Family in Stockholm

As promised, I've got some photos for you. My dad and mom arrived on a Sunday morning at the beginning of April and stayed in Sweden for two weeks. I was lucky to have a chance to feel the comfort of family in a place I've come to love so much.

I had to work the first week my parents were here, so they spent their first several days visiting my classroom and showing themselves around Stockholm and the surrounding area. During the second week of their trip, we rented a car and drove west to Karlstad, the area of my Swedish ancestry. We stayed at a cottage on Lake Vänern and spent our days there chatting, reading many books, eating lots of soup, snacking on licorice, drinking tea, sitting by the water, and walking through the woods (mindful of the ticks, of course). We also were able to share a cozy meal on a rainy afternoon with some of my dad's Swedish family.

I suppose this visit is old news now, but the memories are still warm and bright in my mind and I wanted to share with you some images from our time together.  

Our cottage for the week.

Down the stairs from the cottage: a sauna.

View from the wrap-around porch.

Dad, making potato-leek soup on our first evening at the cottage.

Sunny living room.

...with a cozy fireplace.

Another view of our lovely lakeside sauna.

We headed north in our rental car to explore Sweden... and found ourselves in the land of the dalahäst!

Before...

...and after.

Carl Larsson's house.

Swedish countryside.

Barn near our cottage.

Hiking through the Lake Vänern woods.

Signs of spring!

Last sunset from our porch.