Last first day

First day of school today for this 2021/2022 school year, and it's a face-to-face start! AWESOME! Long may it last..!

Kids got up bright and early, as we anticipated some chaos at drop-off due to the ongoing construction work with the new traffic lights at school. It seems to be close to finished, but at the moment it's a hot mess, so happy we left in good time.

The traditional photos before leaving the house, this one now entering Grade 10:

 

And this one, going into Grade 12, his final year! His last "First day" today... Unbelievable, makes me all mushy and nostalgic! It's crazy how time flies!

Back in black

So, we are back.
In the sandpit.
Back to the normal 50 shades of beige outside. But also back to black, on the inside.

I am back feeling very grateful that the traveling went all smoothly this year (compared to last). Even with the last minute new ICA-application we had to do which came into play the same day we traveled.
I am grateful I managed to keep (most of) the worries away during the summer and didn't waste much time or energy thinking about things out of my control.
I am above all grateful for the summer we had this year, with many more excursions, adventures and happenings than last year; for all the family and friends, the reconnecting - it was absolutely fantastic!

Which makes it that much more hard to be back. Back inside for the next 5-6 weeks or so, back to face masks as soon as we leave the house, back to a huge amount of new restrictions, restrictions which change with a minutes notice; and which doesn't always make sense - can we please have house guests other than family soon?! Back to another year of... - waiting for better times?

I'm glad I have signed up for another three UNI courses this fall. At least I'll have something to occupy myself with, somehow I don't think there will be much tourists coming this season either. I miss work so so so much.
So, back to black. At least for a while before I get back into the swing of things, hopefully perk up and make the most of this beige sandpit life.

Time to go

So yesterday we took on the trip down to Göteborg to go and do the PCR tests before traveling. We could've done them much closer, but it turned out that by going to Göteborg we saved almost 4000 SEK, as the PCR-tests were half price there (only in the big cities!) compared to other places. So we did the drive there and back in the morning, no biggie.
Turned out it suited us rather well, because we could also on the way back pass the hotel where we are staying tonight (as we have a 6 am departure tomorrow, ouch) and drop off one of the suitcases, to make sure we could all fit in Mormor and Morfars car coming here this afternoon. One thing that make us miss their camper, it has space for all 6 of us together, and tons of luggage!

Last night the kids wanted to take Mormor and Morfar back to Pinchos in Lidköping for the last meal. That also worked out well, as Nathan had ordered four pairs of new glasses, progressive sunglasses and reading glasses, and they were ready for pick-up - just in time!
Plus Pinchos is always a hit!

I am so pleased we decided to go to the airport hotel today, not only so we can just roll out of bed, walk out of the reception and straight into the terminal early tomorrow morning; but also because the trip down to Göteborg today was totally stress free. (I experienced enough stress yesterday while waiting for those PCR-results...) Only thing was of course, Morfar didn't fit in the car, so we had to say goodbye to him at home in Stenum. ♥︎

And a photo with Mormor too, of course! She's on the step, but still can't quite reach up..! Ha ha!

So now we are here in the airport hotel with a view of the runway. The very quiet runway. It's so sad,  there certainly isn't much going on.

I went for my daily walk, around and around the parking houses and the airport area, managed to close all rings just before the rain hit.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, and now we have all gone to bed and are about to turn out the lights - already at 9 pm, trying at least to get some sleep before tomorrows long travel day.

So long Sweden! Thank you for welcoming us back again after what felt like forever.
It's been wonderful to be able to properly reconnect with family and friends this time - thank you all for creating lovely memories with us!
See you soon!

Wet last walk

It seems to become a tradition that my last walk in Sweden is a wet one. It was the same last year, even the skies were sad we were leaving.
But after having sat in the car most of the day, I really needed to get out one last time and just breathe in all the goodness of the fresh air, and I was so lucky as to see the last of the sun just touch the top of the trees in the woods opposite the house. How pretty!

And, a little bit of rain never hurt anyone! Look at that smile - that's what it's all about!

Spa time

Linnea and I bought some fancy face masks on one of our shopping days that we got Mormor onboard to try, ha ha! Can you see which animals we are?

Mormor was the cutest, even though she wasn't convinced about the effect of the face masks.

Last (and first!) family ride of the summer

It took almost all summer, but finally it happened - we managed to convince everyone to get out for a family bike ride! Linnea with a sour face (because her helmet was uncomfortable...), but the rest of us happy as!

We really enjoyed our last days in Stenum and made the most of the fact that the sun and the warmth decided to do a quick comeback. Nathan went bike riding up Kinnekulle:

Lucas went to play one last Americano tournament (with both Nathan and I as spectators, ha ha!):

And I went on my forest walks:

The forest gold

Mormor took Linnea and me out into the woods to go look for gold, the forest gold - chanterelles. I can't remember when I last had a chanterelle toast, but it's very much my childhood for me.

We didn't find any abundance of chanterelles, but enough for us, yay! A bonus was that the forest walk was gorgeous, so enjoyable. It smells absolutely beautiful in the woods, aaahhh!

Mormor and Morfars house looks so different from this angle. Especially since a large chunk of the woods on the road opposite was removed a few years back.

Back home it was time to clean up the small harvest: 

And how about this smell..?! Mmmmm...!

Finished product - chanterelle toast. Enjoyed every bite.

The long walk to Mölle

On the Saturday, while Max took Lucas to his gym, the rest of us took Rafa and went for a walk in the sunshine. Luckily we didn't tell Linnea in advance how far it was going to be, because in the end we had walked close to 8 k - but with an ice cream break in Mölle in the middle!

 

All the pretty colours..!

In the evening Jens & Karin prepared us a feast in the form of Asian poke bowls. A success all around, I think I will have to copy and paste this recipe at home very soon, right down my alley!

And Linnea was happy, because she was in charge of sorting out the lördagsgodis (= Saturday candy = Pick n'Mix), and that at the LARGEST candy store in the whole of Skåne, with over 800 different types of candy!

Dinner in Höganäs

In the late afternoon we met up with Karin and the kids in Höganäs, to go for dinner. But first Nathan found a small brewpub:

Had to try their beer, and have a quick chat, of course!

Then we had dinner at a very cool place in the same compound, 'Garage'. It was absolutely fantastic! We all had different things, everything from ribs to veggie burger, to enchiladas and fish tacos (guess who!) - and it was ALL delicious!
We also had the very best table, outside, but without any cold and wind. Super Covid-friendly and a lovely place to be in the evening sun.

Excursion to Arild

Since the kids were at school on the Friday, and Karin was busy with her UNI-course, Jens took the rest of us on an excursion up along the coast, to one of their favourite spots - Arild.

A very idyllic small village. We took a walk and admired all the cute little cottages and summer houses.

There was someone going for a swim, but it looked very very cold, not for me!

But again, even though the weather was a bit grey and the rain was looming, we still enjoyed some ice cream down in the harbour.