Lazy Summer Days in Sweden

Yesterday we went to a nearby lake for a swim with our neighbours. The area was rocky but had a great wooden dock for sunbathing and jumping off into the cool water. Graeme took awhile to come alive (we are jetlagged and had slept in until 12:30pm that day!) but he was soon running across the rocks like a true Swede. Every now and then he would lay down but only for a few seconds, then he was up and scampering across the rocks again.

The kids have re-established their relationships with the kids next door, and are having more fun together than ever. Kris and I were pretty sure that this idea of jumping on the trampoline under the sprinkler was a bad one, and soon put a stop to it! (But not before we took this photo!)

Unfortunately, when Kris decided to play popcorn on the trampoline with the girls later in the day, Renee's knee came up and banged her hard under her eye. She has developed quite a black eye.

This evening, we had the pleasure of watching a fleet of hot air balloons soar over our heads, just above the height of the trees here in our neighbourhood.  I understand that having these balloons float over the city of Stockholm is a rare treat as other capital cities have forbidden this.

We're soaking up the sunshine and long days in anticipation of the dark winter that seems to be far around the corner.  If only summer could last forever....

Renee's Blog

I really enjoyed my time in Sweden. I’ll miss the trails, football, and our neighbours. My favourite part of living in Sweden was riding the subways and buses to school. I loved going on the trips to Egypt, France, Italy, Spain and Estonia.

When we first got to Sweden, we were going to a school called BIPSS (The British Primary school of Stockholm). In the summer, we visited Canada for one month. After that, we started going to a big school called ‘Rodebergs Skolan’. There was many children from grade nine to one!

There we all had really nice teachers: Graeme had Vasugi, Elise had Mr. Wilkinson, and I had Mrs. Simonsen. Vasugi is from Singapore, Mr. Wilkinson is from New Zealand, and Mrs. Simonsen is from Ireland. On October 24th, 2009 we jumped on a plane to Spain, Barcelona. There we stayed at a amazing new hotel, the ‘W’. We got settled in our room and then went to the beach.

We walked along the beach to where all the shops and restaurants are to eat. Once we ate, we walked back to the hotel and explored. We got really tired and went to bed. In the morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel.

When we were full with food and energy, we hurried to get the tour bus. The ride was seriously boring. I highly recommend that you skip it if you go to Barcelona. After that boring ride, we got another ride to the cruise ship.

Once all that boring checking in was over, Mom and Dad bought themselves wine for the trip. Finally we got on The Voyager of the Seas! Mom and Dad took us swimming.

Yeah! (NOT) The water was freezing cold! Even the hot tub was like a ice cube!

At dinnertime, we had to seat with people we didn’t know! We sat with a really nice family: Robin, Ashley, Rose, Fiona and Paul. Our waiters were Andre and Yenny.

The rest of the week was really fun!

I really liked Sweden, I think I’m really going to miss it. Everyone in Sweden is really going to miss us! When we told the Oscarssons, they almost started to cry! It was really random when Dad told us!

I think Sweden was a good experience for all of us. I really missed Canada! But, soon I’ll really miss Sweden!!

Elise's Blog

When I first moved to Sweden I was scared because I didn’t know if I was going to make any friends. But I was also very excited because I hadn’t gone on a plane for a really long time! When I first arrived in Sweden I couldn’t wait to see our new house! But my parents didn’t tell us anything about the house so all of us were like kernels in a microwave just popping up and down!
When we arrived at the house we just couldn’t believe the size it was like five times the size of our old house!
Our neighbourhood was fantastic but we all felt a little sick because it was our first time making new friends!


First Day of school

My first day of school at B.I.P.S.S. was very inviting. In the last month we went to Gotland, an island. I was very nervous and didn’t want to go, but mom got me into going. I had a great experience!
At the end of the school year my class was graduating so we had a Musical about FISH! I was a sparkly Herring and I stood out so much and since I was the shortest I had to go in front do these different moves!


Summer Time!

In Sweden before we came to Canada we had three weeks of summer vacation. It was kind of cold but it was fun because we went to this pond near our house and there were giant fish and I mean giant! But the water was really warm and the sun was really hot if you stayed still for a while.


New school again

Rodabergs Skolan is fantastic! I really hate that we have to leave it soon.
My teacher is from New Zealand! He has long blond hair and is really funny sometimes or he tried to be and the class was just silent!
Some of the fun things we did were going on a 10 Km hike; going to a museum where I almost broke my nose! and much more. Mr. W has this Quote Board and unfortunately I’m on it! After the 10Km hike we came out of the subway and I said ‘’Are we outside” and he started laughing and he wondered if I’d even came. But it just looked so fake that’s why I said it. I’m really going to miss Rodabergs Skolan and all my new friends but Mr. W said I’m welcome back!


What I liked about Sweden

I liked being outdoors in Sweden because you just never knew what would happen or what adventures you’d go on once you stepped outside. And the best thing about Sweden was the old town. It is just so cool and different!