Kalas

I går hade Zoey sexårskalas. Hon fick bjuda sex kompisar, och alla kom. Hon har längtat efter sin födelsedag ända sedan Novas i december, och bestämde sig för Star Wars-tema på kalaset redan då. Barnen fick kasta bollar på "planeter", dekorera Star Wars-kakor med frosting och strössel, leka "hela havet stormar" med Star Wars-musik, leka i Darrins "Lycra tube", träna sig i ljussvärdsfäktning (med "ljussvärd" gjorda av skumgumminudlar som man använder för att träna simning med) och ha Star Wars-frågesportsskattjakt.

Zoey blev sur flera gånger under kalaset, och när jag frågade på kvällen vad hon tyckte var roligast sa hon "ingenting". Det är svårt att leva upp till förväntningarna när någon längtar intensivt efter något i tre månader... men idag kändes hon i alla fall väldigt nöjd med gårdagen.

Idag fortsatte vi firandet via Skype med Morfar, Mormor, Markus, Annica, Alisia och Joline.

Här kommer några bilder från kalaset:

Fyllning till överraskningspåsarna som gästerna fick ta med sig hem

Star Wars-muffins

Lek i Darrins "Lycra tube"

Zoeys val av tårta - det ska vara "Death Star"

Utklädningskläder

Historical Day

This is a day that every single father, make that parent looks forward to.  At the very least, they should look forward to it.  It is the day that you watch Star Wars with you child for the first time.  Thankfully they liked it.  In fact, I think that they really liked it.  The only negative for Z was that Yoda was not in it. 

Just to be honest, it was not the original movie.  Though it was not one of the Blueray special editions.  It did have Greedo shooting first, which is just wrong.  Otherwise it is not too bad.  Could be worse anyway.

Next weekend will be Empire.

Our Wedding Day

8 years ago M and I got married. It was a beautiful wedding, but I have started to wonder if we actually had the right wedding. If we could redo it today, I think that our wedding would be more like this. M would totally be into it, don't you think?

My Want List

In the next month (ish) I have several things that I will be getting gifts for. I have my birthday, my anniversary, father's day, my name's day, Swedish National Day (not really, but it does not hurt to put it in there) and guilt gifts from M (which I should be getting SEVERAL!) So I thought that I would do a list for her (and anyone else who happens to want to get me a present here or there). I will do only the top seven.

1) Star Wars
a. Fx lightsaber- in fairness, any of them would be alright. This is the one that I want though.
b. Lightsaber chopsticks- we eat sushi often, so it is more environmentally friendly to have your own chopsticks...right? Well, these are the ones. While we are talking about kitchen supplies/Star Wars things, wouldn't this be cool (pun intended) as well. For the environment, of course.
c. Storm Trooper Uniform- I am actually not sure who has the cooler house: Barney or Chuck. Since I was able to find a picture of Barney's house, I will go with him. Doesn't the Clone Trooper uniform look nice in the background? Now imagine if it was a Storm Trooper. It has been shown that Storm Troopers are 97% cooler then Clone troopers. No idea where to get one, I just want one.

d. Star Wars Lamp- This is a must. It will look excellent in my office (did I say my office, I mean our office Honey!).

2) Books
a. Star Wars pop up- Matthew Reinhart is amazing. He is a true master at popup books. His greatest one is the Star Wars one. While you are at it, you can get this one as well.
b. New England Guide Book
c. Complete Calvin and Hobbes- The greatest Sunday comic of all time!
d. Complete The Far Side- The second greatest Sunday comic of all time!
e. Myself and Strangers by John Graves-He wrote "Goodbye to a River" about the Bravos River.
f. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall- I need some type of motivation. It worked when I read "Ultramarathon Man" by Dean Karnazes, it should work again.

3) Art
a. Mo Willems- Today's best Children's book author. You have to love this guy, but I am not sure that I would not rather have Edwina or Leo.
b. Pelle Svanslos by Einar Norelius- I just like Pelle, which is totally because of Uppsala.
c. Skum- I like his pencil drawings. They are simple, but nice.
d. Sven Jonson- Ok, he is my favorite Swedish artist. When M and I first moved in together, we went to a gallery and we found one of his paintings that we both loved. We were too poor to buy it, but since then I have wanted one of his paintings.
e. Animation Cels- Bringing back my childhood. My wants are simple, Darkwing, Gargoyles, Pelle
f. James Hance- I actually don't know if I want one of his, but his work is excellent. I especially like his Star Wars/"Where the Wild Things Are" mash up.
G. John Bauer- This one might be cool, though it is hard to tell
H. This list really could go on and on and on

4) Experiences
a. James Taylor tickets- My number 1 for ever. He will even be in Boston this summer...sigh.
b. Scuba certification
c. Red Sox tickets
d. Classes for getting my pilots license- I want to fly this:

This is Jimmy's plane.



This one is Indiana's




5) Clothes (the boring stuff for my parents, not that they read the blog
a. Shoes- I need a pair of brown shoes and sandals
b. Sun glasses
c. Hat- I am thinking one of these
d. Boots

6) House
a. Step ladder
b. Framing
c. Portable air conditioning- Did I mention that we had 98% humidity the other day
d. Saw horses- boring I know, but very useful. I said that everything on my list was not going to be just fun stuff. After all, I did ask for a ladder.

7) General or Other
a. Guitar- N got hers for her birthday, so it might be fun to learn together.
b. Camping espresso maker
c. Aquarium filter
d. Bike- this makes me sad. Mine is broken and I can not get the part that I need. So it looks like I am going to need a new one.

Like I said, only seven things.

I Finally hung them up

Here is one of the crafts that the girls and I did last week when we were stuck inside all day. I had been wanting to do it for a while, but I always thought that it was a little too much of a pain. Then I was told just to use a coffee filter. Super easy, quick and the girls loved it.


I had to show a close up of the Yoda one. Yes, it is my favorite:

Texas in July

Part of me feels like I should be skipping this entry all together. The Texas Trip was the end of June and the first three weeks of July. Though it feels like such a waste not to write about all of the adventures. So instead of about 15 different posts, it is going to be one big one to make me feel good about it.

We took US Airways, the first time for that. I think that it is kind of nice that a museum is still flying. They have to have some of the oldest air crafts in the sky today. It was fine though. The girls did good and the staff were very friendly. Our plane landed 2.5 hours late, so we were told that we missed our flight. In the end, our 2nd flight was late and we ended up getting it. Only thing was that our bags did not get there. We did not think that they would, since the girl at the American Airlines counter had to run us through security.

That is OK though, right. The bags should be sent on the next flight. Well, we went to Texas for three and a half weeks, we never got our bags. Imagine traveling with two girls under the age of two with no clothes what so ever. A big shopping trip and lot of new clothes. Which will be good, as long as the bags come. The first one did, the week after we got back to Sweden. The second did about two weeks ago. After 90 days of the bags being missing, we still have not gotten our last one. The last time I talked to American, the lady was rude and just a real witch. So, we will wait some more.

The first weekend we were there, we went to San Antonio. Been there so many times. Once, the water was drained out of the river walk (to my surprise). This time, it was full. In fact, super full. Texas got more rain this summer, then they got all of last year. We really went down there for Sea World. The plan was that we go on the first day, but my cousin lost her keys. The next day we went and N loved it. She was not that impressed with Shamu, but the coral reef was great. I decided that I wanted to show that I was young and road on the Great White roller coaster. I felt like crap the rest of the day. It sucks getting old! Right as we were leaving, it started to our down. We just made it to the car when it happened and it continued for several hours.

Speaking about the rain, we decided that we would go to Texas in July since the weather is usually nice in July. It is hot, but that is what air conditioning is for. It rained almost every single day we were there. It was crazy. I have never seen anything like it!

We did eat good while we were there. N's favorite was mac and cheese and hot dogs. I think that she would have been happy to have that for ever meal (instead we had it for almost every lunch). Her cousins thought that it was great, the first couple of days, then they grew tired of it. Here is a couple of places that I would recommend if you are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area:

1. Loco Coyote- it is located in Glen Rose and the food is amazing. The place itself is a dump, but the food is great (a picture of it is on www.DnMAdventures.com).
2. Lone Star- Also in Glen Rose but in the town itself. Good BBQ and a nice "feel" to it
3. Hamburger Bar- Cleburne Texas, I wrote a blog about it a while ago. It was not as good as usually. In fact, I was very disappointed. With that being said, it is still worth it just to see the place (a picture of it is on www.DnMAdventures.com) .
4. Movie Tavern- Great idea, tavern food while you watch a movie. The food is fine, but it does not matter. The room is dark and you can't see it anyway. IT is a small chain all over the States.

The Fort Worth Museum of Science was having a exhibit on Star Wars and how it works. It was excellent. OK, I am a little biased, since I do believe that Star Wars is the greatest movie ever made. With that being said, I also think that it was done in such a way, that someone that does not care for Star Wars (M for example) could appreciate it. Well worth a visit, where ever it is now.

We also went to a Texas Rangers game. It was the first one for N and Z. N thought that it was great. Lots of music to dance to, fireworks, clapping and the best part was...ICE CREAM! I was just happy to get to go to a game. That is one of the worst parts of being in Sweden- no baseball!

The trip was good and we had a lot of fun. It felt like we were messing with trying to get our bags back half of the time and the weather was crap the other half. We had several things that we wanted to do, but just was not able to. Maybe next time we will.

If you want to see some pictures from the trip, go to www.DnMAdventures.com.