We're Kinda a Big Deal

Sweden has a population of about 9.6 million (a bit higher than the population of North Carolina) in a country roughly the same size as California.  That's just not many people.  It was really only a matter of time before we became famous.  After 1 month we started hanging out with TV stars at their home.  And by "TV stars" I mean a family who was featured on a Swedish reality TV show about a large RV vacation camp:


These are our friends, Johan and Helen, and their 5 children.  Their second oldest son, Olov (in the blue inner tube) is Roanin's classmate.  The show, Böda Camping, featured them because several of the children have food allergies, and this large campground carries plenty of grocery options for them at their on site market.

We snapped a few pictures of our kids playing with the little celebrities:

 

Adrienne and Dagny are becoming best buds. 

They practically speak the same language.

Who wouldn't want to hang out at a house with

5 kids, a trampoline, and a beautiful Swedish country view?

 

The great thing about being invited to a celebrity's dinner party is the unique and sectacular entertainment.  Our friends arranged a boulder explosion in our honor.  No seriously...the next-door neighbor blew up a boulder the size of a family vehicle with dynamite while we were there.  If you haven't witnessed this type of extravaganza for yourself, you really are missing out.



 

As of last night, 2 months into our stay, Roanin is officially our family's first TV celebrity.  (Read: He's briefly visible in the background at about 0:55 of this news clip.  Brown shirt, Steelers pants.)



Sweden's polls close Sunday, so as a lead-in to the national elections, this channel covered Roanin's school election.  As a red-blooded American, a representative of his nation's proud democratic history, Roanin educated himself about the issues, carefully considered each candidate and his or her party's platforms and promises, and cast his ballot.  In other words, he voted for the party with the coolest logo.  Come on...what 6 year old boy isn't going to vote for the black panther party?  Hmmm...the historical connotations of that title in America probably don't translate exactly to Swedish first graders.

There you have it.  You, dear reader, are officially following the blog of Swedish celebrities.

Swedish Gymnastics

"Swedish Gymnastics" might be a good title for a blog post about trying to check out at the grocery store with an American credit card, but this post is about actual gymnastics.

One of our new found friends invited us to bring the girls to a gymnastics class that he co-teaches.  Cora has been very excited, since she's missing her gymnastics class back home.  (Don't mistake this excitement for an indication that she really participated in her class at home.  She was more of an observer and distractor...but I digress.). Adrienne was excited since she often mimicked what Cora's class was doing while we hung out in the parent viewing room.


The class was for kiddos 2-4ish, and there were about 25 of them.  Parents were with the kids in the class.  Even so, the general chaos of 25 2-4 year olds ensued, cutely.  I think the class will be good for the girls since they can simply follow along with the physical activities, despite the language challenge.

Swedish gymnastics do seem to be a bit more hard-core than American gymnastics, though:

This is Cora and her bloody leotard after her top lip met with the metal chin-up bar.

Don't worry about that pout too much, she wants to go back next weekend.

A Walk in the Park

Living in Sweden may not be a walk in the park (especially without person numbers or credit card codes), but the Sala city park is one of the many things that makes it worthwhile. 

Sala Church of Sweden in the background

 

Fountain and Gazebo

Offstage left is an amazing playground.

Offstage right is the lake with its own fountain.

 

Fountain Close Up

The park has 3 statues and not a stitch of clothing. 

I think they've outlawed such things...statue clothing that is.

 

Room to Run

and Flowers to Sniff

 

Our own Crop of Beauty

 

Portrait by Cora