Daily Jamie

The Rest Of Us

It's a big work day at the cabin and no place for ladies. Or babies. Where to go? Shopping, of course.

Daily Jamie

Happy Kids

Today Erin and I took the boys to Cafe Glada Barn, a concept cafe that combines a child-friendly environment with awesome food and espresso beverages. Jamie was wild about it from the moment I set him onto the totally baby-safe floor, where toys and books were plentiful and the dirt stayed on the shoes we left by the door. They had food on the menu for kids of all ages, from purées to meatballs, and delicious homemade salads for us moms. All four of us loved it there and will be going back very soon.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Men At Work

The Swede's big project today was getting his bike up and running ahead of a big race he'll be competing in later this summer.  This has been a bit dramatic.  Apparently fixing a bike is not as simple as riding a bike and The Swede, exasperated, found himself wondering aloud how hard it must be to repair a car if this silly bicycle was causing him hours of trouble.  Jamie and I tried to provide some moral support, but it totally failed and he ended up taking it to the repair shop, a move which I respect and appreciate for the time it freed up play with us.

Top Three

• Our new bed.  It's amazing.
• Ripe raspberries.
• Fantasy Homes By The Sea.  Swedish TV is running pre-recession episodes and the decadence at its most magnificent. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

After All These Years

The Swede and I met four years ago today.  We celebrated this anniversary by dropping Jamie off with Mama Swede's and going to the matinee showing of Snow White and the Huntsman, followed by a cozy restaurant dinner.  We both missed Jamie, but the movie was really good and it was nice to have an uninterrupted meal together, just the two of us.  Plus, The Swede's jokes flow were flowing; he was on fire.  Good to know that four years later he's still as charming as that day when we met.

Top Three

• Movie theater popcorn.
• Holding hands.
• Rain when I feel like being indoors anyway.

Daily Jamie

June 22nd

June 23rd

June 24th

The Middle Of The Summer In The Middle Of The Country

As I was falling asleep on Midsummers Eve, the sun still hours from its short pause on the longest day of the year, I reflected on the, to me, interesting fact that everybody I know in this country had done some minor variation on the exact same thing I had that day.  I tried to think if there is ever any time when almost everyone in America is doing the very same thing as the next American and I couldn't come up with anything.  It made me feel part of something and yet so glad to come from a place of such diversity.  I went on to consider that, despite celebrating midsummer with the same trappings, the three that I've been here to enjoy have all been very different from one another.  My first midsummer, The Swede and I were at a private party with friends in the country, drinking and dancing the night away.  Last year, I was uber pregnant and enjoying the company of Cousin Anne and her friends from London here in Kungsängen, and this year the family gathered at the cabin and took part in the neighborhood party.  As usual, there was a lot of really good food, dancing around the maypole, and glorious sunshine that never stopped.

Daily Jamie

Be Prepared

We'll be at the cabin for the next few days celebrating midsummer and since the wifi is unreliable there I may not be posting for a bit.  Until then please watch this short video and then book your tickets to come visit us for Midsummer 2013.  You'll want to fly into Arlanda and we can pick you up whenever.

Daily Jamie

June 19th - Cuteness captured by The Swede

June 20th

Scenes From An Evening In The Country

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

How He Rolls

We stopped by Elin's handball cup on the south side this afternoon to bring her some dry clothes after a long day of competing in, like, a monsoon.  Jamie rolled along through the muddy fields to meet Elin's teammates, who were totally smitten.  Actually, I couldn't tell if they were just humoring Elin or what but they all literally just stood there staring at him for several minutes.  Jamie, for his part, seemed a little overwhelmed by all the female attention, something which he's really going to need to get over before he gets any hair on his chest.

Daily Jamie

Sleeping On Air

We messed up.  We brought the bed down to the cabin yesterday and now all we have to sleep on is an air mattress.  A really, really uncomfortable air mattress.  We've been meaning to get a new bed for awhile now, though, and a couple of nights on the air mattress is just the fire we needed to be lit under our butts to get us to the store.  Thankfully, since delivery times on a decent mattress can be up to a couple of months, The Swede has a hook-up.  His old buddy Kenneth works for the premier bed company in Sweden and got us set up so that we should get our new one within the week.  And really, it can't come soon enough since, for the first time in my life, I'm dreading bedtime.

Daily Jamie

Home Away From Home

May I present The Family Swede Jr.'s long-awaited, ready-to-live-in summer cabin!  We drove down this morning to build the bed and set everything up so that it would be ready for midsummer next weekend.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it beforehand because it was a dark and musty cave of a cabin a few weeks ago and now it's a light and airy country dreamland.  Poor Jamie had to walk to the car and strap himself into the car seat all on his own, The Swede and I were so busy patting ourselves on the back when we finished.  But really, if he had seen what it looked like before he would be congratulating us, and above all Papa Swede and Sarianne, as well.

Daily Jamie

June 13th

June 14th

Mammas On The Town

Erin's mom is visiting from Winnipeg so Erin invited me out to meet her at dinner with another of Erin's friends and that friend's mom.  This, of course, made me REALLY want my mom to be here to make it a triple mom date, but I was happy to go along as the fifth wheel anyway.  We went to Vapiano in Gamla Stan, splitskied a couple bottles of wine, ate amazing pasta, and pizza and stayed out way past our postpartum bedtimes.  And let me tell you, IT. WAS. AWESOME.  I loved meeting a few new ladies and speaking guilt-free English and laughing my booty off and, best of all, I had the two best guys in the world waiting for me when I got home.

Daily Jamie

Sad End To An Awesome Day

Yesterday, after our sweet zoo trip, we went to Thomas and Petra's for dinner and the big Sweden-Ukraine match. We had a fabulous time, of course, until the game went a bit sour for Sweden and seventy-five percent of us took on a foul mood that really brought down the atmosphere for the twenty-five percent of us who were less interested in football and, furthermore, not Swedish.

Daily Jamie

Wild Things

The Swede is officially on paternity leave!  I say officially because he was on leave last week but it was also the week of the golf competition so we didn't quite have him all to ourselves.  For the rest of the month, though, he's all papa all the time! Our family adventures began today with a trip to the zoo about and hour away in Eskilstuna.  Being zoo enthusiasts, we were excited to introduce Jamie to one of our favorite leisure time activities, keeping in mind, of course, that his interest would probably be limited.  He totally got into the petting zoo, though, to my delight, and even laughed at the flamingos.  I count that as a success for a ten-month-old and a sign that he's conforming into this family as he should.  

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

The Sun Is Shining Over Molstaberg

The Swede was at the long-awaited Nordea Masters final today (since Jamie messed up last year's final by, you know, being born) but the little man and I were free and available.  Cousin Anne and her boyfriend Matt are visiting from London and have been spending a couple of days relaxing at the cabin so Jamie and I decided to drive down for the afternoon and evening and say hi.  It was cloudy the entire trip but the sun came out as we arrived and found this cozy scene; a strawberry rhubarb pie surrounded by lots of people we love.  Jamie was in heaven crawling around on the grass and exploring the property freely for the first time now that the weather and lawn are dry.  And I must say, now I get it.  Why they call it a summer cabin, that is.  That place is downright amazing when it's nice out and I can't wait to spend more time there in the coming months.

Daily Jamie

What's Red And White And Sunburned All Over?

The Swede sent me to the mall to pick out a pair of shorts for him today.  I purchased a pair in navy blue since he obviously already has white ones.