Dear Tooth Fairy ...

I think this tooth fairy gig is getting harder and harder ...

Tubing at the Lake

Last weekend the girls were invited to spend the entire weekend at our neighbor's camper on the lake.  They had such a great time and I received a text with these two pictures attached showing the tubing on the lake with their friend Sophie.

Tree House Book Club

The girls attended the Tree House Book Club at the Jordan Library today.  They got to spend some quality time with other kids talking about the Magic Tree House book series and their favorite stories. As part of the activities, they got to build their own tree houses out of Lego pieces.  The tree houses were put on display in the kids section of the main library.

Exploring Stockholm Day #2

We slept in as long as we could and then grabbed breakfast at the hotel buffet.  Our plans for the day included seeing the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace.  We got there plenty early, almost too early, but we did get an excellent spot for the girls to see the ceremony.  It got really packed right before it started, so we were grateful to be in a spot in the front.

We also had plans to meet Uncle Joakim and Elizabeth for fika.  We walked to the area in Old Town and did a little more exploring along the way.

The girls decided on ice cream for fika and got started a little earlier than the rest of us as we wait for our family to arrive.

Peter and I didn't indulge much at all in fika ... (I type is with sarcasm) ...

We had a wonderful visit with Joakim and Elizabeth and the girls enjoyed meeting them both for the first time.

We spent the rest of the exploring and relaxed a little bit at the hotel before heading back out for dinner.  Yes, we opted for Italian again but at a different little bistro as the girls really wanted pasta again.

Pretty scenery along the water on the walk back to the hotel.

Playing with the newly acquired head of Dahla Horses and looking forward to heading back home in the morning.

On the Road Again ...

Well this morning started with an early breakfast of homemade waffles with Farmor before we said good-bye for now and started the long six hour drive back to Stockholm.  It took us a bit longer to make the road trip as we made a few stops along the way including this great park where we found a snack and some nice clean restrooms to use in addition to getting some of our wiggles out on the playground.

We stopped again for lunch at what was announcing itself as an "American Diner" with hopes that the girls would find something to eat.  It was a placed called "Pink Ladies" and was themed after the movie Grease.

Alyssa decided to share with us her favorite Swedish word "utfart" which means exit.  The food was just okay and after a longer than expected lunch break, we headed back out on the road again.

We finally arrived at the airport and returned our rental car and then bought tickets for the train ride to Stockholm.  The girls loved the high speed train but obviously it looks like we have been riding in the car all day long!

Finally arrived in Stockholm and the girls thought this pigeon sitting on the head of the statue was hysterical.

Our hotel was right next to the train station and we dropped off our luggage and headed out to explore Stockholm as little bit and find a restaurant where we could have dinner.  The girls thought to the buildings and all the water was beautiful and they spent a lot of time checking things out with daddy.

Goofing around a little bit, but they liked this little statue along the walkway.

We found mommy and daddy's favorite little Italian restaurant in Old Town.  We eat here every time we visit Stockholm and knew we could get a great steak here and the girls would love the pasta and garlic bread.

Obviously they were hungry and happy to get some food they loved to filled their tummys after the long day.

We were happy for a glass or two of vino ...

After dinner we explored Old Town some more and the girls had fun being little Swedish Vikings!

Checking out some of the many tunnels in Old Town that go right through blocks of buildings.

The girls were not sure what to think of the naked woman statue on the water fountain ...

More interesting sculptures and buildings along our walk back to the hotel.

We loved all the bright flowers we found in this garden on our way back to the hotel.

The buildings and sculptures everywhere are beautiful and of course we needed to take pictures of the horses.

A little taste of home found in the train depot by the hotel ... I also got my Stockholm mug to take home with me!

Winding down for the night at the hotel ... it has been a long, fun filled day ... and we still have tomorrow before we head back to the States.