Party in the USA

We're home!  We successfully made it back to the U.S.A. 

Packing was again difficult feat as we managed to accumulate a lot of stuff while living here.  Traveling through the airport with 8 suitcases, a stroller and a car seat was not an easy feat.  While traveling, we were treated to Business Class thanks to all of the miles my parents accumulated traveling to Sweden to visit us.  Belle loved having our own big seat, but she enjoyed the ice cream the most. 

On our way to the airport

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We don't pack light...

                                 

Yummy!  Ice cream!!!!

Nap time

We were greeted with a welcome home party with family with a distinctly USA theme.  Belle enjoyed all the attention, playing with her cousin, and all of her new toys! 

Playing with cousins!

Belle's new toys.  She was sooo excited!

While we enjoyed our Swedish adventure, it was great to be home. 

Were leaving on another jet plane...hoping that well be back again...

 I can't believe this will be my last blog post from Sweden. It is bittersweet to say the least to find myself at this moment; returning back to the US and saying goodbye to our friends in Sweden.  Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to get home.  I've missed Lola, and it will be wonderful to be with our family and friends.  I want to go to a grocery store and be able to read every label AND have a handle on exactly how expensive it is. I want to drive my car.  I can't wait until I can use my own washing machine and not have to go up three flights of stairs into an attic.  The dishwasher is something I won't be taking for granted (at least for a few weeks).   
Yet, I will miss Sweden.  While I had my moments of being homesick and some very trying experiences, this has become our home too.  I will miss the Swedish lifestyle, especially fika time.  Most of all, I will miss the friends that we made here.  We all went through the hardships together and were there to support each other through it.  This an been an extraordinary and memorable adventure, and one that we will remember forever (although Belle may not remember much of it ;) ).  Saying goodbyes always feels sad, but we know we will be back again.  Also, thank goodness for modern technology like email an Skype so we can still keep in contact with our friends we made in Sweden.  

It's time to say "hej då" to Sweden

Farewell Dinner with Friends

For our last dinner in Sweden, I wanted to spend it with friends and enjoy Swedish cuisine.  We ended up at Tranan.  We had taken my parents there when they visited and had a superb Swedish dinner.  Tranan has been open since 1929 and is a Stockholm landmark.  

This is what happens when you ask Delfi and Nico to take the picture 

The group
(minus Mike and Natalie who are enjoying their Italian honeymoon)

I was able to enjoy a typical Swedish dinner- meatballs with lingonberry sauce, pickled cucumber and mashed potatoes.
Yummy!

Belle had french fries...her favorite!

For dessert, I enjoyed chocolate pana cotta with strawberries

Cyle enjoyed Creme Brulee

Belle had strawberries

A gift from Delfi

We had said goodbye to Mike and Natalie earlier since they were going to be out of town when we had our dinner.  

We were fortunate to make some really good friends while we were in Sweden.  While we will miss them, we parted with "see you soon" as we know this isn't goodbye.

Swedish Pizza

Pizza has been a staple in our diet since moving to Sweden.  Pizza was brought here by Italian immigrants and almost every Swedish pizzeria is owned and operated by immigrants from one of the many countries that border the Mediterranean Sea.  Our favorite pizzeria is Pizza Hornet (Corner) by George.

 Swedish pizza is much different than its American counterpart as the crust is much thinner and usually not as loaded with toppings.  They also have some unique pizza flavors. 

   A favorite of Swedes is kebab pizza which includes traditional kebab toppings as well as yogurt and hot sauces.

My personal favorite is the curry pizza. 

 It has a curry sauce topped with ham, pineapple, and bananas.

Cyle trying curry pizza for the first time...he wasn't a big fan.

Cyle's favorite was Hawaiian Pizza

No matter if you’re sitting down or taking it home, every pizza in Sweden is served with an included order of “pizza salad,” a sour combination of shredded raw cabbage, oil, vinegar and spices. It's an acquired taste and not one that I ever acquired.  

I'm going to miss Swedish pizza!

For the love of Licorice

To say that Swedes love licorice would be an understatement.  They love it so much at there is an entire store dedicated to only licorice.  There is so many different types and flavors of licorice.  They have chocolate covered, spicy, licorice mixed with chili powder, and the list goes continues.  A unique flavor that is a favorite of the Swedes is salt licorice. This is definitely an acquired taste, and one that I did not enjoy (although I am not a fan of licorice as it is).   

Gröna Lund

Our last weekend in Sweden, we decided to visit Gröna Lund.  Mike and Allison joined us as well. Gröna Lund is Sweden's oldest amusement park and is located in the heart of Stockholm.  

Unfortantely, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea to visit the park that day, so we didn't get to ride as many rides as we would have liked.  

Mike, Allison and I rode the swings while Cyle and Belle watched.  

After the swings, Cyle rode the roller coaster with Mike and Allison.  

While dad was on the roller coaster, Belle and I enjoyed popcorn and a coke.  

That is until Allison got off the roller coaster :)

Next it was Belle's turn for a ride.  We decided to take her on the elephant ride.  She seemed like she was excited about it....

It turns out she wasn't so thrilled with the ride.  She had a mini-meltdown and the ride opeartor had to stop the ride for her.  

Belle post elephant ride.  

Even though we might have scarred our daughter for life and didn't get to ride as many rides as we had hoped, we still had a great time.