Birthday Fun

Yesterday was Taylor's Birthday! In the morning she and I went out for a short jog/walk. I was trying to keep her occupied while Karin and My went out to the store to get some more birthday things. Around 1:30 some of the softball girls went over to Karin's for some birthday fika. Emilia made a strawberry cream cake and My made chocolate balls. The girls sang a Swedish Happy Birthday to her; it was so cool! We ended hanging out for the rest of the day. We jumped on the trampoline until I fell off of it, we had lunch, practiced softball with the little girls, then we had a birthday dinner with Karin's whole family. It was a really nice day!

Karin got Taylor two Swedish "Baby's First Words" books!!  

This morning I caught for Ingrid. I hadn't caught in a while and I'm pretty sure my legs will be aching in the morning. Around noon Ingrid dropped me off with Vidar, Freja, and her friend Cornelia at the lake. The kids swam while I soaked up some sun. It was a really hot day so we only stayed a couple of hours. When we got home I looked up some flights to London. Taylor and I are planning a trip to London towards the end of July. When you book within Europe you can get some really cheap flights, so we are trying to get the best deals. We'll probably need Ingrid and Karin to help us, though! I've never booked a flight on my own and I quickly realized how overwhelming it is! Also, considering that I'm really bad at making up my mind, adds to my confusion! If anyone has any tips for booking flights, let me know... I'm all ears!

Midsummer recovery and Softball Scrimmage

For the past couple of days we have all been recovering from Midsummer! All day Saturday we watched movies, relaxed outside, and ate leftovers. We were so lucky with the weather; the day before and the day after Midsummer was rainy and gross. The only rain we got on Midsummer was a small shower, and we were all inside getting the food ready, anyways. This next week is supposed to really nice; which is excellent because there is a lot to look forward to. Taylor's birthday is on Wednesday and next Sunday my parents will be here! I can't wait to see them!

Yesterday we had a small scrimmage with each other. We invited husbands and friends to play with us! It was a lot of fun and really good practice for the team. We have another double header coming up on Sunday, and we need to win to get into the playoffs. Wish us luck!

Yesterday night Ingrid and I went to the cinema. We saw Bad Teacher. It was a horrible depiction of middle school teachers, but it was pretty funny! However, out of everyone in the theater I was laughing the most. I think it was a combination of American references with references that were too old for the teens to understand that made it less humorous to everyone else.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. I layed out in the sun for a while and started reading a new book. It is called Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. I got it from Janet, my cooperating teacher. It's one of about a hundred books I recieved from her as a goodbye gift. It's a really good book so far! Tonight we are going to the field to get some more practice and I'm not sure what's going on tomorrow... maybe up to the lake if it's nice. Talk to you all later!

Midsummer Celebration!

Yesterday was the BIG Midsummer Celebration! At 1:00pm we all went to the maypole where there were food stands, activities, and dancing.

Before the dancing we had fika, which included watermellon, rasberry cake, carrot cake (that Taylor made), and drinks. After that there was a dog agility competition.

This dog stopped at the top and the little girl was trying to get him down; so cute!

One of the dogs went into the tube and wouldn't come out!

Taylor and I with performers dressed up in traditional Swedish clothing.

 After the maypole dancing we went back to the house for some food and fun!

Food, food, and more food...this was lunch!

 For lunch we had smoked salmon, herring in different types of sauces (there was a herring cake too), boiled potatoes with sour cream and chives, hard boiled eggs with shrimp and mayo, and that large round thing in the corner of the picture was really yummy bread! After we ate we played a trivia game. We played in teams and walked around the neighborhood to where there were questions hanging in trees and bushes. My team lost...badly, but it was still fun! After the game we had another fika. We ate strawberry cream cake and apple dumplings with coffee. It was really delicious!

The apple dumplings Taylor and I made. They were so good; everyone loved them!

 After food we all went down to a small field where we played kubb - a Swedish game of throwing sticks at wooden blocks to knock them down. Even though my team lost twice, it was so much fun!

Micke was trying to distract My when she was throwing!

Taylor made the winning throw a the "king" to end the game!

After kubb we went back to the house for dinner. This was around 11:30pm. We ate grilled chicken, grilled salmon, pasta salad, salad, and bread.

This is a mosquito repellant that slowly burned; it worked really well.

Chocolates that Taylor won from the trivia game.

I had so much fun at Midsummer! We stuffed ourselves silly with food and laughed all night long! There are so many memories that I will take from this trip, and Midsummer will be one of the many great highlights!

Midsummer Preparations

Tomorrow is Midsummer, one of the biggest and most important celebrations in Sweden. There are many traditional events like dancing around a maypole and eating and drinking all day! Today Ingrid and I went grocery shopping for the days long list of eats. I also went shopping with Taylor because we will be making an American dessert for one of the several fikas that will take place. We will be making apple dumplings! I'm really excited for the celebration; it's sure to be a lot of fun! I will tell you all about it tomorrow!

Stockholm and Strawberry Picking

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting lately, but I have been a bit tired from all of the fun I have been having! Last Saturday Taylor and I met Jonna, her sister, and her friend in Stockholm for a night of dancing! We went to a club and danced until 4am! It was so much fun and a lot different from what I had imagined. Jonna told us that it was a "higher end" club so it was a bit more expensive to get in, but it was worth it. After all the dancing we stayed at Jonna's sisters apartment in Stockholm.

At the subway station

Yesterday was fun, as well. Freja took me strawberry picking! They have tiny wild strawberries that grow everywhere They are super sweet and super cute! Ingrid told me that she would take me picking and I asked if we needed a bowl to put them in. Ingrid said, "nope, you'll see." Then I asked if we just pick and eat and Ingrid said, "you'll see!" Freja went outside and went to the grass. She picked up a long reed and plucked off the bottom. She also picked one for me. We walked over to some strawberries that were growing in the woods right near the house and she used the reed as a thread. She put the strawberries on like beads! It was so neat! Here's a picture of all of my strawberries:

When we got home I saw Freja take her strawberries and put them in a bowl. So I did the same. She then went over to the fridge and got milk. She dumped milk into her bowl like she was eating cereal. She then sprinkled on a spoon full of sugar. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do the same with my strawberries, but I tried it...and it was really good! It sort of tasted like strawberry milk when you eat them with milk. I suggest you try it at home. Just take some strawberries, chop them up into small peices and eat them with milk and sugar! Super good, and pretty good for you, too!

Chokladbiskvier

Yesterday and today, Taylor, Ingrid and I made Chokladbiskvier. If you were to describe them in English they would be chocolate buttercream macaroons. You have an almond base made from almonds, sugar and egg whites, then a filling made from butter, sugar, and cocoa, and finally a chocolate glaze on top. It was pretty easy to make! I haven't tried one yet, but they look delicious. We made them for a birthday party that we will be attending this afternoon.

putting on the buttercream

Dark chocolate and milk chocolate glaze, yum!

Running Practice

Today I felt a lot better! I woke up in the morning and took Freja to school. It's sort of like after school care, but during the day. For the rest of the day I did my laundy, surfed the web, and did some reading. I made lunch for everyone today - hamburgers for the boys and a chicken burger for me. I have to say, the burger flipping skills I learned from working the SHS concession stand really came in handy! Later I went to practice; Taylor and I ran practice because Ingrid is away on business this week. I did outfield and Taylor did outfield. After we did some drills we all played a backwards softball game. We used whiffle balls and a smaller field. We couldn't use our dominant hand to throw or catch. Also, when we hit the ball we had to hop on one foot to third base, second, first, and then home! We had so much fun!!! Can't wait for tomorrow...I'll be running practice since Taylor is going out of town with her host family. Wish me luck!

Sick in Sweden...blah!

So I have come down with a cold! I started to feel my throat hurting on our way home from our games the other day and it progressed from there. I slept and rested all day yesterday. I felt ok to go to practice, but I took it easy. I mostly did hitting instruction throughout practice, so I didn't do much physical activity. The girls are really improving; they seem to soak up everything we throw at them, and with enthusiasm. It's awesome! Today I was going to go to a local restaurant with My and Taylor but I was feeling worse. I thought it best to stay in and not attempt to bike across town. Instead I watched TV and drank a lot of fluids. TV is a bit different here. Their commercials are about 10 minutes long but they put two or three sections of showtime together so you are watching a long stretch of the show instead of it being interupted by commercials every 5 minutes. I was surprised to find that they have a lot of English speaking channels. I just watched one of my favorite shows So You Think You Can Dance! All the kids were watching with me and in between showtimes I had them explain all of the Swedish commercials that I didn't understand. It was funny! Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better. I'm walking Freja to school in the morning and then Taylor and I are running practice since Ingrid is away on business. I think two days is enough for me to be sick! :)

Game at Skövde and the Ride Home

Yesderday we played Skövde, the leagues best team. Unfortunately we lost both games, but we made some good plays and catches. I went 3-6 for the day with a line drive and hard ground balls into the outfield. My other at bats included a groundball towards shortstop that was an error, a ground out, and a fly out to deep center field. On the way home we stopped at a supermarket for food and Ingrid found iced tea at the store! I love iced tea, it's my summer drink, but unfortunately iced tea is uncommon in Sweden. We found some packets that make a liter of iced tea! I can't wait to make some...I think I'll make some right now! Here are some pictures of the field and the drive home.

Last Day of School and Graduation

This morning I went to Assar, Vidar, and Freja's school - their school is 1st- 9th grade. At 9:30 Assar had a graduation from 9th grade. I only stayed a little while because I went with Vidar into his classroom where there was a gathering of parents and the class. It was so neat to see how different their school was compared to the schools I've been to in the US. The students sat in their seats and the teacher spoke to everyone. I'm not exactly sure what was said, but at the end she gave all the students a certificate and a hug! The parents then thanked the teacher by giving her a book and a fishbowl full of candy! After the gathering in the classrooms, everyone went to the gym where the students sang songs. Each class (grade) sang a song together. It was very cute. We walked home after the performances and graduation and had fika, which is what they call a coffee break. Freja and I decorated a cake that was eaten along with Danish pastries, Swedish cookies, tea and Saft. Saft is sort of like the juice we have at home that you get in the freezer section but its stored in the refrigerator and looks like a juice box...on one of my first days I accidently drank one thinking it was a juice box...it was pretty strong!



Freja's classroom




Outside the classroom was a small seating area and a kitchen




Cubbies




The kids singing





Yummy sponge cake with rasberry cream filling! Pretty good decorating, if I do say so myself!

Vidar's class singing

Prom Make Up and Pretty Horses (not related to one another)

Some of the girls on our team had prom Wednesday night. They had a dinner and dancing with all of their classmates. Taylor did their makeup for the event. They were all so pretty! Taylor did an awesome job! Here are some pics of the lovely ladies...

The girls got Taylor a necklace to thank her!

Linnea

Rebecca

Taylor in action!

Gabriella



Gabriella, Rebecca, Linnea, Michaela




Blinking to show their beautiful makeup!



Taylor showed the girls her Swedish/English translation book. She created a new game: the girls would try to guess at the phrases or words Taylor tried to pronounce. So funny!