Earlier this year, Susanna and I had grand plans for Izzy’s spring break. Izzy and I were going to fly to Texas to visit Ben; we would spend a few days in San Antonio before the major heat of the summer. Susanna was going to fly to Sweden to visit the newest member of the family, Agnes. Then came late January, new direction from the top, and huge amounts of churn in my job and the country. Any chance of telework disappeared, so any extra days I had to be at home with Izzy would have to come out of vacation time. And finally, came the “fork in the road” email and it started looking like I might get an opportunity to retire early.

So we decided to hold off on any major expenses and trips. I would save up my vacation hours until we figured out what was next. We would start looking at what it would take to sell the house and downsize or move. Instead of a grand adventure, Susanna and Izzy had to plan a spring break at home.

We have been spending a lot of time getting our house ready to sell this summer, and going through the many years of junk we (okay, mostly I) have accumulated. But we still needed to do something fun for school break; at least something more fun than every day at home. We watched the weather forecast and I put in extra hours early in the week.

Yesterday we headed down the coast to NYC. The weather was perfect for a day in the city. It wasn’t so hot that we baked in the sun, and it wasn’t so cold we froze. Light jackets and sweaters were perfect, and easy to pack in my backpack when we armed up.

Izzy wanted to bring her best friend, Evelyn. We picked her up first thing in the morning, stopped and Dunkin for breakfast and drove to New Haven. From New Haven we took the commuter train to Grand Central Station. Evelyn hadn’t been to New York City before, so it was a new adventure for her. Izzy normally did NYC with just her parents, so having a friend along was a new adventure for her.

From Grand Central Station, we walked to Times Square. There we jumped on the subway to Chelsea and the High Line Park. We found a bagel bakery for lunch then walked maybe half of the park. By the time we left the park it was almost too crowded to walk the trail. We exited the park to street level and took an Uber to Magnolia Bakery. We took our afternoon sugar snack to Central Park to find a nice rock outcrop to sit and eat on. Izzy and Evelyn ran around the Heckscher Playground until it was time to walk back to Grand Central Station, with a stop at Midtown Comics.

Susanna bought what must have been the worlds most expensive grapes at Grand Central to hold us until we got back to New Haven and found a place to eat on the way home. We dropped off Evelyn at here house and made it home around bedtime. Both girls gave two-thumbs-up for the day; three-thumbs-up if they had an extra digit.

I’m entering my second week here in Sweden. We have settled into the annex/guesthouse at Susanna’s parent’s house in Sävsjöström, Sweden.

On Saturday we took a pretty easy day and enjoyed the nice weather. In the morning, Susanna, Izzy and I did the short loop down the lake to the cabin and back up the road.Susanna’s mom, Charlotte, and I took a longer (5km) walk through the woods in the afternoon, passing an old tar-production pit on the walk. That afternoon we went to Susanna’s sister’s house for dinner, and for me to setup Minecraft for Isabella’s cousin on the laptop. This will hopefully allow them to play and talk online when we return to the US.

Sunday we went to an Allsång (sing-along) in Åseda to watch Susanna’s uncle, Johan, sing. An Allsång is a concert where the audience members are encouraged to sing along with the songs, and although I didn’t recognize any of the Swedish songs, there were a few in English that I had heard before. It was a fun afternoon and Susanna’s extended family was there. We finished the evening with dinner at a Thai restaurant in town and took Izzy’s cousins (Olle and Ebbe) back with us to spend the night.

Olle and Ebbe stayed with us on Monday. Susanna’s parents watched all three grandchildren for the day, so Susanna and I had the chance to go out together for some sightseeing. We visited the oldest fully wooden church in Sweden, Granhults Kyrka, and had lunch back in Åseda at a very nice cafe, Linas Butik & Café. We then went home and enjoyed a quiet (as quiet as possible with 3 kids) afternoon.

Dan and I took a walk around his property before dinner. We have always taken a walk though his woods when I’m here. Some day I’ll be able to easily tell the difference between the tall (pine tree) and gran (fir tree), but not today. We walked through woods with 100-year old trees and woods that he and Rebecka planted not too many years ago. He pointed out possible building sites with a view of the lake, and we talked about Susanna and I possibly buying a plot of land for a summer home from him. I think we have agreed on a spot across the road from his house and up the hill a bit, and will look at 3-4 hectares. This is part of Susanna and my plan for my retirement – a move to Sweden after Izzy finishes 8th grade in the US. We shall see about the land – there is still a bunch of years before I can retire and we need to think about it for a year or two before we buy land.

Today, Susanna, Izzy and Susanna’s mom took the train to Stockholm. They are going to a music festival tomorrow. Izzy’s favorite artist, Alessandra Mele, is playing. Izzy is fanatical about Alessandra, who represented Norway in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with the song, “Queen of Kings.” Everyone in our household has heard that song way too many times.

I took the day to drive to Kalmar and walk around the town at my own pace and take pictures. The weather was partially overcast which made for great lighting for pictures. I returned home mid-afternoon and enjoyed a ride down the lake and back with Dan on his boat.

This weekend Will and I headed to Boston for a short trip. He had wanted to visit the Museum of Science and maSantarpio’s Pizzake a weekend out of the trip.

The plan was to head out when we woke up on Saturday morning and visit the museum. We didn’t have a fixed schedule, but a few ideas of where we could go. We woke up to a warm and humid Connecticut morning hinting at a hot and unpleasant day to walk around a city. However, the weather in Boston was perfect. Warm with a breeze pushing away the humidity by the time we got there.

We said our goodbyes to a crying Izzy, put on a Malcom Gladwell podcast (that Will tolerated) and headed north. Our first stop was a used bookstore near the Boston Commons, the Brattle Book Shop. We found parking a few blocks away (weekend parking after most of the universities are done for the year is not too bad). Will picked up a Shakespeare play for a friend, and I just wandered around the store for a while.

On the way back to the car we grabbed lunch at Jacob Wirth Restaurant prior to driving over the the Museum of Science. We spent a few hours wandering around the museum. One could easily spend an entire day at the museum. But with ADHD, we tended to bounce around a bit. We did find good seats for the lightning show and finished up early afternoon.

After checking into the hotel, we caught a late afternoon showing of “Deadpool 2” and then had dinner at Santarpio’s Pizza. I laughed so hard during the movie that I cried, though the language would make a submarine sailor proud. Pizza was perfect. I know the thin crust isn’t Will’s favorite, but I love it.

Sunday morning was cold and wet. At least the rain held off until we were driving home. After breakfast I went for a short walk around the hotel, but quickly decided that a short sleeve shirt was under-dressed. Plus the neighborhood wasn’t the most scenic for walking.

We drove to Harvard Square to wander around and find another bookstore. The used bookstore we had planned to visit wasn’t open, so we wandered around the Harvard Coop bookstore where Will picked up the next two books in the series he is reading. We stopped by the Curious George store and got Izzy another stuffed animal (not like she needs any though).

We grabbed a light lunch and extra bagels at a Brueggers Bagels and headed out of the city to our final stop – Mindtrek VR in Marlborough, MA. We signed up for an hour-long game. The setup and game were pretty cool. We strapped on the VR gear and wandered around a large room. We had a team of five. The first game was defending against zombies and the second was walking through a space station shooting robots. The virtual reality was pretty cool – there were walks across virtual catwalks high in the air. I don’t like heights, so they were a little scary.  Even though I was really walking on a flat concrete floor, it seemed way up in the air. Will and I certainly weren’t the best shooters on our team, but we had fun and it was a lot of work. I broke into a sweat just walking around the virtual world (and my few hundred feet of space in the real world).

 

 

On Friday, the boys and I took the train from Copenhagen to Alvesta, Sweden. We had to switch trains twice – our original train from Copenhagen was cancelled and we had to pass through an ID check at Kastrup Airport before crossing the border into Sweden. It was a little stressful to have to figure out where to go, but at least the people at the information desk spoke English.

In Copenhagen central station, we met a French family on their way to Stockholm that spoke little English and no Swedish. They stuck with us for the train swaps at Kastrup and again at Malmo.  Their daughter sat next to Will on the train ride from Copenhagen to Kastrup, thinking he was older. She was shocked when he said he was 13. She was 18. Of course, it embarrasses Will when I tell the story. But his new haircut makes him look older.

On Saturday, we had Isabella’s christening – Susanna posted pictures on Isabella’s website.

Sunday was an easy day. We cleaned up from the celebration and the boys took it easy.

Monday we went to Kosta and got fish pedicures and ate lunch. After lunch we took a guided tour of the glass blowing factory. In the evening, Susanna’s sister, Rebecka, took the train back to her home, and we headed out to Susanna’s Dad, Dan’s, cabin which is near Sävsjöström, Sweden on Alstern Lake. The boys and I were going to camp out for the night, but after dinner Will felt sick, so Will and I came home while Ben camped out with Dan.

This morning, Will, Susanna and I went back to the cabin and joined Ben and Dan for breakfast. Breakfast was followed by checking out Dan’s harvester, and Ben rode along while Dan took down a few trees. We spent this afternoon taking it easy and playing kubb while the boys took turns trying to figure out the antique (1960s) moped.