Summer vacation

Yesterday was last day of school before the summer break. Some of the parents in Rita's class had arranged breakfast with the children, teachers and parents. They even had made homebaked breadrolls. I can't find appreciation enough for those who take initiative to that kind of activities. We enjoyed breakfast and afterwards we played a bit around at the playground. Rita talked me in to trying their new swing. Boy it was fast and went high! BTW the boy on the right side of the swing is Jeppe - Rita has quite an eye for him.

Sankt Hans

Last night we celebrated Midsummer's Eve with the traditional bonfire. It was very windy and the flames were thrown all over the place. Rita and Axel enjoyed being up late playing outside.

Dead tired

This was the day when we finally decided to do something about the back yard. The flowerbed had become a jungle more than anything else. So we decided to cut back most of the plants and move the few we liked to the corner. I had to move a lot of dirt which is a task when you have no wheel barrow. I managed with help from both Rita and Axel. Now we can't wait for the grass to come up.

A swimming birthday

Today, we celebrated Axel's 11th birthday with 8 of his friends. The birthday party took place in the local swimming pool. It was a lot of fun all 3 hours.

Axel really enjoyed himself and was very happy especially with the cake. "It's mom who's made it, so it is good".

Away he went

Erik is now on his way - if not in the US already. We had to go to the airport very early this morning due to all the safety procedures. Then we weren't allowed to leave until the airplane was in the air - those are the rules when you have an unaccompanied minor on the plane.

Erik was so excited about going this morning. He woke up almost at before the alarm clock rang (and it was more than an hour before normal, not easy for a teenage boy). We had quite a wait at the airport after checking in, it was quite a torment for him.

There were 3 more children on the plane. Two of the kids were a 12 year old girl and her younger brother who was perhaps 7. Rita noticed this and made several comments that children could travel alone. "Even 7 year olds if they have a sibling accompanying them!"

There was no doubt about what she was hinting at :-)

Off to school

We had one of those rare slow mornings where we had plenty of time for breakfast before getting off to school. Rita and Axel definitely didn't seem to mind

Another creation

Erik had asked if we could have a "non-meat-week". He'd even planned the meals. It was a lot of fish and vegetarian dishes. He even offered to cook them all. He managed 3 dishes including these stir fried jumbo shrimp. Tonight he was too busy packing for his trip to the US so I made potato balls for him.

Standing up drinking

I don't know what came over me. Yesterday, I fell over these 2,5 feet long strows at the grocery store. Rita and Axel were crazy about them. We had them standing up drinking both for breakfast and lunch. It got a bit tiring after a while with all the getting up and down through the meals. Ellen had no sympathy. I had asked for it :-)

Spiegelei kuchen

Once again Erik made a spectacular dish - Fried egg cake - is the English translation from German. It was made from a cake mix we bought in Berlin. It's cake, custard, apricots and clear jello. Very good.

High sun factor

Poor Axel he was on the beach with the Zuletas. Although wearing sun screen he got a severe sun burn. It hurts just to look at it :-(

101

In Rita's class they have been counting how many milk teeth has been changed since January. Rita hasn't been a big contributor but yesterday she added tooth number 101 to the collection. She was very happy and proud.

On grass

Erik has been longing for his first soccer match of the season. It took place yesterday. The boys played very well but got behind half way through the game. They had a lot of ball possession but also had a hard time getting the ball into the goal. But in the end things started to work for them and they ended up with 3-3. It was very exciting.

Got new suit?

Ellen had mailordered some summer clothes for the kids. The package arrived today while Ellen is away on school this weekend. I had a lot of scruples if we could open the package. It was after all a project between Ellen, Rita and Axel. Well, I needn't think too much. Once Rita saw the box it was open!

Salmon and lentils

Once again Erik helped us to a very special meal. He had picked up this recipe for salmon and lentils at the grocey store. The salmon was put on top of a salad mixed with lentils, orange, red onion and mush room. It was exquisite.

Marshmallow

We have had amazing weather over the holidays. Sunday night we made a bon fire. Axel enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the fire.

Yesterday, the kids had talked us into going to the beach after the opera. The weather changed completely during the performance. So we ended up sitting with blankets over our shoulders eating pizza waiting for the kids to work up enough nerve to jump in the water.

The Brothers Lionheart

This afternoon we were at the Royal Opera to see a new opera made over the book "The brothers Lionheart" by Astrid Lindgren. The music was dramatic and the singers really good. At one part of the piece drummers were placed on 3 floors - in fact one of the drummers were just 3 meters from us - playing a tribal rhytm that echoed through all of the theatre. It was a spectacular!

I have always liked the tale of the brothers Lionheart. It's about heroism and fraternal love when deepest. As I get older though - and perhaps also being a father, the part I find the most is the mother losing her two sons.

Copenhagen wrestling cup

Krister emailed us last week. Anton, Conny and Elly-Britt's oldest grandson, was to wrestle in the Copenhagen wrestling cup. The cup was in Skovlunde 15 minutes drive from our house. Neither of us had ever seen a wrestling match before went. It was a huge tournament with 350 competitors from more than 5 countries, including Sweden and Denmark. I don't know why, but it surprised us that both boys and girls would wrestle.

It was amazing to watch the intensity of the kids before going on the floor. They were so focused on the game. Their pulse high and breathing heavy. Prepared to the forthcoming battle.

Anton was very good at wrestling. He showed great muscle and intellect in the way he handled his competitor. Basically, he just threw them to the floor. He made it all the way to the final and won silver. It was great!

9 cm

It's not nice to brag, but that's how much I have had to reduce the lining since I've started to work out at a fitness studio.

Lawns of summer

One of my favorite short stories is by Ray Bradbury. It's among other things about the joy associated with the smell of freshly cut green grass.

Well, for poor Erik it wasn't any joy to cut grass today. The grass had grown too tall to cut with the push lawn mower. Nonetheless, Erik put a lot of labor and muscle in to pushing the machine but to no avail. Needless to say, Erik was very happy when the neighbor came over and offered to lend out his electric lawn mower. Erik didn' even have to think twice before accepting the offer.

Forces of nature

It looks very dramatic. In reality it is a daddy long leg which has just left its cocoon. We came upon it when we went for a walk in Broslätt. As a can see the insect must just have left its shelter. The wings were all soft and it was obviously drying.

The daddy long leg was just one of several insects we came upon that day. It must have been the warm spring weather that brought them out.

I believe the kids most likely will remember the beetle we fished out of the water in the creek. It had two very long strings (10-15 cm) attached to its behind. The strings broke off when the beetle got up on land. And they moved back in to the water!!! We could not decide if it was an intestinal worm, the beetle was laying eggs or perhaps just pooping.

Girls in a tree

Rita had Emily visit her. Suddenly we had 4 girls climbing the trees in front of the house. They enjoyed themselves and so did Ellen and I while working in the garden. Although from time to time we heard language which would make a sailor blush.

Blue monday

It's just a wee bit after midnight and I just picked up a very happy son at the school. He was just so full of good spirits and stories: "A waiter spilled soda down the neck of Chris", and "I ate 3 bowls of ice cream for dessert it was so sick" and"We played laser tag, my team won and I got most hits - 15.000 points" and and...

What else can I say, parenthood is great :-)

New job

Today I started my new job. My office is right next to the Botanical gardens. This is the view from my desk. I'm looking forward to realizing some of my ideas and projects for the organization: Openness/dialague and gender are some of the issues I hope to raise on the short term.

This day Erik also went on "Blue Monday" in Copenhagen. "Blue Monday" is a custom where the children who has just been confirmed are allowed to take a day out of school and spend it on their own hand in the city. It's possible since we have a state church where all the children in 7th grade on our school are confirmed on the same weekend - if they are members of the state church of course. Eventhough Erik's confirmation is not until next year, he was invited along with all of his friends.

Erik had looked so much forward to it. Normally he has easy to sleep and sleeps late if allowed, but last night he couldn't fall asleep and he was almost the first up this morning. I can understand him. Part of the program was to eat at a restaurant downtown and then visit Tivoli. A couple of the parents from the class accompanied the group to keep an eye on them and help if needed.

3 hours ago

The weather has been amazing this weekend. This evening we grilled and had dinner outside. It was a real summer meal - green asparagus, potato salad and the lots.

I should perhaps add that spring time in Southern Sweden is synonymous with fresh green asparagus. The greens we had was, however, from Hungary - although purchased in Sweden.

Fooling around

I'll let it speak for itself. It really was a fun weekend.

Treat

What a wake up call. Friday, the kids prepared waffles-breadrolls-bacon-sausages-scrampled eggs-fried egg-cheese and coffee for breakfast. What a treat!

Fun in Sweden

Ascension Thursday usually means a 4 day weekend in Denmark. Ellen unfortunately had to work, but the kids and I went to the house in Sweden. Rita and Axel had a blast Thursday fooling around with the wheel barrow. Rita had to "pay" to ride for a ride. It meant she had to run 3 times around the house before Axel would do the same with her in the barrow.

10 course dinner

Last night we went to a get together for all the parents in Rita's class. It was a dinner with out kids. At the party we were divided into 10 different groups which were supplied with a recipe and the responsibility to cook the meal. It was a very international menu so we had wantons, Moroccan lamb stew, marinated cod etc etc. It was very good.

Nicole's confirmation

We just got back from Nicole's confirmation. It was a very nice party. We were very happy to be invited. Karen's sister Eva had invited us to stay the night at their place for which we are very a grateful . To day we had brunch with everybody. The children really hit it off together. Rita almost wanted to adopt Nicole as he older sister. The weather was excellent. It really just made it a perfect visit.

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I forgot to add. It was an excellent menu. We had smoked salmon wrapped in tortillas with spinach and cream cheese, rumb steak with small roasted potatoes as well as a mixed green salad and an ice cream cake. It was delicious.

I've made a movie with some of the pictures from our visit. You can find it here.

Roethlisberger burger

Last week Erik celebrated his birthday with a couple of friends. Erik had been very adamant that he wanted a big burger with 300 g (2/3 a pound) of beef for his birthday meal. We ended up making Roethlisberger burgers named after Pittsburgh Steelers QB. Of course the burger was so big Erik couldn't finish it all off. But he was happy. Afterwards the boys went to the movies and saw Superhero movie. They really enjoyed themselves!

Work out

Last year we got a fitness studio at my work. I have been visiting the place a couple of times a week since November. The boys have been very curious to see it, so Saturday the Qvistgaard boys went to Copenhagen to build some muscle!

I'm a robot

Saturday we once again paid a visit to the Children's museum. This time to visit the robot festival. Among other things the boys and I had a chance to program a Lego robot. It was fun - and a bit difficult, but very educational. It didn't take Axel very long to decide to add Lego mindstorms to his permanent wish list.

Erik's birthday

It's amazing. In a year Erik has grown 13 cm or 5,1 inches. That's as much as he's grown in the 3 previous years altogether. On his 14th birthday Erik is, a you can see, certifiably 167,5 cm or 5 foot 6 inches. He has become quite a young man.

Erik also made sure that we this year once again were the first in the neighborhood to fire up the old Weber grill as his request for birthday dinner was hot dogs with bratwurst and baked beans and brownies and ice cream for dessert.

Spring koncert

Last night it was Axel's turn to perform at the school's annual spring concert. Axel had been very secretive about which instrument he was to play. So we were very curious when we showed up at the school. The kids did really great I think in my completely unbiased view.

Dance

In the last couple of weeks a couple of the oldergirls have been practicing a dance with some of the girls at Rita's after school club. Today we saw the results. Rita really enjoyed herself although she was a bit apprehensive before the show since she hadn't been in school the past week due to her chicken pox. But she did well and enjoyed herself as well.

Chicken pox

Poor Rita! She broke out with chicken pox yesterday. Rita had been a bit cranky most of Saturday. She complained of head ache and sore throat.

Sunday morning Rita was up very early. She was very excited about Easter. She even rolled up her curtain and almost saw the Easter bunny (:-) in the back yard hiding his eggs.

So when midday came illness and lack of sleep made her dose off on the couch. The music didn't bother at all. In fact it was Rita who had "borrowed" Erik's cell phone to play music on.

Lion and Lamb

We had stumpled across this recipe for some neat little Easter cakes. Ellen made this today with Rita and her friend Cecilie. Right now the cakes are sitting on the dining table waiting for Ellen and the boys to return from the movies. Rita and I are having a hard time keeping our fingers from the cakes.

Warhammer

We had the Zuleta boys staying over night during Easter (Rita's Godmothers' sons). Axel got the idea they should play with Erik's old Warhammer figures. The game ended with the decision that we had to make a trip to Copenhagen and get a box with 110 new dwarfs, goblins, trolls and I don't know what. Both boys have now spent 4 days glueing and painting their new models.

Happy Easter

It was a fast paced hunt but the Easter bunny managed nonetheless once again to avoid being both caught and seen. He did however leave a very nice Easter egg. I believe lots of it already has disappeared.

Cyclecross

Before it started snowing in Sweden the kids had found some old bikes. They also discovered a hill - which is a bit steeper than appears on the video. Well, you can guess what happened. They had a lot of fun racing down the hill.

Quiet week

We took some time out of the calendar and went to the summerhouse in Sweden Saturday to Tuesday of this week. Monday it just started snowing. We went for a long walk in the forrest. Axel and Ellen was certain that we had went through the wardrobe and in to Narnia. The landscape was truely magic. When we got back to the house we had about 3 inches of snow on the ground.

Happy Birthday Rita

Can you believe it. 7 years old. Rita had a full birthday package. The day started with fresh baked rolls. The we had all the girls from Rita's kindergarten class for a great birthday bash and ended up with have Farmor, Baba, Merete, Edith, Felicia and the Zuletas for dinner.

Ellen had a usual been creative. This time she had created a Dalmatian. That is - it was meant to be a dalmatian, but once the white icing had come on the cake we couldn't figure out a good way of adding the black dots. So it ended up being a white dog!

Panoramic view

I just stitched together a panoramic picture of the mountain we went skiing on. The weather really was that good.

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I don't know what was wrong with the picture. Hope it is working now.