Spunnet socker åsså majs...

...heja GAIS!

First Day of School - drop off

Elina is doing half day Kindergarten (same as Isak did) which means I pick her up at 10.30, and she says she had a good day. It is not really a half day, but whatever. I'm no fan of the long school days at such a young age. She is the only one in her class (probably the entire Kindergarten) to do half day and the teacher was unfamiliar with the half day pick-up procedure, which tells me that she has not had a half day kid before. Isak is still at school as I write this.

The school is big, apx 850 students compared to last year's 580. I told Isak that when I was in elementary school we had only one class of each grade. He couldn't believe it. He is used to 5 of each grade. This year there are 7 second grade classes! Both kids seem to have good teachers. Everyone has raved about how great Elina's teacher is and Isak's teacher is reputed to be very organized and structured which will suit him well.

To see pictures from last year's first day of school click HERE.

Mark went in late to work to be there for the drop off. Mark and I had just made it back into the car with Julia and Anja when it started to rain.

Outside the front doors. (Isak is wearing shorts I made from last year's jeans that he outgrew lengthwise)

This school has lockers inside the classroom - something new to both kids. Elina's had a ladybug-sign with her name, which made her happy. That's her teacher to the right.

Isak was slightly late, poor thing, because the whole family went first to Elina's classroom to see her off.

Henry Jones Jr.

Isak is obsessed with Indiana Jones. Last year it was Star Wars, and before that it was cars (he could identify all makes by sight at age 3). He has not even seen all the Indiana Jones movies because Mark and I are very conservative when it comes to what we think is appropriate for kids. He has seen an edited version of the Last Crusade, and a few select scenes from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But he readily tells people that the Temple of Doom is his favorite movie, and second to it Raiders of the Lost Ark. What? How can two favorite movies be ones you have never seen (and won't see for many years to come, especially the Temple of Doom)?

He is going to be Dr. Jones for Halloween of course, and today Mark and I surprised him with the bag in the picture. He's been running around with a purple canvas one of mine for over a year, that I bought in Spain back in 1996. Well, people this is the REAL THING. It is an authentic MK VIII gas mask bag from the British army, made in 1942 (!!), and it is just like the one Indiana Jones has in Raiders of the Lost Ark (in the other ones the bag has a leather strap).

Do you think he likes it?

The original

Isn't she lovely?

Her mamma's dress.

Caught in the Rain

Woke up to near perfect summer temperature today with a pleasant cloud cover. So, after serving breakfast and doing dishes (squeezed in between two nursing sessions) we went for a walk. In the picture you can see all five of my walking buddies. It's never lonely around here. Julia (who spends most of her non-nursing, not-being-held time screaming) actually quieted down after a few blocks. It was shortly thereafter that we noticed how dark the clouds were getting, and only a moment or two after that again that the skies opened. It was a lovely summer rain with massive drops and thunder in the distance. But I was not prepared with a rain cover for the stroller (isn't it nice btw? My mom got it for us!). If I am going to walk the 1.3 miles to school on a regular basis, I better find it. A good reason to attack those mystery boxes in the garage...

Can you tell they are wet? Taken w/ the phone camera, hence the [lack of] quality

A Day at the Lake

I confess we don't spend very many summer days at Lake Thunderbird. We go often in the fall, winter and spring. But today we had a great time kayaking with friends, despite the warm weather. I got in a kayak too and raced against one of the dads. You can imagine who won since I mention the race at all. :) Somewhere in Inger's camera are the pictures of Mark and me. Isak loved it and had to be dragged on land finally. Elina tried it too for about 30 minutes, then spent the rest of the time in the sand with Anja, or swimming.

loving the soft sand

Julia in the arms of 'uncle' Steve, a.k.a the baby whisperer.

Elina in the center

Anja wants to swim too.

so excited!

There he goes!

Studsmattan

I kväll studsade hela familjen på studsmattan förutom Julia som faktiskt SOV i en hel timme, ensam! Vi turades om att hoppa medan resten satt längs kanten på ena sidan. Det roligaste var när Mark hoppade. Vi skrattade så vi grät, för det visade sig att Mark är rena akrobaten. Han slog volter både framlänges och baklänges och studsade på alla ytor av sin kropp. Men han lät mig inte filma honom! Jag får nog smyga fram kameran i veckan för det bara måste förevigas. Men här är ett litet klipp på Isak och Elina, som inte är lika roligt.

"Så säger alla sjörövare"

Anja älskar Pippi. Och hon härmar Pippi på alla möjliga sätt. Trots att inte Isak har fått någon bror, så har han ändå en rival när det gäller hans svärd och hans hatt som han använder när han leker Indiana Jones. Anja har dessa redskap för att vara Pippi och säga "Ha, ha!" När Annika frågar varför Pippi säger så där, så svarar hon att så säger alla sjörövare (medan de drar sina sablar). Och det gör Anja också - 20 ggr om dan.

Picturerama

Summer slips by. I nurse. And nurse. And do food, dishes, laundry and house cleaning. Isak is amazing in helping with Julia, holding her and keeping her from crying, which is what she otherwise does most of the time when I have to put her down and get things done. And Mark works like a horse, at work and home, doing the bulk of the shopping these days and mows a MUCH bigger yard. But we do some fun things too...

...like going to the Lego store for a meeting with a certain fictional university professor that Isak adores.

and lots of baths for Anja after very dirty outdoor games (check out the hair)

and swimming almost every night

and snuggling

getting together with family

more pooltime

some unhappy times, for Julia especially, but playtime too:


and catching frogs, which our yard has lots of
Elina is actually the master of this, even though Isak is in this picture