Mini-Vacations!

While most of my time this summer has been spent in the summerhouse, I have made some little outings (mostly day-trips) which will constitute as 'mini-vacations', so here's a little summary! :)

Håverud!



In Håverud, which is about a 40-minute drive from the summerhouse, there is a famous aqueduct, and we decided to take the kids there for the day (actually half a day), and I think especially 'M' found it memorable, she kept talking about the boats for quite a while afterwards!
We had a really nice time, the girls got icecream (a big hit with both of them!) and they had this lovely stuffed moose there, for kids to "ride" ... and boy, that was a success!! We do have wild moose near the summerhouse, so at least 'M' knows all about them, and being able to ride on one - even if it was "fake", was a real treat for her! :)







Visiting Annika!



I spent a short weekend visiting Annika, which was really great! We haven't seen each other - other than our weekly Christmas traditions - properly since we went to London in July 2006, so it was wonderful to spend some time together! Unfortunately, circumstances surrounding my visit was horrible, but I still think it was nice to be able to see her.
We went to the movies and saw "Mamma Mia!", a really great movie! I definately have to get the dvd as soon as it's released. We had a nice taco dinner and watched the 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables - I hadn't seen it in ages, and it's nice seeing it with somebody else! :)
I had to leave pretty early on Sunday morning as I was borrowing my Dad's car, and they needed it back, but it still felt nice to see Annika more properly!

Fjällbacka!



My Mum and I have a summer tradition, that one day every year, we visit the Swedish West Coast. This year - like last year - we decided to go to Fjällbacka, which is a lovely little visit by the sea, that we both enjoy a lot! And I have to admit, it helps that Fjällbacka is the village where most of the plots in Swedish author Camilla Läckberg's books takes place! *lol*
The day we had planned promised to be the hottest day of the summer - *typcial* - and neither my Mum nor I take kindly to hot weather! We didn't want to give up the trip entirely, we had after all planned it, and also planned to buy back some freshly smoked salmon, fresh shrimp and other lovely foods, so we went anyway!
And it was really hot!!! Mum's car is rather old, so the fan isn't exactly the best, and you can roll down the windows ... and the trip takes about 1½ - 2 hours ... we were pretty exhausted once we got there, and went straight for lunch! After food - and lots of water - we tried walking around the village for a while, but it was really terribly hot, and none of us felt great. After a while, we went to the SeaFood store, I grabbed the car, and after having made some wonderful - yet expensive - purchases, we went home, and spent a lovely evening in the summerhouse!




Skånes Djurpark



When my Dad and his family drove me back home, they decided to make a little vacation of their stay here, and among other thing we spent almost a whole day at "Skånes Djurpark", which is a fairly big zoo, situated about 60 kilometers from where I live. I had never been there, but I head some great things about it - and I really loved it! I think it might have been a bit too many impressions on the girls, but I still think they enjoyed the day a lot - both of them! :)



Two major highlights for me was:

* Seeing a bear up close - we arrived at feeding time, and he was sitting there waiting for his lunch and looking soooo cuddly and nice (though I for sure wouldn't want to meet an angry bear in the woods, they are huge!!)!

* Seeing lynx (have no idea what the plural of it is, but we saw 4 or 5 of them, and 2 adorable cute babies!!)! A neighbour in the summerhouse had actually seen a lynx just outside his door one morning, but they are extremely shy, and I had never seen one before, so that was quite nice!


'M' had a great time, seeing the animals, playing in an Adventure Park (though she needed some assistance from her parents, as most of the activities were for children around 10-12!!), and she also got a pony ride, which I think was a big hit with her! :) Doesn't she look happy?! (sorry about the poor quality of the photo, I tried to hurry a lot, and probably hurried way too much).
'I' is looking very impressed when she sees 'M' ride, though I doubt she'd like to try it herself! :)