In Sweden

My first introduction to Sweden was when I was 8 or 9 years old. How? See below:

I soaked up every bit of Kirsten's story from the American Girl Collection and of course, Kirsten is from Sweden. I might have thought that I would want to visit Sweden all those years ago, but probably never thought it would happen. But it has. I've been to Sweden and already want to go back. 

We have been in Scandinavia for almost a month now and Sweden was the second country we visited. The AirBnB house we stayed at was outside Gothenburg and had the nicest little playground just around the corner. I loved how natural it was, with berries growing along the edges, sand toys there for play and the birch log balance beams. We had a slow Sunday morning here and spent some time in the sunshine trying to cure sick children. Natasha still wasn't feeling top notch after developing a cold the morning we flew out of Chicago (groan) and on this particular morning, Lincoln woke up with a fever, serious teething going on and threw up. Welcome to travel life with little ones. 

This was the happiest Lincoln was that day, as the remainder of it was spent in Sadness and Despair. Poor boy. 

Natasha got increasingly better as the days progressed but Lincoln remained pretty miserable without Ibruprofen. Fortunately, we were sight-seeing and walking around, so he stayed cozy in the carrier and just took his naps on my back.

When you're a traveling mum, pictures of food don't get taken before it's already partially consumed. 

Traditional Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce here...super good.

Natasha found a jellyfish in the North Sea when we visited the Volkommen Island.

Gothenburg's Botanical Gardens made her so dreamy.

I'll just be honest here: Traveling with children is not as relaxing as it would be without them. But it is an adventure. One that makes you want to scream, laugh, tear your hair out, giggle, persevere, wonder why you're even trying, second-guess yourself, and then step back and realize the memories being made are definitely worth the struggle. There will be plenty of time in my future when these little people are older, to sit quietly over a cup of coffee and pop by the fruit and flower stand instead of dealing with a meltdown. 

We do hard things because sometimes the easy route is too commonplace. 

And, we travel with children because, as Daniel said, "We can't leave them home alone." 

Sweden, you treated us lovely. I want to come back for more than 2 days; maybe in the winter. Without the children, who for sure would complain about the cold and snow. But I won't. 

Until then, I'll think about the fond memories made on our first visit.

P.S. If you want to see more details of our time so far, check out my other blog where I focus more on our travels and adventures.