Friday, February 24, 2012

Sportlov

For a week in the spring all Swedish kids have time off school for Sportlov.  Sportlov is a week when parents are supposed to get their children outside and moving.  Many families head north to ski.  In fact, so many head to the slopes, I've heard that the towns in Sweden stagger their Sportlovs so that the ski areas aren't overwhelmed. 

But for those to stay in town, there are plenty of things to do.  The newspaper has a whole Sportlov insert with lists and lists of activities available for children.  Almost all are free.  You can try tennis or karate or dance.  One movie theater had movies playing every day - at 10am one for 3-4 year olds, at 11am one for 5-7 year olds, etc.  Every day of the week!  The options for what to do are endless. 

Here we are hanging out, reading books at the bookstore. 



And after exploring town a little we stopped for smoothies. 



On of the toy stores had a scavenger hunt around town.   There is a series of books written by a local auther about a brother and sister duo who have various adventures around Lund.  The scavenger hunt led us to many of the places mentioned in the book.  It was a fun way to learn about town.  

Here is the Estonia House.  


The Grand Hotel was one stop in the scavenger hunt.  The wonderful man behind the desk stopped what he was doing to take my girls on a tour of the hotel.  When we first arrived in town we'd stayed in the Grand Hotel for a very brief visit.  But it wasn't until the hunt that we found out there is an old movie theater in the hotel and a pool table area. 

The toy store, at the end of our hunt.  We got prizes! 


It was sunny for a couple of the days and the girls set up outside. 


Eventually they changed into their bathing suits.  Don't be fooled.  They look all summery 
but it was FREEZING! 



Even the blankets didn't seem warm enough - it was pretty cold out there! 


Playing soccer (football) in our backyard. 







Sunday, February 19, 2012

Misc February Photos

Here are some random photos from our adventures in February... 

Crafting at home


Messy is always fun



In the baby section, a book that I don't think we'd ever see in the kid section of an 
American book store.  That button makes an illustrative noise when you push it.  The whole 
book is about things that make that noise.  


The painted walls in the foyer at W's work


E and her BFF showing off their art work at school 


My favorite duck.  We see this little guy every time we are in the park but s/he is the only one of her/his kind.  I don't even know if it is a female or a male because there's no one to compare coloring to.  I've tried to find this type of duck online to determine the name, but while I've found many that come close, there don't seem to be any that match this one.  Now when we pedal through the park on our way home from school the girls giggle and point and say "There's your favorite duck, Mommy!"  
And the word for duck in Swedish?  Anka. 


Yep, there are a lot of holes in that mouth and another tooth fell out shortly after I took this. 


Besties (commonly mis-read as beasties)


Ice cream at the mall.  Some things are the same as SC. 


Friday, February 17, 2012

Playdates

We love having friends over! 



One of our friends was minding a Turkish rug store for a couple weeks in February.  The girls loved going to visit the shop.  It is a good thing we can't fit any of these rugs in our luggage to take back home.  I loved browsing in the store while the girls played!






S and her special friend - her little face lights up every time she sees her!





Thursday, February 16, 2012

S's Church, otherwise known as Allhelgonnakyrkan (All Saints' Church)

The girls love it when they give them a "special day."  Special days are days when they get to be alone with both parents and choose everything we do that day (what we eat and where we go).  S had been itching for a special day for a while.  When she takes the bus to school, it goes right past this church.  It is the second largest church in Lund (second only to domkyrka).  Every single time we went by it, S would say "I want to go to that church on my special day!" 

So, here we are entering... 



Beautiful! 


Nice floors. 



Pretty brickwork









Happy girlie 



Good choice for a place to explore, S!

The kids' area