Vafflor

A favorite treat is morfar's Swedish vafflor which he whips up as an after lunch treat. Thin and crispy, with fluffy whip cream and cloudberry jam - yum!

Shopping

Shopping is usually not a favored activity for Lukas and Noah. However, if the shopping includes the local grocery store in Sweden or even better the specialty candy store, they are all in. Our final activity before packing our bags and heading back home to Bob was to stock up on Swedish penny candy. The boys took their time selecting the right pieces and with 750 to choose from it did take some time.

No drip ice cream

The day we had to leave Larsboda was the day the sun arrived. Yet, there were things to do in Stockholm in preparation for the party. As a consolation, we stopped at the local ice cream parlor on our way through Soderkoping. The line was long, others had the same brilliant idea, celebrating the sun with an ice cream cone. Since our car was small, the sun relatively warm and the ice cream extra creamy which means melts faster, the solution seemed obvious - the bucket dish. Each of the boys had their own bucket of ice cream while Ellen opted for the slightly smaller boat - any drip would fall back into the dish keeping the rental car upholstery clean. 

It was a challenge the cousins were ready to accept!

Happy Birthday

Birthdays are made for celebration so mormor turning 80 was a good reason to throw a party. The preparations began the day before. The front yard needed some weeding, the flower pots needed new flowers and the party tent had to move a few times to achieve just the right effect. 

Although the weather did not look like it was going to cooperate, the dark dense rainy clouds blew away before the first guests arrived. The garden party could proceed.

Noah was assigned drink duty and happily shot off the corks and poured glasses. Lukas handled photography as well as participated in the on going clean up crew. 

A very special day for a very special woman. Grattis Mor!

Group photo

Although not everyone was gathered at the same time, those that were together at Larsboda were kind enough to pose for the traditional group photo.

They had to make funny faces..... 

Fun with the kayak

Lukas and Noah took advantage of the kayaks and did some paddling, however it was more fun to play with the cousins and the stand up board. Noah decided he wanted to be the figure head on the kayak and wrapped himself around the front. Not soon after, the kayak tipped over and it became a fun little hiding place for two, the adventures abounded despite little to no 'normal' use of the boats. 

Although the camera followed us around, it seemed we did not manage to capture even one picture of the boys driving the motor boat, nor kayaking around..... I am hoping the memories will stick in the brains. 

Fetch!

Niclas convinced Noah that he should swim after the stick....  Good boy, Noah!

Cool or cold?

While in Sweden we experienced typical Sweden Summer weather, cloudy, cool, windy, overcast, light rain, sun, clouds, warm, light rain - all within a few short hours. However, it is summer and summer means swimming and the weather did not stop Lukas and Noah. They along with their cousins swam several times each day, sometimes jumping off the dock since there is no return... whereas wading in, allows any sane person to return to shore when the temperature is 58 degrees at the most.

Larsboda time

Spending time at Larsboda is fun. There is so much to do: swinging, carving, fishing, boating, swimming, picking berries, reading comics, playing games and hanging out. We got a large dose of all of this and more while at Larsboda this summer.

Kings of the hill

The cousins found the tall rock wall outside the old church too enticing to resist, it had to be climbed.