Hiking along the coastline forest

The team allowed for Mom to rest up during our vacation and instead decided to go on a little day-trip along the coastline on a rainy day. 

W showing off along the trail, during a brief intermission in the family "pine cone war".

Photogénique in the woods.

"Look! We can make this into a house for the two of us! We can even sleep here tonight."

 The wind pounded us as soon as we left the forest and came up in the sand dunes. The kids were happy to wear wool under their windproof jackets.

Potential album cover pose.

"Let's look for driftwood and pirates on the shore!"

Hiking in Halland

Some warm days (low 80ies in Fahrenheit, approx. 27-29 degrees C) where the kids and I (Dad) took a trip through the wonderful beach forest on the slopes of the Hallandsås ridge (Osbecks bokskogar). In the middle of the forest, the trail cuts across summer pasture fields where cows and sheep are always grazing (in fact, we had to walk right across one field with the cows watching us intently nearby).

The green light from the sunshine on the foliage is breathtaking. Add to that a few old stone bridges from the 18th century, an old deserted hamlet from the same century and some babbling brooks along the way with plenty of wildlife (big and small), and it makes for a pretty neat hiking experience for the kids (and their dad too!).

L wanted to be carried through the first stage (where we were surrounded by pine forest).

The lookout point, our first stop where we had a snack!

It's good to be carried...

W and L found Wood sorrel (Swe: "Harsyra") and other eatable plants, and started to munch on them... very proud to show when they found new plants along the path. They liked wood sorrel the best.

Happy to be in the shade on a day like this.

"It's nature water..."

When we were almost done for the day, we encountered some more cows, but this time there was a barbed wire between them and us. L posing for a Kodak moment.

Canoe-time in Sweden

During a very hot summer day, we decided to go with W on his first canoe-trip in southern Halland (read about it here, in English).
The teams: Grand-dad and Tara in one canoe and Dad and W in the other.

 We stopped for lunch after a few hours and as we started to paddle out on the lake again, we were suprised by rain and thunder. It literally soaked us in less than 30 seconds. Tara and Grand-dad made landfall on the starboard shore and Kim and W on the opposite one. After 15 minutes the weather changed, the intense rain stopped, and we had to get back into the canoes again to go back to camp for some dry clothes. (There would have been dry clothes for us in a backpack, if it had not been for "Someone" tipping that canoe over once they tried to step out of it. That incident also sent Grand-dad flying into the water! Nice job, Mom!)

Abercrombie & Fitch pose with paddle in nature...

I'm the NRA - daughter style

Hi Daddy! I'm the NRA too!

Nothing spells sibling tenderness better than to blast your brother with a fully automatic water gun, and a stock of magazine clips to replace for more ammo. 

A glimpse of our new arsenal.

It's called a Super Soaker Switch Shot Blaster. There is a reason for that. With its pump-action feature it will either give a direct hit with a strong stream, or spread water around to hit everything at close range. 

1,000 pieces

W just finished his second 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. All by himself. Pretty amazing.

Clothing style in May

It is mid-May in Sweden and L is enjoying her favorite outdoor activity. Dress style in Sweden in May: Wellies (rainboots), rain jacket, waterproof pants, fleece sweater, wool long-sleeve shirt, wool long-johns and a hat. It's called "pre-summer" in Sweden...

Suzuki concert in Sweden

Our son W (on the left) playing the Cowboy song.
He has been playing regularly since February, and practices every day with Mom and Dad.

Will Ferrell "explains" Swedish Christmas

Ski trip to Dalarna

Our son's first real cross-country ski trip, along the 5 km track in Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden.

Mom and Linnéa during a well-deserved break, with hot chocolate, blueberry soup and biscuits.

Happy brother and sister, smiling for the camera.

Polar bears in Sweden... you better believe it! Just stay away and stay calm... ;)

Our fell pulk, with two seats for our kids. Good exercise for the parents who have to pull it all day long!

Looking cool in the late winter sun.

Working on the perfect stride in the ski tracks.

A lovely day, skiing in Dalarna.

Mommy has "pulk duty".

It's a long way to go... 38 degrees F, nice snow, and plenty of sunshine. Our son is enjoying the open tracks in the forest in the middle of Dalarna.

BCS #1 Fighting Irish!

 Yeeeeeees!!! Notre Dame defeated USC to make this a 12-0 season! And they are headed for Florida to the BCS National Championship Game on January 7 2013 against Alabama Crimson Tide.

You only need one TD is your defense is strong enough! Theo Riddick (RB-6) rushed for more than 100 yds!

Coach Brian Kelly and linebacker Manti Te'o.

Notre Dame Stadium - Home of the Fighting Irish - 12-0 this season!

Weekend entertainment

They say your heart is where your love is 
but mine is in a different place 
it's not that I don't love you 
I'm so sorry, but I'm happier somewhere else 
You should know I do my best 
Here in the West, here in ...
(South Again, by Maia Hirasawa)

Different setting:

Fall hike in Nacka with the grandparents

Farmor and WC and Linnéa enjoying a brisk fall afternoon by Hellasgården in the Nacka National Reserve.

Dad preparing goulash for main course, and vanilla cream and raspberries for dessert.

Today we went hiking for approximately 6 km (~4 miles) in the Nacka National Reserve (map) with Grandmom and Grandpop. We finished our day with a nice meal by the lakes, cooked on our Trangia kitchen.

Saltoluokta

All things Swedish

In this post we will upload a collection of stories about Sweden or Swedish culture. First off we have a few IKEA commercials, like the one above... playing with the stereotypes of Swedes. And here is another, highly "inappropriate" IKEA commercial. But it is funnyyyyyyyy!

SURSTRÖMMING - A CLASSIC SWEDISH DISH!
If you really want to try out something very Swedish, then you will have to eat fermented herring. Here are some videos diving into the subject. (Yes, opening a can of fermented, raw herring - you eat it raw - is like taking a dive into the sewers of any city.)





Jamie Oliver sings his praises for the Swedish kitchen - and the beauty of Stockholm by the water:



Comedy take on Sweden and the Swedish way of life, signed Family Guy and The Simpsons:






For more on living life the Swedish way... please see the post here (90% of Americans want to live in Sweden) or Your Moment of Zen - Sweden according to Fox News.

Beauty isn’t everything

Wow… out of all the women in the US, I was able to stumble across someone as great as my wife. And chances of finding a good-looking American woman as genuine and sensible as Tara are pretty slim. At least if we use the line-up of Miss America as the litmus test for what American women aspire to become…which can be summed up in one word: stupid.
Only 8 out of the 51 supposedly most beautiful women in the US say that they support evolution to be taught in schools. The rest… 43 women in all (!) say things ranging from a straight “no” to “it is just a theory” or “well, it could be taught if other theories are presented as well” and then add statements along the line of “personally, I am a Christian, so I don’t believe in evolution”. Miss WV, Miss SD, Miss CT, Miss DE and Miss DC seem to get it right. In the entire line there are in fact only three women (Miss Vermont, Miss California and Miss Washington) who seem to be ardent supporters of science. Miss Washington is also not afraid to criticize the anti-science crowd (although she gets confused over the difference between “a theory” and “a fact” but this might just be an ill-phrased attempt to dismiss bogus creationist claims). Miss Vermont’s answer is more to the point, when she makes the distinction between science (that can be tested) and religious beliefs (that cannot undergo scientific scrutiny).
I really dislike beauty pageants. So many cute little faces. So little brain inside.
Let’s just assume that we changed the question, and asked them what they think about other theories being presented in schools… like, say… the theory of gravity? Anyone? Anyone? Oh… yeah… and the year is 2011.
/Kim