Julie's first passport

Now our little sweet pea have got her first passport! She was very fascinated with the camera and the situation didn't allow me to tickle her so that she'd smile on the picture. Where the holder's signature should be it says: Not able to sign!

It wasn't so easy to get a Swedish passport because both parents have to be present at the Police station. To make a long story short... we had booked tickets to Bordeaux and needed a passport pretty fast so to be effective Julie and I went there to fix it while G was working. We filled in the papers, took the photo and paid but still G had to come by and sign the papers. It's very good from a security point of view so that one parent doesen't apply for a passport and leave the country with the child but very annoying when you want to be effective ;-).

The day after Julie and I met up with G to finish the application. But since G doesn'thave a Swedish identification card we had to ask a third person to confirm that "he was he". It wasn't enough that we're married! Well, well... now we have received it in good time before the vacation!

Thank you my dear cousin S for helping us!

Baka, baka liten kaka...

Means *Bake, bake a little cake and it is a common Swedish children song where you roll the child back and forth (like a dough), add lots of raisins everywhere (tickle, tickle) and then put her "in the owen". Julie loves that song already!

Today Julie will help me to bake chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon buns for my birthday picnic next week that we'll enjoy together with my superMama friends and children. I keep my fingers crossed that we can be outside... but having a fun adventurous picnic in our warm and cozy living room while it's raining outside isn't so bad either!

Chocolate-Chip Cookies
(recipe in Swedish but I can translate for my chocolate lovers. Let me know by posting a comment below;-)!)

3 dl mjöl
1 tsk salt
1 tsk bikarbonat
190 g smör
4½ dl farinsocker
3/4 dl strösocker
1 tsk vaniljsocker
2 ägg
6½ dl havregryn
350 g grovhackad mörk choklad

*blanda mjöl, bikarbonat & salt i en skål.
*Blanda farinsocker, strösocker, vaniljsocker & smör i en annan skål tills det blir krämigt.
*Vispa äggen lätt. Häll i dem & havregrynen. Rör om. Tillsätt mjölblandningen och arbeta väl förhand. Rör till sist ner chokladen. Klicka ut kakorna på smord plåt.
*Grädda dem i 150-180 grader i 8-12 minuter beroende på storlek

*The full version of the song:
Baka, baka liten kaka.
Rulla, rulla, liten bulla.
Mjöla den
och pricka den
och SHUSSSSSS in i ugnen!

Our little chihuahua

Do you see any similarities between this crazy dog and our cute little chihuahua Julie below?

The Swedish national day

Today it was the Swedish national day!

We dressed Julie in a Swedish top, ate Kalles Caviar and sang the national hymn. The great sunny weather that we've previously enjoyed was unfortunately gone so we stayed at home... and spoke about how good the weather was last year on the same day when we had Maman et N here with us and all the great things we did together. That day it was 28 degrees and we took the ferry from Slussen till Djurgården, ate soft ice cream with sprinkles, waved to the king and queen after the national day concert at the city zoo called Skansen, walked back along the harbor to Kungsträdgården and ate dinner at A taste of Stockholm which is a food festival. Today we lived on those memories ;-)!

The tradition of celebrating this date began 1916 in honour of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, as this was considered the foundation of modern Sweden.

In 2005 it became an official Swedish public holiday!, taking that honour from Whit Monday. This change led to fewer days off from work (more working-days) as the 6th of June will periodically fall on the weekend, unlike Whit Monday, which was always celebrated on a Monday. This has in turn led to complaints from some Swedish unions.