ahhhh Mamma... not another picture!!!I love this duck pond here! I have a photograph of Mattias with his father when he was small at this same spot...
yeahhhhh! August is Crawfish Month in Sweden! Lots of alfresco Crawfish parties and lots of singing snaps songs!

our last night in Sweden we had a little Crawfish Party! So fun and a happy way to end such a wonderful month!
Belle slurping away her little crawfish!
Hej Då Sweden! See you next Summer! off on the train to Copenhagen!.......

Soaking the Sun!!!

such a funny man greeted us in this little street... He wanted us to try these amazing cherries he was plucking. So glad he showed us because they were FANTASTIC!!! so ripe!


a little backyard bar-b-q in Farmor & Farfar's garden

look at her cute Mermaid outfit from Uma & Umpa!

a little run break during lunch with Auntie Malin

nothing better than being 2 and running through the sprinklers naked!!!

visiting our great friends Jessica & Christer and their little pumpkin Ella!

having some lunch with Mattias' grandparends Ebon & Stig

Mattias' mom & Roland got us tickets for a little date night... thanks so much! It was so fun! an outdoor concert in Mattias' village he grew up in...

at the Annual Pig Fest!!!... Belle and her little friend Maya trying on all the little shoes! so fun!

Christer & Mattias doing the final touches on the gorgeous delicious pig!

Belle & Ella dancing the night away!... in their jammies and all... keep dancing!

us girls... Jessica, Me, Sophie, and Nina! Thanks Jakob & Nina for such a fun fest!

berry break from Farmors berries! soooo good!

Farmor & Farfar at the amusement park Tossillila! Such a fun day we had!
Pappa & Belle enjoying the rides!
hee heheee... here we are on the ROLLER COASTER!!!
petting the goats so fun!
ouuuuuuch just after the big boo boo! it's a sign of a fun fun vacation though right! :-)
Isabelle and Farmor at Farmor's work.


What luck we've had with the Swedish Summer! Blue Skies and a warm breeze... cool nights and lots of coffee! Ahhhh this is summer at its best!

The Countryside....

This is Jenny... Mattias' Uncle Roger's girlfriend. She rides horses and cares for them for a living. One morning she asked if we would like to go visit them... SURE! Thanks for a fun fun morning Jenny!!!!!

a handsome horse just 4 years old..


first time up on a big horse! she LOVED it!


our little horse girl

look at her goooooooooo!

Mattias up on the horse!

one of my favorites... Crown of Dill! I remember my Grandmother would make pickles using loads of these... the smell is fantastic!

doing a little dance on the water well...

Roger & Jenny's apple trees




Belle at the Moose Park!

this is super cool!!! Mattias' Great-Uncle and Aunt own a Moose Park for visitors to come and see and learn about nature and the respect for it. sooooooo we always love to stop by for a look at some moose! nothing like a good moose!!!

a little mother-daughter walk through the forest...

a young moose!

cannot remember the name of these beauties... could someone please let me know. :-) anyhow... here they were just on the side of a hill... turned my head and almost jumped out of my skin with surprise!
Here are some pics of our time on the country. It was so beautiful and full of such nature! Lots of hiking, animals, and living carefree. This is the life!
It was really nice visiting our family which lives out of the villages. I love the villages but it's always nice for a change of scenery. Our daughter must be on overload seeing so many trees, forest animals, horses, kids.... it's crazy fun! Now we are back in Ystad and that again is really great. Since we come here so much and for such a long stay it really feels like my second home. I know where everything is... still finding new things... I know some of the shop keepers since I love to shop and I start to see familiar faces which to me is a sign.

visiting family & friends...

sooooooo fun! going for a rowboat ride! we found the cave finally!!!!! -by boat was easiest! ah ha!

saying goodbye to the ducks at the lake in Småland after a wonderful week.

having a little lunch with Pappa in Ystad.

having a little swim in the feed bucket! perfect! at Mattias' Uncle Roger & Jenny's home!

Belle & her Godmother: Auntie Malin

Isabelle having so much fun with her cousins!!!

big family dinner night! lots of wine, food, & laughter!

we stayed over at Mattias' Aunt & Uncle's home. They have 2 boy cousins for Isabelle which she adores! Here we are having a little breakfast in their backyard.

We surprised Mattias' Grandparents at their little beach house. They were having a birthday party for Mattias' Great Aunt & Uncle. perfect timing! a little coffee & cakes & cookies.... always a good plan!

First time at the beach here this summer. This Baltic is a bit chilly.... brrrrrrr

two SWANS at the beach! so beautiful but so meannnnn! yikes!

Belle & Simba in their secret hiding spot peeking at the neighbor's kittycat!

a new skirt I bought for Isabelle. Thought it was so perfect for her! Underneath are some new legwarmers!!! ha! she seriously does the FAME dance in legwarmers.... so funny!

we visited Mattias' close friend Tom & his wife Petra one afternoon. They have a little boy named Fredrik which is 6 months older than Belle. Wow did they have a fun day! Here they are after collecting raspberries from the forest nearby. snacktime.

at the beach with Farmor & Farfar (beach is PACKED with this kind of sunshine!!!)
it's been quite a busy week. Very fun but very busy. We have been visiting Aunts & Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, friends, horses.... It's so great traveling in Europe because things are so close even though it takes quite some time to get somewhere that in the states would take 1/2 an hour here takes 2. You would think that wouldn't be so great with a 2 year old but seriously you will see why. You start out leaving our little village of Ystad then you start to see fields of wheat & wraps.... then they bend off and you start winding on two lane roads where hopefully you won't be behind a tractor. You pass by these amazing farms where the long roads leading to the front doors of these sweet farm houses is lined with huuuuuuge walnut trees or pil trees planted hundreds of years ago so perfectly. You see cows and sheep ... horses and geese. Our daughter moos at all of them. Our windows are down to let the breezes in and the sunroof lets the SUN (yes it's sunny) in! Then you may pass a spooky looking farm house which you see TON of down in Tuscany. I remember while there calling them Skeleton Houses. I thought that was a good name. It's when the farm has been abandoned for hundreds of years and vines are twisting in the windows, boards are missing, no furniture, no curtains, no flowers, just spooky bones of a home and lots of memories.
Then we hear a sweet little voice from the backseat say... pee pee Mamma, pee pee Pappa.... yessssss! we get to stop! There are pull over points ever few meters with beautiful views and garbages bins for picnics. We stop, take a walk, have some juice, maybe a sandwich, take a deep countryside breath and are on our way again.