Yet another day, yet another castle

Drottningholm Castle

Grandpa is posing on the right side of the ropes.
Ethan is not.

Taking a break from walking

 Ethan and grandpa checking out the Chinese pavillion

Grandpa Keith's hidden skills:
Talented photographer and talented Instragramer!

Ethan and Hudson's Rockin' Disco Party

Last Sunday the boys’ long awaited for birthday party finally happened! The weather was gorgeous, the Facebook event invite list indicated it was going to be a packed house and we had a full day of fun planned! Our outdoor communal area was fully decorated in Thomas the Tank Engine streamers, the splash pool and slip n were slide set up, we had prepared a wicked disco playlist, the barbeque was ready to go, and Shaena had baked a delicious red velvet birthday cake, rice crispy treats and double chocolate chip cookies! In other words: It was on!

The boys had a fantastic day with all their friends and they were all sugared up well and good come 4pm when the party was coming to an end. To top a great day off; Ethan and Hudson also got showered in gifts!

Thank you very much to everyone who came and made this day special!

Red velvet cake!

Ethan and Raul

Thomas-themed decorations all around

Daddy and b-day boy #1

The pile of pressies just grew and grew

An athlete in the making

...and there it goes!

"Twas a Swede, a Canadian and
an Aussie, standing by a bbq..."

Hayden and Huddy

Our 'venue'

Captain America and The Johansson's

 The party in full swing

Sam on the slip n slide

Hud Man

The decorations were awesome!

Jerome and Fletcher testing the water pressure?

Proud morfar and tired barnbarn...

...after lots and lots of this!

"What do you want me to do with the candles again mom?"

Baby Ossian

Quick poll: Do the grandpas look alike in this pap shot?

Adorable Olivia

Hud Bud

Kiddie pool fun

A relaxing, impromptu afternoon by the kiddie pool can easily develop into a full-on water fight when you have fun loving friends and neighbours! A special mentioning to Grandpa Stefan who threw himself head first down the slip n slide! Twice! ;)

Attacking the guy holding the camera - not cool!

Grandpa got it from all angles!

"Call me H."

"Wheeee!"

"Whoooooa!"

Ethan is in monster truck heaven!

First he came home with a boatload of monster truck toys after our trip up north, then Grandpa Stefan had a few more with him when he came down to visit us this past week, then Grandpa Keith brought Ethan a monster truck too… and on top of that he got another monster truck as a birthday pressie at his and Hudson's belated b-day party this weekend!

12 monster trucks is a fairly sizeable collection for a 3 year old, so we figured it was about time he got to experience the real deal. So, this evening Ethan, Shaena and Grandpa Keith are at a monster truck/stunt show and the ‘WhatsApp’ updates I am getting tells me that the little guy is absolutely thrilled and over the moon!

Oh, and Shaena got to go for a ride in a stunt car that drove on two wheels, so she is pretty stoked as well! ;)

Kieran and Ethan sitting on a wheel,
m-o-n-s-t-e-r t-r-u-c-k-i-ng

Happy!

Dragon!

Ghost Rider, Grandpa and Ethan

Excited!

Big truck or small boys?

Shaena reporting live from inside a stunt car!

(More pictures a comin’)

The boys and their two granddaddy-o's

A rare occasion in the Harrison-Helin world: Both grandfathers in the same place at the same time! Geography makes meeting up more often a bit tricky and the last time these two gentlemen met up and hung out was when Ethan was about 2 weeks old!

The boys and farfar

The boys and morfar

Parenting in a nutshell?

After 2,5 months of paternity leave, and with exactly 1 month left until I go back to the grind, I have definitely gained an even greater respect for moms and stay-at-home parents! We've had a great time off so far and we've been able to travel, see and do a whole bunch of stuff but let me tell you; it ain't always a walk in the park!

Some days your ears are bleeding after a day of "Watch Gnomeo! Watch Gnomeo! Watch Gnomeo! Watch Gnomeo! Watch Gnomeo! Watch Gnomeo!" or "Go play, have fun?" "Go play, have fun?" "Go play, have fun?" "Go play, have fun?" "Go play, have fun?" "Go play, have fun?" "Go play, have fun?" times fifty, your head is pounding and there are no pain killers at home, you are ready to duct tape your kids feet to the floor after waking up at 5am from what could only be compared to the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and you are most definitely ready to murder that little green helium voiced dancing bear on Youtube!

So, well done moms!

I found this story on Facebook and I am sure many of you parents out there can identify with it:

A man came home from work and found his 5 children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn around garden, The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and no sign of the dog, walking in the door, he found ...an even bigger mess.

A lamp had been knocked over, the throw rug was against one wall, in the front room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel, the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door.

As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel...

She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?

She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?"...

"Yes," was his incredulous reply..

She answered, Well, today I didn't do it."

Another day, another castle

Yesterday Grandpa and I drove out to Skokloster for an adults only historic tour of the famous (in Sweden at least) Skokloster Castle. I had high hopes of scenic day out with some nice photo opportunities but never had I thought that the inside of the castle would be so spectacular and interesting! Skokloster is Sweden's largest privately owned castle and also one of the most well kept ones. It holds unique collections of everything from 16th century furniture to guns and swords from all over the world and prides itself of having kept every room intact for over 300 years! It was once built and owned by a very high ranking officer and nobleman and his intention was never to live in the castle. He built it as a monument and tribute to himself and his family, basically just to brag and boast about his wealth and illustrious career!

On the way home we also stopped by a runestone by the side of the road that had been in the same place for about 1000 years. Also very impressive!

When we got home; Shaena and Ethan headed out to go see 'Jedward', the crazy, obnoxious but also hilariously funny Irish twin act from 'The X-Factor' and the Eurovision song contest. For some odd reason they were performing in our local mall out here in the burbs.

So, from viking runes to a 16th century castle to Jedward. All in a day's work!

A magnificent castle to say the least!

A massive indoor marble statue
-everyone should have one!

A 'representation bedroom' that was not
used for sleeping in, only for showing
off the very expensive bed. As you do. 

One of many hallways

Dining room with Europe's oldest
glass chandelier

Another day, another runestone

Grandpa Stefan reading the runes