Family Time in Sweden

Our week in the Swedish countryside outside of the town of Arvika was about as idyllic as one might imagine it to be.  Though again we arrived to rain and a very dreary day, the weather for the week ended up being much sunnier and warmer than the forecasts predicted.

The set-up of the main house with the little cottages surrounding it, allowed for 14 of us to all be together and still somehow not going insane with lack of privacy.  James, Liam and I shared an adorable little detached bedroom with a loft, Nassim, Erfan and the kids had a small 2 bedroom cottage for themselves, and Erica and her fiance Rafal (who were also visiting at that time) stayed in a third external room attached to the ping pong room.  Shirin, Sonja and Sham, Mims and Paul were all in the main house.  Somehow we managed to do many relay meals, spaced out shower times of 30 secs each! so that the one indoor shower would suffice, and mostly just spending a lot of time outside.

In true Swedish fashion that meant daily berry picking walks which were of course major highlights in the kids world.  How fun for them to be able to pick and eat blueberries from the bushes, grab a raspberry here and there and maybe find a few wild strawberries!  And it wasn't just berries that were found and eaten.  Some of the most delicious Chanterelle mushrooms happened to be in season during our time, which added a little bit of deliciousness to a salad, pasta or even sandwich.

Shirin shows off her berry loot!  She was certainly the most enthusiastic of berry pickers!

I love this sassy little pose from Lua, hanging out under the tree

Paul and Mims on the lake shore after a walk

Shirin insisted on reaching some unripe apples any way she could, including catching a lift on James' shoulders

Soaking up a little sun and fresh air - Shirin, Nass, Rafal, Erica, Erfan and Leo

The wee ones up to mischief.  Hey isn't that the knife drawer?

 Our first full day was the rainiest and so we picked it to be the day we made a trek into the town of Arvika.  It's a small town so a little lunch and a wander around filled a few hours of the day nicely.  Liam was pleased to see a train coming into town!

Liam waiting for the train to leave

There were a couple of bigger events during the week to bring our Swedish family together and to celebrate Mims' 60th Birthday.  On Wednesday we had a beautiful later afternoon party with probably about 30 of us including many of the swedish cousins on my mom's side.  We made a big chili dinner and of course had some fabulous desserts using the fresh berries picked that day.  Erica and Rafal were pretty amazing during the whole week, but especially on this day, helping in really big ways to get food made and everything set up.  

Preparations (and some tastings!) for a berry pie

This was Erica's dream child and boy was it tasty!  Add the vanilla cream on top of the crust and pile the berries it's all done!

A merry table of extended family enjoying the afternoon

The youngest group of extended cousins (4th cousins?)

We had another Swedish family event on Friday at Voula's house, and this time they prepared a spread of food and we ate the afternoon away.  

Besides those bigger events our days were wiled away enjoying nature and each other.  The guys became obsessed with the game of croquet, which many of us had to snicker about.  There were boat rides in the row boat and kayak, as well as a rather grand excursion in Paul's brother's motorboat to visit his house across the lake.  There we also had an afternoon of swimming and for the guys, more croquet playing.  Despite the moments of mayhem around meal times, and the odd cold shower, I think we all found it to be a relaxing, fun-filled week.

The boys showing off their croquet skills on Albert's fine pitch (Paul's brother's place) 

Here Liam shows everyone how it's really done

The two wee ones had such a fun time swimming and whooping in the lake with James.  Who cares how cold it was!

I even made it out on the row boat once.  In fact we had a lovely outing with the 4 our us sisters in the row boat with Leo, and Mims in the Kayak.  Shirin and Sonja were the designated rowers, but after discovering Shirin's unnaturally strong left arm, I had to sit in with Sonja just to compensate so we didn't end up going in circles!

Leo, Nass, Shirin and Mims

Sonja and I rowing us back safely!

The vacation ended perfectly with me breaking my pinky toe yet again.  Just half an hour before departure to the airport I walked into a chair in true Nura fashion and it's been a literal pain ever since!  Still, it didn't dampen our time there at least, and we are so grateful to have had so much family time with my side of the family this summer!