Junibacken

For little Butterfly, a trip to Sweden could not be complete without going to Junibacken. Junibacken is a place about the works of Swedish authors, notably Astrid Lindgren, the writer of Pippi books. Butterfly LOVES Pippi. What an event!! One thing about Sweden in summer, it rains .. a lot. It was raining and we were taking public transportation to Junibacken because parking can be a problem. We had to walk to the subway station in the rain. This was tough as Butterfly does not exactly cooperate in rain. Once there we took the Subway to T-Centralen. From there we took a cable car to Junibacken .. well almost. The kids really seemed to enjoy the day. There were places to play, skits, and the story train. If you ever get to Sweden I really suggest Junibacken and the story train. I wish I had pictures of that to show, but you cannot take pictures of that. I do have a couple pictures of the girls though.

Torekällberget

Torekällberget is a place in Södertälje, which is south of Stockholm. This is a place with old buildings and shops as well as animals. Witchlet enjoyed playing with the goats here. Did you know that goats can jump up into trees? I did not know this!!!

Amazing right? I saw this little goat jump into the tree. Too bad he seemed afraid to come back down. Lucky for him, Witchlet picked him up and helped him down.

Midsummer Day

One of the reasons we chose this particular time of year for our trip was so that the kids and I would be able to experience Midsummer celebrations. It was a very busy and eventful day for us. We started by going to a community festival. They raise a midsummer pole and then dance around it. Butterfly and Goobie-kins took part in the dancing. This is the midsummer pole before it was raised.

 And during the raising of the pole.

 Up and up.

 Let the dancing begin. They danced to a bunch of folk songs. There is one that seems to be a big deal about frogs.

 A picture of Goobie-kins with Witchlet and Heidi in the background.

One more of Goobie-kins. This time with Butterfly. This was when they were dancing.









One tradition at midsummer is to collect a bouquet of flowers with seven different flowers and place it under your pillow. It is supposed to make you dream of your true love. Witchlet collected some flowers on her way back from the festival, but she says she does not remember her dreams.

All Swedish celebrations involve food, so of course after the celebration we got together at my sister in laws home for dinner. Dinner was several types of herring, new potatoes, boiled eggs, omelette, and of course meatballs. The traditional dessert at midsummer is strawberries with cream.

After dinner, we of course had Fika!

Day #1

On the first day that we arrived in Sweden, we decided that we should start with a trip to the grocery store. We chose to do this because even though grocery stores are very expensive in comparison to those in the US, eating out is far worse. As an example, the enchilada I got at a tex mex fast food place was 89 kroner, which is about $13. We only spend a little more than this for a family of 5 at a fast food Mexican restaurant here. So to the grocery store we went, which meant we had to postpone our plans for Junibacken to another day.

We did end up going to a playground with family. The kids really enjoyed the place. Knowing I would be putting my niece and nephew in my blog, I have been wracking my brain for nicknames for them, since they do not have any. My niece I have decided on Heidi because she reminds me a bit of the little Shirley Temple character. My nephew I still have not come up with anything just right .. so if you have a suggestion after seeing pics, leave a comment. I would love the ideas! And now for some much awaited pictures!

 Butterfly loves playing on the "play horse" at the park. She also really liked playing on this really cool trampoline. It is built in at ground level with only about a foot of space underneath it. It just looks so much safer than a traditional trampoline.

This slide was pretty cool. It was built on the side of the hill so no ladder to climb .. just walk up the hill.
















I am not sure how we didn't end up with decent pictures of the other kids from this day, other than Goobie-kins seems to not want to be photographed much, while Butterfly loves the camera.

Witchlet on Vacation

If you were to look at Witchlet on vacation, you would think she was just hanging out at home. Seriously. She spent the majority of her vacation reading and read 3 books over the week that we were here in Sweden.

Everywhere she went the books came with her.

She did take a break from reading to play with some animals. She must have missed her work at the zoo. Just wait for another post when I post about the goats!!

I really meant to post!

I really meant to post while I was on vacation, but I was so busy. A short trip to Sweden means very little downtime. This was not ideal for me. Ideal would be a longer trip with some rest days. Also some breaks in the day too. I am really worried that this trip has derailed the potty training efforts we had made with Butterfly. She potty chair they had would be a great size for someone trying to EC with an infant. She did not fit on it well and refused to use it. So lots of accidents during this trip.

So .. today there will be MANY posts to cover our trip to Sweden. Better late than never right?

Flying, Airports, and Children

What can I say about the flight .. it was long. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Security there was not too difficult. I did forget to take Butterfly's juice out of my carry on which caused them to do an extra check on that but it was not a huge deal. Had dinner at a restaurant there and then went to our gate. Without too much drama we were able to find out what to do with the stroller we planned to gate check. Then we were on the plane and settled. The Butterfly began with "are we moving yet?" and "are we there yet?" Other than this she watched Disney shows on the plane tv which each lasted 22 minutes and I had to start a new show for her each time. When the plane descended this caused Butterfly a lot of ear pain. She screamed quite a bit. This was NOT fun.

Next we had to get through Immigration and security in Amsterdam. Immigration was quite easy. The agent looked at passports and compared our pics to us and stamped our books and that was it. Security was not so easy. Again we had the issues with Butterfly's juice. Eventually it was allowed but I would like to try and find something smaller here because they said it was actually illegal. Then Goobie-kins has walked off. Very scary when you are in a country where they mostly speak a language that you do not understand. One more flight, much shorter than the first, but again the screaming upon descent.

All this time poor Butterfly did not go to the bathroom. She pretty much refuses to do this when away from home. We were stuck in traffic going to my in-laws home from the airport and she really had to go and started to cry. I had her in a pull up and thought it would be ok to just go, so I told her that it would be ok if she could not make it home, but as it turned out, she soaked everything.

Once "home", we had a small fika. To learn more about fika, see this post from our last trip to Sweden. http://chaosismyreality.blogspot.se/2008/08/swedish-tradistions-krftskiva-and-fika.html After fika, I went to sleep for 11 hours. This actually helped immensely with handling the time difference.

So this is how our vacation has started .. it has to get better from there, right?

We're Going on a Trip

Do you have a child between the ages of 3 and 6? Maybe a lil younger, or a lil older? Does my title make you hear that song?

I am getting really nervous. We are flying overseas with the kids. We have done this before but Butterfly was only 1 then. Now she is telling me that airplanes are scary. I really hope this goes well. At least I do not have to worry about my home .. a wonderful friend of our family will be taking care of everything here.

Going shopping!

Shopping is one of those things I dread doing with Butterfly. I try to not do this. EVER. Still, once in awhile it must be done for one reason or another. Today I needed to take her with me because one of my stops was to get her some shoes. Unfortunately, our mall is an outdoor mall. Usually I like this. Today with torrential downpours, taking Butterfly from store to store was NOT fun.

It was pouring. We were getting drenched and she was refusing to even move. She wanted the rain to stop first. She was crying because she was getting rained on and yet not wanting to move so that we could get her out of the rain. Eventually Witchlet and I got her inside a store, but by then there was not a dry spot on any of us.

Happy Father's Day

Today is Father's Day and I think our plans are to just stay home. I will cook a nice dinner for my husband, but otherwise it will be like most other Sundays in our home.

Usually I would go and see my dad on Father's Day, but this year is different since he has moved out of state. I cannot just get in my car and go. Instead, later this afternoon, I will pick up the phone and give him a call.

It can be hard when family members move away, especially on days like today. Traditions that you are used to can no longer be followed.  New traditions can be made though. That is what we will have to do.

Living with Butterfly

It has been so long since I have posted anything here. So much has changed in that time. And so much has not.

Butterfly has turned 5. Where has the time gone? The time has gone so fast, which is odd considering some days,  actually a lot of days, feel painfully slow. Butterfly has recently been diagnosed with autism. She is still the same little girl. Still adorable and lovable. Just now we know why some things have been so hard. Things like potty training .. which she still has not mastered. We have made a lot of progress, but we still have a long road ahead with that one. I would love for her to be fully potty trained before she starts Kindergarten in the fall.

This is just one of many examples of the challenges that parents of children with autism have to face. Children with autism often have problems with their senses. Everything is too hot or too cold, or too loud or quiet. Too bumpy. Not the right color. What will cause the next meltdown? That is about as predictable as a tornado. Speaking of tornadoes, Butterfly is like a human tornado. I once thought all small children were like that, but I must admit that Witchlet and Goobie-Kins did NOT prepare me for Butterfly. Nothing could have prepared me for Butterfly.

That isn't to say her autism is all bad. She has a form of it that gives her an incredible memory. She can spell/read at possibly a late 1st grade/ early 2nd grade level. She can add and subtract. She can multiply the facts that she has memorized. All before Kindergarten. It is a wonderful feeling when she reads to me. The hard part is the realization that though she reads, she isn't comprehending.

It is a long journey ahead of us. There will be many ups and downs. Of this I am sure. Still I know that someday, she will understand. She may be living with autism, but it won't stop her. After all, a Butterfly is meant to fly.