow so hopefully we can have both items hooked up soon. We bought a Samsung Condensing Dryer and it was right in the middle of all our options. We weren't sure how to hook up a dryer since the cabinet uses the dryer vent. The answer was a condensing dryer which collects the water in a reservoir which you have to empty daily. Lucky for us, we have a sink right next to the dryer so we can hook up a hose to drain instead of collecting the water.

Our house is the red mark and the beach is at the end of the grey line. The yellow star to the right is the family cabin. It is almost close enough to see but definitely close enough to get there by boat or canoe. 

Furuvik

Fredrik woke up on Saturday with a sore foot and at the end of the day, he could barely walk. We found out later that it is probably his shoes causing it as it happens every so often. He also refuses to see a doctor so I am glad I can tell him to have his mom (a doctor) take a look at it. I will probably try to have him see Davin's foot doctor when we get home. They have the same flat feet and  it really is no wonder Fredrik seems to have problems. So, he stayed home on Sunday to rest his foot.

A Day with Farfar

Farfar arrived around 3pm and the kids were happy to see him. First they played a Swedish game called "Trap" that Fredrik bought yesterday at Ahlens. He bought several basic games for the house to just have around. It is like putting a deck of cards, Monopoly and a puzzle at your vacation home in the USA. "Trap" seems like a pretty simple game where a bar holds several different size pegs. The goal is to get the most pegs out of the board. If the bar moves when you take out a peg, then you lose that peg.

The kids playing "Trap" with Farfar and Farfar won.

House Cleaning Day

We have been busy the last few days and it has been too hot to do housework earlier in the week so the house is in some serious need of cleaning, dishes and laundry. None of these are my favorite chores but they are necessary. The good thing about having a small house is that it feels like you have accomplished something when you clean. It doesn't take long and it makes a big difference. The bad thing about a small house? It seems to get dirtier faster. I don't think it does but you just see it faster. I still can't stand cleaning toilets so I make Fredrik do that part. Yuck.

Excited to open her first Kinder Surprise Egg!

Two Weeks Left

Gosh, I really can't believe how fast the time has gone already. I have been here for a whole month already? It doesn't feel like it. Although, I am starting to feel like I am living here now that the house is mostly furnished and I have gotten used to driving (and passing all the slow drivers on the road). Even rolling my eyes at the tourists taking photos of our "Welcome to Jarvso" sign. Hmm ... maybe I should do that too? Haha.

So now we just have two weeks left before we head back home and go back to our normal life. The light here still throws me off and I think it is a lot earlier than it really is. I might not ever get used to it really.

Linnea really enjoyed her ice cream! It was all over her face. 

Ljusdal Camping Beach

Ok, I don't know the actual name of the beach that we went to but Maj & Ingvar were camping at a place called "Ljusdal Camping" and it was right next to a beach. We surprised them with our impromptu visit and if they weren't there or we couldn't find them, we were going to try a beach near our house instead. They were really happy to see us and said that Vincent was on his way over to spend the night with them. I guess Eddie had done so and so it was Vincent's turn now. Sounds familiar!

There was a short walk to the beach and we had a great time playing in the water. It is one of Davin's favorite things to do! Check out all our photos!

Splashing in the water!

A Day Without Linnea

Since Davin had a special day with Farmor by himself ... today was Linnea's turn. They will also visit Erik & Anna and spend the night. Linnea was so excited and she has been talking about it ever since we set a date for her. She is a much easier child to let spend the night somewhere and in fact ... she already has had a sleepover with a friend. I think I need to let Davin have more sleepovers as it is good for all of us.

Anyway, Farmor arrived at 9am today so we actually had to get up at a decent hour. We had just enough time to get her breakfast and pack the rest of her stuff. Then she was off to have fun! I can't wait to hear what she did when we pick her up tomorrow.

At lunch, we had to pick the name we recognized.
Although, Staffan spells his name a little differently ... it was close enough for us.

Ok, I lied...

My husband did take photos on Wed but I just wasn't aware of them since I was napping. What else are you going to do in the heat? Lounge around and paint. So, here they are!

Davin relaxing in our lounge chair that I set up. It has a view!
Of course ... there is no photo of that.

We bought some paints for Linnea and she loves them!

No photos today?

How strange ... I don't think we took any photos today. It was somewhat of a lazy day as we woke up late and had breakfast late. Linnea is the only one in this house who gets up at a decent hour and she helps herself to something to eat and watches TV or plays a game until someone wakes up. I am not sure why we sleep so late here. Maybe it is because we rarely get to bed before 1 or 2 am? Haha. I am not sure if we are just on vacation time or still whacked up schedule from all the light here?

Adventures Making Cake Pops

Cattis & Patrik were heading back home today (Erik & Anna too but they only stopped for a quick goodbye) but before they left I suggested that we try making the cake pops that they bought for the 4th of July BBQ. Their kids were very interested in making them. Well, it was a good thing we didn't make them at the BBQ! They took quite a bit longer and the chocolate was difficult to work with. Oh and the time it took for the cake to cool and then the chocolate to harden as well.

They actually tasted quite good but I am not sure the effort will be worth it to use the 2nd box. We might have to settle for round cake balls (which look like donut holes) for the 2nd batch. The whole melting and dipping the chocolate was not my idea of fun. Well, the first time it was fun and we had a good laugh but I don't think I will be doing it again!

Patrik helped out in the kitchen too! He put the sprinkles into our jars for easier dispensing. 

A Quick Visit to the Cabin

After our time at Moläta, Erik and Cattis headed to Staffan's house in Ljusdal since they didn't have much time to visit with him before. We were invited too but we thought it might be too many people and Davin wasn't in a great mood anyway. I think we were tired and hot and the kids just really wanted to go to the cabin and get wet.

It was our first visit by ourselves so that was a bit strange but it was also nice too. The weather was so hot that we actually all enjoyed getting a bit wet. Fredrik and I just waded in the water up to our knees or so but the kids went all the way in with swimming and splashing about. Davin's mood improved greatly! Before the swimming, they took the canoe out for a spin. Fredrik said it was his first time doing that? I was very surprised at that. We had a good time but didn't stay long as it was time to eat dinner. We had a late lunch at the festival so our dinner was late too. We decided to pick up pizza at the 4th pizza place in town and took it home to eat it.

The kids dipped their feet in the water before the canoe ride.

Moläta at Stenegård

The plan for today was to head to Stenegård as there was a special event called Moläta. Stenegård is where we went for our midsummer celebration but this time the weather was much, much better. The official temp says 25C or 77F but it seemed closer to 30C or 86F because that is what the car said. We were also sitting out in the sun most of the time so perhaps that is why it felt so darn warm.

Anyway, this event is a food festival where they make all different dishes for people to taste. The theme is to feature food from the good old days of Järvsö. The cost was fairly cheap. Entry into the festival was 20 SEK or about $3 per adult. It also cost 20 SEK to park as well so we spent about $9 total to get in. Then you bought food tickets which you redeemed for your tastings. They recommended about 3-4 per person for a full meal. These tickets cost 30 SEK or about $4 each and we bought 8 tickets all together which was $35 for the four of us to eat.

Enjoying our "tastes" of old style Swedish food. 

Dinner & Canoe at the Cabin

Fredrik and I took lots of photos today. Some were really hard to take since the sun was behind most everything we wanted to take. It was really nice to have the sun but it was also a problem with the photos.

For dinner, we grilled some steaks for the adults and hot dogs for the kids. We had potato salad and a green salad as well. Yum! I had some White Zinfandel wine which was a bit too sweet for me but I drank it anyway. They bought it for the BBQ because it was from California. The brand was Barefoot and it is not really my favorite but mostly because the times I have seen it have been the sweet wines like Moscato. I teased them for buying it because it was from California and glad they had brought Budweiser beer instead to the BBQ. That was great for an American BBQ but this pink, sweet wine is more for sipping at the spa with your girlfriends.

Patrik got stuck at the kids table.

Boats & Swimming at the Cabin

Today we got another late start. Too much staying up late! I made American pancakes this morning but they don't have syrup here so we improvised and had jam and whipped cream instead. I had to whip it myself and I used vanilla sugar (powdered sugar flavored with vanilla) to sweeten the cream. Linnea opted for sprinkles instead of jam. Davin just had toast. It was so delicious!

All the kids got in the water at some point. Farmor was in charge of the raft.

Another Day in Hudik

We had made plans to visit Fredrik's dad in Hudiksvall on Saturday. We would go for "fika" around 2-3pm and then have dinner after. It is about an hour drive to get there and we all had a slow morning after the party. Most of us slept in rather late! So we didn't leave the house until 2:30pm which meant we got into town a little later than we planned.

Fredrik's dad (Olle or Farfar which means "dad's dad" in Swedish) works as a diver and has a company where they do a lot of bridge inspections. Sweden only has a few months of good weather so they must pack in a lot of work during the summer. It is always a busy time for them and we were happy that Farfar had some free time this weekend.

We had a nice visit and then it was a long drive home again. We left rather late so it was another late night for the kids. We plan to have them visit the house next weekend. Maybe Saturday again?

Irene (Farfar's wife) is happy to see us! Farfar greeted us at the door. He was happy too!

4th of July - Fireworks!

After we ate burgers and hotdogs it was time to go outside and light some fireworks! We actually found a store that is right next to Farmor's house that sells fireworks. They aren't usually open this time of year but they were there and let Fredrik into the warehouse to buy some. He said it was like the Costco version of fireworks. Or maybe what it is like buying fireworks at the reservation. They had every kind imaginable and from small ones to REALLY big ones too. He just bought a small package that he thought would be fun for the kids. Then it was time for dessert and then the party was pretty much over. It really was a great day!

We had a good viewing area on the lawn in front of our house. It is raised up just a little.

Happy 4th of July - Swedish Style!

We spent the whole day preparing for our big American 4th of July BBQ. We told people to be here by 6:30pm for food but they could come earlier (or later) if they wanted to. People worked today so we wanted to be mindful of giving them enough time off work to get to us. Others were driving a long way to get here on time. It wasn't much really to prepare ... just mostly printing and cutting out items for decorations. Oh and making the cake too. 

Our living room as we prepare all the printed items for our decorations.

I Miss Costco

It was also very weird waking up this morning without Davin. We didn't have to make his medicine nor spend 30 minutes waking him up in the morning. That part was kind of nice but boy ... it sure is quiet in the house! We had made plans to meet Farmor in Bollnas to pick up Davin since she had spent a long day with Erik yesterday. Plus, we wanted to do some shopping and it is easier to do it there.

We agreed to meet for lunch which we picked up that same "China Tai" that we had at my birthday dinner. I thought I ordered the right food but we found out that she had ordered the Panang Curry without pineapple. Yeah ... it was weird. It also had cashews in it too so that was new to me as well. I didn't mind the nuts but the pineapple? Yeah, weird.

Happy 4th of July blanket!

More Furniture Assembling

Well, the plumber did show up in the afternoon but only to survey the job to see how much work it is. Fredrik showed him what to do and the old bathroom set in the basement. Everything looked fine and won't take long to install but the guy is actually on vacation this week. So, he will come by on Tuesday to install it. Shoot, I was hoping it would be done today. Oh well.

Between assembling items, Fredrik takes a break with the BB gun.

A Day Without Davin

When Farmor was here yesterday, she asked the kids if they wanted to go with her to Erik's house as she was planning on visiting him today. Anna was visiting her mom again so there was plenty of space for them to visit and spend the night.

The view from my computer today!

Happy July 1st!

It is hard to believe we have been here over two weeks already and it is JULY! Time flies by... The good news? It finally feels like summer today! The weather the past few days has been a bit warmer than in the past (it got to 14C or 57F on Saturday) but it has been rain, rain, and more rain. Yesterday was a good day to spend inside as it was 15C or 59F but a LOT of rain. According to the weather report, there was 23mm or 0.9" of rain yesterday. I don't know how accurate that report was but it was pretty yucky outside.

Today was about 20C or 68F and SUNNY which is a nice change from the past two weeks. I was reading on Facebook about how it was in the upper 80's back home. That is a tad on the warm side for me and while it is nice in small amounts ... I will take the 68 degree weather anytime.

Sunshine & 68F! The kids practiced shooting arrows in our front yard.