August 16th 2011 - USA 2011 Wrap Up

We have been back from the States for almost two entire weeks and lots of things have been going on. Daddy, Alicia, and Damien have all started school/ daycare. But we will get back to that in another blog.

The trip to the US was one of the best ones we can remember. It was exactly what everyone needed, and wanted. We were able to spend a lot of time with my parents, Jay and his girlfriend Jessica, Sue, Craig and of course the cousins Jamison and Harley. We also were able to see extended family and many of my friends. Some of my friends that we saw I had not met for over 15 years. The weather was extremely hot when we were there, so we had to adapt accordingly. There were heat records for many of the days.

Most of the days we were in the States the kids did some kind of water activity. Their favorite was going to the community pool called Forrest Hollow. We would usually have the kids in the water for about 2 hours. Alicia obviously loved this activity. She would swim, laugh, kick and splash the entire time. Damien loved the pool as well as the ocean. At the beach he would run fearlessly towards the receding water, only to turn and run as fast as he could from the oncoming waves. He would run down along the beach and look up at every single person he passed waiting for them to respond to him. The other much used water facility was a little plastic swimming pool in my parents yard. Damien seemed to spend more time getting out of the pool and walking in the lawn than he did in the pool. Meanwhile Alicia would sit in a plastic bathtub chair and just lounge in the water, of course laughing, and splashing the whole time. Damien would usually come back to the pool with little rocks. He would gently put the rocks on Alicia’s stomach, then take a sand bucket and sweetly pour water on his sister. It was adorable watching Damien take care of his sister and include her in everything.

The kids also were able to play with their two cousins Jamison and Harley. Both girls were so caring with Alicia. They would always ask, “What is Alicia saying?” We would answer and then two seconds later they would ask, “What is Alicia saying?” They played Pocahontas with Alicia where she was a princess, or she was a baby and they took care of her. Damien and his cousins did more running and chasing each other around. They would play a little kid version of hide and seek, combined with follow the leader, and tag all wrapped into one.

My parents were amazing. They helped entertain the kids. My dad is a bit like a big kid himself, so he had no trouble energizing the kids. He would chase Damien around the yard with the hose, which Damien thought was hilarious. He would help Alicia move and stay active. My mom was more of the calming force with the kids. She did more of the changing diapers and feeding things that are of course musts. She would cuddle with the growing Alicia, while turning on Dora the Explorer for Damien. She had the tough responsibility to try to keep the little dog Ricky and Damien from hurting each other, and she had to keep Damien from breaking things. She was able to relax and enjoy the kids in the morning. Often times this is when we would find my parents building block towers under the watchful eyes of Damien.

One of the nicest parts about being back in the US and staying with my parents was the babysitting that they provided. Most days when my parents were at work Linda and I did some type of daily activity with the kids. At night however after we put the kids to sleep my parents would watch them for us. It was a win win situation, because the sleeping kids were pretty easy to watch for my parents, and we were able to do all sorts of fun activities that we never really get to do anymore. Linda and I would go out and meet up with my brother, sister, or other friends for the night. We were able to go out to a Nationals baseball game, we actually went to four different movies (we probably have not gone to the theatre 4 times since Alicia was born), we went out to eat and many other great activities that we do not get to do as much now that we have children. One would think that all of the freedom to go out would have made us come back to Sweden with the feeling that we got it out of our system. It actually made us even more excited to get back to the USA. Look out summer 2012 we will be back and there will be more of us!

We are so appreciative of all the help my mom and dad provided us with, and we loved that they and the rest of the family got to really know and connect with the children even more than before. This was definitely a total family trip, as we spent so much time with my family. It is so important for both Linda and I that we continue to help keep the family bonds close and tight on both sides of the Atlantic. We are very fortunate that we get to spend about 2 months every year in the US, so the kids can bond with Daddy's side of the family and learn about American things. We wouldn’t want our kids to become too Swedish;)