The Joehlski Adventure: September 2017

Ever since my class did a study on various countries in Ms. Belke's Social Studies class at Dakota Hills Middle School, I have wanted to travel to Sweden. My maiden name is Larson (Swedish) and I am somewhere between 25 - 50% Swedish, so I have always been interested in visiting Sweden!

We knew that coming back to Poland, after a fun summer with friends and family, would be hard, so we wanted a trip to look forward to in the month of August. Andy booked the trip to Stockholm for the last weekend in August and we were ready to go!

Unfortunately the night before we left, Reese didn't feel good and got sick twice in the car on the way to the airport. Ugh! We contemplated cancelling the trip as we didn't know how long the illness would last, but decide to grin and bear it. She luckily didn't get sick again, but was very lethargic until after nap.

These two! Taking the train into Stockholm from the airport.

Poor baby!

When we got there, it was raining, so we headed to Old Town to see the changing of the guard. Let me tell you - pushing an umbrella stroller, while holding an umbrella takes some crazy skills!

A little treat while we waited.

Due to a triathlon, the changing of the guard was cut short -
which was perfect for us!

This little lady slept through it.

Cheers!
Waiting to get into our hotel room for naps.

Our room at the Radisson Blu Viking -

There was also a murphy bed for the kids in the sitting area.

Nice little window to see into the shower!

This is how nap time ends when the kids don't want to sleep!

Heading out after nap - recharged!

Candy stores everywhere!
When reading about Sweden, it was pointed out that the Swedes sure love their candy. One source stated that the average Swede consumes 23 lbs of candy each year - very similar to the US. Crazy!
Saturday is sweets day!

Window shopping

Dinner at Restaurang Prinsen - traditional Swedish restaurant

Meatballs, mashed potatoes, lingonberries, and pickled cucumbers

A little fun back at the toy store after dinner!

Then time for some ice cream!

Not exactly sure how she got ice cream in her hair,
but we thought it was pretty funny!

Brain freeze!

After a good night of sleep, we enjoyed a buffet breakfast and headed out to Skansen for Day #2! Skansen is the oldest open-air museum in the world and also home to the Stockholm zoo, with animals native to Scandinavia. It is located on Royal Djurgården (one of the islands in Stockholm). There are over 150 farms and dwellings from different parts of the country. These farms and dwellings were disassembled and transported there. It was beautiful!!! We spent over four hours there and only saw half the attractions.

Breakfast! Ha!

Day #2

Tram to Royal Djurgården

Someone is feeling better!

Taking the escalator up the big hill! We did walk it later on in the day too!

The Skansen "time machine" had locations dating back to 1720 -
little shops and homes with actors recreating the different eras.

There were various rune stones around Skansen from the 11th century.
Most were raised in honor of a dead ancestor or as a memorial to an important event.

The Dalecarlian horse or Dala horse is a traditional, carved painted horse in Sweden.
You can find out more here.

Always finding the baby and playing mama!

The Lill-Skansen theatre was fun for the kids!
We were the first to arrive so they sang us Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in English.
The rest of the performance was performed in Swedish.

Brave little boy! The performer helped him with some English - so sweet!

We then headed into a cute indoor play area!

The view from top was beautiful!

Watching the reindeer

Heading back to the older buildings to find something sweet to eat!

Delicious!!!

Check out that cash register!

Twelve people slept in this one room house - crazy!

The baby slept in the drawer! Just like Mormor!

The bakery

So beautiful inside!

Time for lunch!

Old school house

Watching the farmers bring in the cattle

And the store at the end was just as cute!
I wish we had more room in our suitcases!

This cute little family! Love these adventures!

Sunday - Day #3 - we headed out to Junibacken! Junibacken is a children's attraction located on the island of Djurgården and is devoted to Swedish children's literature. The main author that is featured is Astrid Lindgren, the author of Pippi Longstocking. I grew up watching the Pippi movies - with the Chapman family, I believe - and it was SO fun to tell the kids all about Pippi!

Can you spot Beckett?

The first area you enter into is Barbro's World, illustrating various stories from Barbro Lindgren.
The kids LOVED it! Lots of imaginative play.

We then headed on a ride on the Story Train - the last text that Astrid Lindgren wrote.
The plot was interesting - thankfully our kids didn't grasp it all as some of it was pretty dark.

Storybook Square - Pippi's house in Villa Villekulla!

Real life! Ha!

We then watched a performance, entirely in Swedish, about a mormor (grandma).
It was the strangest play we have ever seen, but the kids were pretty interested.

Check out how many blonde children were in the audience!
Beckett was the only brunette!

SO many blondes, everywhere we went!

Junibacken had a cute circus themed restaurant too!

I might steal the theme for a future kid's room!

Then on to another play area!

The kids LOVED this space rocket/machine!

And then we had some fun with this mirror area!

This is what it looked like from the side - so fun!

And of course the store at the end was adorable too!!

It never ends! An outdoor play area to top of visit!

Map of Djurgården

Pizza on the water - our lunch spot!

Crossing over a bridge - our lunch spot was down by the jetted out gazebo.

I just had to take a pic of the cute train ticket agent.

Visiting a well known candy shop in Stockholm - Caramella!

And now it was B's turn to get sick - boo!
He woke up from nap not feeling well, with a fever.
Poor Andy had spent most of nap time planning a boat ride and a dinner location that didn't pan out.
Better to stay in and let this little guy recover.