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. 

Ellie Photography

I needed to go to IKEA and Ellie wanted to go along so we made it our Friday outing.  As we made our way to the IKEA bus, Ellie “practiced” her photography.  For Ellie IKEA is a great place to explore.  We were able to get what we needed, have a yummy lunch and get back in time for playtime at the park. 

Ellie wearing elephant



Ellie's photo of Mommy wearing Kerstin

Metro Art

Ikea "dance stage"

Vocabulary

Today a thick envelope came in the mail for Ellie.  When David handed her the envelope, Ellie asked, “Is it for me?”  David said, “Well it is addressed to you.”   Ellie was so excited and ran off it open it.  A few minutes later she came into the room and said, “Daddy, I can find the dress!”  She was so confused.   What a hard way to learn a vocabulary word.

 

Inca Exhibit of Gold Treasures

We rode the bus out to Skeppsholmen to visit the Inca exhibit of gold treasures.  The exhibit was displayed in the subterranean Secret Rock Galleries, the former naval base of the Swedish Navy.  The tunnels have only recently been open to the public.  The exhibit was amazing with beautiful gold jewelry, crowns and decorations.  Overall it was an informative exhibit. 

Tom Tits - The Experiment

We are off to explore the Tom Tits The Experiment with the Pike Family.  It is about one hour outside of Stockholm, a commuter and bus ride away.  I was a little concerned that it would be too “old” for Ellie but she had an amazing time.  Most of the exhibits were not labeled.  You could get a book that gave more information about each exhibit but it really encouraged active participation.  One of Ellie’s favorite exhibits was the pulley chair.  The exhibit showed how using a pulley system you could lift your own weight.  She also loved the sand area, the four story slide, the swings and the water area.  Kerstin enjoyed sitting on the interactive fish screen trying to catch fish. 

Bubble time

This was Ellie's favorite activity - using a pully to lift herself off the floor.

Ellie and her friend Lacie with Mommy and Joanna





Kerstin loved the fish tank.



Kerstin and Lacie try to catch fish!



New Chairs

In Copenhagen the hotel had a special chair for Ellie that elevated her to table height.  She loved sitting in it and asked if they had them in Sweden. David and I liked them because they slide under the table like a regular chair and will sit an adult.  They also come with an attachment to transform it into a high chair.  After doing a little research, David found then here.  In order to get them home from the store we needed a dolly.  To save on space we didn’t take the stroller.  Ellie however had a great time using the dolly as a kiddo moving device.

More fun than a stroller!

Shopping is hard work

Got a chair now if I can only figure out how to eat!

Copenhage - Day 3

Our final day dawned clear and beautiful.  We set off first for the National museum.  Our main goal was to see the children’s museum.  It was still closed when we arrived so we wandered through the toy section.  Ellie enjoyed seeing the doll houses on display.  The Children’s museum was wonderful.  They had it divided into 5 sections: a medieval area, a Viking area, an old-fashioned dress up/cooking area, schoolroom and a section that focused on Pakistani culture.  Ellie and Kerstin both had a lot of fun playing at all of the exhibits.  Kerstin is starting to try to pull up.  She can’t make it yet but for the first time was able to stand up while holding on when I put her on her feet.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat we walked out toward the Mermaid Statute.  On the way, Ellie found some ducks to feed, a park to play at and other statues to see.  The statue of the Little Mermaid (based on the tale by Hans Christian Anderson) is in the Copenhagen Harbor.  It was much smaller than I expected at 1.25 meters high. 

Back at the airport the rain started falling.  For a weekend that was supposed to be rainy, we had amazing luck with the weather.  It never rained when we were out and about.  It was another great trip that ended too quickly. 

Toys at the National Museum

Kerstin's first time standing

Play time in the boat

Feeding the ducks

The mermaid statue

Boats, Theaters and Legos

We woke up to a rainy dreary day.  We were prepared with rain gear for everyone but by the time we were done with breakfast the sky was clear.  Ellie had a blast splashing in all the puddles as we wandered through the city.  Our first activity of the day was a canal tour.  We got a great history of the city and saw some impressive old and new buildings.  It was a great way to get a feel for the city.  We stopped for lunch at a bagel shop.  Ellie had seen it the night before as she has really missed bagels.  She ordered hers plain with cream cheese and we got sandwiches.  Because we had a little time before our next activity we stopped in the Lego Store.  Lego was originally designed in Denmark.  She had a great time playing with the Lego and seeing the large Lego creations.

Our next stop was the Littlest Theater.  Its target audience is small children.  The theater was tiny holding about 70 people.  The current production was  about Picasso and how his paintings made it onto canvas from his imagination.  The play was well scripted and helped bring art to life.  It was all in Danish but it was an amazing experience.

We then walked to Rundetaarn, the round tower.  It is Europe’s oldest functioning observatory.  From the top you get a great view of the city.  It was really windy so the girls and I didn’t stay out long.  Unlike most towers instead of circular stairs, it has a wide 209m ramp to the top with just one flight of stairs.  The ramp winds itself around 7.5 times.  Ellie and other children there had a great time running up and down the ramp and hiding in the niches.  It was then back to the Lego store to buy Ellie her first basic set of Lego’s. 

Ellie can turn any place into her personal playground.

The lego mural was amazing!

Posing with children's art at the theater

Observatory

Hide and Seek in the Tower