...and we're back!

What a refreshing time to not have access to the internet. No blog, no facebook, no hotmail...However we then leave you, our faithful readers, without our going ons!

Let's recap:

We arrived on Friday after a nice visit at Gammelfarmor (Ethan's Great Grandma on his Dad's side). Peter always thinks the Swedish language is easier as parents sides are labled ie. Farmor (Dad's mom) Mormor (Mom's mom). The same naming convention goes for Aunts and Uncles too. "That's why Swedes are awesome" Peter is whispering in the background.

We were collected by Roland and Farmor Gertrud and drove down south to Piteå to their beautiful summer house on the lake. Roland bought this land back in the day and has built all the houses on it over time. They are fantastically built and Peter really is the true King of Sweden.

Saturday was the Royal Wedding for Victoria and Daniel and it sure was swank! Apparently about 5 million people tuned in to watch the ceremony and party on the TV and just under 1 million people lined the streets of Stockholm to see the newly weds ride by in their horse and carriage. The reason why it was such a big deal here in Sweden was because the Crown Princess was marrying a 'normal' person and not a blue blood and it is said that this is the love story of the century.

On Sunday we decided to check out Piteå town with Auntie Ida. Unfortunately it was raining quite a bit that day, but at least we got a good reason to spend a bit of extra time in the newly built mall and check out how the town has developed in the 7 years since Peter last graced it with his presence.

Monday was a beautiful summer day so Roland fired up his classic old wooden boat and took us out for a day on the sea. Roland bought this old 22 foot boat about 10 years back; it was built by his father who was a boat builder in the 50's and Roland spend the last 8 years doing it up to a pristine condition.

On Tuesday we took a drive up to 'Storforsen' which is about an hour from Piteå and is a nature reserve with some crazy white water rapids. Seems like the Swedes like to show off their rapids, eh?

Wednesday was another beautiful day at sea. A new, cool day cruiser boat has been added to the small armada of flotation devices and Roland wanted to take us out to 'Koskäret' for a day out and a picnic. We had a great time and Ethan really seemed to enjoy his outing in the Piteå archipelago!

Thursday was our 'day off' in town, kind of like the calm before the storm (the midsummer-shindig storm that is. We went shopping and stocked up on beverages for the upcoming party...

...which leads us to Friday! Midsummer's eve!

To sum it up: Awesome! We got to celebrate a typical traditional Swedish midsummer's starting with decorating the yard at the summerhouse and Ethan taking a dip in his baby pool, moving on to a folk dance performance and ring dancing around the May-pole at 'Badhusparken' in town. Ethan got to frog-dance with, what seemed to be, most of the population in Piteå. In the afternoon we got to enjoy Grandma Gertrud's midsummer-smörgåsbord and sing snaps-songs! As you can imagine, the party was on at this stage! Later in the evening we headed over to a small party with old and new friends and needless to say, being the longest day of the year and all, it turned into a late night with lots of good fun!

Today, Sunday, we left Piteå and started making our way back. The 3 of us flew together to Stockholm where Erin met up at the airport. Shaena and Ethan will be spending tomorrow touristing and hanging out, possibly with a visit to the Skansen zoo. I on the other hand hopped on a flight to Frankfurt for my course. Holidays are over, back to reality. Boo and boom!

..oh, and don't fret! Pictures will follow!