Books and Films 2015 and 2014

Maybe not of any interest to my readers (if there are any left out there..?) but a good way to keep a record for myself.


Read Books 2015

• "Bakom ljuset" by Åsa Nilsonne
• "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
• "En spricka i kristallen" by Cecilia Gyllenhammar
• "Kaffe med rån" by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
• "Expeditionen: Min kärlekshistoria" by Bea Uusma
• "The Sex Life of My Aunt" by Mavis Cheek
• "Murder in Mesopotamia" by Agatha Christie
• "Döden på en blek häst" by Amanda Hellberg
• "Den brinnande flickan" by Mark Billingham
• "Den sista frestelsen" by Val McDermid
• "Död joker" by Anne Holt
• "I stundens hetta" by Viveca Sten
• "In Persuasion Nation" by George Saunders
• "The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil" (novel) by George Saunders

Seen Films 2015

• The Bridge series +++++
• The Intern ++++
• Wall-E ++++
• The Intouchables ++++
• Tucker and Dale vs. Evil ++++
• Paddington ++++
• The Imitation Game ++++
• Jurassic World +++
• Survivor +++
• Get Hard +++
• Keeping Mum +++
• The Interview +++
• Home ++

Read Books 2014

• "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden" by Morgan Spurlock
• Could not finish "Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid" by Tibor Fischer
• "Livet efter dig" by Jojo Moyes
• "Utslag av oro" by Mark Haddon
• "Strandsommar" by Anita Shreve
• "Till min dotter i Frankrike" av Stephanie & Barbara Keating
• "En man som heter Ove" by Fredrik Backman
• "Mr Rosenblum's List" by Natasha Solomons
• "Ludmila's Broken English" by DBC Pierre
• "Ok, amen" by Nina Solomin
• Started "Analfabeten" by Jonas Jonasson
• Started "Martina-koden" by Martina Haag

Seen Films 2014

• Sherlock Holmes series +++++
• The Grand Budapest Hotel +++++
• About Time ++++
• The Grand Seduction ++++
• Begin Again ++++
• Frozen ++++
• Gravity +++
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas +++
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit +++
• The Other Woman +++
• Lucy ++
• The Signal ++
• 22 Jump Street ++
• The Wolf of Wall Street ++

2015 in Summary

• Did you do something in 2015 that you have never done before? Experience the joy of having lice (Isolde and me) and pinworm (just Isolde but all of us had to take the medicine for preventive purposes).
• Did you push through any major change? Potty-training Harald, if that counts :)
• Did any of your friends become parents this year? Our best friends here in Brussels had number 3 now in December and Peter's sister with family had their no 2 earlier in the year in April. And our friends who moved from Belgium to Wales last October had twins in May this year. And several other friends and acquaintances here in Brussels had babies.
• Did someone close to you die? Peter's grandmother passed away at the beginning of the year. Always sad to lose a close relative but she was 93+ and not in a very good shape so I think it was a relief for her to be able let go.
• Which countries did you visit? Sweden (as we live in Belgium), Wales, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France (twice), England and Luxembourg.
• Best purchase: A new car with 7 seats so that we can do more sightseeing when we have visitors. A new sofa as well although I think I like the style of our old one better, but we really needed a new one.
• An important date/day: Peter and I had our fifth wedding anniversary on 1 November 2015 and it was ten years since we met around the same time.

Excursion with the cousins' boat in August 2015

• Did something make you really happy? The news that my friend Jenny who has lived in Brazil for the last four years was going to move back to Europe and Sweden.
• Do you miss something during 2015 that you would like in 2016? More visits from family and friends.
• What do you wish you had done more of? Slept more, mainly gone to bed earlier in the evening. Read more books, travelled more locally where we live (Belgium and surrounding countries), exercised more, gone to museums and exhibitions.
• What do you wish you did less off? Losing my patience and yelling at the kids.
• Favourite programme on TV: Bron (The Bridge), The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Julkalendern, documentary about Astrid Lindgren, documentary about the oldest Swedish blogger (103!)
• Best book you read this year? "Expeditionen: Min kärlekshistoria" by Bea Uusma
• What was your greatest success at work in 2015? Contribution to the country analysis on Sweden (mainly labour market chapter) and adoption of two funding programmes for Sweden. And that I managed to take French lessons as well.
• Greatest mistake: Not something really bad, but I wish I would have slept more and done more exercise, i.e. taking more care of my own health. Then maybe I wouldn't have a stiff back now and needing to go to the chiropractor (though it is mainly due to bad work environment - not being able to stand up and work in particular).
• Were you happier or more sad this year compared to previous years? Not much different from earlier. I'm pretty happy most of the time, but perhaps that there's not enough time for everything I, we, want to do. And I'm worried that Peter is not as happy here in Brussels as I am (mostly because he doesn't have a job and colleagues, etc.).
• What did you spend most money on? A new car, but otherwise, in terms of running costs, rent (for a marvelous house we really like) and Harald's crèche fees.
• A wish that came true? Not my wish but my mum had wanted to go to Chelsea Flower Show for a long time and I made that happen (her 60th birthday present from last year but the trip was this year).
• A wish that did not come true? A job for Peter and more travelling.
• What did you do on your birthday? Went out to dinner with Petra and Arielle and celebrated at home with Peter and the kids.
• Is there something that would have made your year even better? A job for Peter, more sleep and less work (in an ideal world).
• What made you feel good? Time with my family and friends, and work (when it is not too hectic).
• Who did you miss? All our family and friends in Sweden, and friends in other near or faraway places.
• The best new people you met? New friends here in Brussels, especially an American family who is moving to Stockholm next so hopefully we will overlap there eventually as well.
• Describe your style during 2015? Work wear - trousers with a cardigan or a jacket, skirt and cardigan or blouse. Black or blue trousers or skirts and more colour on top.
• What made you laugh? All the funny, silly and intelligent and ingenious things the kids say. Books and movies.
• Lessons learned about myself over the past year? Not something I really understood about myself this year - I have known it for a while - but I let it guide me more. So I'm not going to prioritise going to the gym, especially not right now when the kids are still little. Instead I need to enable exercise at home, hence I bought a cross-trainer during the autumn. Admittedly it hasn't been used that much, maybe 5-6 times in the beginning, but I will make a new start now.
• Did you learn something new in general? Not completely new but I improved my French a little bit.
• Most proud of: That Harald stopped using nappies. We took it slow and let it take its time during autumn - starting in good time before he'd start school in January (where they have to be potty-trained, except for la sieste - and after 1-2 months he (with our help) had done it. He's still in a nappy at night but 6 out of 7 nights it is dry in the morning, and he doesn't want to wear it so we put it on after he's fallen asleep.
• Greatest wish right now: That Peter finds a job soon so that we don't have to move to Sweden just yet.
• What will you do different next year? Prioritise more, maybe take a break from the French lessons this spring as it brings a bit added stress to the work week.

The kids throughout the year

I never get around to doing a annual accounts post every year but I did one for 2013 and a half-year report in 2012 as well as a full-year report for 2011.

Lately on Insta...

I thought I'd get back into the routine of blogging again by recapping what we have done lately with the help of Instagram (as many other bloggers do). So here's what we've been up to:

1. Visit by my aunt and uncle, Bicke and Anders - lego building with Harald. 2. Overnight trip to Luxembourg with Anders and Bicke - ferris wheel at one of the Christmas market in Luxembourg City. 3. Carousel, mulled wine and walking through the old parts of Luxembourg City. 4. Vianden Castle in the north of Luxembourg, near the German border. 

5. Time for this year's Secret Santa/julklappsbyte! 6. First advent calendar with little presents ("paketkalender") for the kids. 7. Beautiful Christmas lights in Stockholm on one of my 5 (!) business trips to Sweden during October-December. 8. First "lussekatt" (saffron bun) of the season on my latest Stockholm trip this week.

Secret Santa / Julklappsbyte 2015!

På svenska längre ner

It's time for the annual* Christmas Gift Exchange! It's a fun Christmas gift swap, often with people from many different parts of the world.

So how does it work?!

All participants will send and receive a Christmas gift!

Email me at komheden (at) hotmail . com by 6 December and provide your name, address, blog url or Instagram (not necessary for participation), three things on your wish list / things you like and three things that is not your cup of tea.

I will send you an email with a name and address of a person as well as the information about what s/he wishes / likes and don't like. You will then send a wrapped gift worth a maximum 100 SEK (10 euros) and a Christmas card to your designated person by 15 December.

Spread the word! The more the merrier!


*************************************************************************

Det är dags för det årliga julklappsbytet! Det är en rolig julklappsutväxling, ofta med folk från många olika delar av världen (av vilka majoriteten är svenskar pga en blogg- och Instagramgemenskap med svenskar som bor utomlands).

Så hur fungerar det?!

Alla deltagare kommer ge och få en julklapp!

Mejla mig på komheden (at) hotmail . com senaste den 6 december och ange din adress, eventuell bloggadress eller Instagramnamn (ej nödvändigt för att delta), tre saker du önskar / gillar och tre saker som inte är du.

Du kommer sedan få tillbaka ett mejl med en adress till en person samt information om vad hen önskar sig / gillar och inte gillar. Du skickar sedan en inslagen julklapp värd max 100 SEK (10 euro) samt ett julkort till din utvalda person senast den 15 december.

Sprid ordet! Ju fler desto roligare!

Isolde on the lap of Saint Nicholas (two years ago) who is celebrated on 6 December in Belgium, among other countries

* Initiated and most often organised by Emma, and by me last year and again this year. 

Our Second Year in Belgium

We have begun our third year here in Belgium - time flies! And I haven't blogged since the beginning of this year so it is really time to recap and catch up here on the blog!

Our last year in bullets:

• Harald started créche in August 2014 and Isolde her second year in Belgian maternelle in September. Consequently Peter's parental leave finished and he started working for his Swedish employer but remotely from Brussels (until January 2015, more on that below).
• Kids caught the chicken pox in autumn but luckily it didn't clash (but almost!) with our week in the sun at Lanzarote in November. We stayed in a really good hotel (resort) there, which we can really recommend. However, if you don't like black volcano sand you should choose another Canary island (we only went to the beach ones, but our kids probably prefer the pool anyway). 
• We had mainly family visitors during the autumn - Peter's parents - and Maria and Daniel (who are practically family) and in early November we also went home for a long weekend and had the opportunity to celebrate my cousin H's 40th, which very coincidentally happened to be the same weekend. In the spring both sets of grand(parents) visited and we had brother-in-law and uncle Martin (not my brother Martin but Peter's sister's husband) here for a few hours while he was here on a work trip. Our good friend and Harald's godmother Jessica also came twice, once to spend the night and once just a few hours on her way to the airport after work meetings (it's convenient that we live so close to the airport).
• Christmas was spent in Sweden, as usual. We stayed about two weeks, and since Peter was still working for his Swedish employer at that stage (until 31 December), we were able to stay in one of the company's apartments for parts of the stay and with my parents or in my sister-in-law's flat for the rest. As usual we had a pretty busy schedule trying to see as many family members and friends as possible, but we had time to relax as well. There was no snow at all unfortunately and especially Isolde was disappointed. Hoping for a white Christmas this year instead!
• I did a number of work trips to Sweden, one per month on average both in the autumn and the spring. One of them was the December one mentioned above, when Peter also had a work event in Sweden, so we made a family weekend out of it. One of the trips was to Göteborg (which was nice as I could catch up with Heidi who lives there) but otherwise I always go to Stockholm, which is perfect in terms of seeing family and friends. Next year I may however go to other parts of the Sweden once or twice, and I hope it will be somewhere I haven't been before and preferably up north. I really enjoy my job, though hectic at times, and I don't mind the work trips either but sometimes once a month feels a little often. But I shouldn't complain as I often can meet up with friends and do some shopping to stock up on Swedish goodies or necessities. We are lucky that Peter was working from home earlier and now since the beginning of 2015 has been a stay-at-home dad, so we have not had many logistical issues with my work trips or work in general. Now he's applying for jobs and I hope he finds one soon for a variety of reasons, but it will of course be a bit more tricky when the kids are sick or when one of us is working a lot or travelling. Normal situation for most people of course, but we have been spoiled for a long time now. 
• In October our good friends and neighbours the Swedish-Welsh family unfortunately moved to Wales so we had to say goodbye for now to them, but in March we went to visit them with our Swedish-Spanish and American friends, and at the end of this summer parts of the family came for a quick visit here (and to pick up items we had stored for them in our garage). On that March trip to the UK we also visited our friends Chris and Jacqui who lived here until spring 2014 (and before that in Sweden) and met very briefly - a few hours in a park - my friend Kim and her family. We also stopped by an old school friend, Nathalie, who I hadn't seen for a long time, and met her sons for the first time. 
• Peter's grandmother passed away late winter/early spring so he went home for the funeral. It's always sad of course, but at almost 94 and suffering from dementia I'd like to believe it was only a relief for her to move on.
• We celebrated the kids' birthdays with their little friends and families and of course mine and Peter's birthdays too, but less fuzz about ours naturally.
• In spring we could tick off one of those "when-you-have-kids" experiences: lice! Harald only got one or two, and Peter was lucky to be unaffected, but Isolde and I had a lot! Our friendbours also caught it so we had one fun Friday evening where we were all shampooing each other and the kids :)
• Whilst Christmas was spent in Sweden as usual, we decided not to go to Sweden for Easter and instead join our friendbours P & O for their Easter celebrations in Spain with O's family as well as P's family coming from Sweden. We flew down (with Ryanair, first time in several years) from Paris but missed out on a planned day in Paris beforehand as I caught some sort of stomach bug. It was nice to see the village where O. comes from and meet his parents and sister, and do some excursions in the area including to Zaragoza, the nearest city (also Spain's fifth largest city). I also enjoyed seeing the Catholic Easter parades, something we don't really have in Sweden. And we bought a lot of shoes, especially for the kids, as his village and the nearby villages are in a shoemaker region. 
• In spring we also took a day trip with P & O and kids to Aachen in Germany with a shorter stop in Maastricht in the Netherlands on our way back. I love living so in the middle of Europe where it is easy to take a day trip or a weekend trip to another country, or several! We really have to make more such trips! Luxembourg is on the list, as is France and Champagne, but for the latter we'll get babysitters so we can enjoy it properly!
• Late spring, early summer one of the kids' little friends L. was very unlucky and fractured her leg on our trampoline, poor thing (we have a safety net but she twisted her leg while jumping). Luckily she recovered quickly but is staying away from the trampoline for a while just in case.
• In the spring Isolde got a new bike, a real bike. We would probably have got one already in the autumn if she hadn't been so short and most bikes were still too big. Her balance bike is 10 inches and we thought it was unnecessary to buy a bike of the same size. But in the spring she was a few more centimeters and a 12-inch bike worked, just. Having had the balance bike (and a scooter) has really done the trick - she could ride the bike without training/support wheels right away! She found it somewhat difficult to start by herself and also break, but we practised that during the summer, and now we can take quite long bike trips with her.
• In May my friend and Harald's god mother Åsa visited with new baby Lily (new as in 8 months old then) for a few days. It was nice to spend some quality time with them, especially for Åsa and Harald. 
• For the ascension weekend in May we went to Normandie to see the D-day beaches and also to Brittany where we visited Saint Malo, Mont Saint-Michel and some other picturesque towns. It was a very nice and interesting mini-break. 
• In May (busy month!) I went to London with my mum and my aunt Bicke to do some sightseeing but most importantly, go to the Chelsea Flower Show. It was my present to my mum for her 60th birthday last year. As there was a bit of a green theme to our trip we also visited Sky Garden. 
• A few weeks after Åsa's visit we went to Sweden for a long weekend to attend Lily's namegiving ceremony and to see family and friends. We finally got to meet the children's new cousin Fred (well, I had met him briefly when he was just a couple of days old in April when I was in Sweden on a work trip) and my friend Suvi's new baby boy as well as time to go out to the summer house. And have Harald's hair cut, kicking and screaming like the time before that (and after...). 
• We have made new friends here in Brussels - an American family who are moving onto Stockholm next summer after two years here. Their son is in Isolde's class and Harald will be in the same class as their daughter next year (they also have a baby girl born in May). There are also some other mothers in the area that I have started to hang out with - Petchie started a sort of ladies' dinner club so now we meet up regularly, but we have also hung out on full family basis as some of them have children in Isolde's class or same year. 
• Isolde has been taking rythmic classes at school for a year (and she's continuing, plus some other extra-curricular activities this year). She loved dancing and singing, however, she doesn't always like being told or instructed what to do so it took a few classes before she even wanted to participate. I think it is a mix of wanting to be free-spirited and being a bit too self-conscious.
• We now have a (wooden) toy house in the garden, an inflatable pool and sprinklers, and Peter also got various adult "toys" for the garden, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers and what have you. So we have no excuses now not to do gardening! 
• At the end of June, a little bit before my longer summer break, we spent one week in Nice (the apartment of my in-laws as usual) and my parents came down as well for a few days. It was nice to have a week off (with guaranteed nice weather), then work a few weeks again before to Sweden on holiday.  

A lot in a year! I'm sure I have missed half of it, but these are the highlights! I will write about the summer and about the adventures of Isolde and Harald in separate posts! I will also post some photos later, but now I just want to publish this post!

Two Years Old Today!

Celebrating Harald's 2nd birthday this morning. Celebrations will continue tonight and on Saturday.

Harald is a little "livsnjutare" (enjoying life), especially food and drink :)

Our all-inclusive holiday last autumn was a hit; unlimited access to fruit (melon), ice cream and hot dogs!

Expert on smart tools already

Happy despite completely spotty from chicken pox

Simply happy most of the time (this was before his very overdue haircut)!

Showing his fashion sense (and his big belly...)

With bestie E.

4 Years Old!

How did it happen?! Where did the time go?!

With some yellow marker on face and hands but yet so pretty! Photo credit: my friend Åsa

We woke her up this morning with "Ja må hon leva" and presents.

 

Spot the little gauffre...
 

...which Harald was quick to "steal" (with his sister's OK)



Secret Santa / Julklappsbyte! NEW Deadline / Nytt sista datum!

På svenska längre ner

Emma has organised a Christmas gift exchange among bloggers and others for a few years in a row now but this year she's a bit swamped and I have promised to substitute for her!

So how does it work?

All participants will receive and give a Christmas gift to someone still unknown person!

Email me at komheden (at) hotmail.com by 8 December and provide your name, address, blog url (if you have one), three things on your wish list / you like and three things that is not your cup of tea.

I will send you an email with a name and address of a person as well as the information about what s/he wishes / likes / don't like. You will then send a wrapped gift worth maximum 100 SEK and Christmas card to your designated person by 15 December.

Spread the word!

*********************************************************
Emma har organiserat ett julklappsbyte bland bloggare och andra några år i rad nu men i år har hon lite fullt upp och jag har lovat att vikariera för henne!

Så hur fungerar det?

Alla deltagare kommer få och ge en julklapp till någon ännu okänd person!

Maila mig på komheden (at) hotmail.com senast  den 1 december och ange din adress, eventuell bloggadress, tre saker du önskar / gillar och tre saker som inte är du.

Du kommer sedan få tillbaka ett mail med en adress till en person samt information om vad hen önskar sig / gillar / inte gillar. Du skickar sedan en inslagen julklapp värd max 100 SEK samt ett julkort till din utvalda person senast den 10 december.

Sprid ordet!

10 Years!!

No, it's not my anniversary with Peter. We've "only" been together for 9 years in November (and married for four). It's my blogoversary!! Yesterday on 29 September - and I forgot about it then even though I thought about last week - it was exactly ten years ago since I posted my first ever post. I only blogged two or three times that autumn and the blog really got going in the spring of 2005, but still, I think it counts. I will need to make some sort of post about what the blog has "lived through" in this decade, both in my life and the world at large. Just think of the people I have met through the blogging community, such as Petchie whom I now consider a very close friend, not just here in Brussels but in general.

I hope for at least another decade of fun and new encounters through Anna, Fair and True!

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.

To Do List on a Thursday*

• Buy school supplies Isolde should bring with her on her first day of (pre)school on Monday and take ID photos of her that she also needs to bring (we have already checked off two things on the list - markers as well as a book to the class library). Tissues and wipes we'll get at the supermarket at the weekend.
  
• Fold up and bast the curtains in the living room, dining room and guest bedrooms (I don't want to actually shorten them since we may need them to be longer in the future). In our bedroom I will however adjust them properly because they are currently at least a metre too long! 
• Prepare for the crayfish party (crayfish lunch followed by barbeque in the evening) we're having on Saturday. Peter got the crayfish today (from IKEA) and we bought some decorations already in Sweden, but we'll need to sort out how to seat 11 adults and 9 children, especially since it looks to chilly to sit outside, and prepare some food and drink (though it's a potluck dinner so everyone is bringing something. 
• Plan and book a holiday for October or November. We think we would like to go somewhere sunny and warm, but they are not as many charter options from Belgium as from Sweden, so we'll see where we end up. 
• Book tickets to Sweden for the Christmas period.
• And also very important, invite family and friends to occupy our guest rooms during the autumn! So far we only know that Peter's parents are coming for a weekend in October. 
• Buy birthday presents for the neighbour kids V. and E.
• Organise my wardrobe and my drawers in the bathroom. 
• And probably lots of other things but I'll start with this...

* Not all to do this particular Thursday but the list was compiled today :)

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!

Harald 18 Months!

Already one and a half years old, our little rascal!

This marks the return of the blog! I have a few posts planned: a recap of our life over the last few months, our summer holiday in Sweden and a "Harald report" that is well overdue. Please check back here in a few days!

Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

One of the first days of May we made an excursion to the royal greenhouses at the Palace of Laeken, Serres Royales de Laeken. The greenhouses are only open to the public for a couple of weeks every year (this year 18 April - 9 May) so it is a very popular destination. We first went there on May Day and arrived around 10:30, one hour after opening. The queue of cars to get to the parking lot was so long we gave up right away. Instead we returned two days later and made sure to get there even before it opened. In retrospect it was very good to be even some of the very first visitors, since we had the pushchair with us in the greenhouse and they can get pretty cramped when they fill up with people. Here comes a cavalcade of photos from these beautiful place (it's a shame not even the park is open all year or at least parts of the year).

The Palace, on our way to the greenhouses

I think the greenhouses as buildings are really beautiful. Design by architect Alphonse Balat.

At a distance I thought the greenhouses were made of copper that was covered by verdigris but it is actually green paint that has flaked off and worn down by wind and rain.

The devil is in the detail?

Cool tree

It seems like all royal parks has an Asian garden.

Inside the green houses

No access to this one except a peak in the window.

More plants than flowers in this section.

Entrance to the secret garden

Chasing a curious one-year-old.



No caption necessary

You can't see it in the photos but many flowers had begun to wither. I think the best time to go is the first week.

The only thing that was perhaps missing were signs with names of plants and flowers.

I like these flowers on both sides of a staircase.

The path ended in the big greenhouse.