At the beach

Playing in the water
Elina had fun too!
Playing in the sand makes you sleepy
Today we went to a beach on Storön (big-island). We went in the afternoon between 3pm and 5.30 pm, and it was just lovely. The temp was in the 70s and the sun wasn't strong at all. On the way home, Liam was looking at the pictures in his photo album. He saw a picture of himself and Jason, pointed at Jason and said pa-pa. He surely misses his father!

Fika

There is a Swedish phenomenon called fika. It involves coffee or tea, and cookies or sandwiches. Every day, everything stops at thousands of workplaces at 9.am and later at 2pm in order for everyone to have fika. My sister-in-law Ida always treats us to fika old-school style. Her cookies and cakes are amazing.

Missing Jason

Liam dressed in another shirt from my childhood. This one would definitely make Harry jealous.
Today Jason had to go home to Florida. I'm sure Harry will be thrilled but we'll miss him!

Four generations of Johanssons

This picture was taken after the christening. Great grandma Elin in the middle.

Crazy combined 30th Birthday Party

On the ferry over to the island. First time Liam's seen a real pirate
Absolutely gorgeous sunset (after midnight)
Emma and Jocke doing the tango

with uncle Nils
with pirates Sara and Hanna
Pirate Anna
Random pirates
Together with the friends I grew up with, we decided to celebrate our 30th birthdays with a big birthday bash. I haven't really been that involved with the planning, but it turned out to be a pirate themed party at Vassholmen, an island in the middle of the Kalix river. We had a dinner buffe and some drinks together with about a 100 other people. It was an absolutely stunning night. Unfortunately, Liam went on strike so my partying was cut short. They came over with Liam so he got to spend about 30 minutes at the party while it was still calm (Swedish parties have a tendency to be pretty wild).

"What on earth is this man doing to me?"

Liam, Albin and Isak

Sandwich cake buffet - literally smörgåsbord!
Liam helping Elina put her pacifier back in her mouth
Ida's grandmother was wearing a traditional outfit representing the Kalix region

Liam and Elina's christening

We had a great day together with family and friends! The ceremony took place in Kalix Church, built in the 15th century, and the name of the priest was Anders Gustafsson. The holy water was taken from the Kalix river and the "thing" that held the water is about 800 years old. Both Elina and Liam did great, Liam looked very surprised when the priest picked him up and poured water over his head. He just stared at the priest and the water - pretty funny. After the ceremony, we had a party at the cafeteria of my old elementary school. We served "sandwich cakes" and for dessert sweet cakes. We had a lot of fun and Liam was a social butterfly. All in all, it was a perfect day. Well, almost. We missed Jason's family members! Can't wait to see you soon!

Exploring the garden with mormor
Jason has taken up a new hobby

Playing the guitar with uncle Nils
With mormor
so tempting!

Liam is wearing my shirt from 1978 (woops, I mean 1983)!
Grandmas need love too!

on the trampoline with daddy

At the fair

Great grandma Elin, 87 years old
Sleeping at the fair
Ella and Marcus
Today we went to the Överkalix fair where Liam got to meet his great grandmother Elin. He really liked her! Afterwards we went over to Kicki's sister's house and Liam got to play with Ella, Kicki's niece. That kid looks like a baby supermodel. They had a bunch of fun stuff such as a big trampoline, swings and a miniature house in their backyard.

kalix by the river; Me, Liam, Ida, Nils, and Elina in the stroller
My beautiful niece and her beautiful mother
Elina
We had a nice day with Nils, Ida and Elina! We walked down to Kalix and had lunch at an outdoor cafe complete with a swingset and a slide. Elina is such a wonderful baby, almost always happy and just adorable.

orchids love the midnight sun
father and son
2.30am
exploring mormor and morfars house

Sweden!

Riding a buffalo
Nobody cares if you nurse in pubic Kicki assured me
Chasing duckies
Finally we´re in Sweden!!! I´m so happy to be home! We spent two lovely days in Stockholm together with a very pregnant Kicki and her husband Marcus. Among other things, we got to see Skansen, an outdoor museum/zoo. Liam had a great time and got to pet all kinds of animals and see bear cubs etc. Now we´re in my hometown Kalix enjoying some great weather together with family. Unfortunately, Liam has gotten his fever from last week back, this morning he had about 39.5C (103F). We went to the doctor but he didn't find anything (among other things they checked for strep). Surprisingly, he's still doing great having a blast playing around both inside and out. Apparently, there´s just no stopping this kid.

4th of July

Independence day was spent over at Viveka's and Marcel's house. Viveka's parents were there and they're such nice people. We had a great time and got to indulge in Viveka's sangrias, delicious. Liam had a great time chasing the poor cat around. We realized that Jason and Liam were the only Americans in the crowd.

Checking out the inventory at Barnes and Noble. We go there every Tuesday for storytime