Books and stuff

I fell off the scripture reading wagon a few days. It smarted a bit. I let myself become distracted, overwhelmed by being a single mom for the week while Ryan's soaking up CA sun - er . . . I mean attending meetings, and just being plain tuckered out! We were all in bed tonight at 7:30 - that's how exhausted we are.

But you know what I love? The resolve to jump back on the scripture wagon tonight made me a better mother this evening. I felt inspired to handle a regular round of the boys' fighting over a book differently. I had already settled into my cozy bed to start my scripture reading when the fight erupted. Hard hearts, hollered tattling. And yet after my instant flame of ire was lit, it was replaced by the light of inspiration. Round one of mediation worked for the younger child who just wanted big brother's attention in the first place, but big brother held out until round three before he softened. Long days at school sure work a number on kids! And yet, an hour later just as I typed this out he came and asked, "Mom, do you know where my Book of Mormon is?" Ahhhh . . . icing on the cake.

Today I went to the first playgroup I've been invited to since living here. A mother from Morgan's nursery class invited classmates and their moms over for what will become a regular playgroup. Most of our kids have struggled with the drop-off and so this mother hoped that by familiarizing her son with his classmates, he'd do better. I was so glad she's gotten it going because I realized how much I miss that regular interaction with other women and the wealth of knowledge and support we glean from one another. Morgan loved it and was thoroughly worn out, taking a great nap without a tantrum this afternoon.

My reading attention is so splintered right now. I've got my Book of Mormon reading which I'm trying to again reassert as numero uno but it's had competition these last few days. Our ward's ladies' book group is reading the Scarlet Pimpernel which I've always wanted to read. I'm enjoying it after scriptures, but before I doze off into dream land which makes finishing it by next week's meeting a bit of a stretch. Then I also began listening to William Shirer's monumental study, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. It's soooo good! This huge book is so daunting in hard copy but on audiobook, it's just my cup of tea! In the past two days I've gotten through the first six hours while doing chores and driving to/from Easton's school twice a day. I find myself rewinding often to catch important root philosophies, cultural nuances, and historical tidbits. Oh how I wish I had listened to this book years ago to answer my wonderings!

{ I've recently come to the conclusion that I crave audiobooks not only because I love to learn and to fill monotonous housewifery time, but also because I grew up listening to my dad tell me stories a lot. Camp outs and hikes were for outdoor tales, usually bears. Road trips . . . whatever he's read or heard but I'll always remember the Dan Storm Testaments. But any chance we have extended time together - he's got a story to tell and I love it! I've always wished I was a better story teller, but I still crave his stories. Audiobooks is just one way I satiate myself. And he got it from his dad, my Papa. Love you, Dad!!! }

I don't know if it's legal, but in the car I put an ipod earbud in one ear to enjoy my book while the kids enjoy their Scripture Scouts cds. Totally still heard and responded to an ambulance yesterday so I'm feeling like I'm safe and just as alert. I love those Scripture Scouts and that the kids will melt down if I don't turn them on but I just can't take another episode or my brain will explode! For my sake, on the way to school in the morning we listen to the New Testament Stories program done by the Mormon Channel on my ipod/radio tuner plug-in. They're great from a parent's standpoint, but the kids just tolerate it and don't crave it like SS. They're addicted. SS and any Skippy John Jones audiobook!

I found a LDS gal who blogs and reviews books and also has friends that post reviews. She's a voracious reader always searching out clean reads although historical fiction is not her favorite genre and I truly love them most of the time. I've only read her stuff for about a week but her review of "Little Women" was spot on so I'm giving her a go. She's also a homeschooler and reviews lots of children's books too. I love finding new stuff to read that I know is safe!

Stockholm III

What's not to love? Some call Stockholm the Venice of the North. I wouldn't. It's truly its own place and sure doesn't need comparison for prestige! It stands just fine on it's own!

Sadly our Rick Steves' guide didn't make it to us in time for this trip so we had to research it old school. Old school, in my frame of reference sadly means pre-Rick Steves. I am sorry if this offends any of your finer sensibilities. Feel free to educate me!

Man, we sure wish we had better weather here! HaHaHa!

There were so many reasons to be in Stockholm and enjoy the great weather and sites on Sunday, June 6, 2010! It was Sweden's National Day, the last day of the food festival, the beginning of Love Stockholm counting down the two weeks before the royal wedding, and of course the end of the marathon tourist weekend!

There were only two things on our site seeing list: the Vasa Museum - a 1628 grand war ship that sank on its maiden voyage in the Stockholm harbor; and Skansen - the oldest European open air museum.

VASA MUSEUM

In the early 1600s, Sweden fought many wars for control of the Baltic Sea among the Danes, Poles, and Russians particularly. In the 1620s, Sweden signed treaties with the Danes and Russians but King Gustav was fighting his cousin who'd assumed control of Poland. King Gustav kept local support for the war going by making the war about religion - us Swedish Lutherans against those corrupt Polish Catholics.

Don't ya think those boots must have been fun to walk in?

Gustav commissioned a grand ship be built to show the world his supreme power and might. Historians believe the ship, named Vasa, gets its name from his family and their symbol of grain. It had beautiful, ornate painted wood carved statues by many German carvers all over it. None of our pictures of the enormous ship turned out well since they keep the museum, which was built around the ship, climate and light controlled for the ship's preservation. It was pretty dark in there!

A few crucial errors led to the ship's demise on its maiden voyage. They hadn't loaded enough ballast (food and war supplies) into the low cargo holds to offset the ship's high center of gravity and the low lying cannon gun holes were left open upon setting sail. The ship sank within hours, a little over 1,000 meters into it's maiden voyage in the Stockholm port. Wind caught the sails and the ship began leaning to the side, taking in water through the open gun holes as this model shows.

The funny or humiliating part of the sinking was that the water was only about 30 meters deep so the ship's tall masts with Swedish flags flying proudly were all that remained above water. In fact, many of those on board clung to them until rescued by local fishing boats. The ship was raised from the harbor floor amazingly preserved in 1961. Pretty cool stuff and fun science behind its raising and continued preservation. I wish we'd had more time here to read all the exhibits!

My parents once took me to see a replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind (1577) which was on tour from the UK to the US west coast. That was 1987 and I was eleven. We saw it on a day trip from my grandparent's house in the Newport harbor in Oregon. I still remember walking aboard and how cool I thought it was, but how small for all those men. The Vasa was three times as big! Very cool and especially interesting to me as I just recently finished reading Treasure Island and am now in the thick of Robinson Crusoe!

Just across the street from the Vasa Museum, is the beautiful Nordic Museum. We didn't have time to go inside and see the 300 years of costumes exhibit but I think I could have enjoyed it. Did Rick Steves recommend it? It killed me not to know. [chuckle, chuckle]

Well, hello there, little guy!

We kept coming across little families of geese. So fluffy and adorable!

SKANSEN

We walked through a nice park on our way to Skansen and saw people of all types spread on their picnic blankets soaking up the day. Skansen was a great place to be that day with the weather and National Day activities. It's the oldest open air museum and has collected buildings and farm steads, cultural elements, and animals from all over Sweden to be experienced in one place. There were many living history exhibits much like those in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia or the one in the Black Forest.

We talked with a handful of living history docents in their exhibits: a flat bread baker, an influential wealthy copper miner's son from the 1700s, and an inner-city working class young woman preparing to get married. It was the custom in many villages to give a young girl a plant to nurture over the years that would be used to make her wedding crown like the plant and crown shown below.

When I saw The Allotment Hut below, it looked so familiar! This one is from the 1920s.

These are all over in and around my little German town so I was thrilled to finally know what to call them and understand their origins! The Skansen hut here said these allotment gardens played an important role during the food shortages during and after WWI. In Germany and pretty much all over the world, the allotment gardens (or community gardens as they're called in the states) sprung up as a result of industrialization and urbanization by 1850. City workers were given or leased an allotment of land to grow their own food from the town, a private land owner or a church. Many would build a little hut on their allotment to double as a shed and sleeping quarters. The gardens now serve less as food security for the population, and are now seen more as a hobby and are often used for social gatherings as well as growing fruits, veggies and flowers. Food security and hobbies. Self reliance and food storage. Note to self. [Twinge of guilt.] I also read of them being in the Philipines too.

In looking up these gardens I found it interesting to note that Einstein was part of an allotment association in Berlin. He didn't keep it up to code and there is record of an association letter to him with a deadline to get his weeds and fence in order or he'd loose his lease for it being a nuisance.

Speaking of food security, Ryan sure enjoyed what he thought was the perfect food stand offering - the Suovas in a flat bread cone.

That would be "lightly smoked and fried reindeer meat in a flat bread cone with crushed new potatoes (mashed) and cloudberry creme fraiche." He liked them so much he had three over the course of five or so hours. Me? Not so much, they weren't my favorite. Too much gamey-flavor, chewy texture with the sweet and sour of creme fraiche and berry sauce. I was, however, very appreciative of their food display and English menu so we knew what we were ordering!

Skansen has their own dance troups that perform and I loved it! First there was a children's group and then the adults. The children's dances all had to do with love, courtship and such as circle games played to song. So cute!

I enjoyed seeing how this played out because each dance had one or two children in the center who had to pick a partner when the music cued them to. One song had them yank the partner out of the circle, another had them drop a hanky and the selected one had to pick it up and follow, while my favorite was a demure smile and coy look over the shoulder to be sure the partner was following. Simply adorable! And what fabulous colorful costumes!

Watching these fun dancers in their layers of thick clothing made for colder temperatures on such a warm day and sweating profusely sure made us thirsty! We headed for the water spigot to fill up our water bottles and the best dried, crisp apple chips I've ever had!

As the crowds began to grow at Skansen in anticipation of the National Day celebration concert, we decided to head out. The Skansen celebration was expecting the Royal family in attendance and as luck would have it, we happened on the parade preceding their arrival and finally did get to see the family in their horse drawn carriages and royal guardians on horse back. The size of this celebration was akin to a regular sized town in the States doing a 4th of July parade and concert. It was a little strange given some of the big national celebrations in big cities we've been to.

But Sweden has only been celebrating their National Day for a few decades now. Ryan was disappointed there were no fireworks. One of our docents reminded us that there's no fireworks on account that it doesn't get dark until about 11pm or later right now! Being that far north, the sun was up by 4am when we got up to catch our train and flight home Monday morning.

And that concludes this installment of Carters Travel: Sweden!

Peer Pressure

Put me in Coach! I'm ready!

McKay loves the ski goggles and can't wait for his turn on the slopes!

Not me. I had a stomach FULL of butterflies. All last week. Last year when we arrived in Germany, I had just had Morgan so I was free from making excuses of why to not join Ryan skiing. Ryan loves to ski! He grew up skiing quite a bit and worked a couple seasons on the slopes in Utah. No excuses this year. Easton even said he'd teach me how! Morgan's a year old and we had my fun, cute niece Camilla on hand to watch the two little ones in our hotel. No excuses.

I can't even recall the last time I skied, but it was in my mid-teen years I think. I have siblings who weren't even born yet, that's how long ago it was! Since I've only skied a handful of times in my life, I never quite got my legs under me but enjoyed it minus the sore aches and pains afterward. Growing up, just about every adventure with Dad required a bit of bravery. His zest for life made you not want to miss out and skiing was one of those things that I braved because of him! I love seeing my Dad proud of me for trying! Or at least being a part of his stories we tell over and over!

Since Easton was joining Ryan and I on the slopes, at least I had an excuse to stick to the bunny hills and that gave me a minor sense of peace. That is, until we got off the ski lift and I saw the degree of the slope to get to the bunny hill! HOLY COW!!! And I didn't see anyone walkin' on down it carrying all their equipment. For heaven's sakes, three year olds where gliding on down that hill with no poles, and that's no joke!

Ryan was excited to get Easton back on skis and he was the most patient and sweet man anywhere to be found. Easton had taken ski school last winter, but as we've now determined, he really only got used to being on skis and how to step into position to sail straight down the hill. No ability to turn or stop yet and he didn't really care to learn - just point him down hill and let 'er rip!

Back to being at the top of the hill leading from the main lift down to the various other areas like more lifts, the restaurants, and the beginner slopes. Getting down would be our initial ski experience. I was very terrified, uh . . . I mean concerned. After watching tons of people (decades younger than me) click into their skis and zoom off, it was our turn. Ryan had positioned Easton on skis between his own two skis to help guide Easton down. I was on my own. Thanks a lot, partner!

Easton was not too thrilled about going up the mountain in a huge lift. All the josteling at the lift (European style = no lines, no order), had him and I a bit shaken up. He thought we'd have to ski all the way down. At the top, he was near meltdown even though we kept reassuring him. I had to be brave, shakin' in my own boots, for him. Also, I didn't want Ryan to see me wimp out. Argh! Peer pressure!

Think of this area like an elongated >. We start skiing down and Easton freaks out which lands Ryan and Easton off the left bank which drops off five feet into a fence before we get to the turn. I was panicking on my own and just let myself come to a stop by drifting up the right bank before the turn. Whew! Cool, I'm alive and just about ready to call it a day! I'm exhausted! Oh darn, Easton's not happy? Do we need to go sit and drink some hot chocolate? Oh wait, we just paid and arm and a leg for our gear and lift tickets. We. Must. Have. Fun. Buck up, lil campers, we're in for a bumpy ride!

Ryan is mortified. He's a skier. Falling off the edge of the trail to the slopes doesn't happen to skiers apparently.

We finally get to the bunny hill and they've got this great little motorized ramp! We're gettin' lots of milage on this baby today! And it's so much easier than those rope tows once you get your balance.

The first handful of times down, Ryan takes Easton. They're having a good time! But I know Easton can do it on his own. He's brave enough, I know it!

Since I'm such a great observer, and less a doer, I note to Ryan that I think Easton would do better not holding on to Ryan because it'll make him be brave and not lean on dad.

Scarecrow coming through! Timid at first, smiling by the end each time!

View of our bunny hill and the tubed motorized ramp. Those hoops have bells on them for the kiddies to ring as they adeptly glide on through.

I take a long pause each time at the top (after almost falling over getting off the ramp and chuckling to myself at what the operator must think). I gotta psyche myself up for each run. I can do this. I'm a big girl. Oh wait, that's why I'm worried. More parts to ache and bruise! Wait! Be brave. Ryan and Easton and other three year olds and little Asian ski school 6 year olds bobbing through the hoops, ringing bells are watching! I go down. I'm gingerly turning right and left then gradually coming to a stop at the bottom with my trusty "pizza slice" snow plow move. Phew!

After conquering the bunny hill I'm ready for a new challenge. Getting over to the next hill is the challenge. This was taken at the bottom of the bunny hill and we had to get ourselves over to the other tow you may be able to distinguish in this picture.

Catching the rope tow just about yanks my arm out of its socket! Then baby steps up to the next rope tow around the corner to the left and a more formidable beginner slope. I rode all the way to the top of it wondering what in world possessed me to think this was a good idea?! What am I trying to prove?! I get off at the top and Ryan's all excited for me. I'm now muttering to myself, trying not to hyperventilate. I can't even distinguish Easton at the bottom waiting, he's that far down and I have SKI there?!

Ryan asks if I want to follow him. No way, man! Then I'll probably freak out thinking I'll crash into you! Better just bite the bullet and do it myself so I start off and am doing okay until the second turn. YIKES! I panic in a half attempt to turn and don't commit enough. I fall. I slide myself down to a friendlier angle to get back up. Ryan can tell I'm a bit stuck so he comes on up to the rescue. He tells me he'd been so impressed I went all the way to the top and not gotten off at the half-way "exit". Are you crazy?! I didn't realize there were options! There was a half-way point up the rope pull with a gentler slope down. Oh well! Skiing down the gentler half went off with much more grace.

After a few runs down this bigger hill (the friendlier bottom half, mind you) Easton didn't want to try this one so we ended up heading back down to the initial run for the rest of the half day after some refreshment: apfel strudel with vanilla cream sauce and a big 14 inch long, fat bratwurst covered in BBQ sauce dusted with curry powder plus fries. So local!

In the end, I was proud of myself for trying and am even open to doing it again. I could have done more, but was also so close to chickening out so many times. I was so exhausted from all the internal pep talks! I'm in this personal spot right now where I'm realizing how much I let fear enter into the details of my life and keep me from moving forward. This challenge solidified some things for me.

I am beyond proud of my husband and his mad skills skiing backwards while helping Easton! I always love seeing Ryan doing something he loves which is the biggest reason I agreed to do this in the first place. And again, the highest applause to his patience with his two beginners! I can only imagine how boring that bunny hill must have been to him! He totally rocks my world! And so do fearless three year old skiers all decked out in their cute gear!

Dinner and a Movie

Today is a snow day, as in it snowed all day long! School wasn't cancelled unfortunately, but we are getting some good accumulation. Ryan came home early from work so I was able to take just the boys out into the wintry weather for some sledding. What fun to act and feel like a kid again! I've done a lot of that this week playing with my little ones, a conscious decision to enjoy them more.

When we came in from our fun, Ryan went for a nap while I caught up on other stuff. Then the boys started rumbling for some dinner. Grrrr. We'd gotten a dinner invite from another family but cancelled because of the snow so I wasn't prepared or in the mood to be creative.

The boys had just put on their new Snow White movie and it reminded me of when I was a little girl at 711 S. Irving. On select Sunday evenings, my parents would gather us in the basement for a dinner of popcorn, orange juice, carrot sticks and whatever Disney movie was playing on TV. (This was many, many years before cable or the Disney channel ever existed in my world.)

We'd pile onto a big red and black plaid bean bag, munch on popcorn and watch our shows! I remember Dad piling onto the bean bag with us kids when we were real little. I think mom probably opted for something more comfortable. The evening usually began with Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" and I remember Dad enthusiastically getting us into the show, a true classic! I still love that theme song!

Then we'd be ready and totally excited for whatever Walt Disney was ready to show us. He'd introduce each show until later I remember Michael Eisner took over that part. I remember watching classic Mickey Mouse and other shorts as well as the featured movies like Snow White, Mary Poppins, Fox and the Hound, Peter Pan, Bednobs and Broomsticks, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the Apple Dumpling Gang. It always felt like such a treat to watch TV on the Sabbath!

Tonight as I popped our dinner on the stove, a rare occurrence here, but oh so yummy!, I told my boys of that fun memory. They were a bit incredulous but were pretty darn happy to have popcorn and OJ while watching their show for dinner! Watching my boys laughing at those seven dwarves' antics was one of those surreal parent moments where you feel everything has come full circle in a fabulous way! Ryan had overheard us earlier and said, "Hey, you never told me that before!" So here it is for the family memory book!

EDIT: Debate on whether those shows aired on Saturdays or Sundays? I could have sworn they aired Sunday evening and a quick search said Disney aired on Sundays first, then Saturdays for awhile and then again on Sundays. Wild Kingdom was on Sundays as far as my quick search could find. ??? I also had the wrong address from my childhood - 1125 North Irving Place, but there was a 7-11 store down the road a little ways! Perhaps I was merging to faves into one? They did have my favorite kid candy there for quite some time, loved them Sixlets. That's the trouble with memories, ya need witnesses to corroborate!

First Crushes

When Easton got in the car after church today, he had news!

He told Ryan about a girl in his class. "Brynna is beautiful! My eyes were like hearts when I sawed her."

By the time I got in the car, Ryan couldn't wait to have me hear about the latest development. He asked Easton to tell me what he'd told daddy. We had some fun stifled laughs and Easton enjoyed retelling it. I was trying to figure out who she was and Easton asked if I knew her so he could call her. Luckily, I have a ward list in the van and found who she was! She's got long wavy blond hair and is the youngest in a large family. She turns six tomorrow which is why Easton realized who she is. She's been in our ward since July, but he said she was new today. In all likelihood, it was just that he saw her for the first time today. She actually goes to his school in the other kindergarten class across the hall. Easton liked that!

A couple minutes later, Easton asked from the back of the van, "How many days will we live in Germany?" To which we said we didn't know. He said, "Let's stay in Germany for a long time so I can kiss her when I am big."

Ryan and I were trying real hard to hold it together!

Then Easton asked again, "Mom, do you know her phone number?"

Ryan asked, "Will you call her?"

Easton: "Yeah."

Ryan: "What will you say to her?"

Easton: "I don't know."

Ryan: "Do you want to marry her . . .

Easton: "Uhh . . ."

Ryan: ". . . or do you just want to kiss her?"

Easton: "Kiss her!"

Oh this is just too much fun! Ryan remembered his first crush was in first grade. I can't remember when mine was but I remember who. He was in all but my 2nd grade classes through elementary school. Good funny cute kid! It was always a love-hate mutual thing we had back and forth as I remember it. My first memories of him are in kindergarten being competitive on the playground and that fateful day I got reprimanded for the first time by my teacher. It was story time and I was trying to explain something silly to him when the teacher told me I now had to go sit in a chair at the back instead of on the rug in front of the teacher with everyone else. I was mortified! So much so, I can remember it so vividly today!