Småland vacation, day 2: High Chaparral

The reason we chose to come to this area was a theme park called High Chaparral.  Instead of rides, it has skits, shows and activities based on wild west themes in general and a the Belgian comic/TV series Lucky Luke in particular.  Carl was a huge Lucky Luke fan, but we'd never seen it before.  We arrived just in time for the Lucky Luke show which was the headline performance of the day.  As one who grew up with the orderly lines of Disneyland, I was shocked by the lack of crowd control.  A mob gathered in front of the arena's only entrance.  Then the train came and forced its way through the mob.  When they finally opened the door, everyone forced their way in with much pushing and shoving.  There were some bleachers, but not nearly enough, so a lot of people had to stand or sit on the ground.

Lucky Luke is the good guy, and he is always catching the same bumbling bad guys who always escape.  No more explanation of the plot was necessary, which is a good thing because the sound system was so bad that we couldn't understand the dialog anyhow.

After the show, we explored the rest of the park.  It was a bit of a let down for one expecting Disneyland-like excitement, but on the other hand, it was calm, relaxing, and a nice way to spend the day socializing with friends.  We rode the steam boat, the steam train and the stage coach.  We poked around an Indian village and a Mexican village, and we had Mexican food for lunch.  Taco Bell would have been proud--but then again, it was as good as expected for here in Sweden.  The kids tried shooting a bow and arrow, throwing an axe, and panning for gold.  Of course we bought them toy guns too, as every kid there ran around shooting everything that moved.

We also saw genuine Mexican dancers (all the way from Tijuana, Mexico) and Native American dancers (from Canada).  Lina and I really enjoyed the Indian dancers.  We also saw the Wild West (stunt) show which was quite good.

Unfortunately, by this time Carl was getting frustrated with the language.  When we visited Astrid Lindgren's World a couple of years ago, he had no problem understanding what was going on even though all the characters spoke Swedish.  This time, he had a much harder time with it.

To complete the evening, we attended the interactive Lucky Luke dinner show.  Oddly, this started an hour after the park closed, so we passed the time at the pub which had a more modern show.

Lina was really into the interactive program and enjoyed acting.  Carl was, shall we say, done.  We had expected this to be the highlight of his vacation, but instead he mostly sulked and watched shyly from the sidelines while his mom translated.

Vacation in Småland

Well I'm embarrassed. I can't believe I haven't blogged here since August, and hardly at all over the whole summer. Besides working (which you can read about in my photography blog), I did have some fun too.

One of the highlights of the summer was a mini vacation in July where we went to Småland with our Danish friends. Småland is in Sweden about 3-4 hours north of where we live. While that might sound like it's quite close, the landscape is actually quite different. While we live in Skåne, Småland is both topographically and culturally Sweden proper.

Småland is hilly and dotted with lakes. Conifers dominate the forests, and even the architecture is different.


Since we were relatively late confirming our plans, and July is peak season, we had a hard time finding a house or cabin to rent, but as it turned out, the house we found was perfect! It was on a farm with cats, dogs, sheep and horses about 15 minutes away from the tourist areas. The scenery was gorgeous, and the landlord was really nice and helpful.

We didn't arrive at our destination until mid-afternoon, so we took it easy, getting settled in and going grocery shopping. The kids really enjoyed bottle feeding Pyrett the lamb. I think Erik and I were more amused by Frank, her rather grouchy companion.

S is for summer and swimming

For the first month after school gets out, the kids have swimming lessons every day, rain or shine. This costs only about $30, and they go together with their after-school program so I don't even need to make a special trip.

Lina made a lot of progress this year, and quickly achieved her goals. On the Saturday after the swimming lessons ended (July 9), all the kids and their families gathered for the closing ceremony. This year, the weather was absolutely perfect! One by one, their names were called and they splashed or swam across the poos according to their ability. Those who swam well enough to be in the deep side of the pool could jump or dive from the diving board or the high dives. Lina chose to jump from the 3 meter platform.



The kids who had reached a certain level of proficiency were then awarded a wreath of willow or oak leaves to wear as they completed their lap around the pool.

After that, the instructors threw candy into the pool for the kids to dive after. (Imagine a frenzy of hungry piranha.)

The best birthday party ever! (part 3)

Finally, here come some goofy pictures that Amy took with a really wide angle lens. What fun!

The best birthday party ever! (part 2)

Lina said it was the best birthday party ever, so needless to say, I'm quite pleased. Here are some candid pictures of the party (also taken by Amy).



On Lina's request, I made an "Oreo Cookie" cake. I was happy to do this because this is also one of my favorite cakes, extra chocolaty and dense.



The pinata was also a big hit.


When not being photographed, the girls enjoyed dancing and working on a craft project.

The best birthday party ever!

It's embarrassing how bad I've been about blogging. There have been so many other more pressing things to do. There still are, so I'll try to make this quick.

Lina's birthday was in May, while Erik and I were in Germany. After that there was all the end of the school year stuff and a 3 week visit from my mom and stepfather. Therefore we postponed the birthday party until July second.

The theme for the party was model of the day. I would have loved to be the photographer, but sometimes I don't have time to do that and be a mom too, so I asked my friend and fellow photographer Amy Archer to take the pictures. She brought her portable studio equipment and encouraged the girls to accessorize and pose.

Here are some of my favorite model shots.