Dreaming of a Swedish Summer Home

I don't think I have mentioned this before but it started about a week ago when we were talking to Irene and Farfar about houses in Sweden. The house across the street from them was for sale and I think that is what started the conversation. The other thing that sparked an idea was the boat ride we took with Farfar and we passed many nice homes right on the water. I pointed out my favorite and Fredrik had his. Prices for waterfront property was high because you can't get it anymore. It is all protected land now so unless you already own beachfront property you are out of luck. Farfar and the guys thought the beachfront houses are maybe 3-4 million SEK which is about the price we paid for our house in Bothell!

They also said it is a very bad time in Sweden for many people because there are not a lot of jobs and the price of housing has dropped as well. So, we decided to look online at the price of some homes and it was shocking how cheap they were! I was just looking in Hudiksvall at first which maybe isn't a highly desirable area of Sweden but it is a nice town by the sea. I would tell Fredrik how I loved how I smelled like the "beach" here and it reminded me of the same smell we have on the Oregon or Washington coast.

This was one house that I liked very much and it is close to where Farfar and Irene lived previously. It was a bargain price of 2.2 million SEK or about $345K USD! Ah to dream of having a Swedish summer house like this one!

When we got to the family cabin we heard that the land might be for sale next to the cabin and that perked my ears up. There has been talk for many years of getting electricity and/or sewer to the cabin to make it more enjoyable. Over the years they have added some nice things like a chemical toilet in a closet instead of the outhouse and also just last year they added a shower shed with a tankless water heater that runs off a battery or small generator? Still, the cabin is way too rustic for me to want to stay any length of time. I am not sure I have ever spent the night there but it might be fun now with the kids. Just one night though! However, if we bought some land and maybe shared the cost of getting electricity and sewer then maybe that could be a good thing.

It would be a bigger project and definitely more long term because we would have to buy the land, hook it up with electricity and sewer and then of course build a house! However, it is very appealing to add to the cabin property even if we do nothing else than buy some land to give the rest of the family more options if they want to do something with it. I even sent Fredrik with Ingvar who knows the farmer who owns the land to inquire about buying it. He didn't seem opposed to it but had no idea how much so he would have to research and get back to us. I am anxious to hear a number but we imagine it would cost 100-200k SEK or $15k-30k USD. We don't really have a lot of money right now to buy a house that I would want to stay in (1-2 million SEK) but for the price of a car I think we could carry a small loan for a few years! Maybe we even have enough stock to sell to cover this purchase? We used up most of our stock to buy our house so I am not sure. Also, if we do it this way we can buy things in chunks that we can afford over the next 5-10 years. When we are ready to build we will probably be in a better position to get a bigger loan for it. Buying a piece of land for the price we think they want for it is definitely doable!

I decided to see what else is available around Sweden because to be honest .... Jarvso is a very small town and most of the surrounding area is farms and pretty country. There are no big cities around here so the shopping would be pretty slim pickings. We had to drive 30 minutes away to find a smallish mall to shop in. I kind of like my big city conveniences! Fredrik suggested looking in Uppsala but there was just too many houses for sale and most of them were quite expensive. It is too close to Stockholm which drives the prices up so that wasn't a good option. He then suggested closer to Gavle where Erik and Anna currently live. This is one house I really liked in Gavle for just 975k SEK or about $150k USD which isn't a bad price but there is a monthly fee of about $900/month!

They classify this house as a "rowhouse" which usually means a connected set of houses like a townhome or condo. It also seems that the fees here are quite different than at home which only pay for maintenance of the common property. The more common areas you have or the more recreational items it offers, the more you pay. Here it seems that it is common to pay about $1000/month for these fees which help pay for the debt or loan still on the common areas. So, usually it is very cheap to buy one of these places but you still have to pay a high monthly fee. Weird!

So, for now we keep dreaming and the possibility of buying some land next to the cabin gets more and more appealing!

Day at Maj & Ingvars + Shopping!

Yesterday was Friday July 15th and we decided to visit Maj and Ingvar for the day. They live in a small town called Jarvso which is the same place the family cabin is. Maj is Fredrik's mom's sister. They have lived in this small town for 36 years now and most things are still the same there. It was really nice to see them and they love playing with the kids. Also, Maj is a wonder with providing more food than you can eat! We arrived and she had tacos all ready for us. Taco meat, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, red/yellow peppers, carrots, two kinds of hard taco shells, tortillas, taco sauce (kind of like salsa) and more. Then there was hotdogs for the kids. Davin of course didn't like these hotdogs so he ate the PB & J sandwich we made for him. I don't remember what Linnea ate other than shredded cheese and cheese puffs. Of course, there was plenty of junk for the kids like marshmellows, ice cream, Pez candy, chips, and more.

After we ate "lunch" (it seems most people in Sweden eat their big meal in the middle of the day) we took a short walk outside. The weather was raining and we went outside during a short dry spell. It started to rain again so we headed back after checking out the neighbors horses and baby foal. The other exciting thing we did that day was chase the flock of sheep that escaped their fence two houses down the road. Ah, life in the country!

We stayed around a little longer for a light meal and the Davin played games on the computer. We introduced Angry Birds to them so we might regret that later! Linnea watched videos like Pippi Longstocking and made a necklace out of some stretchy string and only orange and pink beads. She also loved this little play purse that was in their toys and Maj insisted on letting her take it with her since she was so cute in it.

Today, Saturday July 16th we decided to do some shopping and head to Söderhamn which was about 40 km or 30 minute drive away. There really wasn't much in Bollnas and Farmor and Jan have not been before so they were interested in checking it out too. It was a decent size mall type of place with two grocery stores, Lindex (generic clothes shopping), shoe store, sports store, children's toy store, home/bath store, hardware store and some other things we didn't check out. We ate lunch as soon as we got there and we all had pork fillets with black and white sauce. The white sauce seemed like Bearnaise which I really like so it was good. Of course, there were potatoes and some boiled veggies. Good thing we could get a salad too. Davin ate his PB & J that we brought and Linnea had Swedish meatballs.

Then we went shopping! I mostly went to buy shoes for Davin since his are falling apart. I found something very cheap (100 SEK or about $15) so I will probably find something else before school starts at home. I don't expect the ones we bought to last very long but they are better than the ones he has now which stink and have holes in them. Farmor bought Linnea some pretty silver sequin shoes and Davin a pair of sandals for the beach. Fredrik also needed some shoes but Sweden really isn't the place to buy stuff for a good price.

Then we headed to the toy store to look for some birthday presents for the grandkids. Vilda and Vidar (Erik & Anna's boy) are both turning two this month. Also, I needed to buy a baptism present for Sebastian (Bjorn & Carro's boy) which is next week. I ended up buying a small piggy bank in the shape of a cow. I had Fredrik pick it out since they all had some Swedish on them. This one said "money" but it was a play on two Swedish words. One means "cow" and the other means "money" so it was a silly way to say it. We put a few hundred Swedish crowns in the bank and wrapped it up. It was hard to know what to get or what they want so this seemed like a good solution. The kids got some toys from Farmor ... a little dog toy with a small kennel for Linnea and some small LEGO set for Davin.

Next on our list was stopping at Lindex which is a generic clothing store. I wanted to buy clothes for birthday presents so I bought entirely way too much but it was needed. I do like most Swedish clothes better than at home. They just aren't cheap even at the ordinary/inexpensive store! I did end up finding most of the gifts I wanted too and a really cute ladybug raincoat for Linnea. Davin got a bunch of pants and shirts since I can never find anything he really likes at home in regards to pants. Linnea had a fit in the store so Fredrik had to take her out to the car. Davin and I closed down the shop and we headed home around 4pm.

Family Visits & Exploring Bollnas

July 13th, 2011 ~ After we ate lunch? Or was it dinner? I found out today that they only eat one big meal here in the middle of the day but it is on a totally different schedule than what we normally keep. After the big meal of the day, we headed out to a playground that was a short walk away. The kids had fun climbing and playing on the tire swings. We headed back to Farmor's and I spent most of the evening working on posting our photos. We have only taken 800 or so ... so far! The kids watched some TV and then bed. I got to bed late playing around with the photos and I also didn't sleep well because I was a bit cold. I ended up sleeping in late until about 10am or 10:30am.

Today we had Bjorn and Carro visit with Sebastian their almost 4 month baby. Maj and Ingvar also joined them so it was a lot of fun to visit with them. They also had not seen Farmor's townhome before so they liked seeing her new place. We had a big meal around 1pm with some sort of hash browns with onions and diced steak? Farmor added hotdogs and fried eggs. Davin didn't like it or the boiled hotdogs so I think he is existing on crispbread and caviar. We do have peanut butter so we can make him sandwiches too but we will have to go back to the grocery store to find the hotdogs he likes here. He did like the hamburgers Farmor made yesterday so that was nice. After our meal the kids played with some gifts that Maj and Ingvar bought at the store. Davin got some new Cars 2 LEGO set and a Toy Story 3 gift pack with a water bottle, pocket watch, shoe laces (what kid shoes have laces anymore?), stickers, tattoos, a flying disk and a bouncy ball. Linnea got a shopping basket full of food stuff and two books.

After everyone left, Fredrik took the kids out to play and Farmor and I went into town to look around. She isn't familiar with the town either so it was good for both of us. There wasn't much in the town but we looked into a few stores to shop for upcoming birthday presents for the cousins. Farmor also had to buy some things Davin and Linnea could play with at her house but we will most likely leave them here. Bollnas isn't a big town and online I read that it only has about 12,000 people living here. Hudiksvall was about 14,000 in the town center and about 33,000 in the surrounding area. We didn't spend a lot of time as it was time to get back and get the kids some dinner.

Now the kids are in bed or on their way so I should work on posting more photos to Facebook. Such is the life on vacation. ;)

In Bollnäs Sweden

We woke up today at a normal time of around 8:30am. Linnea is almost always the first to wake up and it has been interesting staying here at Farmor's (Fredrik's mother) because the kids are sharing a bedroom for the first time. Linnea at home usually wakes up before Davin and I think Davin just needs more time to fully wake up. He got really mad at her this morning because I think she was trying to wake him up and he wasn't ready. So, I told her to leave him alone and let him wake up on his own. I am not sure she understood but maybe tomorrow will be better.

We don't have a lot of food at Farmor's so we headed to the grocery store. Farmor, Davin, Linnea and myself went. I like to have Davin with me at the store so he can pick out things he might want to eat or try. With his milk and egg allergies it is difficult to find the same things he is used to at home. We don't have a problem finding food available but I have a hard time knowing what he is willing to try if he isn't with me. Linnea wanted to go because she likes to go shopping. A kid after my own heart! I like it better if I take just one but I thought it would be nice for Farmor.

We came home with a cartload of food and goodies plus ice cream and popcicles too. Life is good right now. :) Now it is time for an early dinner since we didn't eat much lunch.

Catching up....

It has been a few days since I updated the blog. Mostly due to us being busy and too tired to post anything at night? Anyway, I will do my best to remember where I left off.

On July 8th we did head out on Farfar's boat. He was able to borrow some life vests for the kids from a boating shop. Of course he knew the owner so we were able to borrow some new ones and leave the tags on so we can just return it back to the shop. It was a really nice ride on the boat and it was the perfect day for it too. It was in the mid-70's or low 80's and a beautiful sunny day. The kids really liked driving the boat and also navigating with the binoculars when they weren't driving. Davin actually drove it pretty well but Linnea just liked turning the wheel so it felt more like a drunk driver going all wobbly in the boat. Henrik and Par joined us too so that was nice as well. We drove around through the bay up to the main beach and back to the little man-made island that was created a few hundred years ago by the shipping boats dumping their ballasts. Now it is a tiny "party" island where you can go BBQ and hang out. Then we headed into town and parked the boat so we could get some ice cream. Then it was back on the boat again for home.

On July 9th we had another beautiful weather which was in the mid-70's so we headed to the beach in Hudiksvall. It felt a lot warmer sitting on the beach with the sun shinning on you. However, the water was very cold so I didn't do more than get my feet wet. The kids had a lot of fun after they got used to the water and ran around splashing Farfar and Daddy. We ate lunch at a little restaurant on the beach and played for most of the afternoon. I forgot a few places with my sunscreen so I got a little uncomfortable later but so far no peeling. Just itching. After the beach we headed to the pizza place right next door. Katrin (Fredrik's step sister), her husband Niclas and their kids Caroline, Moa and Benjamin. Also, Par and his girlfriend Matilda joined us too. I think that made 13 of us! We took up 1/2 the restaurant! It was really good to have Swedish pizza again as the crust is really thin which I like. Also, Linnea at about 1/2 a kids ham & cheese pizza (which is a HUGE amount for her) and Davin ate about 1/2 his really big plate of kebab meat and french fries. It was good to see the kids eat so much!

On July 10th we headed to the Mulle Meck museum in Hudiksvall. We thought it would be fun to meet up with Fredrik's cousin Staffan and his kids. Apparently they had never been so they thought that was a good idea. Farfar went with us but Irene stayed behind as she needed to prepare for the upcoming job they had which started on Monday. She needs to prepare some paperwork and book a place for the divers to stay while they work. It ended up that just Staffan and his oldest Eddie (who is soon to be 5) but we all had fun together. Davin had a lot of fun building a helicopter out of wood. There was a lot of hammering with nails and sawing as well so it took up most of his time. Linnea was all over the place and loved the slide and driving the airplane. There was also a phone that was hooked up between the airplane and craft room so that was a lot of fun too. After Mulle Meck we headed to the same place we got ice cream after the boat ride. There we had hotdogs and chicken nuggets plus of course some ice cream too. Patrik and Cattis (Fredrik's half sister) were staying at their family cabin which is about an hour drive. They decided to come visit us too and they arrived just in time to share some ice cream with us. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and the cousins just had a blast together. The common language of fun was enough for them. Staffan headed home and the rest of us headed back to Farfar's house so we could walk to the park and burn off all the sugar we just consumed. We were so delighted that Ebbe (Cattis and Patrik's oldest son who is soon to be 5) and Davin just totally clicked together. We don't know if they remembered playing together the last time we visited when Davin was 4 and Ebbe was 2 or what. They played together like they were old friends!

On July 11th, we packed up our things and picked up the rental car that Irene got for us. It is some sort of Volvo station wagon and it is nice except for the fact that I find it really uncomfortable to sit in. Apparently, this seems to be a common complaint so you won't find me buying a Volvo anytime soon. Irene had just gotten a brand new car which was a VW Passat Wagon. Of course, hers was probably a more expensive car but I liked driving it a lot better too. Anyway, we said our temporary goodbyes to Irene and Henrik (Olle had already left for the job and we said our goodbyes the previous night) and headed out to the cabin in Järvsö which is the family cabin on Fredrik's mom's side of the family. We arrived about 4pm and there were many people there to greet us and the tables were loaded with lots of food! Cattis and Patrik where there of course with their two kids Ebbe (almost 5) and Vilda (almost 2). Bjorn (Fredrik's cousin) and Carro have one child Sebastian who is about 3 months old. Carro also had her older brother there with her too named Marcus. There was Maj and Ingvar who are Fredrik's aunt and uncle plus of course Monika (Farmor who is Fredrik's mom) and her husband Jan. We also had Staffan and his wife Lena plus their two boys Eddie (almost 5) and Vincent (almost 2). There were no shortage of people or food there. I tasted a few bites of Fredrik's elk steak and it was quite tasty! I was not very hungry as I ate a big lunch before we left and it only takes about an hour to get to the cabin. Still, I enjoyed some meatballs, potatoes, salad, watermelon, pineapple plus some local strawberries and whipped cream. The cousins (kids) had a blast playing together. Then we headed to Farmor's house which was another hour away and practically fell into bed.

On July 12th, we woke up at Farmor's and ate breakfast. We looked around the house a bit since she just moved in less than a month before. It was a very nice place and a little older than her previous apartment in Motola. However, now she has a bigger place that she partly owns (it is like owning a townhome here in the USA) which costs less than her previous place. We each have our own room downstairs plus a bathroom and upstairs is the kitchen, master bedroom, bathroom and living/dining room. We look forward to exploring it more later. The plan for this day was to head to Jarvzoo which is a small zoo that only has native animals to Sweden. They live in natural habitats and you walk along a boardwalk through the zoo so it is actually quite a good walk. We saw lots of interesting animals like moose, reindeer, fox, wolves, owls, lynx and wolverines! After the zoo we grabbed some pizza and headed to the cabin to eat. It was just Cattis, Patrik, Farmor and Jan by this time which is good because the cabin isn't that big inside and it was getting pretty chilly. It ended up being about 12C or about 53F. At least the rain waited until after we made it to the cabin and not on our walk through the zoo. We had a good visit with them and it was Cattis and Patrik's last night there so we headed home so they could finish packing and go too. They live about 3-4 hours away by car?

So, that should catch you up until now and it is time for bed at last for us.