Grinda, again

We took a short trip to Grinda last week, an island in the archipelago where we spent a few nights two years ago. a last trip before our summer holiday ended. We spent way too much money, but we had a great time.

The same beach we went to last time:

This little blueberry eater:

More pics from our camping excursion

Way back in July, at the beginning of our 5-week family holiday, we went camping on Ljusterö. I'm finally getting the rest of the pictures from that trip posted.

Tomorrow, August goes back to dagis, James catches a flight to Baltimore until Saturday, and Leif and I go back to doing whatever it is that we do all day. Summer's over, just as it's finally getting started weather-wise. I suspect it's going to be a rough transition for all of us in the next few days, especially August. This morning after we read some books in his bedroom, I told him that tomorrow he starts school again, and also that James is going on a trip for a few days. He seemed fine with it, but then he walked into the living room and started crying.

We are so lucky to have had this time together--five weeks of hanging out as a family, going on trips, going to the beach, being at home. It's a part of the Swedish lifestyle that we hope to take with us wherever we go.

Now, back to camping.

Notice the falling carrot!

August's first sail

Our neighbor, Henrik, took us out on Sunday for a quick sail. Agnetta, his wife, took care of Leif while the rest of us enjoyed a beautiful, calm morning on the water. I was worried August wouldn't like it - he hasn't enjoyed his previous boating experiences - but he really enjoyed himself. I was surprised that he was so comfortable. James had a primer in Swedish sailing terminology and signage, and I hoisted the jib. Now I'm working on ways to get us more invitations out onto the water...

He fell asleep sitting on my lap on the way out, so we laid him down below; he promptly woke up, of course.

Fishing for banana peels:

The way home:

My beach babies

I keep meaning to tell you how much we are loving our new place and the nature we're immersed in. We go for nightly nature walks, looking for slugs and snails and toads and ducklings. August loves it. Saturday it was finally warm enough (finally!) to go to the beach. (Our beach isn't quite ready yet, they are still landscaping the property, but this one is a short walk down the path from us and almost visible from our balcony).

Leif loved feeling the sand in his fingers (and between his teeth), and August loved running in and out of the water. It was such a joy to watch them playing and exploring outside.

Ahhh, life in the Swedish countryside...

The boy in the background, probably a bit older than August (maybe three or three and a half), was running back and forth in the water, pulling his boat behind him. There was another boy, maybe three or four years older, lying on the rocks and casually watching him. Shortly after we arrived, the two boys packed up their things and walked off down the path. They were at the beach alone! Totally normal in Sweden, but I'm sure their parents would have been arrested in the US. And we would have been reprimanded for letting our little boy play on the beach naked.

Eating berries in the archipelago

On Saturday we visited with friends who have a summer house on an island in the archipelago. We took a bus about an hour out of town, and when we got off our friend met us in his boat to take us to their island. After a 15-minute boat ride we climbed a narrow path to their house, and were greeted with wonderful views, glorious sunshine, and more Quasian babies! Ahh, they're living the Swedish dream (sooo much nicer than the American dream!).

The path to the house, and the house itself, were bordered by lingonberry and blueberry bushes - it was the first time Augie's shown interest in picking and eating berries. I loved watching him forage for blueberries.

Our friend's younger daughter (also quarter Asian, in case you missed that above) and her grandmother:

Figuring

The other day we looked at our credit card bill from our time here in Stockholm and did a double take. Then we did some figuring, and realized that we're spending about $2000 a month on food. To clarify: on groceries -- that doesn't even include the few times we've gone out to eat. And we're only buying organic about half the time, and we're buying slightly smaller quantities than we did back in the US. Stuff here is expensive.

But then yesterday I did some more figuring, and realized that having Augie in daycare/preschool for up to 30 hours per week is costing us something like $85 per month. PER MONTH. And that includes a meal, a snack, and diapers every day!

And then, after a phone call to the social services agency, we learned that we still get a full 480 days of parental leave for Augie. Even though he was born 14.5 months ago in another country, we can still take 480 paid days off to be with him. (I will get the minimum benefit, as I've never worked in Sweden).

And healthcare? Mostly free. The max you can pay out-of-pocket per year is about $175. No matter what happens.

On to what you came for: the pictures. Looking through my camera tonight, I found some selfies the boys took. I find Augie's face in the first two fantastic. And I find the fact that he managed to take the second two astounding!

By the lake

We finally saw the sun today; unfortunately it had clouded over by the time we were ready to go play outside. We went walking anyway, around the lake towards Baba's office.