Seals being fed

At the place where we should have gotten ourselves a one-year membership. That would have rendered us a cool plastic badge with giraffes on it. And that badge would have been well-used.

It's Lotta på Bråkmakargatan and I

Lotta on the Trouble Maker Street, could only bike stealthily. And besides, she didn't have a real bike. As I also don't own one, I've also had to keep my abilities secret. But when Bebba brought her's around, I couldn't help but showing off the fact that I DO know how to bike.

These are also not blurry

Those who think they are just lack a good eye for aestetics. Så dé så!

Oh, so artsy!

Hey, watch this! Imagine how trained their eyes must be. How developed, the feeling for what workes and what doesn't! Economists, bah! Diplomats? Don't even get me started! They're artists, mom and dad. Clearly artists.

Toto, the tull monster

You know how I'm (oftentime) featuring this totally girlie girlie angel fluff style? And how it makes me look fair and sweet, like a delicious little cream cake? Did you ever wonder why? (Apart from the obvious cuteness and my parents' unwillingness to sign up to a societal norm that prescribes specific clothes as a substitute for actual gender equality.)Well, the answer is that I need those clothes in order to bring out the TULL MONSTER! The TULL MONSTER is a very cool but also very scary crature. Watch out! She's charging at you! (For a reference that only mom's family will understand, the tull monster has great similarities with LISTERPOJKEN, although LISTERPOJKEN featured a backturned hat and a gun.)

Why are we so giggly?

Yeah, why is it that we just couldn't stop laughing the other morning?Because we tricked them, of course! We pretended to be one another and climbed up at/into each other's chairs, and then we just sat there, pretending that nothing was up. Success! No one could guess who was who.

Ok, some winning concepts deserve changing

We don't only hit the kiddie section of CitiGross when we're in Sweden - we also hit Ikea. I'm good with it these days, as I've passed the magical age limit to be let into Småland with the other big children. But Toshia... Not impressed with Ikea Kalmar. At least not enough.

Fab in faux fur

It's a hard job, looking so glamorous all the time. But with good stylists, it's still manageable. Today, I'm a function of aunt Kia's trained eye and selective taste. All I have to do is be my adorable self. And I don't mean to boast, but I'm really pretty good at that. A born natural, you could say.

Why change a winning concept?

When in Sweden, we did some shopping of our favourit Swedish things: Välling (gruel) and diapers. And then we added some more of each of those things. And then yet some more. Semper välling and Libero diapers... How's that for a craving?

Morning Quiz

We have two roles when playing with the train tracks: one is the constructor and the other is the destructor. Sometimes, when the destructor is being particularly efficient, the constructor also gets a bit destructive. Now, take a wild guess - who is who? [By the way, mom is wondering about the name of that book in which a kid builds a super high tower with his building blocks, but his baby sister keeps tearing it down... She figures we would recognize ourselves in the main characters. She also figures the happy ending with the kid giving a few blocks to his sis might rub off.]

The COP15 model and the not COP15 model

It must have been very tricky to decide who was going to appear at COP15. I mean, we're both totally selling the message!!!

By the way...

Adam may have trouble remembering the pose word, but me, I've gone from Teeeeef! to Cheeese! The fourth or so proper word in my vocab (after mom, dad and NO!). So just bring out the camera! [Cheers, from the girl who will appear in the good-cause advert.]

Va hette're? Va hette're?

Thanks to my exceptional looks and charm, I was asked to model for a good cause the other week.
I did my very best. I just happened to forget that word...

What is it again...? You know that word I usually say when I see a camera...
Think think think think think!

Oh, right! Cheese! Too bad I didn't remember even for an instant during the long and cold photo session...

The Tale About the Girl Who Wouldn't Let the Bed Bugs Bite.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was really afraid of falling asleep at night. So afraid was she, that she simply wouldn't do it. She would fight her tiredness and stay up for hours and hours. Long after eight o'clock would she stay up. Long after midnight. And if despite her courageous struggle, she still did drowse off, she would soon realize and rectify her mistake.
Of course, this wasn't very pleasant for her. It made her irritable and tetchy. She would cry and squimp. But still, she wouldn't give in. 'Cos how do you know you're not missing out when you're asleep? she figured.
Her fighting sleep became somewhat easier when she realized that her older brother could help. Together, they would stay up all night, turn the lights on and out, turn the laundry bin upside down, turn the night into day. And then, when they ran out of energy, they would cry and squimp together.
However, there was one major miscalculation in the sceme: Whenever the little girl and her older brother would cry VICTORY!!!, as the alarmclock went off after a long night of no-sleep (and their parents, hollow-eyed, would look at them and at each other, thinking that it's a good thing love is so strong), they were both bound to lose the daytime struggle with the bed bugs. Sleep would creap up on them when least they would expect it. A big bun for breakfast and BAM! the little girl would go down on the floor, thereby missing out on all sorts of fun daytime activities. A good art class at school and BAM! the older brother would go down on the couch, thereby missing out on all sorts of fun playing with Tomoki and SooYoung.
So, that's what it all came down to: missing out at night or missing out during the day.
[At the time this tale was written, the little girl and her older brother still hadn't made up their mind about which one was the least bad alternative, so they did a little of both.]Little lady, big bun.

Our most expensive toy

This is a rolled-up carpet. Or so they say - it's looked like this more or less constantly since I was born. Appearantly some mover person bent the carpet-roll down the middle, thereby enabling the use of a smaller truck. Probably it saved him a dime or two. However, bending a rolled-up carped down the middle is not a good thing, the Kasthall people say. And the professional carpet-renovators in Warsaw shake their heads and repeat the message. Not a good thing. Adam and I are the only ones who seem to be in line with the mover, thinking that it in fact is a very good thing. The carpet-roll makes for a fine imaginary truck.

Getting dressed? No biggie!

Some kids are a bit difficult with their clothes, or so we hear. Adam and I, we're not like that at all. As a matter of fact, we don't even need any help to get dressed. We don't even want any help. Ok? No thanks. HEY! We said NO! Please read our lips: We. Don't. Need. Your. Help. Ok? Now, this is getting rediculous! HANDS OFF, WE CAN DO THIS ON OUR OWN!!!
Oh, you mean not wanting any help could be considered difficult? Well, in that case, whatever! Grown-ups can be so sensitive!

Catching up

Most of the time, travel days are, well, just days of travelling. But there are exceptions to the rule. Before boarding the ferry in Karlskrona on Saturday, we had a date with Maja and her parents. Since we saw them two months ago, they have all turned into big-time trotters. In the case of Maja, that implies vastly improved mobility and a somewhat bigger look. In the case of Richard, au lieu, it implies a somewhat smaller look. And in the case of Maggan, a fitter dito. But Ha! they couldn't fool us. We still recognized them. And we were very happy to see them.Then, as we drove off the ferry in Gdynia, the Bang family initiated a Sunday brunch date. Eager to see them as well, we drove straight to Belvedere and had a great afternoon, rather than one of post car ride boredom.So there, despite two days of traveling we had two days of socializing. No waste. All good.
[A curious detail was that Belvedere had a Smurf theme going. Yeah, I know, not really in line with their image. And we never really managed to figure out what was going on and why. The grown-ups figured the restaurant manager had lost a bet of some kind. The food was still dreamy good and the playroom top of the line, so we didn't mind. But it was rather strange, it really was.]

This one's for grandpa! Enjoy!

Title: The new and improved Öland.
A window with a view. (Now featuring only the view, not the wind.)A wall with a hole.A wall with a hole with a view.A weather, suitable for doors in place.The usage of lots and lots of fogskum.Hm hm. Planks being put in place. Hm hm. Planks in place.Hm hm. What now? Conny and Agne. Chatting away while removing the disgustingly gross oil tank and the hog of a burner. Their choice of words, mind.Don't know if the oil soot added or subtracted character to the basement stairs.Getting rid of the oil stuff freed some space for other, more fun stuff. Like planks to be painted. And conservatory construction dito.A new flower bed at the entrance. (In case you find it difficult to tell from the picture, it's a rose bed with an assortment of spring flowers. And if the plant dealer in Wawa is right, we might have to continue using our imagination to see the flowers for a long long time to come. He thought November would be much too late to plant. We say: well worth a shot!)A man dressed in a way that makes him look like he's hiding in front of the tree. Probably to not draw attention away from the conservatory elements showing off behind the tree. There! The result of one November week in the rain (and months worth of planning).

Priorities

There are several good things with the zoo in Warsaw. First and foremost, it's a place where you usually hang out with friends that you really like. Like Tomoki and Bebba. Second, the swing on the playground is really really cool. And the helicopter in the cafeteria too. And then, if you still have some time and energy left, there are animals to watch as well. Great place!