2nd Annual Halloween Party

We held our 2^nd annual Halloween party.  We invited the other expats to join us to celebrate Halloween.  Halloween is a known holiday here but is not really celebrated.  There are pockets of celebration but as a rule they do not trick or treat or have fall carnivals.  John and Angie provided the decorations with spider webs, balloons and a kitty cat piñata.  We bobbed for apples, had a bean toss and ate lots of yummy food.  Ellie, Landon and Logan had a great time playing with balloons, climbing on the ladder and running around.  The piñata took quite a few hits before breaking.  Landon, Ellie and Logan took turns hitting it.  Logan dealt the fatal blow.  The kids liked to use the stems when they bobbed for apples.  David showed them how to chase the apple to the bottom.  Logan then figured out how to get the apple without using the stem.  It was a great Halloween celebration. 

John - The Swedish Chef

Kerstin didn't like when her costume was stuffed

Angie and her Cat Pinata

Kerstin and her friend Lacie

Celebrating Halloween with the English Bookshop



For Halloween this year, Ellie wanted to be Princess Victoria (the Crown Princess of Sweden).  We had gone shopping and she picked out the fabric for her dress.  I used a pattern I already had and she choose which fabrics to use for the dress and sleeves.  She also had a very defined idea of what she wanted for a headdress.  She enjoyed helping with the making of the dress.  She helped trace and cut out the pattern, helped cut out the fabric and helped with some of the sewing. Since she wanted to be a princess, I decided Kerstin would be a pea (from the fairy tale the Princess and the Pea).  David helped create a pattern to make her a pea. 

The Princess and the Pea (and monkey)



The English Bookshop held a special edition of story time at the Sture bibliotek in the östermalm T-bana.  The girls dressed up in their costumes.  It was a great event that included coloring a pumpkin, making a mask, and making a ghost.  They read two stories: Scream Fair and In The Haunted House.  Snacks included highly prized candy corn.  Candy corn is almost impossible to find in Sweden.  A few specialty shops will get some in stock in the fall but it has hard and expensive to buy.  Ellie had a great time and Kerstin slept in her stroller through the whole event.

Ellie's pumpkin mask

Time for stories

Snack time

Waiting patiently

Pumpkin Time



City Pumpkin Picking



It is time for city pumpkin picking.  Last year we bought our pumpkin at the outdoor market in Hotorget.  This year we only found pie pumpkins but none that were great for carving.  After work, Thursday we met David at the grocery store to pick out our pumpkin.  After dinner Ellie and David removed the seeds and scraped it clean.  Ellie decided this year’s design would be a spider.  We found a cute design online.  While Daddy was carving, Ellie helped me add darts to her Halloween princess dress. 

Worried about Daddy's fingers

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New Skills

The girls both had great days. Ellie had a wonderful report from school.  The teachers say her Swedish is really improving and she has started to respond to Swedish with some sentences instead of a mix of English and Swedish words.  Kerstin learned to get from her hands and knees back to a sitting position.  She likes to show off for Daddy when he comes home. 

Kerstin is 7 months old

Kerstin is 7 months old today.  She is growing up so fast.  She is babbling up a storm.  Her favorite sounds are da da and na na.   She can get up on her hands and knees and move one hand forward but hasn’t figured out how to move her knees yet.  However, she is an expert backer.  Now instead of just pushing herself backwards, she has learned how to pivot on her stomach and get where she wants to go.  Kerstin isn’t a fan of food yet.  She started eating a little bit of zucchini over the weekend but about 5 bites is all she wants.   

UN Day at SIS

After dropping Ellie off at school, Kerstin and I went to Stockholm International School for their celebration off UN day.  All of the students grouped by country and wore the traditional dress of their country.  Over 50 countries were represented.  I loved seeing all of the traditional outfits.  After parading around the park in front of the school, they went inside and had an assembly where each of the grades performed songs and poems. 

*pictures video to follow if David can figure out what is wrong with my SD card

Lidingö

This weekend we headed out to Lidingö with the Pike family.  Lidingö is one of the islands of the inner archipelago. The Pikes had found a great deal on a Swedish/American buffet.  The restaurant was on the water and had a nice view.  The kids had a great time climbing on some yard art before eating.  The food was really good.  The had a great mix of Swedish breakfast sandwiches, cheeses, salads, waffles, mini cheeseburgers, bacon, sausage, eggs, mac and cheese and more.  We all left with a full tummy.  There were rumors of an American store nearby so we set off to find it.  A commuter train and two buses later we found a residential house.  Another bus ride later we found the actual store.  It was closed but we were able to peer in the windows and see such treats as poptarts, nerds and American style pancake mix.  Most of the things we have seen at other stores but it is part café so maybe we will have to come back for lunch one day.