This Summer

Summer is long gone and I haven't told you a bit about it. So here come some moments from another amazing summer of family, friends, fishing, and other fun! 

My adventurous husband tried kayaking for the first time. His worrisome wife paced on the shore.

Jambo and I considered investing in matching sunglasses but for some reason didn't go through with it and I'm still regretting it.

The Swede competed in a fishing competition along an ancient canal while Jamie and I cheered him on.

Early in the summer, we went shopping for new warm-weather clothes for The Swede and at one point, when I glanced at something in a shop window, he actually uttered the words, "Stop that. This is my day and that's not fun for me." We got Burger King and played mini golf later so I forgave him.

Another fishing competition. Another canal. Another ice cream cone.

It was warm enough to get in the lake by our house by late May, so there was a lot of swimming.

We got a charcoal grill and I gradually taught myself to use it.

Another fishing competition. This time at a lake. No ice cream, but JULIA!

Sweden was in the World Cup, which was exciting at first, and then decidedly not exciting.

School ended with an assembly and I was a tearful, snotty mess.

We went to London for a long weekend in June and Jamie was reunited with his best feline friend, Poppet.

A canal. An ice cream cone. NO FISHING.

Obviously we went to Parken Zoo. It wouldn't have been summer otherwise.

Jamie and I spent a day at Gröna Lund with his BFF and his mother.

In July, in America, we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings at least a dozen times. The Swede ordered the queso dip every single time.

Jamie's grandmothers like to keep him in pancakes.

We were surprised to learn that Jamie both speaks and reads English at an impressive level and just never bothered to show us.

We enjoyed an outdoor evening symphony with some of my very favorite people.

We took two separate trips to Kalahari waterpark, but I didn't get any good pictures because we were splashing, obvs.

It wouldn't be a family vacation without a trip to Niagara Falls. It was the first time we'd been without Ray, though, and it was hard.

This guy was old enough to appreciate it, for the first time, and he was pretty impressed.

My mom is a rock hard pioneer woman. She's a dang heroine.

We played a lot of baseball. "Home strike!" yelled Jambo.

One weekend in July, we had the pleasure of visiting Becca and Jonathan in Albuquerque. We fell in love with the town and the food and laughed nonstop.

They took us to Santa Fe, to a placed called Meow Wolf, that I would love to describe but simply cannot. Needless to say, it was an experience.

You guys, look at this little girl! It's Selah's baby Alice! She felt like my own flesh and blood, I love her so much. We thought about kidnapping her, but couldn't find her passport.

Selah's dad and Andy took the guys on a fishing trip that turned out to be one of the highlights of the summer, if not the year.

Meanwhile, we girls had a Sephora/pedicure/Starbucks date that made my life.

See? We were in love.

More Mexican food!

They even threw Jamie and early birthday party.

Back in Ohio, we prioritized food per our usual.

Grandma took us to the Cleveland aquarium and Jambo got to see lots and lots of turtles, his favorite.

We popped down to Columbus for a night to squeeze in more time with my best Ohio girlfriends.

There was another birthday party.

And another birthday party. My grandpa turned 90 years old, you guys! The whole family got together and had Hungarian food, pies, and beers.

My baby turned SEVEN!

Mom took us down to Progressive Field for an Indians game and it was hot as Hades. But then I watched as the Indians got a home run and my husband and mom jumped up and down, screaming and hugging each other and life was really, really good.

We went to Pickle Bill's, a restaurant on the Erie shore, and ate seafood until we could barely move. Twice.

My grandma finally got to show us around the Bedford Historical Society where she volunteers and it was very, very cool.

Jamie got to eat his grandma's first red tomato.

It was hard to say goodbye, even to the dogs.

Back in Sweden, I headed to work while The Swede and Jamie enjoyed another week off.

Then Jambo headed back to school as a first-grader.

Eija turned one in August, which is difficult to believe. She's an adorable, sweet mix of Ossian and Rio and on her birthday she got completely covered in frosting.

Linda and Emelie broke up the slow, late-summer work week by visiting with their new little boys and I was in heaven in their company.

If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there for not only this long post, but also through my long absence and sporadic posting. You're a champ, whoever you are!