2016 Recap - January-June

I'm not such a good blogger, am I... Last post in February last year and now it is May of this year already. Oh well... Here comes a recap of 2016 that I started preparing a few months ago but didn't get around to posting until now. This is January-June 2016 and the rest of the year will come soon.

JANUARY
Birthdays, which I already wrote about here. Raclette dinner at Petchie - a very typical and fitting winter activity. Baked bread on sourdough passed onto us from Petchie's dad (we kept it alive a couple of months but then gave up...). Shot a video at work used at a Directorate Day to inform others about our work.

FEBRUARY
Baked cinnamon buns and of course, it being February, semlor, for Harald's 3rd birthday. And I made an airplane cake!

Swans on the tram track. One of many home-made pizza evenings with the friendbours. I started the work trip year with one of my many trips to Sweden (February-June and September-December I travel at least once every month). Kids visited me at work. Peter's friend T. visited for a few days.

MARCH
I got a new passport, reluctantly, since I was so happy with the photo in my old one. Oh, vanity! My parents came for a long weekend and we went to Antwerpen but otherwise mostly stayed local. The weather was nice so we could even have fika in the sunshine on our terrace, though while wearing coats.

We made hamburgers from scratch (not the first time and not last either) for the friendbours and we went to Planckendael animal park with Petchie & family plus a Swedish-Danish family.

March was of course also the month of a very sad and horrible event in Brussels, which I was very lucky to narrowly escape. Now it feels a very long time ago and we don't really think about it in our daily lives (despite other attacks around the world including in Stockholm unfortunately having taken place), although it of course comes to mind sometimes as I travel on the metro to work every day. That particular day I took the metro as usual and got off at Maelbeek as usual and had just exited the metro station and walked up to my office when a colleague came and said something had happened at Maelbeek and that there were injured people. Probably my train was the one that came in just before the train with the bomb, 2-3 minutes apart. I'm not the type of person to think too much about the past (unless it is happy things) or dwell, so I have mostly thought about how lucky I was, am, and not about what could have happened. And the people who were not so lucky were in my thoughts instdad. In retrospect of course, both Peter and I agree that, even though it went well, it was stupid to go on the metro after we knew that first attack had taken place at the airport. I remember I told Peter after we had dropped off the kids at school that I felt a bit strange to take the metro, but he said that it will be fine, don't worry. Well, for me it was fine in the end, but not for others... If this ever happen again sometime somewhere I will not take public transport right there and then.

Personally for us, it was otherwise a good day, because Peter signed a job contract this very day. Actually he was supposed to take the metro a bit later than me to go and sign it at his new employer at 10 o'clock. By then the metro was for obvious reasons not running anymore, and after checking whether they still wanted him to come in, he took the car downtown. It took him a while due to many closed off streets but he made it there, signed the contract, and was then able to drive closer to my area to wait until I was let out of my building (we were not allowed to leave for the first few hours after the attacks). What is a bit funny or ironic or what you call it, is that Peter's new office is located in Molenbeek, the city district where many of the terrorists come from. Molenbeek is actually very central, not so far from Grand Place and the city centre, and Peter's work, the head office of one of Belgium's biggest banks, is located just at the beginning of Molenbeek. So on the day of a terrorist attack he drove to where they live(d) to sign the contract. Obviously, Molenbeek has many - mostly - regular people too. It actually shows how Brussels is. Many parts are very divided. One street can be very run down and with residents from a certain socio-economic group or ethnic background, and the next street over could be completely different.

The evening of 22 March we were extra grateful for our little family and for being alive.

A couple of days later, and only with a day's delay to our original plans, we managed to fly to Sweden for Easter. We were quick to re-book our flight once they announced that they were redirecting some flights from Zaventem (which after the attacks were closed for months) to other small airports. Our flight was quite empty, maybe 15-20 people, and we saw a flight leaving for Edinburgh with maximum 5 passengers. A few days later these flights were full though and the arrangements went on for at least a month before they could partly re-open Zaventem.

APRIL
We stayed for about a week in Sweden for Easter, into the very beginning of April. We had some sunny and warm spring days so a lot of time outside. Good times and moments with friends and family. Harald had a haircut, the first one where he wasn't completely hysterical and didn't have to sit on my lap. We got to try pasta bolognese made of moose and wild boar for the first time.

Back in Brussels spring had arrived properly, at least for a moment, with 20 degrees. The kids went to "stage" (camp) their second week of Easter break. Isolde went to swimming camp and Harald did the usual mini club for the youngest kids.

The metro started running again after the terrorist attacks and at the end of the month "my" station Maelbeek re-opened again too.

We did some outlet shopping with A & L and we did one of many excursions with the friendbours to Ikea. Peter hired a high-pressure washer and had a go at the tiles in the front and back of our house and we discovered we had differently coloured tiles than just dirt gray.

We celebrated Peter's birthday and also his new job that he started on 18 April, both with the friendbours and with a dinner for two at a local renomed restaurant.

In April I also went to Sweden for a girls' weekend with my childhood friends to celebrate that we all, except one, were turning 40.

The month ended, as it should, even in Brussels, with Valborg celebration out at the Scandinavian school in Waterloo.

MAY
May meant more time at playgrounds and picnics in the park. Family L. visited us for a long weekend and one or two weekends after Peter's sister with family came as well. In general we had pretty bad weather all spring and early summer but these visits managed to hit some of the few days of sunny and warm weather in May. With family L we went to the Hergé or "Tintin" museum and the tivoli in our local square.

We also did a short trip to Sweden ourselves as I combined a work trip with some family and friends time. On this trip I said goodbye to my parents' house, the house which was my home between the ages of 13 and 19, and where I have stayed a lot also after that of course. The garden especially is missed, in particular of the kids, but almost a year after my parents' move, it definitely feels like the right move for them. They really like their new flat a bit nearer the centre of Södertälje, where they are very close to the shops, my mother's work, my aunt and uncle and my brother. Their new building is one of those 55+ residences so many (most) living there are retired and they have a garden club, a library, gym and sauna, weaving room, etc. and they (those who want to) meet almost every day for a meal or a coffee.

I got my own elevating desk for work to save my back. Elevating desks (the proper types, not the desk-on-desk version I got) are standard in Sweden but the European Commission is somewhat behind when it comes to the physical work environment...

JUNE

Isolde made a portrait of me at school.

Three friends of Peter visited. We took many evening walks in our lovely neighbourhood and did some gardening. We could sit outside at dinner with the Stockel ladies and one of the English girls in the group hosted an Afternoon Tea.

We said goodbye to our American friends - but we will see them in Stockholm as that is where they headed next. They threw an early 4th of July party as their farewell do - S had baked all week! We also said goodbye to C & J with kids (the family we rented the flat we first lived in here in Brussels) who moved back to Sweden for good.

June was also start of the Euro 2016 football cup, which was extra fun as Sweden and Belgium were in the same group.

We of course celebrated Midsummer (and forgot about Brexit for a moment...)! We invited our American friends (before they disappeared to the US for holiday and then to Stockholm to their new home) and in addition we had Spanish guests in addition to the obligatory Swedes.

And we ended June 2016 with a date night!

Thursday in September

Almost a month since I last wrote. What have we been up to?

• Isolde started school again. She's in the same class as little friendbours V. and E., which is very nice and convenient for drop-offs and pick-ups but also has its disadvantage, e.g if one or two of the others get picked up early but not Isolde, but that's part of learning how to deal with life I guess. Isolde likes school and has fun there but it is certainly not the super-positive attitude that we had last autumn (guess the novelty has wore off). In the morning she says she doesn't want to go but once we're on the way she's usually excited...until we reach the classroom and she doesn't want to let go and is sometimes upset (though sometimes "crocodile tears") but usually accepts to go to her teacher's arms, albeit a bit reluctantly. If E. is upset, Isolde will also start crying, or vice versa, as they trigger each other. As I said she seems to have fun and be content once there but in the morning I think that she in that moment prefers to stay on the comfy couch and watching telly. And not having to get dressed. Our little lazy girl :)

Isolde's classroom. To the left of this picture they have a playhouse and some more toys.

• It took Harald about three weeks or so to get used to his new daily routine at the Pas à pas crèche. After about three weeks he caught a cold and was home for little over a week. The last two days before he got sick was the first days that he didn't cry when we dropped him off, but after that week away I thought we would be back to square one. But it seems that he has actually missed them and he wanted to go to one of the teachers right away and he put his head on her shoulder and cuddled for a long time. So this was really a sign that he's really happy there and also a good "grade" for them. There's such a good atmosphere there. When I dropped Harald off Wednesday this week they were playing the guitar and singing and I just wanted to stay there instead of going to work!
• We have done some gardening, even though most weekends and evenings we have priorised other things. We have tried to get rid of some persistent weed (dandellion type) in the grass, the environmentally-friendly way, and sown new grass, but now we'll have to buy some chemicals. I have also continued the weeding of the flower beds that my mum started when she was here, and we have also evened out some parts of the grass both on the front and back of the house by putting new soil and sown grass.
• I started studying French - two hours twice per week during work hours, one of the perks of working for the European Commission.
• We tried online food shopping from Colruyt and we will probably continue this habit, if not every week but every other, with the usual complimentary shopping from the smaller supermarkets in the neighbourhood. Colruyt is a discount supermarket that is not really a great shopping experience if you actually go there - reminded me of Ö&B/Överskottsbolaget in Sweden - but in terms of the produce and products it sells it is very good. It has a very large range of organic products and Colruyt also has another supermarket, BioPlanet, that only sells bioproducts.

• We bought a new table for the living room. You may remember that our old one broke... We tried to find another table we liked but in the end we bought one almost exactly the same as our old glass table, only slightly smaller. We also bought a new carpet for the kids' room. As always, Ikea is the place to go. Well, not the table as that is from Habitat.

• We had a crayfish party together with the extended friendbour circle, including also the family we rented the flat from our first year in Brussels, who are now back in town. We ate crayfish for lunch and then had a barbeque in the evening. We actually got a babysitter to entertain the kids in the evening so we could actually have a sit-down dinner. Worked pretty well even though you are not completely off duty since they are still in the house.

• What else? We celebrated V's third birthday and Ellna's first, and their dad turned 40. We tried to take advantage of the mild September evenings before it starts getting dark too early (though most of the time, September has been chillier than last year, but better than August) by taking walks in our lovely neighbourhood. We also visited one of those indoor playgrounds for children for the first time. We were there early so we had the place almost to ourselves. Only bad thing was that we got some sort of stomach bug but it could also have been the lunch at Pizza Hut afterwards... We made a visit to the Natural History Museum. Last week we went to three different playgrounds in the same day. You have to make the most of the weekends, especially when the weather is nice!

Pajama walk

Little palaeontologists in action

• Peter has gone climbing twice with the husband of a colleague of mine (they came to our drink in March) and the plan is that they will go regularly. After the first session Peter's climbing shoes got mysteriously missing - we think we must have thrown them out with the rubbish, possibly with Harald's help... but luckily they were too tight and he needed new ones anyway. By funny coincidence my colleague's husband, whose name is also Peter, also went to Essex university like my Peter (he did a one-year Master's there) and it was there both of them tried climbing for the first time (and my Peter hasn't really climbed since then). Both Peters have also spent a long time at home with their children (their daughter is around the same age as Isolde) and the other Peter works 80% and is also the one who usually picks from crèche/school. We're also going to try to get the whole families together soon.
• Oh, and there was the Swedish election of course. There is so much I would like to write about it but I haven't had time to really sit down and have a serious think. For now, I will only write that despite the disappointment of the success of the Sweden Democrats that of course bedimmed the evening, Petra and I had a good time at the election coverage event organised by the group Svenskar i Bryssel.

Summer in Sweden in Bullets

• one tic (Harald)
• two wasp stings (Isolde)
• many, many mosquito bites (Peter, Isolde)
• temperature in the lake: 26
• sleeping temperature: 27
• 40 mm rain in one night during one of the many thunder storms of the hot summer
• one child-free evening (well, Peter had two more with friends, but I also had the ten days in Brussels on my own before coming to Sweden plus one evening in Stockholm)
• 2 pair of shoes purchased, otherwise no shopping unfortunately (but Peter bought some running shoes and I had made some online shopping for the children that was delivered as we arrived and also bought a few further items for the kids, including books)
• 25+ friends plus family and relatives seen
• one art exhibition
• one climber in the family (Harald) and one talker (Isolde - no stop to it sometimes!)
• so many, many laughs when reading old "letter books" between my childhood friends (still my friends) and me after I had cleaned out the my part of the attic at my parents (so many funny memorabilia discovered!)
• one doll and one doll bed as well as lots of doll clothes and other little toys moved from my old attic to Brussels
• one wedding - they sort of eloped but we were able to surprise them with a little "honeymoon package" in their hotel and we continued the celebrations when they arrived home!
• tons of fruit and berries in Harald's tummy
• one work badge returned (goodbyes saved for later), as I resigned from job in Sweden
• flat in Sweden sublet, so don't have to worry about that for a while
• two vaccination shots (Harald both)
• one visit to the child health centre for 18-month check-up (Harald) and doctor's appointments (ear problem for Peter and routine check-up for me)
• three babies on the way among friends in the next few months
• three haircuts (all except Isolde - though Harald's was a homemade, improvised one)
• 20+ swims from the jetty to the raft (Isolde with one or two parents)
• two new Marabou chocolate flavours tried (Bisquit and Oreos)
• one batch of new potatoes harvested in grandpa's greenhouse (Isolde)
• some not so good karaoke singing (me)
• swimming in three lakes and the sea
• one day of work, as I was called in for some meetings
• one visit to Tom Tits science museum with grandma (Isolde)
• two big bags of random stuff we cannot find in Brussels purchased, ranging from minipacks of raisins to dishcloths
• zero episodes of Midsumer Murders watched and not a single movie either
• four summer knees and many bruises and scratches (the kids), just the way it should be! And summer feet!
• hours and hours of play with the neighbour girl at mormor and morfar's (Isolde)
• and much, much more!

Long Time No See!

A lot has happened since I last wrote three months ago. Will take it in bullets. It's Thursday after all!

• In May our dear friends Maria and Daniel visited for a short weekend to celebrate Daniel's 40th birthday. Of course that required proper celebration at a two-star restaurant! Thanks P & O for babysitting!

Cheese!

• Later in May we flew back to Sweden for a long weekend to celebrate my mother's 60th birthday (and my parents also celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary). The weather was perfect, sunny and 28 degrees! My mother was very happy for her gift from me - a visit to Chelsea Flower Show next year (that reminds me, should probably book the tickets already now), something she has wanted to do for a very long time! My mum is also, despite her age (ha ha, though these days 60 is still very young) finally getting a driving license, so she's busy studying theory and taking lessons. Good for her!

• A few days after Sweden we packed up the car (you can never travel light with kids!) and drove to Münich together with our friendbours P & O to visit O's brother and wife over the Ascension Day weekend. On the way there we stopped in Frankfurt (partly because we left after work on the Wednesday and partly to split the long drive - 7+ hours - for the sake of the kids) to spend the night, but on Sunday we drove home in one go. We were a bit unlucky with the weather but otherwise I really liked Münich and we had a very nice time. Unfortunately Isolde caught a fever so on Saturday she and I spent the afternoon in the hotel as well as in a local playground while the rest of the group continued their sightseeing (this meant I sadly missed the visit to the Englischer Garten, but we'll probably be back some day).

I didn't take that many pictures with the iPhone but this is what Münich is all about, right :)

• The following weekend Peter went to Sweden again, this time for the wedding of a friend of his. We didn't feel like travelling with the children again for the third time in just two weeks, so he went by himself. Nice for him to get some child-free time as well. While he was in Sweden, the kids and I hung out with the neighbours - of course - and I packed a bit. Friday was 6 June and the Swedish National Day so P, T and I took the kids to the Swedish church for the celebrations in the evening. Sunday it was Princess Leonore's christening so we used the occasion to have a brunch with the friendbours, or at least the females of the families and the children, while the christening was on TV in the background. I also had the Monday off for Pentecoast and since Peter came back Sunday evening, we had a family day as well. 

Emily, Harald and Isolde at the National Day celebrations!

• The following week and weekend was the big move! I took half of Thursday and all of Friday off - work gives a leave entitlement for up to two days for removal purposes. Thursday afternoon we set out to Ikea with quite a long list - wardrobes for our bedroom, for Harald (Isolde had one already coming with the lorry from Sweden) and for the entrance/downstairs hallway, crib for Harald, bookcase for the kids' room, a double bed for the large/main guest room and other bits and pieces. The movers were supposed to arrive Friday with our furniture from the Stockholm flat, but they called and said that they were arriving early and asked whether it was possible to unload already Thursday afternoon. So they arrived around the time we returned from Ikea with lots of flatpacks (we used this excellent Ikea taxi service that only costs 30 euros irrespective of how much stuff you have and they help load and unload the van and there's no waiting time). We had reserved to block the street from other parked cars for the Friday to allow room for the lorry, but since it was Thursday still they had to just park in the road. Luckily it is not a very trafficated road so it worked out fine. We had booked a window lift - very exciting for the kids - for Friday afternoon to get some of the bulky furniture upstairs, as the staircase is a bit narrow, so we still made use of our cleared street part. On Sunday the "friendbours took the kids for most of the day so we could get some unpacking done and assemble Ikea furniture. After that it started to look like a home, or at least the start of one, and from that Sunday night (15 June) we slept in the house.  

Some order but mostly disorder!

Exciting!

• Isolde made her first school trip ever in mid-June. They went by bus to a horse farm near Leuven where they were able to ride and feed the horses, look at sheep and bake some bread (very tasty actually!). She had a really great time and asked several days in a row if she was going on an excursion that day again.  

Isolde's farm-baked bread
 

Isolde reenacts her school photo :)

• We had guests at the new house from the start. Even before we moved in Peter had assembled the grill and the trampoline so we were ready to receive guests, big and small! The first dinner was with P & O and kids and the first BBQ with our other neighbours T & M and another friend A with her boyfriend J, without the kids as we had organised a babysitter for the evening. We had meant to watch Belgium's first match in the World Cup on big screen in the local square but there were so many people that we decided to go home instead.

First BBQ at the house!

• The following weekend was Midsummer's and we had the celebrations at the house on the Saturday (Friday being a regular work day here) with 9 adults and 8 kids even though our house was in a bit of a state still. The weather was perfect and we were mostly outside anyway. We even had a proper Maypole and wreaths for the kids, thanks to T. There was so much food over so the next day almost the same crowd came over (minus 2 adults and 2 kids) for the leftovers and stayed all day. We didn't get much unpacking and organising done that weekend, but there would be time for that. Life is too short not to enjoy it fully with good friends!

• Peter managed to trip and fall on top of our glass table in the living room in the middle of our Midsummer fun, which broke in a thousand pieces, but luckily he wasn't injured except for some minor cuts (very fortunate, it could be much worse). It was funny in a tragicomical way because P, when seeing the table for the first time the day before, had asked "is that really safe with kids?" and Peter had responded "I've had this table for almost 18 years, several grown men have fallen on it, it's very sturdy..", etc. I guess the years and all those "bumps" had taken its toll and perhaps travelling 1,500 km in a lorry from Stockholm to Brussels was the final straw. Now we're on the lookout for a new table and possibly we're going for an almost exact table from Habitat (if we dare...).  

The table that no longer is...

• After that it was school's out for Isolde and we drove to Sweden on Friday 27 June. The trip went surprisingly well, much better than the trip to Münich a few weeks earlier. We started around 9 in the morning and took our time to Travemünde where we were going to take the ferry to Sweden. Actual driving time was just over 6 hours but we took two breaks and arrived in Lübeck around 6pm for dinner and a walk around. The ferry wasn't leaving until 22:00 and check-in was at 20:00 so we had plenty of time to kill. Once on the ferry the kids were able to play in the playroom for a while before bedtime. We had chosen one of the largest cabins so that we had proper beds (well, sort of, but at least avoid top bunks) and more space.

Great time in the ball pool!

• The ferry arrived to Trelleborg already at 07:30 so we had to set the alarm pretty early. We had some breakfast on the boat but saved some room for a second breakfast at an old school friend who lives in the Skåne countryside. So our first stop on the Swedish side was a visit to C. in little village Stora Beddinge for some just-out-of-the-oven scones and fresh coffee. Last time I saw C. was three years ago and before then...15 years?? It was very nice meeting her sambo and children and I'm very glad that we stopped by. Around 10am we headed north and only stopped once for lunch after almost 3½ hours as the kids slept for most of the first leg. After the lunch stop we only had another two hours or so before we reached my parents' house in Södertälje in time for dinner.  
• That weekend I had the chance to see Saltistjejen from New York who was in Sweden for the summer and meet the latest addition to the family. So glad we were able to meet up, even if only for a short fika!

• Sunday evening I flew back to Brussels to work while Peter drove to his parents' summer house. I had to work for another two weeks, however, I flew to Sweden for the weekend, and Peter and the kids joined me in Stockholm where we stayed in his parents' apartment. That weekend I also had the opportunity to join a farewell get-together for a colleague from my old (or Swedish) job (and did karaoke for the first time in ages and "better than good" as the saying goes...). While I was on my own in Brussels for two weeks (or ten working days) I did a little unpacking and fixing but also took the opportunity to go out with colleagues and friends, for example girls' night to celebrate P's birthday. The first few days alone felt rather lonely but then got used to it and the second week I started longing for the kids (and Peter too of course) again, even though I had seen them at the weekend :) And great weather had come to Sweden while I was shivering in 14'C Brussels and had to turn the heating on as I was all alone in a big house!
• Then on 11 July I flew to Sweden again, but this time for four weeks holiday! But more about that in a separate post!