Our sons first time on skis

Look how easy it is to stand on a pair of skis when you are 21 months old!

Mommy helping out with the ski poles.

WC's very first cross-country ski trip with Daddy in tow.

Thanks to a colleague from Dad's office, our son now has his very first set of cross-country skis. And WC seems to be handling the 90 cm long (35 inches) skis in a very graceful manner. He sure is growing up to be a real Viking!

Below are some action shots from the 25 yard long ski-trip:

FFA candidate

Ready for some serious farming on the plains of Texas in a brand new John Deere Shelby, a rodeo shirt and overalls with chaps! Bring on the manure!

Respect!

Bullying is a menace. There should be nothing but respect for the kid who is assaulted (he receives several closed fist punches) and decides that enough is enough. Cudos to him!

Oh... and then the bully speaks out... Asked by the reporter if he is sorry for attacking another student he gives an interesting response, coached by his father behind the camera. This is Oscar material!

Are you married? Have an affair!

 A newly released ad campaign in Sweden offers a 'solution' to dull, married life. Reads the billboard ad:
"Are you married? Liven up your life - have an affair".

Only in Europe, people! ... only in Europe... (Read the story, in English, at The Local, here and here).

The times they are a-changin'

 

Oh! How time flies! Looking through some old photos of ourselves we found these little "trophies" from Dad's early years. Above is a photo from a brief career as a troubadour. This particular photo is from Tossa de Mar, north of Barcelona in Spain, where I and my brother Martin earned a few bucks playing in local bars during one summer. We were able to pack the places night after night while we performed. Notice the fuzzbox on the table! It is not plugged in to the semi-acoustic guitar I play. ;) It belongs to the man in the corner, Tom Jones' former bass player. The guy in front is a member of the old Spanish folk/pop group Trio Montenegro. Due to some unfortunate circumstances they had to end their performances as a duo.

A well-groomed look as a boy soprano in the Gothenburg Cathedral's Boy Choir. Circa1983.

Another photo from the boy choir era.  This is probably taken during one of many Sunday Mass performances. Around this time is when the choir performed the Swedish premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. I remember it to be a gruesome experience, as an 8-9-year old, to have to memorize 64 pages in Latin.

Bow-ties will never go out of style!

My brother and I a few years later in life. Enjoying malted milkshakes during a Sunday brunch at Silver Diner near the house where Tara and I lived in Fairfax, Virginia.

Touchdown! (or something...) Three years old heading for a swim in the coastal waters near our summer cottage.

 Hiking has always been a great interest of mine! Above is photo from an excursion during springtime in a nearby forest in Gothenburg. The jacket was sewn by my mom. Wellies are always a good thing to have when hiking in Sweden! 

Above is the start of my first longer hiking trail experience. I was nine years and did a three day hike on the southern part of the Hallandsleden trail, in the woods near the family's summer cottage. The second day included rain, rain and more rain - and me getting stuck with my foot in a fence when walking through a farm field with caddle. If I remember it correctly my dad took out his knife and carved an opening in the wooden fence around my ankle to make it possible for me get free.

Ski training. My first pair of skis, with old bindings, similar to what Telemark skis have today.

Up on a Swedish fell mountain. One of many cross-country tours. Me, cutting out snow blocks to build a snow hut.

Me and former Prime Minister Carl Bildt (now the Secretary of State for Sweden) after a lunch meeting at a school cafeteria.

Ski-trip on a Sunday

Lunch break near the bus stop at Hellasgården in the Nacka Nature Reserve.

Today the entire family went out to enjoy lots of snow and beautiful weather. We traveled across the Nacka nature reserve for five hours. At around 10 AM we took the bus outside of our apartment to go to Hellasgården. Almost as soon as we arrived we had lunch (blueberry soup)  in the snow while the sun really did make us feel very warm. We then decided to go across the lake Dammtorpssjön to see the westernmost parts of the nature reserve

Dad skiing across the lake with Warren Christopher in the travel backpack.

Our Primus thermos, and hot blueberry soup, served in the snow.

Going out on the lake. Plenty of ski tracks in the snow.

Kim and WC on the lake Dammtorpssjön on a warm late winter day.

Vasaloppet!

We woke up to see the start of the Vasaloppet in Dalarna, Sweden. Vasaloppet is one of the world's longest ski-runs (90 km /56 miles). 15.000 people participate in the main event race every year. This year, the snow was perfect for high speed racing, and the winner was able to complete the entire distance in 3 h 51 m! Incidentally, that is only about one and a half hour more than what it took for Kim's brother to finish a little over one quarter of the race (the distance Sälen-Mångsbodarna) in Friday's relay version of Vasaloppet. The video above shows some clips from the start of the race in 2009.

Pictures from our trip to Orsa Grönklitt

View from Hällberg's mountain pasture summer farm. The practice of transhumance has been used here since the 17th century.

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Orsa Grönklitt in Dalarna, Sweden, for a week of cross-country skiing with MomMom and PopPop, Chris and Sarah. We enjoyed some snow-packed days degrees dropping to -20C (around -5F) but most of the time the temperature stayed at a more pleasant level, between 5F and 15F. When we were not skiing we enjoyed the comfort inside our cute little cabin where Tara had prepared all the meals (for example blueberry soup and rose hip soup for lunch, and salmon and reindeer for supper).

Father and daughter in the tracks. (Click to enlarge.)

Chris, Sarah and MomMom enjoying the ski trip. (Click to enlarge.)

Nicely prepared tracks in the dense forest. (Click to enlarge.)

Built to last. The summer pasture main house at Hällberg's fäbod with plenty of snow on the roof. (Click to enlarge.)

Mom and daughter after reaching the collection of mountain pasture huts at Fryksås. (Click to enlarge.)

Grandparents Angelo and Mom Nilsson smiling for the camera. WC is sitting in his pulk to the right. (Click to enlarge.)

Waffles with cloudberries and hot mulled wine at Fryksås fäbod's café, before the ride home to Grönklitt. (Click to enlarge.)

Rudolf not needed here. Daddy pulled the pulk and got some extra exercise. WC soon fell asleep during the ride. (Click to enlarge.)

Tucked in for a ride in cold weather. (Click to enlarge.)

Tara waiting for MomMom and PopPop to catch up. (Click to enlarge.)

The view from our cabin.

And here are some action shots from one of our ski trips:



For more photos - visit our photo album on Snapfish.