Aspinwalls Abroad: A Busy Four Days with my Good Friend Lisa

Our first vistor since Tata left was Lisa Thompson. Lisa is my very dear friend from childhood. I feel so blessed by our friendship and was so happy to have her come to visit me here. The last time we traveled together was in Italy just after high school (that was 16 years ago...YIKES!). For any of you that know Lisa, you already know she is super athletic and loves to explore and travel. Let's just say, she kept me moving for four days straight...almost killed me :)
Lisa got in on Friday and was already ready to start exploring. My family met her at the bus and we headed out for some kebab lunch. We had to introduce her to our favorite "Swedish" meal! After lunch, Craig had to head back to work so Lisa got to see her first day of Sweden through a child's eye. We decided to head over to the island of Djurgarden for some fun. Our first stop was Junibacken. This is a play place dedicated to characters from famous children's literature. It had tons for the kids to explore! There was also the Sagotaget (story train). It was a little like a Disney ride but Swedish lit is a little on the dark side. Many of the characters were teetering on death or already there. The main cause seemed to be jumping off the roof or out the window....strange! Maybe it has something to do with all the old building with no screens.

After finishing up with Junibacken, we ran in and played a few games at Grona Lund. The kids rode the cars and played a couple games. Somewhere along the way we lost Brenna's stuffed mouse, Prilla, that she got with her Tata. It was not the best way to end the day but we went back in and let her play the game again and she won a duck which she has named Brandon.
On Saturday, Lisa and I took just Brenna and headed to Galma Stan (Old Town) for a look around the shops. We stopped along the way and watched a bit of the parade going on in the central square and Brenna hula hooped (or tried) and won some chocolate bars. One of them was chocolate with pieces of black licorice in it...YUCK!
We went back to our place and had a BBQ with Robert and his family. It was nice to hang out and all the kids had a blast playing. I was glad Lisa got to meet Robert and Asa. Here is a picture Brenna took of the gang.

Sunday was a big kid day...YEAH! Craig watched the kiddos and Lisa and I got to head out for the day on our own. This was the first time really away from the kids for me in a month. Don't get me wrong, I love them with all my heart, but a break was nice!!
We decided to head out on a boat through the Archipelagos. We ended up being lucky enough to ride on the Storskar, the very boat Craig proposed to me on! It was so beautiful along the way. Our trip was about 3 hours and took us to the island of Finnham where we hiked for a bit and had a beer before heading back.

A view from our hiking trip

After our boat trip, we hurried to make our reservations at the Absolut Ice Bar for a drink. Now, I must admit this was quite the tourist trap but it was pretty awesome anyhow. The Ice Bar is in one of the hotels. The whole room has ice walls, ice trees, ice tables, and a really great ice bar. The drinks (all absolut vodka drinks) are served in ice glasses. It was fun to see and nice to have a drink together. It was fun to take pictures and hang out.
We got our parkas and gloves and ordered our drinks

Cheers!

It was a great day!
On Lisa's last day here, we decided to go to Skansen. Skansen is a living museum built literally on a mountain. WOW did we get in over our heads! We set off with the huge double stroller and soon found out that climbing a mountain with two kids was no easy task! We got to see some seals, moose, and even some reindeer. We decided to check out the train for an easy ride back down, only to find it was closed. We found it pretty funny that they charged 25 kr to go up on the train and only 15 kr to go down. We were starving but also a little lost! We finally found our way down and to food. After we ate, and the kids had some cotton candy, we decided to call it quits and head over to Rosendal's cafe garden. On the way out, we came across a playground and let the kids run out a little energy.
Brenna took this picture all by herself. She loves to take pictures and is really quite good at it!

Brady's own unique way of eating cotton candy :)

Playground time!

We love Lisa

Rosendal's garden is one of my favorite places! It is has the most beautiful gardens and open spaces. It also has a garden cafe in an old apple orchard and a great cut-it-yourself flower garden. The cafe is a quiet place and we realized quickly that the kids may be a little loud for this part. We quickly ate our raspberry chocolate cake and played a little catch with the kids and then headed to the garden. Brenna was so excited to cut her own boquet and remembered doing it from last year. Brady was too little last time so this was his first chance. The kids had so much fun! We cut a small boquet...with very short stems! Brenna picked out a small hanging vase for their flowers. She is already talking about going back with her Nana and her Nanny when they visit.