Happy 3rd Birthday, Noah!

It's hard to believe that it's been three years since we welcomed our first-born on a hot, humid Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta! Birthdays certainly take on much more importance now than they did just a year ago. Noah was excited about the prospect of presents, cake and birthday singing. The morning started with the opening of gifts (with visiting grandparents, that meant a bit of a larger pile than usual) :

Noah's new swim toy was promptly named 'Katie K.' (from a book)

Rare family picture!

The art of gift opening was quickly acquired.

The collapisble suspension bridge arrived from Gram and Dadday and has already provided many hours of entertainment. Thanks!

The break-down train was another big hit.

Dr. Noah checks on a few patients.

Mormor and Morfar made sure that Kai was not left out of the present fun!

A little bit later, we all went down to Stillwater for lunch at Noah's favorite spot, Leo's Malt Shop. Hamburgers, fries and a milkshake were enjoyed by the birthday boy. Lunch was followed by a stroll down by the river which happened to coincide with the lifting of the old lift bridge.





The birthday celebrations wound down with cake and singing. To my surprise, Noah requested a rocket ship cake (since he eats, sleeps and breathes Thomas the train, that would have been the expected choice.) Thanks to the internet, I was able to put together a cake that satisfactorily met 3-year-old standards!



Noah has asked about a birthday party so I have promised him one a little later this summer. July is just going to be too busy! Happy birthday big boy! Mamma, Daddy and Kai love you so very, very much!

4th of July

(July has almost come and gone! Mormor and Morfar have been visiting us from Savannah for much of the month and we've had a great time with them both here and for 2+ weeks at a cabin in Wisconsin. I'm finally going to have some time to post blogs about our fun-filled month. It will probably take me a few days!)



Ebba's parents arrived safe and sound and just in time for the 4th of July after a long car drive from Savannah via Johan and family in New Jersey. We decided to head to the 4th of July parade in Afton, a small town along the St Croix river that has a festive, well-attended event. We parked ourselves on the same corner as last year and had fun watching the paraders pass by. It was also a great opportunity for general people watching. Noah enjoyed catching some of the goodies that were thrown out to the crowd and sampling them. Kai took in all the commotion with his big blue eyes and seemed to enjoy himself until the fire engine sirens went off right as they passed us. His entire face crumbled and he was completely terrified by the loud noise!

Usually quiet main street was packed!

Enjoying some lunch as we wait.

We enjoyed the rest of the day in our relatively peaceful neighborhood (many neighbors were 'up north' for the holiday). After a dinner of ribs and vegetables from the local farmers' market, we were able to enjoy the Stillwater fireworks from our driveway before calling it a day.

Choo Choo Bob's

This past week has seen unseasonably cool temperatures with gray skies and occasional rain(which we are in great need of). So we have spent a bit more time than usual indoors. One day, we ventured into St Paul to visit a train store that I'd meant to take the boys to this winter but never quite made it to. It's called Choo Choo Bob's and has all kinds of model and toy trains. They have the largest collection of Thomas items that I have seen anywhere! And there are 6 train tables set up in the back of the store that kids can play with. Noah was in heaven!! He played non-stop for about 1.5 hours. Before we went in the store, I told him that he would probably want to cry and scream when it was time to leave, but that he needed to just say "okay, mamma" and leave nicely or we wouldn't be able to come back. I really doubted that this tactic would work, but it appeared to! Several times while he was playing, Noah mumbled to himself, "I can't cry and scream." When it was time to leave, he looked like he was just about ready to throw a total tantrum, but then he said, "Okay, mamma", grabbed my hand and we left without any objections. Noah still has not reached the stage where he asks to buy things from stores, so we also didn't have any begging to purchase items, which was nice (though I did pick up a few things for the big birthday coming up on Sunday while Noah was busy with the train tables).



Kai had fun playing with the train tables as well - especially tasting all the trains (glad it's not cold/flu season). Unfortunately, it appears that the shutter of my camera stuck when I took pictures of him playing...Here he is getting ready to leave the store:

Bath time!

Bath time is very popular around here - both boys just love being in the water. In the winter, since it is so extremely dry, we try to limit baths to every 2-3 days. However, now that it's summer we have sunblock, sand and dirt to get rid of, so nightly baths have become a much loved ritual.

Midsummer at the American Swedish Institute

Maggan is now safe and sound back in Sweden after a fun visit with us. Thanks for all the delicious 'bullar' - some of which are still in the freezer. The boys (and Phil and I) love them! Maggan's last weekend here, we headed into Minneapolis to check out the midsummer festivities at the American Swedish Institute. It was a very hot day and both boys (and Ebba) were functioning on a minimal nights sleep, so we did not last for very long. Noah did enjoy sitting in the shade, listening to one of the classic Elsa Beskow stories. We had some lunch and then watched the 'midsommar stang' procession:


After the decorated pole was raised, the entire crowd was encouraged to join in some traditional dancing around the pole. Maggan tried a dance or two with Noah but he had just about had it - I guess we'll have to try to indoctrinate him in this very Swedish celebration again next year! We went into the ASI mansion to cool off and so that Maggan could give herself a quick tour of the beautiful century-old house. While waiting for her, Noah strolled around the lobby looking at various items. He pointed to a carving at the bottom of the magnificent staircase and asked, "Mamma, what's that?" I quickly glanced over and mumbled something about a lion, but Noah quickly corrected me saying, "No, Mamma, that's a sphynx!" I think maybe he was right! Must be a bit of information he picked up from a book.... After a quick drink of lemonade - sold by kids from my swedish school classes - we were ready to pack up and head back home.