March 2001 - Preparations for Departure
Our last week in Adelaide was very hectic and stressful. Even though we didn't do the actual packing of our contents for storage or freight to Sweden, we had to organise and decide what was going where, and pack our own personal luggage.  We had sold our house for a very good price with settlement due on the Friday before our  departure, but the purchaser backed out of the contract about ten days prior to settlement. We therefore put our house back on the market, and had open inspections on our last weekend in Australia, after our house had been emptied by the removal company.  We had a fair bit of cleaning, gardening and further touch-ups to do (with help from a good friend and a lot of babysitting from Andrew's mum).  We also had a lot of  last minute running around and phoning around, and Andrew also spent quite a bit of time at work finalising things there.  We stayed with Andrew�s parents for that final week. (The house has now been sold again, but for much less than before, but still more than we expected to get at first.  An empty house just does not look as appealing. And just look at the way house prices have risen now - aaarrrggghhh!).

March 19th, 2001 - Departure Date
The day of departure finally arrived, and we were glad to see the end of the last few weeks hectic activity.  Our flight was scheduled for 3pm, but after saying good-bye to our friends and relatives who came to the airport, it was announced that the flight would be delayed nearly two hours due to a bird flying into the engine on the previous haul.  Jordan was a bit of a handful on the flight to Singapore, sleeping only one hour of the 6 ½ hour flight, finally falling asleep at 9.30pm Adelaide time, and waking again an hour before arrival.  He slept 7 hours straight on the 12 ½ hour flight to London, but still short of his usual 11 hours.

March 20th-25th, 2001 - Stopover in England
We arrived in London before 5am (Greenwich Mean Time), after already being awake for a couple of hours, hired a car and drove to Andrew�s cousin Zina�s near Portsmouth.  It snowed that day in Portsmouth, which is very rare in that part of England (the snow did not �stick�, but melted as soon as it hit the ground). We stayed two nights with Zina and Robbie, visiting a village called Southwick, Portchester Castle,* Fishbourne Roman Palace* and the town of Chichester.*  Next day we travelled to Salisbury* and visited the cathedral before driving past Stonehenge* (closed due to foot and mouth restrictions) and on to Bath*, where we looked at the Roman Baths and the Royal Crescent and Circle (row of houses in the shapes as described!).  We stayed that night with some American friends living near Bristol in a huge house in a little village.

The following day we spent some time with the aforementioned friends and after lunch headed for Oxford.*  We only had time to do a one hour bus tour there, before departing for London to stay with another cousin of Andrew�s � Matt � and his wife Julie.  This was a very stressful and horrible trip, taking about 4 ½ hours (instead of 1½) due to the traffic, and difficulty following the directions through London.  We arrived at their house at about 10pm (fortunately Jordan fell asleep around his usual time of 7.30pm).  Andrew then had to return the hire car to Heathrow, with Matt following in his car to bring him back.  They got back at about 1.30am!

We stayed three nights in London, but only did sightseeing on the Saturday when we went to Greenwich* via a boat trip on the Thames, and had dinner in London. We saw the Millenium Wheel and the Millenium Dome in the distance. We had already seen most other things in London that we were interested in on previous trips there.  On the Sunday we went to Matt and Julie�s church in the morning, and Debby did a bit of shopping with Julie in the afternoon.  However Debby still hasn�t been to Harrods after several times in London, as they were shut on Sunday!

March 26th, 2001 - Arrival in Sweden
On Monday 26th March we departed for Stockholm.  There had been snow there the day before, and there was still some snow on the ground from the previous snowfall a couple of weeks prior.  An apartment had been found for us, but was still occupied, so we spent ten nights in a hotel.  Andrew started work a couple of days after arriving.  Our room had a sliding door to separate the sleeping area from the living area, and we actually had a spa bath and a sauna! Jordan enjoyed running up and down the corridors of the hotel, climbing the stairs and going up and down in the lift, and loved the female staff, who loved him back. Debby however got a bit bored with little to do all day, apart from an occasional short outing.  Before the first week was over, both Debby and Andrew had colds, with Andrew�s being worse on the weekend. We moved into our apartment on Thursday April 5th, by which time Jordan had developed a cold.

April 5th, 2001 - Move to Apartment
After having a lazy time in the hotel, the moving day was hectic.  Andrew had the day off of work in order to move, but we couldn�t get the keys until 12.30pm.  We then spent some time being shown how to use the different appliances, and how things were done in apartment life (garbage chute etc.).  We then had to go and purchase some extra furniture (paid for by the company).  They have a place called IKEA where everyone goes for furniture (and many other household items), which you buy in pieces and assemble yourself.  At the end of the store there is a big warehouse where you find the items you have selected and load them onto a big trolley yourself, before going through the checkout to pay for them.  We purchased a computer desk and chair, drawers with baby change table, toddler table and chairs and some other household items.  We then had a bit of trouble fitting it all in the car (which is a Volvo 850 by the way. While on the subject, it is very strange driving from the left side of the car on the right side of the road!).

It was after 4.30 by the time we headed back to the apartment. Everything was unloaded, and then Andrew had to go out again to buy the cot from Babyland, which was right near IKEA! (we had chosen what we wanted earlier in the week).   They didn�t have it in stock, and then he had to go to a different branch.  He returned about 6pm and we then had to put the cot together before Jordan could go to bed.  At 7.30pm Debby went out to buy some groceries, as of course there was nothing in the place, and we hadn�t even had dinner yet!  Shopping took a long time, as we needed everything, and it takes a long time to choose what to buy when everything is labeled in Swedish!  After unloading all of the groceries onto the conveyor belt, Debby discovered that the person ahead was having trouble with their credit-card.  After waiting at least fifteen minutes, Debby then had to load everything back in the trolley and move to another checkout.  The store closed at 9pm, and Debby was the last customer through the checkouts (apart from aforementioned person who held her up).

Meanwhile, Andrew was worrying, thinking Debby must have had an accident.  Arriving back at the apartments, he rushed out to see her.  Unknown to us, the ground floor door to the apartment block locks automatically after 9pm.  Debby only had the car key, and Andrew had of course rushed out without any keys.  So we were stuck outside with the shopping, while Jordan was inside sleeping.  We found some people out the back who had a mobile phone and they called their son, who let us in (this woman later became Jordan's dagmamma).  The ice-cream was truly soft after all this delay!

We then had to put everything away, make dinner, eat it (at 10.15pm!) and make the bed before we could fall exhausted into a heavy sleep!  Andrew was back to work on the next day (Friday), when our freight arrived.  After that we were busy unpacking (Debby mainly), assembling furniture (Andrew), and shopping for further necessary household items (which the company also paid for, except for our microwave) and more groceries. We had really had enough stress by then, and were looking forward to a more peaceful time ahead!

April 13th-16th, 2001 - Easter
You have heard of a white Christmas; we had a white Easter! It snowed on the Thursday evening before Good Friday, enough to make a reasonable covering of snow outside, however the sun came out on Friday and most of the snow was melted by 2pm. We didn�t exchange chocolate Easter eggs as they aren�t commonly available -  instead the Swedes give cardboard eggs which they fill with lollies. We bought Jordan a chicken which lays egg-shaped lollies. We didn�t go away at Easter, because we had only been in Sweden and in our apartment for a short time, and hadn�t had the time or inclination to organise anything.

We went to Gamla Stan (the �old town�)* on Easter Saturday. Gamla Stan is the original part of Stockholm dating back to the 13th century, and is a small island with narrow cobbled streets and tall elegant buildings. The Royal Palace* is also on Gamla Stan, together with the Treasury, Armoury and Tre Kronor Museums. The Tre Kronor Museum is in the basement part of the palace which survived the fire that destroyed the original palace in the 17th century. We didn't go inside the palace or to any of the museums on this occasion, but we saw the Parade following the changing of the guard. We did go to the Medieval Museum on this day though.

April 27th-May 1st - Denmark trip
There was a public holiday on May 1st, so we took off on April 27 for a trip to Denmark for 5 days. Denmark is made up of three large islands and many smaller ones. We first travelled to Copenhagen on the island of Zealand. Driving to Copenhagen took 6-7 hours (plus lunch stop). We took a bit of a detour on the way to go to a place in Sweden called Vadstena* where we had our packed lunch next to a lake, and looked at the moated castle there. We crossed over to Denmark via the Oresund bridge at Malmo � one of the longest bridges in Europe at 16km, completed in summer 1999. We stayed two nights in Copenhagen*, where we walked along Stortorget - the largest shopping mall (street) in Europe, the Little Mermaid, Castle, Nyhavn* district (lovely canal), Tivoli Gardens (amusement and entertainment park) and went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner.

The next day we crossed the middle island of Funen, stopping briefly for lunch at another moated castle and grounds at Egeskov*, and then to the island of Jutland. Jutland is attached to the European mainland via Germany. We went to Legoland* at Billund, but unfortunately we didn�t have as much time as we would have liked there, arriving at 2pm. The park was open until 8pm, but the rides and most of the food stalls closed at 6pm. Jordan had a good time in Duplo World. If you ever get the chance, we recommend that you go to Legoland. There are some in other parts of the world also, but we don�t know whether they are as good or not.

The following day we went to the open air museum �Den Gamle By�* at Arhus. An open air museum (sometimes called a folk museum) is where they transfer buildings from different eras and areas of the country and reconstruct them into a village, with interior displays and sometimes costumed people working in the stores etc. The first open air museum in the world is actually in Stockholm. On the same day, we caught the ferry from Grenaa to Varberg in Sweden, staying overnight in Gothenburg and travelling back to Stockholm the next day (a five hour trip by car, plus lunch stop).

April 30th - Valborgsmässafton or Walpurgis Night
The evening of April 30th is when the official end of winter and the start of summer is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks (and drinking), however we were in the hostel in Göteborg (Gothenburg) that night, and didn�t get to see any of the celebrations, although we could hear revellers passing by. We didn�t actually get to see Gothenburg, but it seemed like a nice place.

Spring Report
Spring didn�t really arrive until the end of April (one month before summer officially began!), but when it did arrive, it did it in a sudden and spectacular way. When we left for our Denmark trip it still looked like winter, when we returned a few days later, spring had sprung! Sweden was totally transformed from barrenness to a beautiful forest within a couple of weeks. Sweden really is a giant forest (51% of the land is covered in forest), interspersed with a few cities, towns, villages, farms etc., and around one hundred thousand lakes (yes, 100,000!). You can be driving through country scenes only half an hours drive out of Stockholm. Even though it is very beautiful travelling the countryside past forests, lakes and the occasional isolated house, it can become quite tedious on a long trip as the scenery is always the same!

May 24th-30th, 2001 - Norway trip
There was another public holiday 40 days after Easter on the Thursday for Ascension Day. Andrew�s work also gave everyone the Friday off, so he took a few extra days off and we went to Norway for a week. Driving to Oslo took about 7 hours (plus lunch stop), mainly due to the heavy traffic when approaching Oslo. Norway is even more expensive than Sweden. We splashed out the first night at a nice Indian restaurant, where a main course was about $35 (it had been a long day, so we went to the first restaurant we saw).

The following day in Oslo we went to the Vikingship Museum where you can see three ninth century Viking ships excavated from burial mounds. We also went to the Kon-Tiki Museum. The Kon-Tiki is a balsa wood raft on which Thor Heyerdal crossed the Pacific from Peru to Polynesia in 1947, to prove that the Polynesians could have come from Peru. This museum also houses the Ra II, a papyrus boat in which he sailed across the Atlantic from Egypt to South America in 1970, again because of a theory of contact between those countries.

We went to the Akershus Slott (castle) and to the Norway Resistance Museum there, detailing Norwegian resistance during the World War II German occupation of Norway. We also went to the Royal Palace and grounds, and then back to our B&B for a break before going to Vigeland Park nearby. Vigeland Park contains many of Gustav Vigeland�s sculptures of naked people in various poses (e.g. a mother holding a toddler up in the air, a man with a newborn baby, a man and woman hugging, individuals standing, a toddler having a tantrum etc.). The sculptures were created from 1924 to 1943 when he died.

After Oslo, we travelled to the west of Norway to see the fjords. We stayed in a place called Voss, which is on a lake, not a fjord. We took the scenic route there, through mountains still covered in snow and frozen lakes � it was beautiful. We based ourselves in Voss for four nights and did many daytrips from there. The first day we went from Voss to Vik, via more snowy mountain scenery, plus beautiful valleys, waterfalls etc.

At Vik we saw the Hopperstad Stave Church* � a stave church is a traditional wooden Norwegian church with a very unique design. We then drove the length of the longest fjord in Norway, the Sognefjord, via a few ferries, and returned to Voss the long (and wrong) way, through some even more spectacular scenery which we didn�t really have the time to appreciate, being in a hurry to get back to Voss for dinner before Jordan�s bedtime.

The second day we took a different route to see an arm of the Jostedalsbreen glacier* near Fjaerland. The Jostedalsbreen glacier is the largest continental glacier in Europe (480-500km square). We also went to the glacier museum, and returned to Voss via Vik and the snow road again.

On the third and final day we did part of the �Norway in a Nutshell� tour. From Voss we travelled by train up the mountain to Myrdal (no access roads), where we switched to the Flåmsbana train for the journey down the valley.  The train ride is a 20km, 900m plummet � the gradient of the line is one of the steepest in the world.  From Flam you go on a 2 hour cruise on two slender arms of the Sognefjord, the Aurlandsfjord and the Naeroyfjord* (narrowest fjord in Europe) ending at Gudvangen. Then it is a steep bus ride through 12 hairpin turns to the mountain top view at Stalheim*. From there the bus returns to Voss.

For our return journey the next day, we decided at the last moment to drive all the way from Voss to Stockholm in one day, rather than stay overnight half way home. We left Voss at about 9.30am and got home in Stockholm at 10pm, stopping half hour for lunch and one hour for dinner. We assumed that Jordan would fall asleep in the car after dinner at around his usual bed-time (7.30-8pm), however that wasn�t the case. Jordan didn�t go to sleep until after 10.30pm that night!

June 4th, 2001 - Whitmonday Holiday
The Monday after our trip was also a public holiday for Whitsunday and Whitmonday (also known as Pentecost - when the Holy Spirit came). Even though the Swedes celebrate a lot of religious holidays, they aren�t particularly religious and treat every holiday as a good opportunity to get really drunk! On the holiday Monday we went to a �Walk Through the Old Testament� seminar with the church at their retreat at Stensnäs, in the archipelago.

June 8th-11th, 2001 - Visit from Debby's sister Andrea
Debby�s sister was in England for a couple of weeks with her boyfriend and his parents, staying with their relatives near Manchester. She came to Stockholm by herself for a weekend, arriving at 10.30pm on the Friday night, and departing early on the Monday. On the Saturday we all went to Skokloster Slott (castle) and Sigtuna � a Viking town and the first capital of Sweden. On the Sunday, Debby and Andrea went all around Stockholm on a bus tour and two hour cruise, and lunched at a former prison dungeon on Gamla Stan. They also went to the Vasa Museum where you can see a ship of King Gustav Vasa�s which sank in Stockholm harbour on it�s maiden voyage in 1628 and was raised in 1961.

June 16th, 2001 - The Stockholm Archipelago
In mid-June we went for a drive around part of the archipelago*, crossing between islands on the ferries, and stopped for a packed lunch at an historic building at Bogesund. In August we went on an evening dinner cruise around the archipelago for a work dinner, eating a lovely meal and watching the sun set over the islands.

June 22nd-24th - Midsommar
Swedes usually celebrate events on the eve prior to the event, rather than on the day itself (or perhaps on both!). The weekend closest to the 24th of June is celebrated as �midsommar� (midsummer). This year the 24th was a Sunday, but most of the celebrations were on the Friday. Even though it wasn�t a public holiday, most people get that day off work anyway. For midsommar, the Swedes decorate a maypole with leaves and flowers (and some wear floral wreaths around their heads), and dance and sing around the maypole in the afternoon. In the evening, they have midsummer dances, and they get drunk again. We went to Stensnas again to see the maypole dancing.

There isn�t another public holiday after midsommar until the first Sunday in November, which is also a religious holiday (All Saints Day), or another excuse to get really drunk. (Not surprisingly, Sweden�s worst social problem is alcoholism!).

June 30th-July 2nd, 2001 - Gällivare and Jokkmokk - The Midnight Sun
We went to the north of Sweden to Gällivare to see the midnight sun.* In midsummer, in the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets (conversely in mid-winter the sun never rises in the Arctic Circle!). We flew there on the Saturday � by car, train or bus it is about a 15 hour journey, by plane it is nearly 2 hours.  It was overcast when we arrived, and didn�t seem like a good evening to see the midnight sun, however around 8pm the sky began to clear, and we decided to go while the going was good. At 11.30pm the bus picked us up and took us to the top of Mount Dundret for the view of the sun at midnight. Poor Jordan didn�t appreciate being taken out of bed, and he particularly didn�t appreciate the mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are prevalent in the north of Sweden in summer, but were ten times worse on the mountain. It was wonderful to see, but you couldn�t stand there enjoying the view for long because of the darn mosquitoes! (Fortunately we did go that night, because the following night it poured with rain, and the roof leaked above Debby�s bunk in the youth hostel accommodation).

On the Sunday we took the bus to Jokkmokk where we went to the Ajtte Sami Museum, the Alpine Garden, and looked at Sami crafts and a Lapp church. The Sami or Lapp people are the people native to the most northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. Traditionally they herd reindeer, but nowadays they use more modern methods such as snow scooters and even helicopters. On Monday, our final day in Gällivare, our flight wasn�t until 4.50pm, so we spent the morning following a cultural path there, including another Lapp church and open-air museum with Sami camp. On the way to the airport, we got the taxi to stop at an old mining shanty town for five minutes to have a look.

In and Around Stockholm during July, 2001
In July we did a lot of things locally in and around the Stockholm area. On July 7th we went to a �beach� on Lake Mälaren � it is okay as long as you don�t mind a tiny beach of pebbles, and sharp rocks and stones in the water!

The following Saturday on July 14th we went to Uppsala* which is a university town about 1 hours drive north of Stockholm. Uppsala has a river running through it, a castle, cathedral (the biggest in Sweden) and lovely botanic gardens.

Saturday July 21st, we went to the village of Mariefred*, with Gripsholm Slott* (castle) opposite. Mariefred is a bit over an hours drive from Stockholm. It is a lovely village and castle, surrounded by a moat. We spent a nice warm day there.

The last Sunday in July we finally went to Drottningholm Slott* (palace)- residence of the Swedish royal family. It is situated on Lake Malaren, with the back of the palace facing a beautiful garden, with fountains and a Chinese palace also.

August 10-12, 2001 -Visit from the Beard family
In August we had some visitors for a weekend � the Beard family. Bruce is Australian, Eva is Swedish, and at the time they were living in the Middle East. Eva had been spending the whole summer in Sweden with their four children at her parents summer house near Goteborg (on the west coast of Sweden, several hours drive from Stockholm), and Bruce came over for a short holiday. We have only a two bedroom apartment, but we rented them an apartment in the same block for only 30 krona per day (about $6). We ate the evening meals together, but they also had the privacy of their own place for sleeping and breakfast and whenever they felt like it. However, there were no showers there, so they had to use our bathroom. If any one else wants to come and visit us, we can arrange the same for you! It was great to have some visitors � we don�t get many up here (unlike our English friends in Stockholm who are always having guests or popping over to England to see friends and family. Even our American friends in Stockholm get quite a few visitors).

With the Beards we went to the Vasa Museum - at least Andrew did, Debby and Jordan headed for the Nordic Museum to see the ABBA exhibition! (Debby went to the Vasa with her sister in June). We also went to the History Museum, saw the changing of the guard and the Royal Armoury (costume) museum that weekend. Unfortunately it was dreadful weather with wind and rain.

August 18-26, 2001 - Öland, Kalmar and Gotland
Off of the east coast of Sweden are the islands of Öland and Gotland. They are very popular places to go in the summer, with nice rural landscapes and the most sun hours in Sweden! We went mid-August after the official holiday season. We first drove down to the town of Kalmar, about 4-5 hours drive. Along the way we stopped and ate a packed lunch at Söderköping, a quaint village on the Göta Canal. The Göta Canal goes across Sweden from Stockholm to Göteborg (Gothenburg), but is now used only for pleasure trips.

From our base in Kalmar we spent two days touring around the island of Öland. Öland is joined to Kalmar by a six kilometre bridge. Öland is a small, long island full of pastures and wooden windmills, with pretty villages and perfect, picturesque farmsteads (no debris and delabitated sheds here!). We covered most of the island, from Eketorp Fort in the south to the Trolls Forest in the north. We went to Solliden Slott, the summer residence of the Swedish Royal family, set in the midst of various beautiful gardens. We also went to nearby Borgholm Slott, a castle ruin open to the sky, and also very picturesque. We also visited a lighthouse in the north of Oland.*

On the third day, we explored Kalmar itself. Kalmar is also a very pretty town, with a lovely moated castle, and with walls remaining around part of the town, some of which you can walk on. In the evening, after dinner, we hired a canoe and paddled around for about an hour and a half. We then drove for about one hour to Oskarshamn, to catch the overnight ferry to Gotland, departing at about 11pm.

We arrived in Visby, Gotland at about 6am (aaarrrggghhhh). We found our accommodation (a cabin in the camping grounds, about 3km outside the city), and went back to sleep for a few hours! We later went into Visby for lunch and a look around. Visby is a wonderful walled town with cobblestone streets and many church ruins (plus a couple that are still intact!). It also has beautiful botanic gardens and a park with lake.

During our stay on Gotland, we also went to the coastal village of Ljugärn, saw many limestone stacks along the coast, visited many interesting church buildings, and went to the island of Fårö (Sheep Island). One day we just relaxed around the campsite, playing mini-golf in the morning, and going to the beach across the road in the afternoon.

Summer Report and Routine
In summer everything stops for 2 ½ months (schools, playgroups, bible study group etc.), and most city/suburban dwelling Swedes go away to their �summer homes� (or �country houses�) or abroad. Apparently a lot of these summer homes are very basic, without hot water and with outside �dry� toilets (a seat over a whole in the ground). Stockholm nearly shuts down in July when practically everyone has the whole month off of work. When everything had stopped for the summer, Debby had a relaxed time, taking Jordan to parks and playgrounds, reading the news on the internet (and doing a bit of surfing!), occasionally shopping or going to lunch with a friend.

The average temperature in June was only about 20 degrees. Apparently it is usually warmer than that in June.  In summer we had about three to four good weeks with temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees, which is extremely good for Sweden. (Last summer it was about 15 degree averages � like our winter!). July was the month when most of the hotter weather occurred. Airconditioning is quite rare in Sweden, so when it was warm, it was warm, and very humid with it. The sun doesn�t set until about 10.30pm, and then rises again about 2.30am! The temperature therefore stays quite high overnight. It would be lovely weather for a week to ten days, followed by several days of wet, cool weather before a return of the nice weather for another week or so. August was much like June, though with some warmer weather.

September 2nd, 2001 - The Birth of Another Nephew (for us)/Cousin (for Jordan)
On September 2nd, Matthew Viron Volaris was born to Andrew�s sister Rachel and brother-in-law Jim. We have yet to meet this little fellow, the 17th grandchild of Andrew�s parents, and have only seen photos of him. He will be six months old when we finally meet him. Jordan is no longer the youngest in the family!

September 16-18, 2001 - Helsinki, Finland
We took the ferry to Helsinki one Sunday in September, leaving at 5pm and travelling overnight, arriving in Helsinki at 9.30am. The Silja Line ferry was quite luxurious with several restaurants, shops, and two nightclubs (one was a piano bar, and the other had a band).

In Helsinki, we went to Senate Square, where the large, white Lutheran Cathedral* stands high above, and people gather on the stairs to meet each other. The square also features a large fountain in the centre, and is surrounded by buildings with roman columns.

We visited the rock church*, built, as the name indicates, into a huge rock, It was quite spectacular. We went to the Olympics Stadium*, where the Olympics were held in 1952, and also walked along the Esplanadi* and the Harbour. We also saw much more of Helsinki as we travelled between the above points of interest. The ferry departed again at 5pm for the return journey, arriving back in Stockholm at 9.30am on the Tuesday morning.

September 24th � Commencement of Swedish Studies and Daycare
On September 24th, Debby began taking Swedish lessons twice a week. Jordan now goes to daycare from Monday to Wednesday 8.45am to 4pm. We have to pay for full-time care, but prefer to have him home on the other two days of the week anyway. He has a �dagmamma� � a woman who looks after a maximum of six children in her own home. In fact, the only time he spends at her place is for lunch, nap and afternoon snack. The children are outdoors for about 3 ½ hours per day in all kinds of weather, bar heavy rain, blizzard and temperatures below minus 15. The dagmamma Lena meets up with seven other dagmammas in local parks and playgrounds, so Jordan gets to meet and play with a wider circle of children.

September 29th, 2001 - AFL Grand Final
At the end of September, we went to an Irish pub in Gamla Stan to see a delayed telecast of the AFL Grand Final, together with the other Aussies that Andrew works with. Jordan stayed at home with the babysitter. The event was organised by the Southern Cross Club in Stockholm.

October 6th-7th, 2001 � Trip to Mora
On this Saturday, we drove north for four hours to the town of Mora, considered the cultural centre of Sweden. Mora is situated by Lake Siljan, and the drive was very pretty at this time of year, with autumn colours everywhere. We visited the Anders Zorn Museum/Art Gallery, and saw his house and grounds next door. (Anders Zorn is one of Sweden�s famous artists). We stayed overnight in Mora.

On the Sunday, we travelled home, stopping at nearby Nusnäs to go to one of the factories where the Swedish painted horses are made. The Swedish painted horse is a traditional symbol and souvenir of Sweden. On the drive home we also stopped briefly at the town of Leksand to see the church and other picturesque sights there.

October 12th-13th - Church Retreat at Stensnas
We stayed overnight for the retreat this time, going there on the Friday evening after dinner. Friday evening was a relaxing time of games, chatting and singing around a bonfire. On Saturday there was a study session, and Debby went out with the toddler group to assist them. They were collecting autumn things from the ground - leaves, pine cones etc. and Jordan was having a good time. We then went down to the little beach, and Jordan waded in and then fell over before Debby could grab him. He had his waterproof outer clothes on, but they didn't help much when he fell right in! Debby had to take him back to our hotel room for a complete change - he was not very happy about it at all! (nor was Debby).

October 20th, 2001 - Skansen
We finally made it to Stockholm's open-air museum. There are buildings here of many different periods from all over Sweden, reconstructed into little villages and farm settings. However, we didn't see a lot of the buildings this time, but spent most of the time looking at the Nordic Zoo, where they have animals native to Scandinavia (wolves, moose, deer, bisons, lynxes, brown bears etc.)
We were there for five hours, and that still was only enough time to see about half of the place!

We went there again in December for the Christmas market, but did not stay long as it was a cold, rainy, miserable day that time. We will wait until summer to go again, when we can see the gardens at their best, and the children's zoo will be open.

Weather Report - Autumn 2001
Autumn came and went suddenly, as do all seasons here, apart from winter which hangs around forever! Fortunately winter had a late start this year � it can often be well below zero already in October. This October had temperatures around 10 degrees, dropping to between 0 and 8 for November. There was some snow in the second week of November on two consecutive days. There was enough snow for tobogganing, making snowmen etc. so we all went out and had a bit of a play one evening after dinner. In the following days though, the temperatures returned to a mild 5-8 degrees, and the snow was all gone within a week or two. There was no more snow until December 19th.

November 2001 - Break-downs
Our fridge broke down in November, during the same week that it snowed. It was good timing due to the sudden drop in temperature from October. We we able to keep our refrigerated food outside on the balcony for a few days until our fridge was replaced! The fridge comes with the apartment, so was not an expense to us. The video also broke down prior to the fridge, but again was not our expense. After the fridge, the knob on the microwave broke, and that was ours, but still under warranty. We were without a microwave for two to three weeks waiting for the repairs. After all this, we thought the freezer was also breaking down, but it was just a problem with too much ice!

November-December, 2001 - Babyswim
Debby took Jordan to Babyswim classes on Friday afternoons throughout November until mid-December. He wasn't as co-operative as he used to be when he went up until the age of 14 months in Australia. Consequently, Debby didn't continue with the classes after the initial sessions (you must pay for a series of sessions).

December 4th, 2001 - Work Christmas Dinner
Andrew's work dinner was a Julbord meal (Christmas smorgasbord) which consisted of cold meats and salads, herring, prawns, salmon, hard-boiled eggs with caviar or shrimps, meatballs, sausage and potato gratin. The meal commences with a drink of alcoholic glögg - spiced wine and vodka served hot. This is a typical Swedish Christmas meal (no turkey and roast vegies here!). Fortunately, we were planning to be in England for Christmas! There was a comedy act during the meal, which was of course intensely amusing, being entirely in Swedish! Actually, it wasn't too bad as they did many musical numbers, and they were fun to watch even if you couldn't understand them.

December 13th, 2001 - The Feast of St. Lucia
The 13th of December is the day of the death of St. Lucia, who was executed by the Romans at the beginning of the 4th century for refusing to renounce Christ and sacrifice to the emperor�s portrait. The Lucia festival has only been celebrated for about 60 years in Sweden. Today it is celebrated by dressing a girl in white robes with a crown of candles on her head. It is also a tradition to bake special buns called �Lussekatter� or �Lucia cats� in English. The girl goes from one room to another, offering the special buns, ginger biscuits, coffee and glögg. Competitions are held in various areas to chose the person who will represent Lucia for that region. The lit candles represent the light that conquers the evil forces of night and winter until the return of spring. It must have worked, because we had several sunny days after that!

Andrew's work had a Lucia parade, and Debby went to one presented by the dagmammas. Jordan was too young to participate, but all of the other little boys were dressed in Santa clothes with Christmas hats, and the girls were all in white robes. They parade in, with the Lucia girl in front, followed by the others, all singing a song about St. Lucia. They then stand at the front of the room and sing a couple of other songs, then sing the St. Lucia one again as they parade out. They even did it again a few days later at the church Sunday School Christmas party - it was driving Andrew nuts by then (particularly the song)!

Weather Report � December
Early December continued to be mild with temperatures around the 3-4 degree mark most days. The Feast of St Lucia is held on December 13th, and is supposed to chase away the winter darkness � it worked! For the next few days, it was bright and sunny, although very crisp with frost on the ground. It was quite beautiful, with the sun making the frost appear to sparkle like millions of diamonds. The shortest day of the year is in December, and by this time it was getting dark by 3.30pm (with sunrise about 8am).

Winter hit in earnest on the afternoon of December 19th when the temperature suddenly dropped to minus 8, and snow began to fall heavily. The next day was also minus 8, with more snow in the evening, and the day after that there was a blizzard, but milder temperature of minus 1-2! The following day (December 22nd) we left for England, with the early morning temperature at the airport carpark being minus 10.

Christmas and New Year 2001 - England
For Christmas we went to England to spend the Christmas and New Year period with two American families living in Bristol. We met them when we lived in England in 1995/1996. We never can seem to get the whole Kulikovsky family together for Christmas. This year Paul and Gerrah are in Australia for the first Christmas in four years, but now we are over here! It will probably be another three years before they are back in Australia again.

We had a good time when we were in England. I didn't want to come back to Stockholm. It was so good to be in a country where you could understand the language! And I just love England - the villages, castles etc. - there is just so much to see and do there. It was great to catch up with our American friends too, that we have not seen for years. We stayed with the Harrises (Mike, Donna, Emily 10 and Caleb 13) in their big, old house (a few hundred years old) behind the village square, and the other American family the Petersons (Dave, Sharon and Tammy, 17) lived nearby in a more modern suburban area.

We travelled on Saturday 22nd December, getting up at 3.30am in order to get the 7am flight. It all went without incident and Jordan was reasonably good on the plane. We picked up our hire car and arrived at our friends place before 1pm, where they had lunch all ready for us. We saw the Petersons the following day at church, and they came over for lunch as well.

December 24th, 2001 - Christmas Eve
We did a bit of shopping in the morning, and went to the Petersons in the evening. We had a meal and played the game Scattergories. For the title "something you shout" beginning with "A", Andrew wrote "antelope". We cracked up about that one, and it has become a running joke to shout "antelope" around the Petersons and Harrises now. (If you haven't figured it out, Andrew thought it was "something you shoot"!).

December 25th, 2001 - Christmas Day
Christmas day was a bit slow to get started, with the present opening delayed until after lunch (except for the Harrises who got up at 5am to open presents - their 13 year old son had been awake pestering them from 3.15am!). Both the Petersons and lunch were rather late, so the present opening was further delayed. But at least the celebration of Christmas had finally begun with lunch.

Our Christmas lunch was not the traditional English/Aussie meal, but more American. We had the usual turkey and (home-made) cranberry sauce, but with mashed potatoes, corn kernels and devilled eggs instead of roast potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, peas or beans. Turkey, mash and corn is also traditional for the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

Jordan really enjoyed Christmas this year and could now open his own presents. He kept getting stuck on different presents though, and had to be urged to keep opening the others. He loved them all. He received four videos for Christmas - "Play School/Sesame Street" (nanna and poppa), "Bear in the Big Blue House" (grandma and grandpa) "Bob the Builder Christmas special" (us) and "Thomas (the Tank Engine) and Friends" (us). He also received an electronic nursery rhyme book from the Harrises, a Duplo horse and carriage set from the Petersons, a Tigger movie jigsaw puzzle (us), two books from us "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and the "Pop-up Potty book", ten animal finger puppets from Jessica (his younger little friend), and a bus and tomten (Santa) figurine from Lena (his dagmamma). The rest of Christmas day was very enjoyable.

December 26th, 2001 - Boxing Day - Castle Combe and Lacock
We went to the nearby quaint village of Castle Combe,* where we had lunch in an English pub, then on to the village of Lacock, where scenes from Pride and Prejudice were filmed.

December 27th, 2001 - Shopping in England
The day after (Thursday) we went shopping at the big mall nearby, having lunch with the Harrises at Pizza Hut. Andrew and Jordan left shortly after lunch about 1.30 - 2pm, but it took him about 2 hours to drive the usual 15-20 minute journey. The traffic was absolutely bottlenecked leaving the mall. The rest of us stayed there all day - Michael and Caleb waiting to go to a movie at 5pm, and myself waiting for new glasses which were ready at 6.30pm. Michael picked us up at 8.30 after the movie. We bought several videos for Debby and Jordan, and books for Jordan, while we could actually get something in the English language!

Jordan had a temperature that night, so we didn't go anywhere the following day (Friday).

December 29th, 2001 - Bristol
Saturday we went in the city of Bristol with Dave and Sharon. Donna offered to look after Jordan at home, so we left him behind with her. It was very cold out, and it would have been very boring for him too. We had lunch together, looked at the waterfront area, visited a nice church, saw some other church ruins, and a steep and narrow cobbled street called the Christmas Steps. We ended up in another shopping mall (it was good to get out of the cold!) before coming home.

December 30th, 2001 - Local Villages
On Sunday, everyone went to church except Donna, myself and Jordan. After lunch, just Mike came out with us for a drive to a local town called Nailsworth (nothing really special) and a village called Minchinhampton (nicer). We saw some nice scenery on the way.

December 31st, 2001 - New Year's Eve - Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey, South Wales
On New Year's Eve we left between 10.30 and 11 in the morning, and, with the Harrises, went to Chepstow Castle* in South Wales.  It was a really nice castle ruin, apparently the oldest in Wales and one of the oldest in the UK. We then travelled to nearby Tintern where we lunched in a pub there. We went to look at Tintern Abbey* while the Harrises looked in the shops. We didn't spend too long there as Jordan was complaining by this time, and cried everytime we stopped pushing the stroller to look or take photos. He fell asleep on the short walk (about 100-200m) from Tintern Abbey to the car park! (it was 2pm by this time).

That evening we all went to the Petersons at 7pm to celebrate New Year's Eve. We ate (of course), and played Taboo and the card game Warlords and Scumbags. We paused at midnight for the New Year's greetings, and later resumed playing cards until just after 1am. It was after 2 before I got into bed, and I couldn't get to sleep for over an hour.

January 1st, 2002 - New Year's Day - Thornbury Castle
On New Year's Day Jordan woke me up at 7.30. I went back to bed after Andrew got up for a couple of hours sleep before lunch. The Petersons came for lunch. Donna, Sharon and I went out for a cream tea at Thornbury Castle (posh hotel) at 3.30. We had a nice relaxing time there for over 1 1/2 hours. The guys stayed back at the Harrises.That was our last evening there, and it was sad to say goodbye to our friends, and goodbye to England!

January 2nd, 2002 - Return to Stockholm
The next morning we left about 10am and had a smooth uneventful journey to the airport. We spent about 1 1/2 hours in the British Airways lounge before catching our 2.15pm flight. Jordan slept at the beginning, and only got niggly at the end, when we had arrived but sat on the concourse for about 20 minutes before we could exit the plane. (It is a 2 1/2 hour flight).

There was a lot of snow when we arrived in Stockholm - apparently it is the most snow they have had in ten years. In Sweden, the temperature had been as low as -22 while we were away in England, and it was -10 to -14 that night we got back. (Temperatures while in England ranged from 8 to about minus 3. It generally got colder the longer we were there, but there was no snow - only some frost in the last couple of days). It was 7pm by the time we were ready to leave the airport, and we went to wait for the bus to the car park. However, we didn't realise there were two different buses to two different car parks, and after waiting about 10 minutes for a bus, we of course got on the wrong one (the right bus went twice as often too!). The two car parks are right next to each other, but the bus driver wouldn't take us to ours, even though he sat for at least five minutes in the other car park to keep to schedule. It was impossible to walk from one to the other with all the snow and all our baggage and no trolley to carry it on (and it was minus 10 degrees also).

We got the bus back to the terminal and caught the proper bus out. We lugged all the luggage to the car and put it and Jordan in the car. Then we discovered the car was completely dead. At this stage Jordan started to scream his head off inconsolably (and I joined in!). We caught the next bus back to the terminal, from where we finally caught a taxi. We ended up getting home at 9pm, when we could have been home well before 8pm if we had got the taxi immediately.

We all had a bout of gastroenteritis soon after our return to Sweden, and Andrew and I both managed to lose 1 1/2 kg in 24 hours. A really good way to lose a lot of weight fast!

On Monday, Andrew was back at work, and Jordan went to daycare, to play outside in the snow with the other children.

January 10th, 2002 � Jordan�s 2nd Birthday
Jordan has changed a lot in the last year. He is now running and skipping (he thinks he is jumping)! His face looks pretty much the same, but he has grown 11cm (he is now 86cm tall), and has developed many skills during the year. He didn�t have his first haircut until he was 18 months, but now he needs one every two to three months. He says many words (some Swedish!), but only started to put two words together about three weeks before he turned two (�dadda work�). He started to say words of more than one syllable shortly before this (�Tigger� is the clearest). Jordan is very independent and outgoing, and also very funny and cheeky. He will probably be the class clown and the life of the party when he gets older. He loves to be the centre of attention and to make people laugh.

Jordan enjoyed his 2nd birthday, especially receiving more presents! He got two buckets of Duplo (one jungle themed), some books that we bought in England, some (plastic) food and a Bob the Builder jumper from us. We had a very little party for him the Friday of the next week (three children, two mums). Other presents he received were: $20, Bob the Builder book, Wind-up Fire Engine, Wooden Puzzle with magnet, Penguin soft toy, Barney video and Pop-Up Farm book.

Weather Report - January/February
 It was minus 10-14 degrees on January 2nd in the evening when we returned from England. However, we had missed the worst � while we had been in England they had experienced minus 22 here in Stockholm!

There was so much snow, we thought it would be around for ever, but soon after our return, the temperature rose to just above zero and stayed there around the 2 degree mark for days (it even got up to 8 degrees one day). After about ten days of this the snow had all gone, except for the large piles that had been pushed up at the side of the roads (which now looked like piles of dirt).

From January 20th it snowed on several occasions, but soon melted again, often on the same day, when the temperatures rose above zero again (sometimes it is between zero and one degree when it does snow, but it turns to rain if it gets any warmer than that).
Usually the lake would have frozen over by then, and it would have been possible to go ice-skating on the lake, but due to the mild temperatures, this never happened this winter. We were a bit disappointed to have missed out on that. However, we did go further north in February to go skiing one day with some friends (well, Andrew went skiing and Debby dragged Jordan about on the toboggan).

February 21st to 24th, 2002 � New York
The holiday in the US was great. We really enjoyed New York, and saw all the usual sights there, going on a hop-on, hop-off bus around the city for two days, including an evening tour. We went through SoHo, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, Little Italy and Harlem. We stopped at many places including Pier 16, Battery Park, City Hall Park, Rockefeller Centre and Times Square*. We went inside the famous stores of Tiffany�s*, Macy�s and F.A.O Schwarz (toy store).

We took the ferry to Liberty Island, but were not allowed to go inside the Statue of Liberty* (restricted since September 11). We also went to see Ground Zero*. There wasn't much left to see, but it was still good to go there, and see the empty space where the several World Trade Centre buildings once stood. Some of the surrounding buildings still standing had broken windows even then.

We spent most of a day in Central Park*. There we saw people ice-skating outdoors with the park on one side, and the skyline behind them. (There was also outdoor ice-skating at Rockefeller Centre). Central Park was magnificent even in winter, and it would be so much better in spring, summer and autumn. It was probably my (Debby) favourite bit. Going to the top of the Empire State Building* and seeing the view was great also.

February 25th to March 1st, 2002 � Las Vegas and Grand Canyon
Vegas was a blast. We didn't spend one cent on gambling, but it took all of our time over four days just to look at all the casinos. Some of them are amazing. Our favourite was the Venetian*. On the outside it is made to look like St. Marks Square, but also with the bridge over the Grand Canal. Inside, it is designed like the streets of Venice, with the ceiling painted like a blue sky with wispy white clouds. It even has canals, and we went on a gondola ride! The Paris* is also great. It has an Eiffel Tower outside (I think it is about two thirds the size of the original), which you can actually go up, and inside it there are cobblestoned Parisian streets (again with the "sky" overhead). Caesar's Palace* has an area called the Forum Shops, which is the same kind of thing again, but with the old Roman look. The Mirage has a volcano outside, which erupts every 15 minutes after dusk. The Bellagio has a water display every half hour in the evening, timed to music. Treasure Island has a mock battle between a pirate ship and a British ship, complete with explosions and fires, and the sinking of the British ship!

One day in Vegas we took a bus trip to the Grand Canyon*, about five hours drive there and back. It was awesome, and much bigger and more spectacular then I've ever imagined. It was a long day, being picked up from the hotel by courtesy bus at 6.30am, and not being dropped off again until 11.15pm, but it was well worth it (the cost was exorbidant also).

March 2nd to 9th, 2002 � Los Angeles
Jordan was very ill the first few days in Los Angeles. The day after we arrived, he had a very high fever resulting in convulsions.  It is very scary to see, and Jordan stopped breathing momentarily at the end. We called the ambulance, and we went in the ambulance with Jordan to the hospital. We were there a few hours, and back again the next morning for a follow-up. They diagnosed him with bronchitis on the second day (he had been coughing all night for the past two nights). They even suspected pneumonia, but a chest X-ray ruled that out. After a couple of days on antibiotics, and with paracetemol regularly over the next few days, he showed a big improvement.

In our last four days there, we went to Universal Studios*; did a day tour taking in Venice Beach, downtown LA*, the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive*, the stars homes in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air; and saw Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland.

March 10th, 2002 didn�t exist for us due to crossing the date-line!

March 11th to April 4th,  2002 � Australia
In Adelaide we were very busy catching up with friends and family, organising lots of things, appointments with doctors, dentist etc., and doing quite a bit of shopping. We had a big list of things we wanted to buy because they were either unavailable in Sweden, or much cheaper to buy in Australia (well, that includes everything really!).

It was good to catch up with Andrew's brother Paul and their family. They live in the Philippines, and we haven't seen them for four years. They were actually been in Australia since August 2001, and will be staying there until the end of July 2002, so it is unfortunate that we were over here in Sweden during that time. They have a boy who is two months older than Jordan, that we had never met before. They had a good time together, although Ivan is much bigger and stockier, and bit Jordan on the ear one day! We also got to see Andrew's sister Rachel's baby, which was born in September 2001.

Andrew turned 30 on March 22nd while we were there, and we had a combined party on Saturday the 23rd for him and his brother Paul who was turning 40 on March 27th. My Dad rang up earlier in the afternoon and said he wouldn't be there because he had food poisoning, or so he thought. In fact he was having a heart attack, and went in the ambulance to the hospital during the course of the party. We didn�t know anything about it until 11.30pm when Debby�s sister phoned. Debby tried to see Dad every day after that. He was in hospital for a week, and had a a stress test on April 11 to see what the damage was, and was told that he did not require an operation, just continued medication. (Some time later he had two more heart attacks and an angioplasty procedure).

Dad was still in hospital when we went away for Easter with all of Andrew's family and some friends. On the Thursday before Good Friday we went to Tanunda Caravan Park where we had an on-site caravan. Most people were in tents except Paul's family also has a caravan, and Andrew's parents had a cabin. Dad went home from hospital on Easter Saturday. Dad and Andrea were going to stay at Tanunda as well, and Dad was really disappointed that he had to miss out, due to his heart attack. We had a good time there, but it was hard to be away from Dad at that time.

April 4th , 2002 � Return to Sweden
The trip home was fairly horrendous, but we survived it! We had to stop in Darwin for an hour, Singapore for 3 1/2 hours, Bangkok for an hour and then Copenhagen for an hour. It is ridiculous how many stops you have to make nowadays - they hardly have any direct flights anywhere since September 11. Try travelling for nearly 30 hours with a two year old and only 4 or 5 hours sleep! Jordan himself only slept five or six hours, and woke up when everyone else on the plane was trying to sleep. We were in business class from Singapore. We arrived home on Friday April 5th at about 9.30am Sweden time.

Spring in Sweden, 2002
When we arrived it was about 6-7 degrees maximum, only about 3 degrees warmer than when we left six weeks prior. There were buds on the trees when we left, and we thought spring would arrive early this year, but the buds were still there waiting to open when we returned. A couple of weeks after returning, the maximum rose to about 12 on some days, and the leaves began to open, and flowers to bloom. Spring didn�t arrive until the usual time � the last few days of April. Spring comes late in Sweden.

April 10th, 2002 - Jordan at 2¼ years old
After our trip to Australia, Jordan finally began talking more, putting two words together all the time. He likes to state the ownership of everything - "Daddy's car, Jordan's hat, Mummy's book, mine, yours" etc. He knows all the colours and can count to 4 (after 4 he says 6 and then jumps to 9!). He started climbing out of his cot as soon as we returned, so he is now in his own bed. He is happy to be back in Sweden - to him it is his home, more so than Australia.

May, 2002 � Many Public Holidays
May is the month of public holidays here in Sweden, and every public holiday means two or three days off! People and businesses often have a half or even full day off before a public holiday, and if the holiday falls on a Thursday, they will have the Friday off as well!

The first public holiday was the 1st of May, (May Day) which was a Wednesday, but the main celebration is on the evening of April 30th. The end of winter is celebrated with each local area having bonfires, fireworks, sideshows, rides etc. On May Day we went to a BBQ with the other Aussies and South Africans from Andrew�s work.

The next public holiday was on Thursday May 9th, but my Swedish class on Wednesday was cancelled due to the Thursday public holiday. Andrew received Friday as a holiday also.

The next public holiday was on May 20th, a Monday. From Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon we were at a church retreat at Stensnäs, having the usual �Church Olympics� on the Monday afternoon (egg and spoon race, sack race, shoe toss etc.).

Debby missed three Swedish classes due to public holidays in May, which were made up by continuing the course the following week after it was due to be finished.

June, 2002 � No more Swedish classes
Debby has finished Swedish now, and won't be taking any more classes. She wanted to do one more class from June 3 to July 3, but that was cancelled due to not enough people continuing. That was the last part-time class until September. She has learnt quite a lot of grammar and vocabulary, but still cannot understand what anyone is saying, or speak back in Swedish, due to lack of actual practice. She can get by when she has to (i.e. when someone only speaks Swedish!). At least she can read a bit of the newspaper and mail now! Andrew just started Swedish in April, but has also finished due to the teacher going on summer holidays already (nobody works during the summer here!).

June 1st to 8th, 2002 � 750 Year Jubilee
From June 1-8 they celebrated the 750 year jubilee here in Stockholm. Stockholm is much older than Australia, yet young by European standards. There are other towns and cities in Sweden that are older than Stockholm. They had many special events happening around the city during the week, so we went to a few of them. We saw some of the old-time markets (medieval, 17th century, 18-19th century) and a costume parade.

We saw a public show which commenced with dancing ladies a la Rio Carnival (i.e. wearing next to nothing, with big feathers on their heads). Jordan loved them, and wouldn't stop going on about the "ladies". He wanted to follow them down the road, and kept asking for them to come back again. If they had such a thing in Australia, all the women would be young and beautiful with great bodies. But here in Sweden everything must be PC and equal, so there were chubby bodies, older women and unattractive faces!

That was followed by a presentation about the history of Stockholm (all in Swedish) and then a surprise appearance by the Crown Princess Victoria. Finally they had the fireworks. Not much to look at when it is still daylight, and they had a bit of an accident also, with many of them exploding on the ground before going off! They can't wait until dark though - that doesn't happen until about midnight. In fact, it never gets really pitch black dark in summer at all, and is only "dark" (twilight) for about 3 hours altogether.

Another night we went to the "Slave to the Rhythm" show. That was really good with opera singers singing modern songs, plus drummers, ballroom dancers, a tap dancer etc. Andrew said he had seen it all after he saw opera singers singing TNT by AC/DC!

July in Stockholm
We had visitors for nearly a week in early July, and did a lot of the touristy things that we had done before. Later in the month, we went to some new places, such as the Bergianska Botaniska Tradgarden (Botanical Gardens); the Natural History Museum and Cosmonova (planetarium and IMAX theatre); Rosersbergs Slott (palace); and a Knight's Tournament* and Medieval Festival at Skokloster Slott (an annual event). We had been to Skokloster before, but not to see the tournament. It was great to watch the jousting etc, and Jordan enjoyed it too. We farewelled a couple of families in late July - our Aussie friend's going back to Adelaide where we will see them again soon, and our New Zealand friends back to NZ, where we hope to see them again someday.

July 27th to August 3rd, 2002 - Holiday in Ystad, Skåne (south coast of Sweden)
Ystad is in the province of Skåne, and is an agricultural area known for it's picturesque fields of wheat, with poppies in the foreground, and old farmhouses in the midst. It is a long drive from Stockholm, taking us about six hours driving time (at Andrew's speed, that is - add an hour if you stick to the speed limit!). We had a great time in Ystad, actually staying in an apartment in an old school house 3km outside the town. We had two friends and their families also staying in Ystad at that time, and bumped into a third friend also. We spent quite some time together: going to the beach; the fun park; the animal park; and dinners at each others accommodation and at a restaurant the final night. We also did some things alone: going to a circle of stones called Ales Stenar*; a stately home called Marsvinsholm Slott*; and looking around Ystad* itself, which was a quaint town with cobblestoned streets and lovely old houses with flowers growing against the walls (especially hollyhocks). The weather was hot every day, and it was all very relaxing and enjoyable.

August 3rd to August 10th, 2002 - Holiday in Ödsmåls Mosse, Bohuslän (west coast of Sweden)
The Bohuslän region is above Göteborg on the west coast of Sweden, and has an archipelago of islands, quite different to the Stockholm archipelago. We went directly from our holiday in Ystad to Kungälv, about 3 hours drive. We were staying in a stuga (cabin) in someone's back yard in a holiday home area, about 16km from Kungälv, on the road to Marstrand. A short walk from our cabin, we could see a fantastic view of part of the archipelago, including Marstrand (see Sweden pics). During our stay there, we went to Bohus Fästning (Castle)* in Kungälv; looked around Kungälv itself (more cobblestoned streets and quaint pastel coloured wooden buildings), went to Marstrand* (on an island) and saw the town and Carlstens Fästning (Castle); went to Trollhättan* to see the locks on the Göta Canal, and the opening of the locks (from nothing to a great river); and to many other island towns including Fjällbacka (favourite holiday spot of Ingrid Bergman), Bovallstrand, Hunnebostrand, Smögen and Kungshamn. All the towns were very picturesque, and Andrew preferred the Bohuslän archipelago to the Stockholm one. The Stockholm archipelago is much greener, whereas the islands in the western archipelago have few trees and look more dramatic. On the Stockholm islands, they generally stick to the traditional red wooden buildings, but on the western islands, they paint the buildings with many other colours, particularly pastels. We even went to a "beach" one day, if you can call it that. Brown sand/dirt with many small rocks, and about the size of the average backyard in Adelaide! The beaches in Ystad were much nicer and longer, but very narrow (however the sea was like ice water - it nearly froze my toes off). In many bathing areas in Sweden, there is no sand at all, and people sunbathe on the rocks on their fold-up chairs!

Summer Weather
They had another good summer in Stockholm this year - fine and sunny and around 20 degrees for much of May, and 25 degrees for the first several days of June. We heard before summer began that May and June would be really nice, but July and August not so great. They were fairly correct about that. Early in July, the rains began, just in time for our American visitors from England. Fortunately there was only one really bad day, where it rained the whole day. Other days it would rain only for a short part of the day, and be overcast or even sunny at other times of the day. After the visitors left, the warm weather returned for several days, and then the rain again for several days. Our holidays around Sweden began at the end of July, and from that time on, the weather was marvellous. The whole of August was bright, sunny and warm to hot, with rain on only one day. It was the best summer they have had in Sweden in 100 years!!!!! July was really the only month where the weather was "iffy", but it still had some nice days too.

Future Plans
We leave Sweden on September 19th, arriving in Adelaide on September 23rd, after a two night stopover in Singapore. We have some friends we met in Sweden who are moving back to Singapore at the end of August, just in time for us to go and visit them there! We will be staying with Andrew's parents for less than two weeks, and then we will be moving next door to them, renting for up to a year. During that time, we will be looking for a house to buy, and trying to have another baby! We look forward to starting a new life back in Australia.
 

* there are pictures of these posted on the website

Our Life in Stockholm
When we aren�t travelling around Scandinavia, Andrew goes to work the usual five days a week and we spend Saturdays doing something in or around Stockholm, when the weather is good. Sundays we go to church and usually don�t do much else for the rest of the day. On Tuesday mornings, Debby goes to Ladies Fellowship at the church, and then to lunch with the ladies. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons, she goes to Swedish class. Jordan is at daycare Monday to Wednesday, 8.45am to 4pm. We occasionally go for a walk in the local area in nice weather � there is a nice park near the Centrum, followed by garden plots, a nice cemetery and a large pond. The Centrum is where we go to get a few groceries (we do the main shopping elsewhere), or to catch the underground (�tunnelbana�) into the city (about a 20 minute trip - trains run every ten minutes). About once a month we have a night out without Jordan, usually going to dinner and a movie.

Our Apartment*
Our apartment is two bedrooms but quite spacious, with a walk in robe and huge hallway (waste of space really, but is was a handy place to put all the freight when it arrived!). It also has a dishwasher and washing machine.  The washing machine is very small, but most apartments don�t have them at all. It is in the bathroom, and the clothes line is above the bath!  For those who don�t have washing machines, or to wash large items (e.g. rugs), there is a communal laundry. You have to pre-book your washing time using a special key.
We don't know how to do it still!

We are on the first floor with a small balcony off of the lounge area.  The apartment block has some play equipment in the courtyard.  We are in a street of apartment buildings � there are about 80 which each have six floors with four apartments on each floor.  And that is just this particular street!  It is just like the movies when you see apartments in America � hardly anyone has curtains. We have completely see-through ones in the lounge, a blind in Jordan�s room, and black ones in the bedroom � though I�m not convinced that you can�t see through them when the light is on.

We park the car in a garage about 200 metres away within a locked cage. Debby can't park the car there as it is a very narrow space for parking and manoevring, and the car needs to be reversed in. There is a 30 minute free parking spot right outside the apartments for unloading shopping etc. or for other short term parking. For longer term parking (apart from the garage) there is paid parking along the side of the apartments (2 kronor per hour - less than 20c).

Unloading the shopping (or anything else) is a pain as you usually have to make at least two trips to bring the shopping inside the main door. Than you need to make two trips to carry it to the lift, put it in the lift, and unload it again on our floor before the doors close on you. Then Andrew has to go out and move the car to the garage!

Church in Sweden
We go to an English speaking congregation of the Swedish Covenant Church. The covenant church began in Sweden but was started in America also when many Swedes moved to the mid-west. Our pastors are an American husband and wife team, and the congregation consists of people from 30 different nations. There are Americans, British, Scottish, one New Zealand family, one Aussie family (us), Nigerians, Kenyans, Filipinos, and many others (even Swedes!). There is also a Swedish congregation and a Korean congregation on the same premises. The church is a rare one that is not struggling financially. Many years ago, when the population was moving out of the cities, and the congregations were reducing in number, several of the churches got together and sold their properties to businesses, and purchased a whole block in the city. They own and run a hotel on that block, plus all the other buildings that they rent out to different companies and businesses. They also own a hotel and retreat centre in the archipelago at Stensnäs. The church goes on two retreat overnighters there per year, at a very low cost to participants.
 

July, 2001 - Jordan at 18 months of age
On July 10th, Jordan reached 18 months old, and was as cute as ever. He was 10.6kg and 81.5cm tall � in six months he put on 1.2kg and grew 6.5cm, but he was still smaller than the average 18 month old. Apart from his growth, we don�t think he has changed much in his appearance, but he is able to do many more things (e.g. stack blocks into towers, feed himself with a spoon, climb stairs and slide down a slippery dip by himself, ride a toy car etc.). He has been doing these things for a while before turning 18 months old.

He had his first proper haircut soon after turning 18 months old. He is a bit slow in the tooth department too - he only got his fourth tooth on his 1st birthday, and didn�t get his fifth tooth until age 16 ½ months. Since then, three more are partially through, with more on the way judging by his recent grumpy behaviour. When he is happy he is �Mr. Personality� � a delight and very funny � but when he is grumpy, he whinges constantly and throws tantrums when he doesn�t get his way.

He said his first word (apart from mumma and dadda) just before he turned 16 months (it was car, or more precisely �carcar�). From watching Teletubbies he now says �uh-oh/eh-oh� and �wee-wee�. His latest and favourite word currently is �more� which he uses to request more food, but also to request more play (e.g. more tickles or �body slams�). He said ball several times one day, but never since. He also makes sound effects: �oof, oof� for a dog, �vroom, vroom� for a car, snorting for a pig.

He is very good at kicking a ball on the ground, even a tennis ball, so he looks like he will be a soccer player at the moment, which will make some people reading this happy. However we hope we can convert him to Aussie Rules later, as neither of us like soccer, and wouldn�t like to watch all those practice sessions and games if he plays soccer! He favours his left foot. He is also very good at throwing a ball � he throws very straight and powerfully for an 18 month old.

Since we have been in Sweden he has been waking up between 5.30 and 6am, which Debby hopes he will grow out of very soon (he eventually started waking around 6.30 to 7 after months of early mornings).

January 10th, 2002 � Jordan at 2 years of age
Jordan has changed a lot in the last year. He is now running and skipping (he thinks he is jumping)! His face looks pretty much the same, but he has grown 11cm since he was 1 (he is now 86cm tall), and has developed many skills during the year. He didn�t have his first haircut until he was 18 months, but now he needs one every two to three months. He says many words (some Swedish!), but only started to put two words together about three weeks before he turned two (�dadda work�). He started to say words of more than one syllable shortly before this (�Tigger� is the clearest). Jordan is very independent and outgoing, and also very funny and cheeky. He will probably be the class clown and the life of the party when he gets older. He loves to be the centre of attention and to make people laugh.

April 10th, 2002 - Jordan at 2¼ years old
After our trip to Australia, Jordan finally began talking more, putting two words together all the time. He likes to state the ownership of everything - "Daddy's car, Jordan's hat, Mummy's book, mine, yours" etc. He knows all the colours and can count to 4 (after 4 he says 6 and then jumps to 9!). He started climbing out of his cot as soon as we returned, so he is now in his own bed. He was happy to be back in Sweden - to him it is his home, more so than Australia.

June 10th, 2002
Jordan is really talking away now - repeating things we say, naming everything around him, and saying lots of Swedish words at daycare also. He will say a word or phrase continuously until we repeat it back to him to show we understand. Even then, he often keeps saying it for practice! He is putting three words together all the time now, and his words are becoming clearer. He will be rabbiting away non-stop by the time we get home to Australia. He is playing much more imaginative type games now, and copying things we do. He just loves playing with water, but having no yard he must content himself with playing with water in the bathroom or kitchen sink. Sometimes he is such a little boy, and other times still so babyish.

July 10th, 2002 - Jordan at 2 1/2 years
Jordan is putting a few words together now, but not usually in a correct sentence. He says things like "Jordan read book". That is the level of communication he is currently at. He does say longer sentences than that, but we can't always understand them completely, and he generally misses out the joining words e.g. "daddy gone work car" (daddy has gone to work in the car). He usually talks about himself using his name, rather than "I", e.g. "Jordan watch Play School" (I want to watch Play School). However, in a couple of months, he should be talking really well.

Jordan is really into Star Wars at the moment. He has only seen advertisements for it, and has some figures from cereal packets, but he always wants us to sing or play the music from Star Wars. He likes to put his sheet around him like a cloak or robe, and marches up and down to the music. Sometimes he gets his racquet or hockey stick or a long cardboard tube and we fight each other and fall down dead. As I said, he has never seen it, so I don't know where he got the fighting idea from. Probably from the older boys he plays with at daycare and in the playground when we take him. He also loves Spiderman, after seeing ads and billboards about the new movie.

Jordan often asks us to sing various other songs and nursery rhymes that he likes, and tries to sing them himself also, including the theme from Star Wars. His favourite nursery rhyme at the moment is "Row, Row, Boat" (as he sings it). He woke up crying the other day, and we asked him if he had a bad dream. He said he had been dreaming about "crocodiles" than added "row, row, boat". At playgroup in Australia they sing the second verse of "Row, Row" - "if you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream". He is quite fascinated by crocodiles and goes "snap, snap" with the arm action of the snapping crocodile jaws. He loves butterflies too, and flowers. He always wants to pick flowers (he usually calls them by the Swedish word, blomma).

He is very sociable still, and loves to find children to play with. He will join any child or group of children that will allow him to, and particularly likes playing with older boys. There is one that went to his dagmamma that he worships called Leon. However, Leon doesn't go to the dagmamma anymore and will be starting school after the summer, as he will be turning 7. (Children don't start school until they are 7 in Sweden). He still sees Leon in our courtyard playground, and wants to go out there and play any time he sees him there. I have a friend here with two boys, one older and one younger, and Jordan loves to play with them too. He also has a girl friend he loves to see called Jessica.

He has started to draw "potato people" - you know that stage children go through when they draw a big circle for the person's head and body, then draw the arms and legs coming from that. The arms usually look like they are coming out of the person's ears! However, he makes me draw the faces. He could count to 8 at one stage several weeks ago, but has now forgotten and can barely get to 4 (he went through a stage of saying "one, three").

Jordan is 90 cm tall (about 2 cm short of average), and 12 kg (1.5kg short of average), however everyone says he is well proportioned. He certainly doesn't look skinny anyway. People often think he is big for his age, maybe because he doesn't have as much baby fat and looks taller because of that.

I am sure you miss the little fellow, but it won't be long before you see him again now. At least he can now say your name when you meet him!