Last of the Last

Today is the last day of daycare for Saniya and Rowan, and the last day of work for Rob. I sit here and keep thinking, ahhh this is the last few hours of quiet for me for the next few months. There will be constant activity and noise from now on. So, I sit here in my quiet and cherish the silence. Rob is still working away. Although it is his last day of work, he will work this weekend on his paper. He is excited about it. I am not. I am ready to have a co-parent and partner back to share life. The kids will have a party at school to say goodbye. Saniya is feeling festive and happy. She has two friends coming over after school to play in the wading pool by our house. So, it does not feel like a sad day for them, at least. I am thankful Saniya's personality is so mellow and even. She does not really dramatize issues or change. She will say how she feels and can move in or out of a mood easily. I wish I were more like her in this way. Rowan is more dramatic but we will see if it his age or his personality as he matures. Here are some photos from when I dropped them off this morning:

Affe is the giraffe on Saniya's head. Each child gets to take him home on the weekend and then we write about all of the events that occur with our family. Then on Monday, they tell the class about "Affe's weekend".

Saniya with Asa, her favorite teacher.


Saniya with Sophie and Michael. Sophie was Saniya's teacher last year and part of this year. Michael is one of her favorite friends and will be one of the kids to come and play today after school.


This is Max and Saniya. I found out the other day they are kind of "in love" with each other. Who would have thought....

Rowan was not cooperating for photos. I will try later today with his friends and teachers.

More of May

This blog has become an homage to our experience in Sweden and to our kids as they have grown while here. With that in mind, I want to post some more pixs from the last month or so.

That is our building in the background. We were having a dinner picnic at Bergianiska Tradgard. The hot air balloon was an extra treat for the evening.


Rowan asked me to show the police car. Oh, he loves the cars....


Bathtub fun!


Baby ducks were came across while on a bike ride through Haga park.


The Royal Dragoons, who are the horse brigade that guard the palace. There is a big changing of the guard ceremony at the palace everyday. This is their barracks and the public is allowed in three times a year. We saw their warm up marches and then toured the horse stables. Very cool...or... jatte kul (in Swedish)!


Can you find Saniya? She has green socks on....This is the Royal Opera House. There was a family day and the children were participating in Ballet class.

This blurry picture is also Family day at the Opera House. There was a performance of different kinds of dance from all over the world. Now, Saniya wants to take ballet class...



I loved both of these shots and couldn't decide so you get to see them both. Saniya and Rowan are lounging in the hammock on our balcony.


Rowan enjoying his ice cream after the parade.


Tulip time at the park!


As the flag is raised for "Ascension Day". The celebration of when Jesus went up to heaven.

Maj or May (depending on where you live)

I was just about to put a picture up, but I am in a creative funk. Nothing looked so exciting... in general we are all healthy and good. I am really excited for Rob to finish his job. He is working constantly. So, when he finishes I have this fantasy that he will be around more?.... hmmmm. We are excited to go to northern Sweden. We will sublet our apartment while gone for a little extra cash. We are thinking that the end of July is a good time to return to the U.S. It is up in the air, but that is the game plan as of now. We probablly will not solidify plans until early July. Saniya and Rowan's daycare ends in two weeks. I met with Rowan's teacher this week.


As far as Sweden goes, we are feeling remorse about leaving. It has been well worth the experience. We are ready for a change, but feel great about this culture and society and what it offers.

Parades and more...

We had a great weekend without Rob, sorry Rob. Rob is busy finishing a paper to submit on Monday. He has been out of commission for the last month or so.
But, Saniya, Rowan and I were out and about in Stockholm. The weather was sunny and 75ish. We spent Saturday at the beach in a beautiful part of the city, next to downtown. It is Luxparken on Kungsholmen if you all are about to jaunt over for a visit. Both kids were loving the water and the festive Spring feel. It felt like all of Sweden was out and about. Then we were off the parade! There is a parade that takes place here every three years. It is called Quarvelen and is put on by the students. It was so fun to go with a two and five year old.
Today, Saniya and I biked to an area of Stockholm called Ostermalm. This is the shopping district of the city and is very expensive. Saniya biked on her own bike and was confident. She is really secure and can ride anywhere now. We went to a flea market there. I bought Saniya a storybook in English. It is hilarious. Then we went to a beach by our house called Brunnsviken badet. It is along a bike path on the water. Just great.
Lots more to share, but I am being kicked off the computer for now. Saniya is going to sleep and it is high maintenance....I will try to write more often.
Yasmiene

Sardinia Again!

I just posted a different entry and after feeling bad that it was such a bombardment of kids photos I thought I would do another post with just a few landscape only shots. Enjoy!

View from Capo d'Orso, near Palau.


Same hike at Capo d'Orso.


The Roman ruins at Tharros.


Tharros again!


Old town Alghero. Children doing a dance and game.


La Pelosa beach.


Looking at Castelsardo from the old town Castle wall.


Looking at Castelsardo. The old town and castle is on the top left corner of the hill in this shot.


A view going into a valley from the mountain on the Costa Paradiso.


Just a nice shot as we drove along the northern coast.

Sardinia

So we had a great week! There was mostly good weather, no tourists and general relaxation with italian people. We camped at campgrounds on the beach, enjoyed the spring green and wildflowers, discovered Rowan gets carsick, and ate great pizza, pesto, olives, bread, pasta, ice cream and sweets, and drank lots of good wine. We celebrated Rob's 39th birthday the last day of our trip. We flew in to the northern part of the island to a medieval town called Alghero. We toured the mid and northern part of the island throughout the week. Here is a pictorial recap:

We are hanging out in the rectory of an 14th century church in Alghero.

Saniya snapped this of Rob and I stopping at the beach while driving south to Tharros.

My camping buddy in our tent.

Sunset on the beach in Alghero.

Out for a walk.

Defending Alghero from tourist hordes.

Looking at ants at Tharros on a Roman road.

More ant or lizard searching at Tharros.

White beach at Is Aruttas.

Gelato everyday!

Digging at the beach.

La Pelosa beach in the north. The best white beach on the island.

Contemplating in Castelsardo. A beatiful town on the northern coast with a preserved old town within it's castle walls.

Happy at our private beach. It was just us.

Near the top of Capo d'Orso.

Hee-haw! A donkey on the go when we stopped off for a coffee while driving.

Lazzaretto Beach again.

Beach bum! This and the remainder of the beach shots are all on La Pelosa.

Beautiful water.

Look no legs!

More beach!

A verbose description of the travels is in the making so stay tuned. I know they are all of the kids, but this is what we wanted to remember when we look back so bear with us.