Sweden: Gothenburg Day 1

 Today we explored a little bit of Gothenburg as we also adjusted to the time change. I was so thankful for a room at the airport hotel when we arrived, but in the morning, I was anxious to get going. We were all up early, and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before picking up our rental car. Then we drove to our hotel in Gothenburg and dropped off our bags before walking to Universeum, a children’s museum near the local amusement park. I was honestly underwhelmed by the museum, but some of the younger kids really enjoyed it, and it kept everyone busy and awake. Their exhibits included an Amazonian rainforest, a human body exhibit, a space exhibit, and a math exhibit. Joy certainly got a kick out of it all, as she ran around, exploring everything. 

After we left the museum, we headed back to the hotel to check in. Of course, we stopped for our first mjukglass of the trip while walking back. 

After checking in, we relaxed until dinner, when we walked to a restaurant that promised plankstek, a meal many of us had waited years to eat again. Unfortunately, the potatoes contained some sort of nut ingredient, and K and AJ had to choose a different menu item. 

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel to get ready for an early bedtime. It had been a long day, and everyone was exhausted from jet lag and all the walking.

Mountains in Autumn

Sunrise

This weekend, we drove into the mountains to see if we could capture some of the fall colors in some photographs with the kids. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I wanted to snap some pictures of the beauty of creation as well as my sweet children. After deciding the local foliage was past its prime, we headed out on a spontaneous trip into the mountains. The morning after we arrived, I was blown away by the breathtaking beauty that surrounded us. The sun rising over the mountaintops cast an orange hue on the already-gorgeous fall colors.

The kids just wanted to get outside and play, but they grudgingly cooperated with their camera-obsessed mother and posed for a few shots. I was not happy with my results, but I realize that I need to learn more and practice with my camera. Perhaps I can salvage some of the better ones with editing.

All set to go

After our photo session, we hopped on ATV's and rode around the paths and trails. Then the kids wanted to fish. They successfully hooked a few trout, which always results in excited smiles. Then it was time to head home. We packed up and rolled out of there in time to attend their Sunday evening activities.

It was so nice to get away. Spending an evening away from laundry and the constant beckoning of housework provided a much-needed break for this weary mom. Put that evening in the mountains in autumn, and you get one happy girl.

  

Handsome AJ

K and H

Miss A was not happy, but she tried

Timo and H with his fish. He didn't want to touch it.

Proud of her catch

Little S

Now We are Six

This past year has been one of incredible growth for H. He learned to read, finished his first year of "real" school, started taking real responsibility around the house (with plenty of encouragement), built his first full Lego set alone, learned to ride a bike without training wheels, and has grown in so many ways.




H is my most generous kid, my child most likely not only to share, but to give of his resources. This became evident one day when he said he wanted to order pizza for dinner instead of having leftovers, as I had planned. I responded with my usual, "Are you paying?" This always gets the other kids. H, however, decided that it was, indeed, worth his money to order pizza. What blew me away was that he ordered enough for everyone, not only himself. He bought dinner for the whole family.

This year, I have also realized how much H is like me. When the kids attended VBS this summer, the leaders handed out a CD with the music they were using in the program. H and I ranked our top three exactly the same.

H looks a lot like I did at his age. 

H also loves beauty in all forms. We recently finished reading The Trumpet of the Swan, and now his goal is to play "Beautiful Dreamer" on the trumpet some day. He wanted me to find a trumpet version to download on my phone so he could listen to it whenever he wanted to. The only version I could find plays it as a waltz, and he loves listening to that.

All this took me by surprise since he also loves robots, Minecraft and Star Wars. In fact, one of his favorite outside games to play is "Minecraft Earth," in which he pretends to gather materials and build in real life, as opposed to on a tablet.

I am so happy to have H in our family. He really adds a unique dynamic to our household, and when he is sick, I miss that. I can't wait to see what the next year brings. I know that he has already started moving away from the little boy phase, and, while I will miss that part of his life, I am excited to see what God has in store for him as he grows.

Learning New Things

This post is really for me, so I will remember these things. Otherwise, I know the memories will fade as my children grow.

H
This week, H learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I knew he was capable if he just had someone working with him. I just had not taken the time to help him. K was attending a ballet intensive, so our school days were very basic. This left a lot more time for learning in other areas.

K had taken one of H's training wheels off, but I could see that all that was doing was training him to lean to one side, so I removed the other training wheel and practiced with him. The first day, he didn't get it. Old habits die hard, and I could feel him leaning mostly to one side as I held his seat to balance him. On the second day, I decided to use a different approach, I leaned over and put my hands over his, holding onto the handle bars with him. This worked much better, and before long, he was able to ride short distances on his own. After building some confidence, he was riding all over the driveway on his own. The only difficulty he had now was starting, but once I showed him the trick to that, he was able to slowly master it and be on his way.

H still needs some practice before we go on long bike rides, but I am so pleased with him and the effort he put into learning this.

Little A

A recently figured out how to nod her head. This was a fun accomplishment, but it meant saying goodbye to her old way, which was just too cute.
When she figured out how to shake her head to say no, she soon learned that she needed to start doing something to say yes. Her solution was to do kind of a whole body up and down movement. It is difficult to describe, but we all enjoyed watching her communicate in her own way.
She also has started to use her signs a lot more frequently. I love when she signs "please" because she says the "s" sound with it. Actually, it is probably more like "pssss".  I am really enjoying this phase of her life with all the cuteness.

Minivans and Minivacations

Getting everyone to look at the camera is next to impossible

My wonderful sister-in-law came to visit us for a couple of days this week, and we decided to take advantage of her presence and do a little sight-seeing. We still needed to finish some schoolwork, but we eased up on the workload and took full advantage of the beautiful fall afternoons.

The first day, we visited a local candy shop where they make perfectly lovely toffee, brittle, and chocolates. The store serves ice cream and coffee as well, and the production floor is visible from a counter in the showroom. We ordered the kids ice cream and sent them to watch the day's production while we ordered our hot beverages. I was hoping they would be making toffee since that is fun to watch, but they were finishing up some carmel corn and then took a break. That was somewhat disappointing, but we perused the shelves and found some delicious treasures to purchase.

Little cutie

The following day, we drove up to the top of the Monument for an afternoon of hiking. We chose an easy trail that even S could enjoy. When we completed the hike, the kids turned in their booklets to earn their Junior Ranger Badges. H had not filled all his information out, but the lady was really kind and went through it orally with him.
My sweet SIL left Wednesday morning after being mauled my my kids crying, "Don't go! Don't go!" My heart echoed my kids' cries, but I knew she needed to depart. I hope to see her again before too long, but, for now, the memories will have to do.

AJ's Party

AJ wanted a small birthday party at home this year, so we invited a couple of his friends over on Sunday afternoon and kept it simple.

We started the party with Lego-building contests, followed by pin-the-football-on-Peyton. Then we sugared up the kids with chocolate cake and ice cream before they ran outside to play. This was perfect since it gave them a chance to run off the sugar high, and I was able to sweep up the chocolate cake from the floor.

AJ said he enjoyed his party. That means success in my book.

A Quick trip to Ouray

The kids have been working on presentations about ancient inventions for their co-op history class. I think this is a great opportunity for them to practice research and writing a speech. For their topics, K chose glass blowing, and AJ chose water clocks. There are no local glass-blowing facilities, so we drove to Ouray for a quick trip to interview the glass-blower who lives and works there.

Upon arriving, we found the glass place and unloaded our crew to visit Sam, the local artist. He was kind to take time out of his day for us, but I got the feeling that he did not expect K to know or understand as much as she did about glass-blowing. He answered her questions, but I think that we both were a little disappointed that he did not offer her more in-depth information. It was still a successful trip in that she gained some interviewing experience as a form of research, though.

After the glass store, we walked to Mouse's Chocolates, a local chocolate, coffee, and ice cream place that is known for its tasty treats. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate and milkshakes, and I devoured my "hippie bar", a scrumptious blend of dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and coconut.
Walking back to the car, I spotted a cute crocheted sweater that I needed. Timo took the boys while I shopped with the girls. Then we met again a few stores down. AJ wanted to go into a mining store to see if they had pickaxes. Not that he needed one. He just wanted to see one. They did, and they were about as tall as S. We left them all there, loaded up in the car, and drove to Box Canyon. We intended to do some hiking, but rain cut our climb short. I did manage to get photos of the kids, though.

AJ photobombing K

K photobombing AJ

A hanging out in the backpack

Deep crevice

That's a long way down

Sweet AJ

Beautiful K

Cutie Pie

A little waterfall

My gorgeous girl

A rare photo of me, courtesy of K

I almost didn't get a photo of S

This photo doesn't do justice to the beauty of the area

I hope to return to Ouray sometime in the future. I would like to finish hiking around, and there is always room for more chocolate.