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.

Lotta & Roland's Wedding

a little sleepy after such a big job of holding the rings...

I just love this shot of Isabelle in the flowers.... looking so cute!


Mattias, The Happy Couple (Lotta & Roland), Malin (Mattias' sister) and our little Belle!



here we the Carlssons are all dress up!
What a beautiful Wedding in Småland! Mattias' mother Lotta & Roland got married in a beautiful herb garden. Mattias was the best man, Malin was the maidron of honor, and Isabelle was the ring bearer, and I of course, was the photographer. More photos to come on our sister site www.blondecowphotography.blogspot.com .
The day was gorgeous with a drizzle or two of rain. The scent from the herbs as you got close was so amazing! They had a girl with such a beautiful voice sing & play piano and when she was pausing all you could hear was the bzzzzzing of the summer bumble bees. They said their vows and it was so personal and such a small group of us which made it really special. After we walked to a cafe where there was a delicious lunch and a "King's Torte" for us with coffee and of course Champagne! Congratulations Lotta & Roland... we love you both! Thanks for a wonderful week in Småland!

Astrid Lingren's World!!!

kisses from Pippi!

What a fun place we visited today! This is Astrid Lingren's World... a fun fantasy place! Astrid wrote many gorgeous children's stories such as Pippi Longstocking!!! Last year she would have been 100 so you can imagine the Pippi hype! This place was an adventure park with trails leading to all of her stories. These Swedish children grow up reading Astrid's stories which their Grandparents would even read. So many smiling faces and excitement and giggles! Our little girl is a big Pippi fan and was in HEAVEN when she saw her from a distance! We have been reading her the Astrid Lingren stories since she was a baby. Then I got that crazy mom adrenaline pumping and darnit I had to get CLOSER!!!!! I pushed my way in and out of little children and their Mammas & Pappas and got right behind her. Then I so crazy lifted her onto a wooden railing over my head and had her balance as I caught my breath and surprise surprise that Pippi took Isabelle from me (thank God as my arms were jell-o) and hugged her and gave her a big KISS! Wow was Belle in a daze the entire day. Kept saying "I hugged her, and kisses! oh Pippi's so cute!" hahahah where these children's imaginations go is what inspires me...

Hiking!!!

some nice wild flower with a bumblie bee

hiking along we go...

here's our mountain girl Isabelle!... after her first real mountain hike!!!

a mountain "bluebelle" very sweet flower

berry break...

Belle & Malin resting and enjoying the view

this is my belly at 18 weeks... WOW! much larger than last time as I recall.... :-)
How beautiful was the day today! We (me, Mattias, Belle, and Auntie Malin) went out to find a cave.... through many trails, and trails less traveled we came across more things than we planned. All & All no cave ... but lots of pretty things! I love a good hike through a forest. Makes me feel like it's a magical world we live in with fairies, trolls, forest animals and berries for the bears. I love how powerful you feel after hiking so high that all you hear is the tops of the trees rustling. Even with my growing belly I felt great after this hike! Our little girl Isabelle explored and enjoyed riding on backs, sits with her God-Mother, and plucking every raspberry and smoltron she could see! She looked for fairies and called the sticks ssssssssssnakes! It was quite a fun day and now my arms can barely lift my cup of coffee.