My year in the USA

Welcome home!!

2010-10-12T04:35:00.001-07:00

Today (Wednesday 15 September) I landed in Frankfurt at 4 am for me but it was like 12 pm or sth. I was not in my best mood and my flight was delayed and I had to walk really long before I could find my gate. I was not fresh at all and cranky from all the lack of sleep. Thank U Helin's for the Ipod so that I could watch Twilight while I was waiting. U know, now when I'm in Europe they don't have free WiFi at the airport ;) I could also tell that I'm in Europe cause of all the unfriendly people. When I gave my passport to the check guy I said politely and happy "Good morning!" He just looked at me and grunted sth and gave back my passport. Common?! That made me even more pissed. And one thing that I don't understand is why do I have to go through another security check, when there is no possibility that I could have put anything in my bags cause I couldn't leave the airport...just silly!
The flight was delayed about one hour but it was OK cause it's such a short flight. It was with tears in my eyes I landed in Gothenburg and it felt really nice to be HOME again! I was excited to get out of the plane but everything took a while cause everyone else also wanted to get out ;) And then I needed to gather all my bags before I could go out in the big hall and look for my family.
The first one I see is Eric, my little brother, and he's waving with two Swedish flags ;) Behind him are mum and dad and there we had a big hug party. Oh, it was so nice to see them again!! It's almost unreal but at the same time it felt like I've never been away.
I wanted just to suck in every smell and emotion I felt when we walked to the car cause this was really Sweden!! With the green everywhere and the fresh air...this is my HOME and I won't leave it again soon!
I was very happy when we came to the car cause there they had candy!!! Oh, I've missed the Swedish candy ;) I think I ate the whole bag before we stopped to eat lunch ;) We ate at a Swedish pizza place and I had the "Kebab pizza" OMG!! This is sth I've really missed and I can't wait until I'll have one at the best pizza place in my town...but this was also heavenly and just to sit down and eat with my family again was a moment bigger than a lot of things.
We drove home and it takes about two hours and then I felt how tired I was and I closed my eyes for a while.
When we drove up to our house I felt like in a dream, was I really home? When I came in through the doors I stood there for a minute and felt "our" smell. I love it! Another thing was that tne newest family member, our cat Chabo, came and said hello to me. He's so cute and I'm excited to see how it works to have a pet.
In the hallway was a banderol saying "Welcome Home Sandra" and a lot of ballons and flags...so nice!
I said hello to my other brother, Robin, and got to see his new room (my old) and it looked really nice. I was, of course, curious about my new room so I ran upstairs and checked it out. It's small but very sweet. I have a sofa, not a bed ;) and I love the wall paper. One wall is light yellow and the other goes in black and grey and has houses on it. So pretty and I really love the room. There isn't much space for all my stuff so we'll see how that goes but right now it's perfect!
I'd brought presents to my family and I think evryone was happy. We didn't do so much more but that was exactly what I wanted.
This is the last thing I'll write on this blog and I want to thank U all that have been following me, supporting me and helping me through this amazing year. I don't regret anything and it's been a great experience but now I'm so happy to be home and for me one year was enough. I wish U all good luck with what ever U do and maybe I can inspire someone else to have the currage to take that step, to do sth different cause in the end it's so good for U!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

I'm going home!!!

2010-10-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday 14th of September) I was leaving Seattle, and the US, for this time. Over one year ago I came as a scared, unsecure little girl who didn't know what to do with her life or who she was. Now I'm leaving filled with currage and security and I feel that I have grown as a person through this year and I'm ready for what's next in my life. I still don't know what I want with my life but I got a pretty good feeling that everything is gonna be alright. I mean, after a year like this I could do anything!
The kids had to go to school and it was REALLY hard saying goodbye to them cause they were so sad and didn't want to go, and I didn't want them to go!!!
I packed the last of my things and I think I weight the bags two or three times to be sure they weren't too heavy ;) I think I broke the scale also...oopps!! ;)
Sofia called when they were half way to school, she was really sad and said that she wanted to turn and walk back and then jump down in one of my bags ;) Sweetie! Filip was sad (and kind of funny) He said that now when I was gone, he was gonna threw frisbee and no one was gonna be there to catch it. He was gonna play Monoploy but there would be no one else who would go so he would just sit there ;) Sad but funny ;)
Lotta drove me to the airport and was with me when I checked the bags. This was the most nervous thing ever, but the bags passed. They were 22,9 kg both and they could be 23 kg ;) My hand lugage was allowed to be 8 kg but mine was 8,4. But I hurried away casue she didn't see that...pfew!
Once again I had to go through with a hard goodbye. Me and Lotta have been pretty close through the year so yes, it was hard to say goodbye to her too.
Now I was on my own. I went through security and it took some time for me cause this morning I had to put on a lot of clothes that didn't fit in my bags ;) I had one top, one t-shirt, two sweters, one jacket, two scarfs and a cap...I was so HOT!!! ;)
Once through the security I walked to my gate and then I bought some lunch at the cafe. I'm glad that they have free WiFi at the airport cause then I could play with my new Ipod ;) It's so practical when U are at a place like this cause it's so small.
My flight was at 2:15 sth and the boarding went fine. It was a big plane but narrow seats. I was in the middle row and had three older ladies around me. I was sad that I couldn't be at a window so I could see Seattle when we flew away but I saw it so beautiful when me and Kadda came back from California so it's OK. I had planned to sleep most of the way, since it's such a long flight, but this was harder that I thought since I wasn't tired...I mean, we flew in the middle of the day. I watched some movies and listened to music but I couldn't sleep. Not even when we came over to the "night part" of the world.
The food wasn't so good, but is it ever in flights? And I had to stand up and walk a couple of times cause my ass was hurting ;)
Soon I'm home!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Last night :(

2010-10-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday 13th September) was my last REAL day here in Seattle...OMG! Feels weird to say it..I can't believe that it's already been over a year!
I spend the whole day trying to pack all my stuff but it's so hard! And I didn't have a scale so I couldn't be sure if my bags were too heavy or not. But the Stendahl's were coming later this evening and they had promised to bring one.
The rest of the day I just tried to make sure that I got everything that was mine. I went through the closet downstairs, the bathroom, my room...well, the whole house. I guess I wanted to say goodbye at the same time which felt really weird!!
I realized that I couldn't bring everything back home so I started to be a bit logical and hard, everything that was a bit broken I threw away. This way I lost a couple of shoes and kilos ;)
My room is so empty now when I took everything down from the walls. All my teenage posters, the t-shirts, the map. Now there's just empty, white walls. The closet is empty and the drawer. It seems bigger now and when U talk there is a echo in the room ;)
I couldn't pack everything today cause I need my bathroom stuff tomorrow so when I was "done", I just relaxed in front of the TV until the family got home and I played with the kids.
Yesterday in the car, Sofia asked me what my favourite food was and I answered pasta bolognese. So for our last dinner together, they made it for me. So sweet :) Before we started to eat they gave me a present, they couldn't wait ;) OMG!! They gave me a Ipod touch, the newest generation!! Are they crazy?! And the best part is that they've put on some pictures from the year and also the first two Twilight movies sinced they know I'm such a big Twilight fan ;) Hahahah..they are the best! I was so happy, didn't know what to say.
Later, after dinner, the Stendahl's came and we ate a cake that Lotta had bought for this special, and sad, evening.
I also got a gift from the Stendahl's, they gave me a toilet- and a make-up bag from the brand Vera Bradley. I've been looking at bags from them through my whole year and been wanting one so badly but never bought one so it's perfect! It's a pink, orange one with big flowers and I just love it!
I gave them a small, wooden angel from a beautiful brand, that we also have here in Sweden, and it stood for "Thank You" which I think fit very well to the Stendahl's cause they also contributed to that my year here was perfect and I'm gonna miss them so much! It was hard saying goodbye to them, the kids are so sweet!! But they are also moving back to Sweden so I'll see them again.
It was kind of late and the kids were on their way to bed, but I had some gifts for the family too. Sofia got a music box with Tinkerbell that we saw together one day at Hallmark and she wanted that so bad. She told me to tell Lotta about it so that she could give it to her, but I never did ;) She was so happy and now she can play it everytime she miss me!
Filip, who is a Monopoly lover as U know bye now ;), got a new Monopoly with Nintendo theme. Instead of streets U buy Nintendo characters like Zelda, Mario etc It seemed really cool and he was so happy. Too bad I won't have time to play with him :( He have to bring it when they move to Sweden.
For the whole family, I made a photo book with pictures from the whole year. I had written some small stuff and also a thanks and what this year had been for me. I was really happy with the book and now they have a memory that they always can look back at and remember me ;)
Now the hard part started. The kids got really sad. Sofia started to cry and was really upset, Filip isn't that hysterical but U could tell that he also was sad. I laid down next to Sofia, in her bed, and talked with the kids until they fell asleep. I told them that we are gonna meet again, and they know that but it's gonna be hard for them anyway. It's not gonna be the same. I didn't think it would be that hard for me to leave, since I know we'll meet again, but tonight it really hurt.
The Stendahl's had forgotten the scale, of course ;) But Lotta went to a neighbour and borrowed one...pfew! Wouldn't have been fun to take a chance at the airport tomorrow ;)
I had to wrestle some more with my bags before I was under the weigh limit and could go to bed, for the last time in my room!! A weird feeling!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Pittock Mansion & Rose Garden

2010-10-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday 12 September) I woke up happy cause my ear plugs worked, I didn't hear the train!! And the bed was so nice so I had a good night's sleep.
We had yoghurt and crisp bread for breakfast ;) A nice start for our last day here in Portland.
We started a new fire and then cleaned out the cabbin and packed everything in the car. When the last fire was out, we said goodbye and drove in to Portland again and the famous Pittock Mansion. It's a century old symbol of Portland's dramatic transformation from a small lumber town to bustling city, it's an architectural wonder. A beautiful mansion that is located on a hill where U have the view over the city. It's now a museum so U can pay and go in and there they give a tour and tell the story about the house and the family. Very interesting and such a beautiful house. Jonas and Lotta wanted to get inspired for their house and I think they got some ideas ;)
At lunch, we drove down to the city and bought some nice bagels and then drove up to the big, famous rose garden and had our lunch in the middle of all the sweet-scented flowers. It was really nice cause today the weather was sunny and warm as well.
We spend maybe two hours here and the kids found a earth pile where they made earthballs and then wanted to start a earth war with me....ehh, no thanks! But Filip threw a ball on me anyway..aarrggh!!
In the afternoon we went back home and also now there was a lot of traffic so it took a while to get home but it was OK for me cause I wasn't the driver ;)

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Portland

2010-10-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday 11 September) I woke up pretty pissed off, cause all night a train had been blowing it's horn every other hour and woke me up...why??? So irritating!! Good thing I have earplugs with me so I can sleep tonight.
They didn't have breakfast at the campground so we drove back to the little town and ate at a diner which was really American and nice. The food was good; scrabled eggs, bacon, sausage and toast ;)
We went to a park next to a river where Filip did some fishing while the rest of us just relaxed in the sun. I almost fell asleep!! The surroundings were just incredible...huge mountains all around and green forest everywhere..the air was so fresh and we were there for a couple of hours and it never got boring.
I watched "How to train your dragon" on Filip's DSI..He has been telling me to see that movie for a while now and now when he had it with him I couldn't say no anymore ;) But it was a great movie, funny! I liked it and I'm glad he told me to see it.
Filip didn't get any fish but Sofia lost one of her shoes ;) She was running and they are a bit big so it flew of and splash in the water ;) Jonas and Filip tried to fish it up but the current took it so we had to wave goodbye to it...she was a bit sad and now she had to walk with one show until we got to a store to buy know ones. At lunchtime we took the car and drove in to Portland to see if we could find anything to eat. We walked and walked but couldn't find anything we liked. We asked a couple of people and they told us there was a festival going on now and explained how to get there. We had to take a train there and it was free cause it was Saturday today. The family was a bit confused and didn't really know where to go so I think it was good that I was there cause I knew exactly ;)
I don't know what kind of festival it was but there were a lot of stalls and booths where they sold hand crafts and food. There was a lot of people cause the weather was really nice. It was HOT and I was sweating cause I had dressed warm cause we expected cold weather.
We found some good stuff to eat and then sat down at a fountain and watched some dancers perform. They were dancing hip hop (I think ;)) and they were really good, a great dinner entertainment.
We walked around and when we were happy we drove back to the little town by our campground and bought some food for the night. I bought a SUDUKO magazine cause I needed sth to do now and also on the flight home next week.
At the cabbin we just relaxed and didn't do anything. It was so nice! The kids wanted to play so we played old fashion boccia, with pine cones ;) Felt like we went back in time and it was really nice acctually and I felt like I thought the kids that U can have fun without all the modern technology...I'm proud!
When it got dark, we lightened the fire and grilled hot dogs and then, of course, marshmallows...so good and cozy!
Everyone was tired so we went early to bed and this time I had my earplugs so I hope they'll help against the train. At this point everyone was annoyed by it cause every 30 minutes it passed by and made an aweful noise. OK, we get it!!! There is a railway, we will stay out of there!!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

The Expendables

2010-10-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday 10th September) I slept until 10 and that was really nice. I had breakfast, took a shower and called back home. Soon I don't have to call anymore!! Can't believe that in 5 days I'll see everyone again!! I'm so looking forward to it!
Before M left she got a movie ticket from her host family but she didn't have time to use it so she gave it to me. Very nice of her!! So now, when I was done with all the shopping and preparations, I went to Redmond to use it.
I decided to see "The Expendables" which is a action movie a la Stallone with all of the old, action heroes. Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dolfh Lundgren, Jet Lie and a lot of other big names. It was OK, like any other war movie but it was fun to see all those big actors together. It was me and two others in the saloon ;)
Before the movie started, I made a list of all the upcomming movies and series I want to see and it became pretty long...11 movies and 4 series ;) Just hope everything is coming to Sweden as well.
Before I drove home, I stopped at Michels to buy some papers and stickers for mum who wants to make a scrap book from their US trip. I found some nice for me too in case I have time to make a album sometime.
When I got home I had to pack quickly and Jonas and Lotta came home early and when we were done we got in the car and picked up the kids from school. We are going to spend the weekend in Portland as a final thing together and we wanted to go before the heavy traffic. Unfortunately we didn't so it took us a while to get there. We stopped at Red Robin and had a graet American dinner with burgers. I like that place, there is so much going on all the time and a lot to look at. They had a TV in the floor ;)
We came to the campground at 11pm! But luckily we had a cabbin this time so we didn't have to put up the tent in the dark. It was a cozy wooden cabbin with two bedrooms so me and the kids shared one with 2 bunk beds and Jonas and Lotta took the other one with a big double bed.
We just unloaded the car and then went to bed after a long afternoon on the road.

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Saying goodbye to the city

2010-10-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

Today (Thursday 9th September) I went in to Seattle one last time to shop souvenirs and to say goodbye to the city. It was sad in one way cause Seattle is a city that I've become to like during this year, I mean it's been my home and now I don't know when or if I'll ever come back. I like the atmosphere cause it's a big city but U can reach everything pretty easy and having the water so close by always a good thing.
I went to Urban Outfitters but didn't buy anything, then I walked down to Pike Place market and checked out all the t-shirt stores for some Seattle t-shirts and I found a funny one for me. It's a umbrella with the text SEATTLE inside, I liked it and it describes the city pretty good...except that no one has an umbrella here ;)
I walked to Pioneer Square and went to the wonderful toy store they have there. There they have so many fun stuff and a lot of "old" toys. Here I bought a laughing monkey for my two cousins (it's hillarious! Laughs when U walk by) two small medical stuffed animals for my friend, and some small walking animals...so cute!!
From Pioneer Square I walked down to the piers and bought some small souvenirs and when I was done I had a lot of bags ;) I went on the bus with a smile on my face, happy that I got a nice day in Seattle and was able to say goodbye in a proper way.
Back home, I had a late lunch (it was already 3pm) and then I took the bus to Bellevue for a last time at the mall. Feels weird to do everything for the last time, but I'm glad that I can do that without any stress. I finished all my shopping with a pair of shoes for my brother, underware for me and my friend and coffee for my other friend. I just hope everything will fit in my bags ;)
Back home, I had dinner with Jonas and the kids (Lotta was on her work out with Jenny) and then I went through all my souvenirs to make sure I hadn't missed anything and I started to go through some drawers to see what to save and what I could throw away...it was not so much I'm afraid ;)
I have some updates to do on the blog from my trip so I spent the rest of the evening in the sofa with the computer in my lap and the TV on. There was a story about a guy who had spend 19 years in prison and tonight he was gonna be executed. That's when I realized, I'm in a country where death penelty is allowed. I didn't think of it before and it feels weird. Maybe a bit double standard of moral when U kill someone because they killed someone? But I donno...

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Bye Bye M and Kadda

2010-09-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday 8th September) was not such a happy day cause both M and Kadda were leaving today and that means that I'm the last one left!! OMG!!
I had promised to drive Kadda to the airport since her host family is on vacation, so I picked her up at and we packed all her HEAVY bags in my little SAAB. I wonder if she pass the weigh limit or not.
It wasn't so hard to leave her cause I know that we'll meet in Europe so it was: "See U later"
M wasn't going home to France right now but she's going to New York to attend a wedding.
On my way back I stopped at the South Center Mall and strolled around there and looked for souvenirs, gifts for the kids and stuff I wanted to have before I go home. Finally I bought a sweater from PINK by Victoria Secret. I have looked at them for a long time but always thought they were too expensive but now I found one on sale :) I also bought some new underware from them cause I love them!!! I also bought new earphones to my Ipod and the sound is so much better now. I don't have to have the volume on max anymore ;)
I also found what I wanted for the kids and I hope they'll like it. I'll tell U later ;)
Before I went home, I had lunch at the mall at Panda Express which is a chinese fast food place and it was really good. I never tried it before and I regret that!
Back home I went to the bank to close my account but instead we changed it so I can have it forever for when I come back! It didn't cost anything so why not?
Before Kadda left she gave me a package with stuff she couldn't fit in her suitcase and wanted me to send it for her. She gave me money and now I went to the post office and took care of it.
At around 4:30 I was done and could finally go home. I was really tired but after dinner I took a walk to Bartel Drugs to buys some candy for everyone back home and some small stuff that I needed.
Back home I had to work on my blogg and organize my pictures so I had to do the rest of the night.

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Seattle

2010-09-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday 7th September) was our last day in San Francisco...well, we were flying home today so we couldn't really do much more than say goodbye while we walked down to the BART station again and it was a bit sad. San Francisco is a town I really like and to not know when or if I'll be back was not a happy thought.
We had to check out from the hostel at 9:30 and then we went to the airport where we had to wait for 2 1/2 hours for our flight. Then it's good to have a computer with U cause at there it's free WiFi.
For the first time I met a older lady with the name Sandra ;) She was behind me in the security line..so funny! She was around 50 sth and she said that Sandra was the most popular name when she was born, interesting!
The plane we were flying with was a Disney plane so it had Minnie Mouse all over the side. Really cute!
Once we were on the plane, it couldn't take off, cause of some strong wind, so we had to sit there for an hour and that was not so much fun. Good thing it's not such a long flight cause now I just wanted to get home.
It was really nice weather when we came over Seattle and we got a great view over downtown with the Space Needle and both of the fields...it's a really nice picture and it's hard to believe that I'm soon leaving.
We grabbed our bags and then went to the bus stop to get to Bellevue, but of course we just missed one and the next one was late as well so we also here had to wait for like an hour before we could get on a bus that would take us to Bellevue where the grandparents of Kadda's family waited and drove us to Kadda's place. It was already 6 when we came home and then Kadda drove me home and now she was really stressed cause she's leaving for Germany tomorrow and needs to pack and everything.
At home, I had a nice dinner with the family and I was really happy seeing them again. Both Sofia and Filip had missed me a lot and now I felt that I had missed them as well. I gave them some gifts from my trip, a giant deck of cards from Vegas and two glas with Spongebob on from Universal studios.
My day wasn't over yet cause we had decided to met at Starbucks one last time to say goodbye to Emilie who also was leaving tomorrow so at 8 I went there and it was so nice to see her again!
She gave me a little photo album and a devil bath duck, cause she knew I collect them, and I gave her a big, signed IDOL picture of me ;) I always wanted to give one to some one and M was the right person cause she understood that it was a joke and she laughed a lot over it. Now she wont be sad at the flight when she looks at it, she will just laugh ;)
Kadda didn't show up cause apparently she had too much to do to spare one hour to come and say goodbye to one of her friends...so bad of her. M was really sad and I understand her.
We weren't sad when we hugged eachother goodbye cause first we were so excited to see eachother again after two weeks and then we know we will meet again in Europe! But I sure will miss her, my little french girl...I love U M!!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge

2010-09-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday 6 September) guess what we had for breakfast?....Pancakes!! ;) With maple syrup...jummy!
Now it's our last day here in San Francisco and also on our road trip cause tomorrow we are going back to Seattle. It's a bit sad cause I would like to stay here longer but also now I know that it's not long until I'll go back to Sweden so I'm also happy.

We took the cable car to the piers, it's always nice and U get to see a lot of the city in a fun way when U go up and down the hills. We didn't pay anything for our ride cause no one asked us for money and we didn't ask ;) We thought of going back and pay when we jumped off but no...

We had decided that we wanted to do sth that we didn't do last time so we went to a bike store and rented two bikes. There was a great bike path that went along the water all the way to the bridge and on the way we stopped at many great lookouts and took gorgeous pictures with the bridge in the background. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. At one place, a guy just got up a sea star with a hot dog as bate ;) He was so happy!! Good job!

It was a unreal feeling going over the bridge..I mean, Hello!! I'm riding a bike across the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco!!! How many can say they've done that??? ;) Just incredible!

It was a narrow bike lane over the bridge and it was a two way lane so U had to look out for bikes coming the other way but also fast bikers that drove past U.

On the other side we stopped and took some nice pictures with the city and the bridge in the background...well we didn't look so nice after that long and warm bike ride but the bridge was nice ;)

We didn't stress back cause we had already passed the two hours limit and had to pay for three any way so we stopped at a Safeway that we saw on our way down and Kadda ran in and bought some stuff while I stayed outside and guarded the bikes. One thing that I discovered during this trip is the new M&M Prezel....I think that's the best thing they've made this far...OMG, it's heavenly. I think I could eat them all the time ;) Too bad they are so expensive.

We returned the bikes and then went down to Pier 39 and Fisherman Warf and walked in all the stores and just strolled around. It was hot and there were a lot of people! Today was Labor day so maybe that increased the number of people even more. We saw the sea lions again and I bought some souvenirs for people back home, it's so hard!!! But now I think I know what I want for every body and that's a good start.

We saw a famous cable car turn, where they have to turn the car by hand and as always are there musicians that played and wanted money. One guy, who played the trumpet, had a little rabbit as a pet and he jumped around and was so cute!!

We went back home and this time we paid ;) I wanted to eat out since it was the last night but Kadda didn't want to so I had noodles at the hostel instead, very fancy! But we had the dessert at Cheese Cake Factory and our German room mate Eve joined us and it was really nice. We had our last cheese cake :( I had one with chocolate chip cokkie dough (as American it can be ;)) and it was good but as always too much.

The location of the restaurant is so nice here in San Francisco. It's on the roof of a store so we had a great view over Union Square. A great evening to end this incredible trip and I'm glad that I got the chance to experience all the things I've done.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Alamo Square & Ocean Beach

2010-09-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday 5 September) we had, once again, pancakes for breakfast and I'm strarting to get sick of it ;) But I can do it, it's for free ;)

When we were ready, we jumped on a bus and went to Alamo Square where the famous Victorian houses are. The weather was sunny but a bit windy so we laid down in the grass and sucked in the sun then it got really warm and cozy. The houses are so beautiful and it's amazing how someone can build like that. Impressive! This time we couldn't go in as last time but we were OK just admireing them from the outside.

I had brought a bag of chips and a coke so I had a nice picnic next to the playground! Kadda needed to be close to kids cause she missed her own so much...bla bla

When we felt warm and happy enough, and before the bus ticket expired ;), we jumped back on the bus and continued all the way out to the west and the ocean beach. It was HUGE!!! The water is not swim proof but good for surfers and the beach was full of people and kites! The sand was really hot so it burned under our feet....but who's complaining? ;)

After a short walk on the beach we walked back to the bus stop throgh the Golden Gate Park and there we passed the wind mill...thought we were in Holland ;) It's a HUGE park and we just saw a small part but it's so beautiful with all the big trees and plants. There are great paths all over the park and we met a lot of joggers and walkers, I think it's a perfect place to do your work out.

Back at the hostel we had lunch, noodles and bread, and then we took a 2 hours nap again ;) That's the best with this trip, we are not stressed and don't feel like we have to do anything special so we have time to take a nap.

When we woke up, we went out and took a "walking" dinner on Subway...really good. That's something I'm going to miss when I'm back home.

Today was movie time again and now we saw "Eat Pray Love" with Julia Roberts and also the Swedish wonder Tuva Novotny. It was a good movie, a bit long but sweet and it was really fun to see a Swedish star doing a great job next to a super star as Roberts. I give it 3 of 5 Trolleys ;)

Back at the hostel we had a new room mate, a French girl and still our German friend Eve.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Just walking in San Francisco

2010-09-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday 4 September) I woke up with a headache cause of all the noice during the night.

Kadda tried her card again but of course it didn't work now either. Come on!! So frustraiting and irritating. We had until 11 to figure sth out and Kadda tried everything and I talked with my mum....I hate this!!

At 11 I went downstairs and paid my bed myself cause I wanted to be sure that I had somewhere to sleep! Kadda still tried to get in contact with her bank so I went across the street to the little food shop where I bought some noodles, fruit and other supplies that would be good.

Back in the room Kadda started to get everything clear...they could make it so her dad paid her room over the Internet and tomorrow he and their bank women will go to the bank and see what the problem is and maybe they can fix it.

Now I didn't want to stay in the room anymore..I mean, I don't wanna see my favourite city from inside a hostel! So we went out and walked first to Union Square and looked in some of the shops, we went to Wallgreens cause we needed to print some pictures and I needed to buy ear plugs. It was really nice weather and to just feel the smell of the city and the ocean got me in a better mood.

Kadda was tired and wanted to go back to sleep but I wanted to enjoy the city so while she returned to the hostel, I took a walk down to the water front and the ferry building.

There was a farmers market and I talked with a photographer who was really nice, and good. His pictures of the city was beautiful and we talked about all the beautiful things in the world ;)

I had a nice walk along the water and I just enjoyed being in a big city I love. I could definately live here!

One funny and nice thing was when I went to the public rest room, some one had left a flower there. Fresh and beautiful!

At the hostel there was a party tonight, with free alcohol!!! So me and Kadda had planned to go there so when I came home I also went to bed to get some rest before it all started.

We got ready but it didn't start until 11 so we were in the room and talked with our nice room mate who also was from Germany, same area as Kadda, but she lived and worked in New York and was here on vacation.

As it got late, we got more and more tired and of course Kadda fell asleep when it was time to go so I sneaked down my self but I was a bit afraid and not so social and there everyone already had grouped up so I went back upstairs and then Kadda woke up but we went to bed instead...pretty boring but I wasn't in a mood for party anymore.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

San Francisco

2010-09-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday 3rd September) we woke up at 6 am cause we needed to return the car in San Francisco at 8 am and we had almost an hour to drive from San Jose. It was good that we had packed all our things yesterday so it was just to put it in the car and go.
I was really nervous, when we came to Enterprise at the airport, that they would notice the scratch on the bumper from when I hit the pole. There were a lot of returning cars and the guy seemed a bit stressed so he walked around the car and didn't look so careful so we hurried from there ;) I'm also getting some money back cause apparently, I had paid too much...Thank U!!
We had to take the air train to the airport and then take the BART in to San Francisco and then we had to find our hostel. A guy saw that we were looking on a map so he asked and explained the way. We had to walk about 7 blocks and it was up hill in the end so we were sweating when we came to USA hostels.
Check in wasn't until 11 but we could put our bags in the storage room and then go down to the kitchen and have breakfast. The hostel made mixture for panncakes every morning and then we could make and eat as many as we wanted. It was really good and perfect cause then we didn't have to spend money on breakfast.
At 11 when we wanted to check in, Kadda's credit card didn't work....OMG!! PANIC!! I didn't have so much money left since I had to pay the car and I had paid a lot of other stuff and now it was her turn. She knew that she had money on it so that wasn't the problem. We had to take out our bags and then we sat in the lobby for like an hour and she tried to call home, her bank, use the computer but since it was Friday evening in Germany the bank wasn't open and her parents couldn't do anything.
When she tried to pay for only one night, it worked so we could at least move in to our room but there she had to try to figure out what was wrong. It was really frustraiting cause this was the part of the trip that was supposed to be the most relaxing and now we were just stressed.
She came to the soulution that maybe some kind of limit was reached and hopefully just the daily so maybe it'll work tomorrow again. Of course this was the only card she had and not a ATM card so she couldn't get money anywhere. Just crap!!
We went out for lunch and it was really nice being in San Francisco again, even though the weather was not so good this time. Now I understand what people mean when they say that it's foggy in San Francisco...we couldn't see the roof tops ;)
We went to California Pizza kitchen and now we had 10 % of since we had the lottery ticket from our last visit. I had a chicken sandwich and a asparagus soup that was really jummy. When we wanted to pay, all the computers were down in the restaurant so the waiter had to write everything by hand and it seemed to be hard for him but after a while we walked back to the hostel and took a 2 hour nap ;) I was really tired cause we had gone up early this morning and the problem with the money took a lot of energy. I'm glad that I have my mum and dad who could give me some money so I could pay my room tomorrow in case Kadda's card doesn't work. Love U!
After the nap we went out again and walked to the movie theater. There are so many good movies we want to see and this time we saw the romantic movie called "Going the distance" with Drew Berrymore and Justin Long who try to work out a long distance relation ship. It was really cute and sweet and also funny sometimes. I give it 4 out of 5 Trolleys ;)
It was a bit scary to walk home but we tried to keep up with other people that looked safe so we survived ;)
Our room was in a tower so we had a oriel where our windows were facing the street. There were two bunk beds but when we checked in there were no one else. We had also a sink and big lockers for everyone.
When we came back from the movie we had two room mates and they were already sleeping so we had to be quite when we got ready for bed. The beds were really comfy but I had problem sleeping cause it was so loud on the street. There were cars, people partying and other noices, I think I'll buy ear plugs tomorrow.

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Santa Cruz & San Jose

2010-09-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Today ( 2 September) there was a a lot of fog when we woke up and the tent was all wet after the cold night air.
I was really pissed when I woke up cause some damn trucks and tractors started driving by our tent at around 6 and they made such an awful noise that I couldn't sleep plus the ground was a bit too hard so it hurt every time I moved. We didn't see a reason to stay long at the camp ground so we quickly packed our stuff and headed towards Santa Cruz.
We were 4 hours on highway 1 and it was so beautiful! In the beginning it was too foggy to see anything but when we came further away from the coast it cleared up and we got to see a different nature than we were used to. Here it was more desert with not so many houses or comunities. When it was time to fill up the car with gas we got a bit panic cause it never came a gas station...there was just nothing!! But finally we came to a truck stop where we could get some gas and then we were good to go again.
At lunch, we stopped in Santa Cruz where the weather was wonderful. The sun was shining from a blue sky and it was really hot.
We went down to the waterfront and the beachwalk where they had a huge, white beach with a lot of people playing in the sun. There was also a pier with restaurants and small stores and a small amusement park as in Santa Monica, but now at the beach and not on the pier. I loved this place!! It was too bad that we couldn't stay there longer than 2 hours. We had lunch at the Bowling Alley, maybe a weird place to have lunch but we were recommended to eat there and it was really good! I had a teriyaki chicken sandwich with pineapple and it was jummy! The waiter was really nice and helpful, he recommended some stuff we could do here and he told us about the Winchesters house which belonged to one of the founders of the Winchester rifles. After he died, his wife believed that she was hunted by the ghosts of the individuals that was killed by her husbands rifles. This is why the house always was under construction and there are stairs that end up nowhere, doors that doesn't lead anywhere and other weird stuff. We wanted to visit but of course it was closed today!
We came to San Jose around 3 pm and we went direct to a outlet mall and this time we were sure they had Abercombie & Fitch ;) It was HUGE so they had a lot of other brands and stores as well. It was really great and we spend a couple of hours there and I found a DKNY dress and a pair of shorts at A&F.
At the mall, Enterprise called me and wanted more money for the car! I was like, OK??!! So now I have paid the whole car and don't have any money left....nice!
Here we had planned to sleep at a camp ground as well but we didn't find any. We were at Starbucks, where they have free WiFi, and I tried for over 30 minutes but finally I was so sick of it that we called a motell instead. They had room and we could come imidiately so that was good. It was called Motel 6 and was only 10 minutes from the mall so we didn't have to drive so long which was nice for me who had been the driver for the whole trip.
The room was not anything special but it was good to have a room where we could repack our bags since we are returning the car tomorrow. Boy, did we have a lot of stuff!! The whole room was filled with the contents of our suitcases ;)
I had these vacum bags where we could put our sleeping bags and then take out the air so they didn't take so much space. But the easiest way is if there is a vaccum cleaner to suck out the air with, so I went to the office and told the story about the bags and asked if they had a vaccum cleaner we could borrow. They didn't, but they had a broom???!! Hahaha...yes, I think I can suck out the air with it ;) We rolled out the air instead.
Tomorrow we are going to San Francisco and our trip is going to a end. It doesn't feel like we already been away for over a week and that we have done so much!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

San Luis

2010-09-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today (1 September) I woke up after a good night sleep in a nice, soft bed!! I had a wonderful breakfast at the motel, Kadda wanted to sleep instead so she missed it. They had everything U could want for breakfast. Cereals, yogurt, bagels, waffles, eggs, fruit etc...it was jummy!

I took a shower and then we packed up and checked out to continue our journey north. Our next goal was San Luis but first we put some gas in the car and went up the city's court house from where we had a great view over the city. By the way, I rock at parallel parking ;) I've done it a lot this far and they are almost in the same class as M's ;) Anyway, the view was great from the clock tower and it was surprising how big the city was. We couldn't see the ocean cause it was too foggy. It was sun and clear in all directions but when U looked towards the water there was this fog rolling in over the shore...like "The Mist" ;)

We drove to San Luis where they had a outlet mall ;) I didn't have any plans of buying anything cause I have a money situation now so I need to think twice before I buy anything, but U can always look!

We thought here would be a Abercrombie & Fitch outlet but apparently we had seen wrong cause here was nothing! We were a bit disappointed but we found some stuff anyway. There was a great sale at Tommy Hilfiger so I got a new bikini, which I needed, for only $6!! I also bought two t-shirts at VANS where they had bye one and get one for free so I think it was OK, or? ;)

When we were done, we went to VONS (Safeway, just another name) and bought some stuff for our camping tonight and then went to the campground we looked up. Of course they only took cash there so we needed to drive back to the center to get money but then we could check in and put up the tent, this time in daylight ;)

It was a nice campground called Oceano Camping which was just behind the sand dunes to the ocean.

I bought fire woods and then we started the fire. We felt like real campers and were so proud when we got the fire going ;)

I went to check the surroundings and next to us was a river or a lake (didn't see the end ;)) and it looked like a real swamp in Brazil or sth, I was expecting a crocodile to jump up and eat me ;)

I grilled hot dogs over the fire and then we both did corn which were hard to get out of the fire pitch but so good! I tried Nutella on it and I'll tell U this, Nutella goes with everything ;)

Kadda tried to make a oven baked potato by wrapping a potato with a chips bag...donno if t was a success ;)

Of course we did smores also but with LU crackers and Lindt chocolate so a bit fancier than usual.

It was nice and really cozy but when it got dark we didn't have anything to do so we went to bed....at 8 pm!!

When I got back from brushing my teeth there was a deer family walking bye just outside our site. I watched them for a while before they were all gone and they didn't seem scared at all. Maybe they are used to be around people.

I noticed another thing I forgot today...my shampoo, conditioner and soap that I bought new in Santa Monice...AArrrgghh...I'm so mad at myself right now. I mean, it's not a big deal to buy new stuff again but it's the principle....why can't I just look after my things?

Today I also got a email from the ski resort I applied for and they want me to come on a interview the day after I'm back in Sweden. I'm so excited cause this is the first thing that responded my applications for work so I've send a email to my parents to see if they are up to driving back to Gothenburg the day after they pick me up there ;) But I also send a email to McDonald's so we'll see what they'll say.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Santa Barbara

2010-09-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday 31 August) I woke up with a pretty sore back but not that bad as I thought it would be after sleeping a night on the ground. The sun was out and the camping was really beautiful! Our site was kind of private in between some bushes but behind us we had a big, open area with a lot of site. It was very open and U could tell we were close to the water cause there were a lot of beach sand on the ground and seagulls in the air.

We ate breakfast and then packed our stuff and hit the road again with destination Santa Barbara on the GPS. It's a little town next to the water and we didn't know what U could do there but we had heard the name before so we wanted to be able to say that we'd been there ;)

We went to a visitor information where we got some information about the city and a recommendation where we could stay the night. We didn't find a good camping site so we choose to stay at a motel. It was called Quality Inn and was on the main street but pretty far away but since we had a car that was no problem.

As soon as we were checked in and everything was in the room, we took our swim suit and went to the best beach in the area called Arroyo Burro Beach. It was a long, stretched, white beach that had steep cliffs behind. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! The sun was shining and it was really hot but the water was cold so we stayed warm, sunbathing on the beach.

Here I also got to see pelicans for the first time. There was a whole flock flying past us and it was so cool!

We had some magazines and snacks to eat and it was so peaceful just laying there with no stress in mind.

Back at the motel, we jumped in the pool just because we could ;) It was nice and we swam around there like two kids before we got ready and took the bus in to center. I didn't want to drive cause I didn't want to look for a parking and the bus was just outside on the street and was cheap so I didn't mind.

The first thing we did was to look for a movie theater and get tickets for tonight showing of "Vampires Suck" Since we both are big Twilight fans we had to see it ;)

We went strolling along State St and then we found a little back street that lead to a square with a lot of stores and restaurants around and it looked like we had transported to Italy. It was so beautiful and in the middle of the square was a fountain and there were flowers everywhere. So nice!

We had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen where they now have a event where U get a lottery ticket after every meal U eat there but U can't open it until U eat there the next time to see if U won or not. The prices are like 10% of the dinner, a frozen pizza for a whole year and also a lot of money. So of course we are gonna eat here again ;)

The movie was great, a bit silly but really funny. The actors had captures the characters features so good and exaggerated them so it was hilarious. The Jacob guy is also much hotter than the real one ;) I'm glad we saw this movie and I hope they'll make one about the last two movies also.

I realized that I forgot my book at the hostel in L.A. Of course I did!! I SUCK!! Whatever!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Six Flags

2010-09-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday 30 August) I had to go up at 5:30 to re park the car so that we didn't have to pay that much and the gates were open so I sneaked out of the parking garage without paying ;) Then I drove around the neighbourhood until it was after 6 and then went back in the garage....hahha we are so smart ;)

Then I went back to bed for an hour but one of the girls were REALLY loud when she was packing her stuff so we were pretty pissed that we couldn't sleep as long as we wanted cause we had a long day a head of us.

We had breakfast and then grabbed all our stuff and checked out from our fine hostel. It has been a great stay for us and I totally recommend it for all future traveler.

First we drove to another lookout where M was when she was here and U was supposed to see the sign better but I don't think we found the right place cause the sign was still far away, but whatever!

The big adventure of today was a visit on the famous amusement park Six Flags at the Magic Mountain. It took us about 40 min to drive there and it just got warmer and warmer outside.

I was so excited when we drove through the gates and we could see the rides. I felt like a little kid again ;)

We parked the car and then went inside. It was HUGE!!! We got a map and then started to go through the park. We started with a roller coaster called "The Revolution" and funny was that this was the parks first roller coaster ;) It was fun..no loops and not that fast but still better than in Sweden ;)

Our next drive was called X2 and I think this was the most popular and the most incredible one. Here we rotated 360 degrees all the time ;) We didn't have anything under our feet and we went backward, forward, up and down...it was a bit scary but also wonderful ;) It really gave us a taste of the American fine art of construction ;)

Since it was almost noon when we arrived, we had lunch after just these two rides and with one of the tickets was a meal included so I stood in line for a long time to get a huge burger. Me and Kadda were joined at the table bye Wile E. Coyote (Gråben) and he took my Fanta ;) But our food didn't look as good as a Roadrunner (Hjulben) so he joined Sylvester (the cat that chases the yellow bird Tweety) trying to win a girls heart at another table ;) So funny!

We continued through the park and went on almost every ride. We went on Batman, The Riddle, Goliat among others. There were also some water rides with a warning that U might get wet....we got soaking wet! Good thing that it was hot so that we could dry off but it was hilarious. On one, Kadda got a couple of waves over her and that was so funny. I was opposite of her and saw the wave rise behind her and then flooded over her ;)

In the late afternoon, when we were done and tired, we went to find a campground where we could stay the night. I had looked up one that was near but we drove and drove and didn't find it, even though we had the GPS. We tried 3 times and then we stopped at a gas station to ask and with the directions we finally found the small road that lead to the campground. It was really late, we were just 30 min from when the gate would close, so there were no one working so we had to check in and pay by ourselves, in the dark! It didn't start so good...I almost drove in to a swamp ;) There was a sign that said: "Might be flooded" so I thought it was OK, but then we realized that it was more than flooded and then we saw the right way ;) Would have been funny if we drove all in and got water all in the car ;)

We had to put up our tent in the dark but we had the lights on on the car and there were people next to us with a fire so it was OK, and we were quick so in 30 minutes we were in the tent saying goodnight. We didn't have any sleeping mattresses, just the sleeping bags, so it was a bit hard but we were so tired and I fell asleep almost immediately.

Today was also Filip's 9th birthday so Happy Birthday to U Filip!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Rental Car

2010-09-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday 29 August) we had to wake up early, again!!! to get with the shuttle to the airport. No, we were not flying home already, we went to pick up our rental car ;) At the airport we had to take another shuttle that took us out to where Enterprise was located. With us on the shuttle was a group of cowboys!! They had the special boots, the hats and the saddle ;) They were in our age and really HOT!! And I love the accent, like they were from Texas ;)

There were a lot of people at the office and only one cashier so we had to wait for a while but then we got our car. A small, dark blue/purple Hyundai ;) It seemed good and there were no bigger scratch on it so after just a couple of minutes we were on the road!

I had to be the driver cause if Kadda, who's only 20, would do it, it would have been more expensive. I wish she could have driven cause I'm not such a big fan of it here....and I felt like a taxi driver. But at least I can say I have driven in L.A California ;)

We didn't really have a plan of this day so first we went to a supermarket, with the help of my GPS ;), and bought some snack and then we just drove around. We went to Beverly Hills and first we drove on Rodeo Drive and then we parked the car and walked around, window shopping. We didn't go in to any of the stores cause it's not really our price class ;) We should have brought a brand bag from home so that people would think we were rich ;)

We tried to find a lookout where we could see the Hollywood sign good so we drove on the famous Muholland Dr which goes higher up on the hills so U have a great view over L.A. Many celebrities have their homes among this road also so there were a lot of beautiful houses.

We stopped at nearly all of the lookouts we came to but we never saw the sign. "Where is this damn sign?" was a sentence we used a lot ;)

I did sth I never did ever before while driving, I reversed in to a fence pole!!! Of course when it's a rental car I have to crash! We wanted to stop at a lookout but there was a huge edge between the road and the lookout so I wanted to reverse close to the end so the bump wouldn't be so hard...but there was the fence I didn't see and we got a more violent bump. There was a scratch but hopefully they won't see it, let's pray!!!

We finally found the park where we could see the sign but it was far away so we couldn't really take good pictures but whatever, everyone knows what it says ;)

We drove back to the Beverly Hills area, via Sunset Boulevard ;) and there we bought a Star Map that showed us where all the celebrities houses were and were we should drive. I felt kind of uncomfortable with it but we drove to a couple of houses. We didn't really see that much but we were outside Michael Jackson's house, Mariah Carey, The Playboy Mansion and the place where they filmed Fresh Prince in Bel Air and some more before we got tired and went back to the hostel.

There is a parking garage just across the street, very convenient, and it was cheap also and for that we are thankful!

We made dinner quickly, some pasta dish, and then we went down to the beach and the pier. We felt like we had to visit it before we left Santa Monica cause the beach is like the most famous thing here. Sadly, it was dark now so we couldn't really enjoy the beach and the water but we walked along the pier which has a little amusement park which would be perfect for a first date ;) I played a game where U had to throw rings on bottles but it was impossible to get the rings to stuck so I didn't win. F*** that game...;)

It was really cozy to stroll around on the pier and inhale all the smells and take in all the colourful impressions, and we also went down on the beach and put our feet in the water, but it was freezing cold!! I had only shorts and t-shirt cause I thought it was still summer but apparently not! So it was nice to be back at the hostel and cuddle up in my warm bed ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Universal Studios

2010-09-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday 28 August) we had to wake up early to eat some breakfast and then catch our bus that would take us to West Hollywood and Universal Studios. Here U can learn about movie making and U get to see sets and other cool stuff from famous movies and TV series. We had to be there early cause it's a really popular attraction and it's Saturday so I guess that brings even more people.

We had to be on the bus for a while and we also had to take the subway which was fun. The park is on a hill so there is a steep road going the last way to the gates, but luckily there is a shuttle that takes U from the bottom all the way up...so we didn't have to walk ;)

It was so cool being there and just take a picture in front of the famous globe and the entrance was a big thing for me. Here I am again, doing sth I never thought I would.

The first thing we did was to go through the "House of Horror" which was loaded with a lot of scary things and "monsters" walking around and jumping from back of a curtain to scare U. It wasn't that scary and I thought there would be more from horror movies but I barely recognized anything.

There was a group of girls and boys, in our ages I think, who walked in front of us and they were so scared. They screamed and run back all the time. Once, they stepped on my foot and that hurt really bad...silly!!

After that we came out to the Fast and Furious part where we could see some of the cars they actually used in the movies. Pretty cool!

We came to the animated area where we met Spongebob and Curious George...of course we took a picture with them ;)

Here we did the Shrek 4D adventure and it was a 3D movie where the chairs were moving and they splashed water on us ;) It was really cool and felt really alive.

Next we went to stand in line for the famous Studio tour that takes U down among the studio hangars and the screen sets. U don't see when they're making a movie but U get to see set pieces and all different kind of fronts. For example we went down Wisteria Lane where they play Desperate Housewives, we saw the Whoville city from the Grinch, a set from World of Wars and when we came to the set of Jaws we were attacked by the mechanical shark they were using in the movies. We also got to experience a flood and we almost got attacked by the guy from Phsyco. When we were in a tunnel, and in the middle of a earthquake with the roof falling in, water rush down towards us and a train crashing next to us, our train broke. There were some electrical device that had broke cause of all the shaking with the train so it didn't want to start again. So we had to sit there in the dark tunnel until the mechanics came and fixed it so that we could drive out of the tunnel and then change train in case it would collapse again. Some extra excitement to our tour ;)

The coolest thing on the whole ride was the "360 3D King Kong" experience. We drove in to a giant globe and then stopped in there. All around us was canvas where they showed a 3D clip of King Kong saving us from two T-Rex. At the same time the tracks were moving, there were air and water coming at us when the moment was right and there were the coolest sound system ever. There were things going on everywhere so it really felt like being in the middle of the action. I mean, while King Kong took care of one of the T-Rex on one side, the other one would prepare to attack us on the other side, they were on top of the train and pulled away (a virtual) cart of the train. So cool! One of the most incredible things I've ever experienced.

When the tour was over, we went to see the Water world show which was awesome!! The story is that the world was flooded and now the humans live on floating forts and tries to find the last reminding piece of land. Of course there is one good side and one evil so they are fighting about it. During this they make all different kinds of cool water stunts like going on waterskiis after a jet ski, jumps from high heights, going on small boats and get set on fire and dive in. There were also a plane that came from nowhere and just crashed in the pool. Really cool!

Before the show started, three of the actors had the job of getting the audience ready for the show....so they threw water at us. There were these certain splashing zones and those people got really wet. Me and Kadda were just in the end of one so we didn't got so wet, but there were people who got soaked ;)

They had some rides at the park as well, we only went on The Mummy and Jurassic Park. It was fun and that made us really looking forward to our visit at the amusement park 6 flags in a couple of days.

After a long day with a lot of fun and cool stuff we left the park and before we took the bus home we checked all the stores and bought some souvenirs.

It was late when we came home and we just grabbed a sandwich at Subway and then I tried to be on my computer for a while but it doesn't want to connect to the Internet at the hostel so it's not so much fun.

Kadda thought we could do the Universal Studios in half a day, pfew what was she thinking? Now it was nice to say goodnight cause I felt in my legs that they had done a lot of walking today ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Los Angeles

2010-09-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday 27) we arrived in L.A at around 5 am. There were not so much going on and we were really tired. The bus station was in downtown, which would have been good if we would stay there...but our hostel was in Santa Monica which is a bit outside of L.A. I guess U can say it's like a suburb, it has it's own downtown but is still a part of L.A.

We were a bit lost before we found the right bus that could take us all the way out to the coast and Santa Monica. We found the hostel after some walking and it looked like a really nice one. It's a HI (Hostel International) and I know we have them in Sweden too.

Check in for every guests was at 2 pm and now it was 7 am!! But we could store our luggage and feel free to use all the common areas of the hostel while we waited to get our room. First we needed breakfast and good for us, they were serving it at this time so we enjoyed a bowl of cereals and some toasts. It was a really good breakfast to be at a hostel and it just feels so at home when U all eating together and U have to make your own dishes. Your mum doesn't live here ;)

We tried to sleep in some of the armchairs and sofas but I didn't get so much sleep, so after a while we decided to go out and do sth.

We wanted to take the bus in to Hollywood and the walk of fame but that was easier said than done. We didn't really understand the bus system and had to walk for a while and then we waited long for a bus and when we finally found the right bus, we took it in the wrong direction...of course!! It's cheap to go by bus but when U have to change a several times it gathers up!

L.A is bigger than I thought and it took us around 1 hour to get to where we wanted and at this time, the weather was really nice. When we arrived this morning we couldn't even see the water cause it was so foggy and it was cold. Now the sun was shining and I was sweating in my jeans and sweater I had on.

It was so cool to walk on all the stars on the walk of fame. Also one of those surreal moments of my life here. This is sth I'd never thought I would do and it's so cool.

The walk was so long and we didn't know which direction we should go to get to the beginning so I guess we missed a lot of them. But we saw some pretty cool ones too: Walt Disney, Julia Roberts, Al Capone, Sylvester Stallone, Greta Garbo and a lot, lot more ;)

We were outside the Kodak Theater where they have a lot of big premieres and I also took a picture with Rambo ;) There was a guy at a museum or sth, that was dressed and looked exactly like him...so cool! ;)

We saw the Hollywood sign in a distance and everything is just so overwhelming here...I mean OMG I'M IN HOLLYWOOD!!!!

We took the bus back and could now check in to our room. We're staying in a 10 bed female room so we sleep in bunk beds. There is a lot of stuff here and U can tell there is only girls sleeping in the room ;) We have a bathroom, shower and a sink in the room and then there are more out in the hallway. It's OK, good enough to sleep in and when we got up or stuff we took a nice nap for two hours. I was so tired still from the bus trip and everything that I just wanted to sleep before I did anything else.

When we woke up we walked to 3rd St which was a promenade where no cars could drive and there were all sorts of stores, restaurants and a lot of street performances. There were one guy who did a back flip, on one leg, seven times and without a shirt ;) So cool!

We found a French place were we decided to have dinner and they also had crepe so I guess that's why we choose it ;) I had some kind of chicken sandwich with fries and I tried a apple cider to it but it was grouse..too much alcohol, can I say that? ;) And of course we had the strawberry nutella crepe for dessert ;)

We walked slowly back home and both of us were still a bit tired and we wanted to get a good sleep before tomorrow's adventures.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Grand Canyon!!!

2010-09-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today (Thursday 26) we had to wake up EARLY!!! Our shuttle bus to Grand Canyon was picking us up at 6:45 am at the Excalibur and before we needed to check out and store our bags at the hotel. I was so tired after yesterdays long walk so I was happy that we were gonna be in a bus for 3 hours!

We bought expensive breakfast at Starbucks, everything was like $1 more then usual, and then went out to wait for the bus. It was still hot but not as crazy as yesterday but I had the backpack filled with water just in case.

When the bus arrived we didn't realize it was the one so we just sat there for a while before we thought that we maybe should go and check, and it was the right one ;)

There was a lot of Germans on the bus so Kadda was irritated cause it felt like home for here ;)First we had to go to the company's headquarter to sign in and get our tickets and then we could jump back in the bus and it was good that we'd brought Kadda's blanket cause it was freezing thanks to the AC but the driver told us that we would be thankful later when it got hotter so we just cuddled up under the blanket, put the music in the ears and fell asleep.

The bus driver was a real talker so he told us stuff about the canyon and the surroundings where we were driving. It's good but when U are tired and want to sleep, it's irritating.

Our first stop was after one hour when we reached Hoover dam. It was so cool and I've seen it in many movies and it actually is that huge as it looks. We couldn't stop at the dam, which I'd wanted, so the pictures aren't that great.

Now was also the point were we drove in to Arizona, another state on my list ;) As we came closer and closer to the canyon the environment got more desert like and fewer houses were along the road. The last town didn't even have running water!! Who wants to live like that? Crazy!!

The canyon is on a reservation belong to the Hualapai Indians and they live there and take care of the Canyon. It's such a big cultural difference for me to see these people and their small villages and tents and there was also a ranch U could visit, it's like from a western movie. Just so fascinating! But I felt a bit bad that I, as a tourist, wanted to come and take pictures of them like they're some kind of attraction. I mean, it's just who they are and they live like that. I guess they would like to come and take pictures of me and how I'm living. But on the other hand I'm glad that they are so open and willing to share their culture with us.

One part of the road was not paved so we had to go slow but it was still a bumpy ride, felt like home ;) It was funny when suddenly we saw cattle at the side of the road. Once again, like in a western movie but real life!

OK, the canyon then....it was HUGE!!!! The bus stopped at the visitor center where we had to take a shuttle out to the canyon. Our first stop was called Eagle Point cause out in the canyon was a cliff shaped as a eagle. There was also one shaped as a dog ;) Cute!! We could go all the way to the edge and that was scary cause it's a long way down! I was to afraid to go close and I was scared just looking at Kadda while she leaned over!!!

Here was also the Sky bridge located which is a bridge made of glass that allowed U to go out a bit in the canyon with just the glass under your feet. They told us that the glass was strong enough to hold 6 full Boeing airplanes so I felt pretty secure when I walked out. But it has to break some time, right? It was a cool feeling to " Walk in the sky" and U got a pretty good perspective of how deep it was.

With our tickets, lunch was included so Kadda had hers here while I wanted to wait to the next stop.

We jumped on the shuttle again and went to the other point called Guano Point where we also could see the Colorado river far down in the canyon and it was really beautiful. Here we had a bit of a hurry cause we only had 3 hours on our own before the bus would go back so I started with my lunch which was a BBQ with pork, rice, corn, vegetables and brownie as dessert. It was jummy!!!

Then we took a lot of great pictures but it was so hot on the rocks so it was hard to sit or lay down. Kadda jumped out to a cliff but I was to afraid ;)

This was really one of the coolest things I've done in my life this far. It was like a Hallelujah moment cause of the greatness of the canyon and I felt really small thinking of how a wonder like this can become. Moder nature is my new idol, she rocks!!

The native Americans showed some of their hand crafts and they had beautiful jewelery and dream catchers.

We took the shuttle back to the visitor center where we wanted to buy some kind of souvenir but they didn't have so much good stuff so we only got a certification that we had visit so that we can proof to people that we really been here ;)

We arrived earlier than planned in Las Vegas so we had time to take some pictures of the hotel and the strip when it still was bright outside which was good cause then U can really see how it looks like. Then we ate at McDonald's again and after, we grabbed our bags to go and find the location of the Greyhound bus station for our ride to Los Angeles.

They had a Monorail here so we used that as far as we could and then we walked the rest. We hadn't really looked up how far it was but it couldn't be that far, or? I think we walked for about one hour if not more and it was so exhausting with all the bags and in the heat!! OMG!! And we didn't have cash for a cab or bus so we just kept on walking.

Finally we reached the station and the first thing we did was to change in to soft pants and try to freshen up in the restrooms but that was not easy.

We had around 1 hour before the bus would leave, at midnight, so it was good that we had left the hotel when we did.

We asked if there was WiFi on the bus and they said: "Yes, we have WiFi on all of our buses, except yours!"....of course! We were so tired that we just laughed and didn't know where to go.

When they finally started boarding, the security guy wanted to look through our carry on and Kadda didn't understand so she was like: "What do U want with my bag?" Panicking!!! Hahah...totally hilarious!

The bus was really old and scrappy. It was narrow and no place for the feet and the seats were not comfortable at all. It was warm and smelly and the AC was making this awful noise. Well, it's just a thing that will take us from one point to another so it was OK. I just tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible so that I could dream away to a warm and sunny beach ;)

We made a short stop when we were about half ways out in the desert ;) It was on a gas station so we could use the restroom which was nice. It was so weird and scary, I wanted some fresh air after being in that bus for 2 hours, but outside it was so warm and the air was just still so I could barely breathe. Then I felt like a baby and just wanted to lay down on the ground and scream cause I was tired and didn't get the air I wanted!! Take me home!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Las Vegas

2010-09-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday 25th) I went up early and had a shower cause I came home late yesterday from the soccer game and I didn't want to wake up the kids so I skipped the shower, pretty grouse I know!!

I went through my room one more time to see if there was sth I had missed in my packing. I hate packing, especially when U need to think of not taking too much. I would have one suitcase to check in but there is the tent and the sleeping bags so there is not so much space for anything else. My stuff is in my new Converse bag and my backpack, the bags I'll have as carry on when I travel back to Sweden. After packing the stuff for this trip, I'm getting nervous about my home trip!

Jonas and Sofia took me to the airport and we arrived early cause we had counted with a lot of traffic but it was not that bad. Sofia was a bit sad and she wanted to come with me in the suitcase but I said NO...now it's my vacation and I've deserved it!

The flight was at 10:39 and I arrived at around 8!! Which meant that I had about 2 1/2 hours to spend. I checked in my bag and went through security without any problems and then Kadda joined me around 9. She was really sad cause she said goodbye to her host family when they dropped her cause they wont be there when she'll get back home. They're going on vacation just before we return. So she wasn't such a fun travel companion but that was OK cause we didn't have seats next to each other. We booked the flight so late that they only had single seats left and I got a special seat with extra leg space. Normally U have to pay extra for them but since I booked online and they couldn't give me any other, I didn't have to pay!! It gets even better, I didn't have anyone next to me so I could almost lay down which was really nice! The flight to Vegas was nice, even though I couldn't sleep.

At the airport we took our bags and took a shuttle in to our hotel. We were in one end of the famous strip, and of course the shuttle started on the other side, but that was OK cause then we got to see all of the other cool hotels. At one of the hotels there was a speed bump and the driver drove a bit fast over it so we jumped of our seats. It was totally hilarious ;)

There was so much to look at, U didn't know where to look first! Our hotel was super cool! It's called the Luxor and has the shape as a pyramid!! How many can say that they've slept in a pyramid ;)

We checked in and the room was really nice. The window was in a angle, since it's a pyramid ;), so I always hit my head when I wanted to look out ;)

We changed and then looked around in the hotel which also was a casino and there were a lot of shows going on. We wanted to get tickets for Chris Angel, the magician, but they were a bit too expensive for our budget. We had dinner in the food court and then went out to walk down the strip with all the hotels and casinos.

It was really HOT!!! I can't believe how people can stand it and the air was very stationary with no sea breeze or anything.

Now when it was a bit darker it was so cool. All the hotels with all the lights made the street shine like nothing else. I think U can see it from space ;) Next to us was the Excalibur, which had the shape of a castle. Next was New York, New York which was the New York skyline with the Empire state building and the Statue of Liberty. They also had a roller coaster through it all which looked really cool.

We walked down the road and saw so much cool stuff. There was the Paris hotel with the Eiffel tower Cesar's palace with the big fountain show, Venice with the water channels, Treasure Island with the volcano show and so much more. It was really hard to get good pictures with all the lights, which was sad cause I want U to see how beautiful it was. U just have to use your imagination!

Stupid me thought it would be nice to be a bit fancy and wear my high heels when we walked the streets of Las Vegas, I don't think I realized how long we actually would walk. After maybe 3 hotels, it was torture for my feet and I have to take the shoes off. I had blisters everywhere and my feet were burning. It wasn't much more pleasant to walk barefoot on the hot pavement and I couldn't find some simple flip flops to buy. A good start on this vacation...stupid me!!

I found a pair of cheap and ugly sandals, so I could run in to Hard Rock and buy a t-shirt for my collection!

At the hotel I tried to wash my feet (they were black at this point) and that was both painful and nice. It took us a couple of hours to walk down and back the strip so we were really tired when we finally got in bed after midnight knowing that we had to stand up early in the morning.

Even though I'm in the casino's hometown, I didn't play. I tried once but didn't know how to do and I didn't wanna look stupid so I walked away ;) I'll go again when I have a guy who knows how to play and then I'll win some money ;)

ps. Now I can write Nevada on my list of states I've visit ;) ds

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Quick update!

2010-08-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone but I don't have time to write and update U on my trip in California. There is just too much to see and do and the Internet connection in the Hostel has been really bad with my computer.
But I can tell U that everything has been great this far. Well, we have had some bad luck but nothing big. I can tell U this: I LOVE CALIFORNIA!!!
I promise to write about everything but when I get back home!!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

One year ago...

2010-08-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) one year ago, my mum and dad drove me to the airport in Sweden to wave me goodbye when I started my greatest adventure this far in my life. I can't believe it was one year ago I took my first step alone out in to the big world and flew all the way over the ocean to the USA. A dream I had ever since I was a little girl and at that moment, I felt kind of small.

I'm so glad I took that step cause otherwise I wouldn't get to know all the awesome people I now know. I wouldn't have seen all the amazing things I've done and I would still be that little girl with a dream.

In one way I'm sad that my year is over cause now I have to say goodbye to all the awesome people I've met. But on the other hand, I soon can say Hi! to all the awesome people I left behind when I went on that flight one year ago.

But I feel ready to go home. There is nothing I feel I've missed and I don't regret anything and I also feel that I'm done here. I won't develop more as a person, I won't learn anything more so it's time to go home....soon! First I'm going on a awesome trip with Kadda and I'm so looking forward to it. Sunny California here we come!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

364 days in the US

2010-08-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today I didn't have to work cause the kids are going to a kind of day care this week. I didn't sleep too long, I stood up at 9 so the family was still here so I could say goodbye to them. The kids weren't that happy that they had to go but that's always how it is when we are going somewhere.

I didn't really do anything today. I watched some TV, I wrote on my blog, I uploaded pictures at Facebook and I bought the tickets that were missing for our trip.

When the cleaning lady was here I went out and walked around in Kirkland, looking in stores but didn't buy anything cause I need all money I can get to our trip!!

The day went really fast and the family came home and had dinner and left for some ice cream but I didn't go with them cause I was meeting M.

Before she picked me up, I skyped with a tired and maybe drunken Anna (from Sweden) who just got home from a week on Crete. She was as tanned as I am and that just after a week in the sun when I had a whole summer, plus a week on Hawaii!!!

We drove to the Houghton beach here in Kirkland and even though it was really cold wind coming, we jumped in! The water was really nice and we swum to the floating deck and M did some back flips while I stayed safe on the deck ;) She looked really gracious and cool.

When we were cold, we took our towels and went to the hamburger place across the street and had our dinner. It was really nice and we sat outside, cause it was too cold inside with the air condition ;) and watched the sun set behind Seattle. They had these cool, American ketchup bottles as U see in all the movies ;) (Look at the picture)
We talked about the future and how easy it's gonna be to visit each other and that we are gonna be more open minded and social after this year when we had to make new friends and meeting new people.

She dropped me off at home but we didn't hug each other goodbye cause we decided to see each other tomorrow again!

The SAAB is back which is nice cause then I can drive to Kadda tomorrow and we can fix with the luggage and stuff for the trip.

I got a little funny gift today from the Stendahl's, it's two rubber bracelets where it says Team on one of them and Edward on the other ;) Totally hilarious! I'll ware them every day ;)

This morning, my Anna was going to fly home to Germany. I got one last text message at around 5 am and it hurt inside. But apparently her flight got cancelled and she couldn't go until around 10 pm so she had to stay the whole day here. Poor her! But I didn't want to meet her, and she didn't want to meet anyone either cause she didn't want to say goodbye to people again. And I had my down period yesterday so for me she's already gone....I just hope everything works out for her and that she'll get home safe!

Today I've been in the US 364 days!!!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

My other half is gone

2010-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) it's a day of sorrow...it's the last day I'll see Anna before she's going home to Germany. I don't know how I'll survive without seeing her everyday, I don't understand how I could do it before I meat her...it's like a piece of me is leaving.

I know that we'll see each other again but it never gonna be the same. What we had hare was unique and I'll miss that a lot.

I'll miss just hanging with her and not do anything. I'll miss traveling with her, complaining about our kids, laughing about our low and awful jokes, being hangover together...I'll miss her.

The girls left my place one by one this morning and I just stayed in bed until like 1 when I had a shower and the waited for Anna to pick me up. Her host family was having a pool party as a goodbye party for her, a welcome party for the new au pair and like a new house party. The theme was "White trash" so I ripped my ripped jeans some more and put on a old, dirty white t-shirt. I wasn't in a party mood so I didn't really care.

The party was OK. I mean, there was food, drinks and cake but it wasn't a celebration for me. For me it was the most sad day this far here in the US. I knew that in the end I would have to leave my best friend....so even though there were some cool people I couldn't enjoy it.

Anna didn't want any goodbyes so I tried to be as emotionless I could when we hugged and said, not goodbye but see U in Europe, but it was hard. M had to hug me for a while when Anna had gone back to the house but I pulled it together until I came home and was in my bed. I felt empty. A piece of me is gone and it's never gonna be the same.

Anna: I love U so much and I had such a great time here with U. I wish U all luck now with your studies and have a extra bed ready for your battle sister cause I'm coming to visit U!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Jonas 40!!

2010-08-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) I had to drive Anna home in the morning since her car broke down yesterday and I was so tired cause we didn't fall asleep until 3 or sth and we left at 8!!

Today is Jonas birthday and not a regular one, his 40st!! So when I got back I joined the family for breakfast but unfortunately I had missed the song but that was fine for me cause my throat was still sore. He got a new WII and a Lazy boy (a big American chair) from the family. It's so cool! I wasn't ready with my gift so he'll get that tonight at the party.

I went back to bed and slept until 12 sth, that was nice ;) I had a shower and slowly started to get ready with nail polish. I talked with Elin, Ida and Hampus over the Internet and as yesterday, I couldn't hear them so I did the talking and they wrote. They had a little pre party with me cause I started with my wine ;) It was nice and I'm looking forward to when we can have a real pre party together!

Anna, M and Kadda showed up around 4 and we got ready together. Jonas party was gonna be a fancy one at a mansion in North Bend so we dressed up really nice. It was so much fun and we turned out beautiful! We had a little too much fun so we got away too late, but that was OK cause everyone wasn't there yet.

The place was amazing!! OMG what a house!! It looked like a old, fancy, white house with pillars and huge stairs, it was like royal house...look at the pictures.

When we arrived, we got a glass of wine in the BIG kitchen and then we went on a tour through the house and saw all the beautiful, fancy bedrooms and bathrooms. It felt like being a princess for a day ;)

We mingled with all the people and had great conversations about everything while the waiter walked around serving fancy little appetizers.

The girls got to meet Kristina, the women we stayed at when we were at Lake Chelan in May, and they fell in love with her as I did. She's such a incredible person and has just such a nice personality.

There were about 25 adults and 15 kids so there were a lot of people but it wasn't crowded cause the house and backyard was so big ;)

It was also a great place for the kids, there was a cable way that they could ride on and actually so did some of the adults ;)

The kids got hot dogs and ice cream so that when it was time for the adults to eat, the kids went to the huge media room and watched movies and ate candy.

For dinner we had crayfish since it's a Swedish tradition in August and we wanted to share it with all the non swedes ;) The waiter was from Texas where they apparently eat it too but they eat them warm so he was amazed by how we ate them.

The crayfish were really small and U didn't get a lot of meat from them but there were also brad and pie so U could get full anyway. Of course we had the Aquavit to it and we shared all the songs with everyone ;)

As a dessert we had some kind of chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream, it was heavenly!

This far of the evening, M had had really bad luck (or good luck if U see it the other way) First she got stung by a wasp on her way to my place (but she wasn't allergic) second, we almost got hit by another car on our way to the party (but we didn't) third she spilled nail polish on a pillow in the house (not so much) and last Anna poured water all over her (but it was just water so no problem) A problem never comes alone ;)

Most of the people would spend the night in the house but we wanted to go to Elliotte's party also to say goodbye one last time, so we left after the dessert.

Jonas was a bit drunk but it his party so of course he should have a great time! When we left he was acting like I was leaving for ever and told me that I was the best au pair and that I always was welcome to them ;) Nice! The party was a real success and I'm glad we could be there even if it was just for a while.

M drove us to Elliotte but first we dropped Kadda at my place cause she was working tomorrow. Unfortunately there weren't so many people left at the party, cause it had started already at 7 so most of them had gone home already. But we stayed for a couple of hours and talked and played beer pong. We talked for real for the first time with Elliotte's girlfriend Jen and she was really nice.

I got a bit drunk and emotional so I cried for the first time over that Anna is leaving tomorrow. It's gonna be really hard saying goodbye to her...well, she's not gonna say goodbye but whatever.

We all slept at my place and it was nice having my best friends around me one last time!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Last day of work!

2010-08-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday) was my last day of work for me, they wont need me next week cause the kids are going to a day care.

I woke up with a sore throat and a running nose witch sucks cause I really, really don't want to be sick now when I'm soon gonna travel. And it wasn't long since I had a cold so why?

Jonas didn't go to work today cause he had to do some shopping for the party so he took Sofia and then first drove Lotta to work and then they went to Costco. I was home with Filip and we built the coolest marble track ever. We used a lot of stuff and in the end, the marble flipped over dominoes ;) Really fun!

Today Jonas' present from Lotta would arrive by truck so I needed to be home to get it but the hard part was that Jonas was home and I think he might have seen the truck, or heard it. But he's not allowed to go in the garage so at least he haven't seen the thing, I hope ;)

I made lunch for all of us and then took Sofia and walked to the Fed Ex office again to scan and send the hospital bills to my insurance company. I hope everything is OK and that they'll pay everything.

I took both of the kids and we went to the pool in Kirkland cause now the sun came out. The sun is always a bit slow in the morning. It always come out after lunch ;) We swam for about a hour and then we had a yogurt before we walked home.

Filip adjusted his marble track and I read for the kids for over an hour, not so good for my throat and nose ;) But it was cozy and peaceful.

When Lotta and Jonas got home, I quickly took a shower and got dressed cause tonight I was going out for dinner and a movie with the girls since it's our last weekend together ;)

Anna picked me up and we went first to Costco to pick up her new glasses, Ace ate her old once ;) On our way back home the car broke down!! I don't understand what's with our cars and the sad part is that they are both Swedish ;)

The air hose to the engine was broken and then there is sth with the oil. A nice man pulled over and helped us. He got some tape and fixed the hose temporarily but he didn't think that was the problem. Anna called Todd (her host dad) and then we just parked the car so they'll get it tomorrow. Why now, when it's the end for us? Tonight the family is picking up the new au pair from the airport, good luck to her ;)

M came and picked us up and we could drive to Seattle. The sunset behind the mountains was beautiful and that is totally sth I'll miss.

We were gonna eat at the fancy place "The Melting Pot" which is a fondue place. It was me, Anna, M and Janet. From the beginning we would have been 8 people but the rest couldn't in the end so now it was just the best once ;)

We started with a cheese fondue where we dipped bread, vegetables, chips and apples. It was really good and I could have eaten so much if I didn't knew we would have other things also. As the entree we had a vegetable fondue where we boiled our own choice of meat. I had shrimps, chicken breast and beef. It was SSOOO good!! To this we had potatoes and vegetables and it's was so much fun! I fell in love with their Teryaki sauce. OMG it was heavenly! I'm not kidding when I say I ate it with a spoon ;)

Of course we had the chocolate fondue as a dessert and we dipped strawberries, short cake, cheesecake, marshmallows, bananas and rice crispies. It was amazing! We had the yin & yang chocolate which was dark and white chocolate, really fancy.

The meal was perfect and although I paid $50 for it I'm glad we went there and I could have a nice, fancy last meal with some of my closest friends!

Chris joined us in the end and him, me and Anna then went to the Seattle center for the movie Inception. It's with Leonardo DiCaprio and I've heard it's suppose to be good and that U need to see it in IMAX. In the beginning it was kind of confusing, we didn't really understand the story but it got clearer after a while and it was really good! Of course there was a hottie in it and it was not Leo. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is our new favourite! He's the young guy in "10 reasons to hate U" withe Heath Ledger. Then he was just a baby but now he's older and SOO hot!! Me and Anna were drooling all through the movie and all the way home, poor Chris who had to listen to us ;)

Anna slept at my place cause now the new au pair, Violetta, had Anna's room and she had nowhere to sleep ;) And of course I opened up my room for her! She gave me a little gift that means a lot to me and the funny thing is that I gave her the EXACT same thing. It's creepy!!

It was very late when we got to bed and then my nose and throat didn't make it easy to fall asleep so I'm gonna be tired tomorrow!!!

The funniest of the day: M when Anna started her car: "Is that Anna's car? I thought it was a motorcycle!" ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

The Tacoma zoo & aquarium

2010-08-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today (Thursday) Filip had his R practise in the morning so we went there and when we were back home, I packed the lunch bag and then we left to go to the zoo & aquarium in Tacoma. I've heard so much good things about it and Lotta also and the kids wanted to go so I thought this was a perfect thing to do today when the weather was not that great. It was grey and it rained some when we were on the road but when we got there the sun came out.

Before we went there, we stopped at the bank and I put all my coins from my piggy bank on to my account. $50 was the amount and that's from savings through the year, pretty good.

It took us about 45 minutes to get there but I had the Acura, since the SAAB broke down yesterday, so it was a smooth drive. We arrived a bit after lunch time so the first thing we did after paying the entrance was to eat. It was really sunny and warm now so it was nice sitting outside and enjoy some good sandwiches. But the piece didn't last long cause soon we couldn't find Lotta's camera that Sofia had brought. She was responsible for it and we couldn't find it anywhere. She asked me to check in the bag but I couldn't find it and I was sure that she had it last so I was a bit upset on her. Then I looked once more in my bag and found it ;) Sorry Sofia!

We started our animal tour with the biggest attraction for us, the POLAR BEARS!!! OMG, they were so cool. I never thought I would see a polar bear and we stayed there for a while and saw them eat and dive in the water. Filip was the camera man and got some really cool pictures.'

Then we saw the walruses that also were really cool, we saw the seals, the tiger cubs that were so cute!! We saw the new cheetahs laying up in the trees, the monkeys, elephants and the big aquarium with sharks and sea horses. Everything was really cool and we had a great time. We had a snack break where Sofia got cotton candy, Filip a soda and I took a ice cream ;) We went to one of those photo booths where I wanted to have a nice picture of me with the kids and the cost was $5. I started to put in money and when I came to $2 I realized I only had $4 ;) There weren't any cancel button so I couldn't get the money back. Good for the next person ;) Whatever.

We went in to the big budgie cage and bought a little stick with some bird food on and then we got the bird to land on our sticks and eat. They were really cute and it was fun that they came so close.

Before we went home, we went in to the souvenir shop where they had a lot of nice stuff. I bought a little polar bear as a memory from my first meeting with the amazing animal. Sofia also bought a little polar bear and Filip took a shark tooth, we all got a little memory from our great day at the zoo.

It took longer to go home cause it was rush hour but it was OK. We picked up Jonas from work cause they had gone by bus this morning and then we went home and ate dinner.

Me and Kadda needed to book the rest of our trip so she came to my place around 8 and we started to look stuff up and planned some more on our big California trip. I'm really excited and when she left at around 10 we had the hostel in Los Angeles, the car and the Grand Canyon tickets. We want to wait some more before we bye the ticket to Las Vegas in case it gets cheaper but I don't know. The weirdest thing was when I wanted to book the car. We wanted to have it from Enterprise cause it's the cheapest one but when I called the main office the lady told me that it wasn't possible to get a one way rental between L.A and San Fransisco. OK, so we searched for other companies but they were all expensive so I called again to Enterprise just to check cause on their home page they say it's possible. This time it was a guy who answered and he also said it wasn't possible. But he was more helpful cause he gave me the number to the office in L.A and also a number to their daughter company. So I called down to L.A and he said: "No problem!' So weird. But whatever, now we have a car! Now I just have to think how we will do with the tent and all the sleeping bags and stuff. How do we get that on the plane?

I stayed up to around 2 writing on this stupid blog to get U all updated on my life here that slowly moves to the end :(

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

The SAAB is dead, again

2010-08-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday) I was SO tired when I woke up. I just wanted to stay in bed but I reminded myself that this is the last week of work so I stood up. I don't think it was the medications that made me tired cause I stopped taking them last week and I'm still always tired.

Lotta told me yesterday that I don't have to work at all next week, even though my year ends on Tuesday. They have put the kids in some kind of day care and they did it for the whole week so they don't need me. I offered to drive them there but I'll see if I have to do that.

This morning, Filip had his R practice again so we drove there and were back in like an hour. We had plans of going to the Seattle Center and the fountain, but the weather was too bad that we stayed home all day.

I was still super tired when I got home so I put the kids in front of the TV and then went upstairs and took a nap. Sometimes I wish that I had smaller kids, that took naps, so that I also could do that ;)

I couldn't stay long in bed cause soon Sofia came and wanted to do sth so we went to the store and bought some ingredients so that we could bake muffins. I got a recipe from Anna that I needed to try cause I told her that I didn't knew how to make muffins. It was blueberry/banana/chocolate chip muffins and in the beginning I was sceptic cause it didn't look like the mix was correct, so I called Anna ;) But when we took them out of the oven they smelled and looked delicious.

After lunch we could taste the first once and they were so good! I'm proud of my self that I didn't mess up ;) Sofia didn't like them cause apparently she doesn't like blueberry!

I was really not motivated to work today, cause I was tired I guess, so we didn't really do anything. Filip made a marble track that was cool and Sofia did some arts and crafts. We were out a bit and played and then I read for like an hour while they were playing. This was a slow day and when Lotta and Jonas came home, I went to Bellevue to get a present for Jonas.

The warning light on the car has been going on the hole day but since it's doing that from time to time and U can't see on the display what's wrong, I didn't really care. Just when I was parking the car, the ABS light came on and I felt that the brakes were activated cause it was really hard to get the car to move and it was sounding weird. The stereo also went off and then the air bag light also came on. I was able to park before sth else happened and I thought that it might be OK when I just leave the car for a while cause I still had some errands to do.

I ordered a pizza for the family and then I went to some other stores before I came back and wanted to drive home. There were no sign on when I started but I only reached the end of the parking lot before the same happened again. I was almost on my way out on the road when the brakes hit again. I was able to reverse and then park and then I called Lotta who came and picked me up. She said that it has happened once before but I wonder why everything is happening with me right now? She also told me that there has always been sth wrong with the car the same time as one of their au pairs were gonna leave. Maybe it's sad that I'm leaving ;)

Lotta and Jonas had brought more crayfishes home and were now boiling them so it smelled crayfish all over the house when we got home ;) I'm so excited about the party now but of course there has been some problems. First we couldn't have the house anymore cause the renting lady had double booked the house so we thought of having it back home. That was gonna be crowded but the only thing we could do. But then, Lotta found another house that was free so she booked that one instead and it's really beautiful, looks like a palace!

After the pizza, Lotta and Jonas went to try to get the car to a mechanic while I was home with the kids getting them ready for bed.

They had been able to drive it to the mechanic but it turned off at the entrance so Jonas had to roll down and park it ;) Good thing they didn't need a tow truck. I hope there is no bigger wrong with the car cause I feel pretty bad since it's me who drives it the most. Maybe the mechanics at Jiffy Lube did sth wrong?

I spend the rest of the evening putting together a play list for Jonas' party with some new songs they wanted.

Today I got the bills from the hospitals regarding my bug bite, around $1000!!! It's so much money. I mean, this was just a bug bite, imagine being hospitalized. How can people afford living here? I wonder if there is people without insurance, that can't be possible? I'm glad I have a insurance, just hope they'll pay for everything.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

The last outdoor movie!!

2010-08-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) I went to the Crossroad's Cinema in Bellevue for the free summer movies as we have done now a couple of weeks. Today it was "Planet 51" and we have also seen this one before but it's a good movie so it was OK.

I like this cause when it's over it's lunch time and then there is not so much left of the day ;) And today was also really hot so we decided to go to the beach, AGAIN as Filip says ;)

Before, we stopped at 7 eleven and bought ice cream and Slurpy. The kids were happy ;)

We went to Idylwood Park as we did last Friday and also today there were a lt of people. We took a place and then jumped in the water at once and this time Filip also joined us cause he remembered how much fun he had last time and didn't want to miss anything this time. We played together and I chased the kids and it was so nice in the water. Filip did the swim test so that we could go out deeper when Sofia was at the beach building a sand castle. It was really nice and when Filip wanted to help Sofia, I laid down in the sun and tanned ;) I met Catherine, my area director and she didn't even ask about my wound or the trip to Vancouver or my trip home so I don't think she is a very good area director. But whatever, I'm leaving now so I don't care.

We went home and then I needed to make dinner, for the first time in a long time. Sofia passed out on the couch and that's understandeble cause it's been two long, intense days with a lot of sun. She selpt for like an hour and that looked really nice.

Filip had soccer today so Jonas took him there while the rest of us ate and then I went to Bellevue to leave some clothes that I didn't want anymore at Goodville. Anna also came with me and we went to the mall cause I wanted to find sth for Jonas on his birthday buyt I didn't this time.

We went to the downtown park where we met up M and took our seats for our last outdoor movie together :(

This time Betty, Eric, Rob and Chris joined us so we were a lot on the blanket which was really nice. Anna wanted to party all week long since it's the last one, so we went to Safeway and bought some wine she could have through the movie. To be discrete, she put a straw in the bottle and kept it in the bag, it looked really funny!

The movie was "The blind side" which I think is a great movie and I loved the whole evening with everyone being there and Anna feeding me with candy ;) This is sth I'll miss! On the way back home, me and Anna discussed that now there are so many things we'll do for the last time and it's not the same as when we left home cause then we knew we were coming back. Now it's probably forever!! I hope not but U never know.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Goodbye Austin

2010-08-19T23:06:00.001-07:00

Today (Monday) I started really slow with the kids. We watched TV almost the whole morning and after lunch we went down to Kirkland and bought a ice cream and were at the water. It was really, really hot so the kids went in the water, even though they didn't wear swim suits ;)

At 3, when the quiet time was over at Anna's place, we went there to swim in their pool. Slater was still in bed but Jay and Lance were there so we all went in to the pool and it was so nice. We had a war over the floating things, Au Pairs vs kids....the kids won. They were so sad when we went out of the water to rest and they were on us all the time to get back in. Ace didn't really know where to go cause he was so excited now when there were a lot of people. Cute but stupid dog. Anna told me that he had fallen in to the pool, reaching for a leaf, and he doesn't know how to swim ;) Anna had to help him out of there but I bet he'll fall in to it again soon ;)

We stayed there for almost three hours and the kids had so much fun, and me too. I wish we had a pool here! Well we have but I would like a bigger one and one U don't have to inflate ;)

Lotta was already home when we came cause we stayed at Anna's place a bit long, but it was OK cause we had to wait for Jonas before we could go out and eat. Lotta said in the morning that it was gonna be hot and that we needed to eat at a place with air condition ;)

We went to a place we think is new, at the Marina Park. It's a Mediterranean restaurant called "Olive You" It's really nice and have a big terrace where U can sit and look at all the people passing bye.

The kids were tired after the long, warm day and also hungry so they were a bit cranky. I had a avocado salad but they didn't give U very much avocado which was a bummer since that was why I took it. Well, well....it was good anyways.

The family went to get a ice cream afterwards but I had a goodbye party to attend so I went home and got dressed instead.

It's Austin, a American guy that I got to know through Elliotte's parties, that are going to study at the University that's 5 hours away from here (forgot the name ;)) I don't really know him so well but there are a lot of cool people coming and I never say no to a party ;) But it's a bit weird that it's on a Monday but whatever.

Chris picked me and Anna up and then we drove to Everett where Austin and Mike lives. The apartment was great! It's big and well planned and I would totally live there if I had the chance.

There weren't so many people there and we didn't know any of them cause they were High school friends of Austin but some of them were nice and funny.

Mike, who was roommate with Austin, had a dog called Harley. It was really cute and so soft and ran around with his toy in his mouth looking for someone who wanted to play with him.

We occupied the spot next to the fan cause it was extremely hot and after a while famous people arrived an joined us.

I had a great evening talking with many of my closest friends which was really nice cause soon I won't see any of them again....:( It feels so weird that when U say goodbye now it's probably forever...my brain doesn't really realize that cause I just say like "See ya" and then it's like: "Wait, maybe we're not!" There are so many people I'll miss and I just hope I can come back and visit them again.

Back home I felt really sad and I didn't want to work tomorrow. I was tired and a bit drunk ;) So I just went to bed to try to sleep my sorrows off my mind...

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Vancouver on bikes

2010-08-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) we had to go up pretty early, at 9:30 ;) Cause we needed to check out at 11 and we wanted the free breakfast and then stopped serving that at 10. It was not much of a breakfast, just toast and juice, but it was free ;)

We packed our stuff and left them at a storage room when we checked out cause we wanted to explore the city a bit more before we went back home. The people at the hostel recommended to go to the Stanley Park and we had been talking about how long ago it was since we road a bike so we rented one each and went through the city to the park. It was such a nice feeling to be on a bike again and to go through the city was really cool. At some places it was a bit scary cause we drove together with the cars but it went fine and we had Anna who showed the way so it was no problem.

The park was really beautiful and it's kind of a half island so we always went just beside the water and we could see the downtown skyline and also the north part which was really cool. We passed some beaches and there were a lot of people cause today was also really hot. There were also a lot of people in the park and many were riding bikes, inlines or walking so at some places at the trail it was really crowded.

It didn't even take us two hours to get around and it was a perfect time cause we needed to be home around 4 cause Anna was going to dinner with her host family.

When we went to get to the car we were a bit nervous about how expensive it would be but the cashier was really nice so he gave us the hotel rate and then it wasn't that bad. My great looks helps a lot ;)

The drive home was faster, it only took 3 hours even though we had to wait longer at the border. The officer were really nice and we didn't have any problems at all with our VISAs which was nice.

I dropped off Anna, then M and on my way home I stopped at Subway and got my dinner. It was so hot and as soon as I got home, I packed my bag and went to the beach. First I stopped at QFC and bought strawberries, juice and chips ;)

There were a lot of people at the beach and I had to drive a while before I could find a parking spot, but it was so nice when I finally could jump in to the water and cool off. I ate my food and read my book and didn't worry about a thing. Just a perfect way to end a weekend.

The family wasn't home yet cause they had been camping in Port Angeles this weekend and that was nice cause then I could have a shower and unpack all my stuff without having someone else in the house.

I didn't do so much the rest of the evening and went to bed early so that I could be fit for fight on my last week of work!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

VANCOUVER!!!

2010-08-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) I woke up early. I think it was about 7 or sth and Anna was also awake, we said good morning and then went to sleep again ;) Jason had a cat, Kit-Kat, and I woke up a couple of times of she sneaking around. She also made my nose start running and my eyes itch so I chased her away ;)

At around 9:30 we grabbed some energy and stood up. Me and Anna slept downstairs and didn't want to go and wake up M who were sleeping upstairs, so we decided to go and get the oil changed on the SAAB before our trip to VANCOUVER!!! We wrote a little note to M and went then out to search for a Jiffy Lube, the oil place.

They took the car and apparently they do more than just a oil check. They basically looked over the whole car and also vacuumed, cleaned the windshield and checked the lights. Nice, but then they charged for all that and it was kind of expensive but the SAAB deserved a little spa treatment before the long trip.

Me and Anna started to be hungry so we got a breakfast at Mc Donald's ;) It was good with something sugary and greasy after a party night ;)

M hadn't seen our note so she called and wondered where we were, maybe she thought we had left without her ;) We picked her up and said goodbye and thank U to Jason and Rob, who hadn't left for work yet?!, and then hit the road towards the border!

We had to make a stop at the outlet mall to get a sweater for Lotta. This was the condition for having the car ;)

Everyone was really tired and we didn't really know what we were thinking about when we decided to go to Canada after our own goodbye party, but we didn't give up and although my fellow traveler fell asleep I drove and after 3 hours we reached the border.

It wasn't so bad and it took about 30 min to get through but we were a bit nervous since our VISAs expire soon and there were a couple of people who had asked us if we really were allowed to leave and then come back in to the US. We weren't sure and the officer asked about our trip home and if we had the tickets already and she looked a bit suspicious but let us through. I mean, why not? All the papers are good and we're only staying one night.

It was so hot today and the AC doesn't work in the car (what does? ;)) so we had to drive with the windows down which was very noisy. We were all very happy of getting there and get out of the car cause we weren't so fresh ;)

The hostel was on Granville St which a street with a lot of bars and stuff going on which was good for us ;) We checked in and got our room which had 4 beds and we shared with a Australian guy named Adam. He had been traveling since March this year and was planning to go home in September next year! That's a long trip! He was doing work and travel and had been all over Europe and now was he on his Canada tour.

The room was nothing special, there were two bunk beds, lockers and a fan and the beds were really unsteady and made a terrible noise when U moved. But we were just gonna sleep there so it was OK. The rest of the hostel was pretty cool with international theme. n every door there were a flag, on the walls were comments and pictures of travelers suggesting where to go and other stuff that made it more personal.

We wanted to explore the city before the nights partying so we went out immediately to see what Vancouver had to offer. When we were on the street we realized that it was past lunch time and that we were hungry. So we grabbed a pizza slice at the nearest pizza place and then walked towards the water. It was really nice and I wanted to jump in but the other two hadn't brought their swim suits (?????) and I didn't want to swim alone so we just walked along the beach and also had a ice cream.

I don't know if I think Vancouver is so beautiful as everyone says. I mean, it's nothing more special than Seattle and it feels more dirty here and more homeless, weird people. But here we all can have a beer in the bar so I'm not complaining ;)

We were able to park the car at a hotel nearby but only until 6 pm so we had to move it and find a place to park it over night. This is what I hate with having a car, and I'm not the best driver and have a sense of direction as a rake that it was very hard to find a place. Anna gave me good directions but I was always too late and just stupid.

Finally, we took the parking at the Sheraton and we guess it will be expensive but whatever!

At this time I was a bit cranky since I had been driving for so long and I was tired, hungry, unfresh and in a bad mood thanks to the parking situation. So I needed a shower and a NAP!!! The shower was probably the best one I had in weeks and I didn't want to get out of bed after the nap but my battle sister forced me.

M didn't want to go out with us tonight so just me and Anna got ready for a night out on the party streets of Vancouver!!

First we started with dinner in the Davie Village which is the gay area in the city. We went to a Italian place cause we both wanted pasta. It was a small and cozy place and very romantic ;) We celebrated us being here with a glass of wine (now when Anna was allowed to drink) and then had two pasta courses that we shared ;)

The waiter tricked us to get a dessert so we had a wonderful blueberry cheesecake and then could barely walk out of there ;)

We strolled around to downtown and then back to Granville St and checked out all the bars and tried to decide which one to go to. We went to the hostel to change shoes and say hello to M but we didn't find her ;) Then we went to a Irish pub and ordered a Guinness...it was very dark!! ;) It took us maybe an hour to finish it, but it was nice hanging in the bar and look at all the people and the sport on TV and Anna was happy ;)

Then we felt like we wanted a cocktail since we already had wine and a beer, so we found another bar where we sat down and I ordered a Malibu with passion fruit juice and Anna a Margarita. Mine was delicious, Anna's grouse ;) The bartender was not so nice and couldn't make drinks. We left pretty soon and then just walked up and down the street and looked at all the people and listened to the music. There was one awesome street performer who played the guitar and sang. His voice was so unique and there was so much emotions when he sang that I got goosebumps.

We went back to the hostel pretty early cause we were tired and I don't know if any of us was in such a big party mood. But we were happy that we were able to go out together, legally ;), and we got some drinks ;)

Back at the hostel, M was already asleep and Adam came maybe 5 minutes after us. The room was so hot and M had turned off the fan and closed the window so we were almost dying in there. we put on the fan and opened the window but we still had to sleep without a blanket. Usually I can't sleep when it's too hot but now I was too tired to even bother ;)

Funniest of the day: M when we entered the hostel: "What are we doing? I thought we were getting pizza"

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Goodbye party fot us!

2010-08-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday) it was really hot and I had a lot to do before the weekend so we spend the morning at home and I let the kids watch TV so I could pack my stuff for the party tonight and Vancouver tomorrow. I'm really excited and it feels like it's gonna be a great weekend.

After lunch, I took the kids to the beach and again I had to talk Filip in to going, but finally he came but he said that he didn't want to swim but I don't care, as long as we are outside he can do whatever he want.

We went to the Idlewood park in Redmond. It's a great, big park with a lot of green grass, a beach volleyball field, a playground and a great sand beach. There were a lot of people and that's understandable since it's about 90 degrees!!! (Fahrenheit ;))

Filip went to the shade with his DS and me and Sofia put our stuff in the sun and then jumped in the water. I think this was the best water and beach this far cause there were no rocks on the bottom and no yucky sea grass all over the place. It was clean sand so it was perfect. We couldn't go that far out since Sofia is too young and don't know how to swim, but we had fun anyways. I'm more of a water animal than they are. They are always cold quickly and wants to go up long before I'm done. But then they go and play somewhere and I can just relax and tan in the sun which is not that bed either ;)

After we had been there for about 2 hours, Filip finally wanted to swim too so we all went in the water and had so much fun. we played water tag and buried each other in the sand, and when it was time to go guess who didn't want to....Filip! I said to him that if he comes and plays immediately he'll have fun much longer so I hope he'll remember this to the next time.

I had a soccer game and had to go at 5:30 so Lotta and Jonas came home earlier. They had already bought the crayfishes for the party next weekend so I hope they'll be good standing one week.

I drove to Redmond and played my indoor game. It was fun but we didn't win this time either and I didn't even score. It's not that much fun but it's good exercise and it's soccer!

I hurried home cause tonight me, Anna, M and Kadda were gonna have our goodbye party at Jason's and Rob's place (two super nice Americans that let us borrow their place for the party)

Unfortunately Kadda couldn't come cause she couldn't have the car.

M and Anna had been to Costco to buy all the stuff we needed and after I had took a shower and got dressed, I put my stuff in the car and drove to get them. Yes, I was gonna be the driver now cause apparently Anna's car can break down whenever now so it's a big risk to take it. I'm not looking forward to it but what ever choice do we have?

We came half an hour before the party was meant to start but that was OK cause no one arrives when U say it's starting, everyone come later.

The place is just perfect, it's like a apartment with two floors and it's all very clean and simple, I was surprise that there were two guys living there cause everything was so organized and clean but apparently Jason likes to have it clean around him...hmm, unusual for a guy?!

We had brought pizza cause we didn't have dinner yet and M made the yello shots and this time I'm gonna taste some! I was the driver at the last party as well so I couldn't, but today we are sleeping at their place so it's OK for me to try one or two ;)

We had also bought a lot of beer and alcohol but the guys already had some so now it was a lot, which is good ;)

The people started to drop in and soon there were a bunch. In some way, everyone wanted to be in the kitchen so there it was really crowded. Me and M were at the balcony a while and waved at the Royal Cat that was sitting next to the fence for like 2 hours ;)

Jen, Elliotte's girlfriend, brought a stereo with music which was super good since we didn't have anything like that. Jason and Rob also had a beer pong table so we played that but me and M lost so we had to drink...a lot ;)

They also had a spill hat which ever one had to wear if they spilled until someone else spilled. It was ugly but so much fun...and yes, I had to wear it once ;)

It was a great party with a lot of cool people, many that I didn't expect to show up did and it was just great to be able to say goodbye to most of my friends here, sad but great!

Mike, a American friend, was so sweet to me and Anna. Since we were leaving, he gave us a Sounders scarf each. So considerate! I was really moves and grateful and was totally not expecting anything from anyone...so nice!! And I always wanted to have one so that's just perfect.

The party was a success, we even had a visit from the cops and that shows of a great party ;) They just gave us a warning and if they would have to come again we'll get a ticket. So we just turned down the music and kept on partying.

At around 3 there were only two drunken guest left that didn't really knew how to get home so Chris (another really nice American guy) drove them home so that me, Anna and Jason could clean up. M was a bit drunken so she had fallen asleep upstairs and Rob had to go up early for work so he was also sleeping.

Jason really likes to have it clean around him and he's so nice that he didn't want us to clean up, but of course we said no and helped him until no one cold tell there would have been a party ;)

Me and Anna slept at the couches downstairs and they were so comfortable so I fell asleep fast which is good cause we have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Working all day

2010-08-12T23:37:00.000-07:00

Today I took Filip to his last tennis session :( He was sad and wants to go next week also but the teacher thought it was full so maybe I have to make that camp on my own....NOT!!
Today I decided that me and Sofia should go hiking, at the Twin Falls in Issaquah/Snoqualmie area. The weather was not that nice yet, but it would get hot today so perfect time for hiking. I packed our lunch bag and then we were on our way. Sofia brought, of course, Maja who's going everywhere. And also a lot of books to have in the car (which was great for me cause then she was occupied reading and didn't talk to me so much ;))

It takes about 45 minutes to get there and I took a wrong turn once so we were there around 10:30. The hike goes along a river and this was the first hike I did here so I wanted it to be the last one also. This time it was with Sofia and not Anna and Kadda, but she was good company also. The hardest part is that she wants to hold my hand all the time and since she's jumping and climbing everywhere, my arm got a bit sore ;)

We took pretty frequent brakes and ate from our good lunch box which had sandwiches, watermelon, yogurt and chocolate balls ;)

At one of the brakes, there were a couple of curious chipmunks keeping us company, hoping we would drop some ;) They are so cute and I just waited for them to stand up and sing as in Alvin and the chipmunks ;) Would have been fun ;)

The weather got much better so it was really hot walking there in the forest, up and down the mountain so I was all sweaty when we got to the first waterfall. There is one more, a bigger if U continue the trail but I felt it was enough for us with just the first, small one so we turned back there.

Sofia needed to go to the restroom really bad so we almost run the last part and when we came to the parking lot, she was almost tackled by a big dog that jumped out from a car. Sofia got scared cause of the surprise attack and it looked really funny ;)

Before we went home we stopped at the outlet mall in North Bend where I wanted to look in the Pacsun store after a shirt I wanted. They didn't have it but I bought three t-shirts instead ;)

We also stopped at the Krispy Creme and bough doughnuts for us tonight ;)

Sofia read for me, before we walked down to get Filip, and I must say that I could never be a teacher cause I don't have the patience. I know that it's hard for them in the beginning when they learn how to read but it's kind of frustrating when they do the same mistake over and over again!!! Glad I'm not a teacher.

Filip got some candy from the tennis so we sat down in the park and ate it before we went home. Even today he was wining and just so teasing. I don't know what his problem is. So after we had played some games, we went to the beach and while he were in the woods playing on my phone, me and Sofia were in the water cooling off. It was really nice and when the lifeguards were gone, we jumped a couple of times before we went home to make dinner.

Since Sofia and I had pancakes yesterday, Filip also wanted that so we made them today as well. This time they weren't as great as last time but they were still good. Both Filip and Sofia helped and we were really hungry when we started to eat. Also this time we had strawberry jam and whipped cream so we were all very full and happy afterwards.

Then the kids were really good and did some homework. Filip did for his R practise and Sofia read for me again. Afterwards, they could watch TV. Their new favourite show is a cartoon called Phenas & Pherb and they watch it every morning and evening. I like it too so I watched with them, and later they got the doughnut.

At the beach today, Filip got some resin in his hair from sitting under a tree. This was very sticky and I read on Internet that U could use butter to take it off so we tried that and then we rinsed it off and it worked! Feel really proud and responsible!

When I had read them a story and put them to bed, I cleaned up a bit and then sat with my computer in my lap when Anna joined me and we watched Americas funniest home videos, ate doughnuts and chips and tried to think about the weekend. It's more clear now but I still have to call the Hostel tomorrow cause we couldn't make a reservation online.

Lotta and Jonas are on a opera tonight, that's why I'm still on in the evening. So my day was now between 7:30-00:00, just 16 1/2 hours - that's nothing!

And bye the way, CONGRATULATION ANNA who got accepted at the university in Germany. Where there ever any doubts? ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

A cool day!

2010-08-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday) I took Sofia to the bank cause I needed to put back the money on my American account so that we could pay off that damn ticket! We also bought egg and jam so that we could have pancakes for lunch.

Anna came over with Slater and he played with Sofia while we tried to fix the ticket. We called but didn't really get what they wanted from us so we had a conversation over email and it ended up with us paying online and now everything should be fine, I hope!

Me and Sofia made pancakes and this time they were GREAT!! The best ones ever, nothing was wrong ;) I'm proud over myself...and Sofia! We had strawberry jam and whipped cream to it so afterwards we were very full.

This evening, the family would meet the next babysitter for the kids, since I'm leaving soon ;) and Sofia wanted to make chocolate balls for him. So we did and both we and the kitchen was all messy when we were done. I don't understand how it can get out of the bowl so much ;)

When everything and everyone was clean, we hurried to the beach cause it was so hot today and we could swim and play for about two hours before we needed to get Filip. Sofia got a shaved ice again and she sat as a frog eating it, it was cute and fun ;)

When we had got Filip,went back again to the beach and again, Filip was whining about that we ALWAYS were at the beach...well yes, when it's like 30 degrees there is not so much else U want to do. And once again me and Sofie were in the water for maybe 10 minutes and then he came as well and we had so much fun. When the lifeguards left, early today!, I also jumped from the dock with them and it was great!

Back home we just changed and then Lotta called and said that they were on their way and that we should meet them in Kirkland. We didn't go at once since they have to drive from Redmond and then they were gonna pick this guy up on their way. Downtown, when we saw that they weren't there, we walked on the deck and watched all the nice boats that laid there. We wanted to trade one of them with one of our chocolate balls but I don't think anyone wanted that ;)

Well, we waited, and waited and waited. After about one hour they called and said that they were soon there. OK! So me and the kids walked to the Marina Park where they had the Farmer Market today so we checked that out and then waited some more before they came.

The guy's name is Theo and the kids have met him before cause he's a teacher in the Swedish school. Since I had been with the kids from 7:30 this morning and it was now 7, I didn't stay. So I don't know how it went or how he is but I guess he's nice.

I wanted to have a pizza slice at Zeke's but they didn't have any cause it was after 4...bla bla bla so I went home and then drove to Mc Donald's and got a chicken wrap and a vanilla shake...jum! Then I drove to Anna's place to meet here and M so that we could plan our weekend. I just wanna say that I hate when people mess with my food, and Mc Donald's did!!! I asked for RANCH sauce and they gave me some damn BBQ CHIPOTTLE!!! How hard can it be??!!

The planning didn't go so well and we didn't really make a decision, but we think Anna will drive, that we might stay at a hostel and that we need to buy stuff for the party as well...it was fun ;)

I went home pretty soon cause I was grumpy and needed to sleep. This was also the last day I had to take my antibiotics so I hope I'll get more energy now. Or maybe it's just my life that makes me so tired. I told Lotta and Jonas about all my problems and all the stress about the weekend and they just laughed at me and said that it sounded that I have a really hard life....I do!!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Anna has no brain!!!

2010-08-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) me and Sofia didn't really know what to do in the morning so we just watched TV, coloured, read and played games before we had lunch and then my stuffed animals joined us with their own plates ;)

It not really the most exciting morning but well well....at around 1 we went to Anna's place cause now the sun came out and we wanted to try the pool ;) Anna thought it was too cold but she's such a pussy ;) This was the first time I was allowed to jump in the water cause my wound is good now!!!! So I just had to make a canon ball on Sofia who were on the floating mattress trying to dry off ;) It felt good ;)

We couldn't stay so long since Filip's tennis camp ended at 3 so we went home and then walked down to get him. The weather was not that great so I suggested that we should go to a park and so we did. We went to "Ronja's Park" and played some soccer for a while but then the sun came out so me and Sofia wanted to go to the beach, but of course Filip didn't want to do that cause he had already been in the water once today...what's that? A kid who doesn't like going to the beach...it's just weird.

But after some discussion he sat in the car and we went to the beach, and of course Filip went in the water ;)

Back home, Filip had to get ready cause he had his first soccer practice today, and again he made a big fuss that he didn't want to go and that he never said that he wanted to play soccer again!! OMG!!! He would rather be at home and watch TV that be with his friends, so boring and it's always the nagging that drives me crazy!!! But Jonas and Lotta said that he had to go this time and then he could see, and of course he had a blast!

Another problem came up today! The parking ticket that me and Anna got when we were on our hike last weekend had to be paid this week and it was Anna's task to do it, and so she did. Yesterday she went to the post office and sent the account information and everything was good, until this morning when she stopped to use her brain. She went to the bank and closed her account!!! Hmmm...wonder if the payment went through before?..dah?!!! So, now we have to do it again, but with my account, so after dinner I had to walk to the bank, get some money from my Swedish account and then put it on my American account. As if I didn't have enough bad luck right now, the ATM I walked to didn't work so I had to walk to another one that was in the opposite direction......aarrgghhh!!! And on this one I couldn't put the money in to my American account, so I have to do that tomorrow. I was so irritated when I walked back home, but it was nice that I had a soccer game so that I could get out all of my frustrations on the field.

This was the first outdoor game in 2 weeks so I was really excited and we started out strong and took the lead but soon they scored so in half it was 2-2. In second half we were really confused, couldn't even get the line up straight and that was kind of how it was the rest of the game. I don't know what the end result was but we lost. I scored but it didn't count cause apparently I did a high kick....whatever!

This might have been my last game cause the next one is when we are in Vancouver and the last one is on the 24th when my year is over so I'm not sure if I'll play since I'm leaving the day after...but probably I will ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Filip in tennis camp

2010-08-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today Filip started his tennis camp that goes on the whole week. It starts already at 9 so we had to go up pretty early to eat breakfast and get ready. Luckily, it's here in Kirkland by the QFC park and the baseball field, so we can walk there.

We were a bit early so there were no leaders but we met a dad with two boys that also was going there so we weren't wrong. Soon the teachers came. Two siblings that were pretty young, maybe around my age or a bit older. I signed Filip in and then left. They seemed really good and Filip was excited so it was no problem.

The camp is until 3 so it was just Sofia and me the whole day. The weather was boring today, just grey and cloudy. I wasn't really in a mood to do anything so we were just home and watched TV, coloured and read some. Sofia and Filip are both in a summer reading program so they need to read 1000 minutes before school starts or sth, and Sofia is not even close to that. But I'm gonna read with her 20 minutes every day this week and then we'll see how it goes. Today we read "Lotta på Bråkmakargatan" and even though we sat for 20 min, she didn't get very far. She's not so comfortable with reading but that's also why we do this.

The cleaning lady came today so we stayed in my room until they were done and then we made lunch. Mac & Cheese again ;)

I got a mail today from a Swedish girl who wants to be an au pair in this area and she asked me about how it was. I don't know how she got my address but I told her that here is great and that she should totally do it. I have to ask her some more and see how she knows me...weird

At 2:45 we went to pick up Filip and then after that to his "R" practice. He was super excited when we were in the car and he told me all about the camp and how good it was. He's already sad that it's only four days and he wants me to organize a tennis camp on my own and invite all the cool kids he met today. Sure, why not? If I want to call me the Super Au Pair that's the least I can do ;)

Back home it was time to make dinner and Sofia made a board game on her own and Filip played video game. I helped them both as much as I could and when Jonas and Lotta came home we ate and that was good cause I was starving.

I didn't have any plans for tonight so I just spend the evening in front of my computer. Feels nice to be able to write on the right day ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Almost eaten by a bear

2010-08-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) we woke up of the birds singing outside the tent and the sun breaking through the canvas...really cozy ;)

We had a nice breakfast with the leftovers form our dinner yesterday ;) It was jummy with a cold hot dogs, some grapes and juice.

The guy in the other tent had told us about a great hike that they made yesterday and he also showed us on the map where to go so we packed up and went on the road again, further in to the woods. We were going to a place called Phelps Creek and the way there was really bad with a lot of sharp rocks so we were afraid that we also would get a flat tire so I drove as slowly as I could and tried to go slalom between the holes. When we got there, my legs were hurting cause I had been tense all the way, on the edge ;)

We parked the car and got our backpacks and started our long walk in to the woods. It was really beautiful with the mountains behind the trees and the river floating by beneath, so peaceful.

After some walking, we heard sth in the woods next to us. Some growling!!! Anna thought that was me but it wasn't. We are pretty sure it was a bear but we didn't want to stay to check so we continued calm and not panicked ;)....just totally afraid!!! Our hearts were beating so loud and we were checking the surroundings all the time. We thought of going back but we didn't want to meet the bear. When we met more people on the trail we calmed down cause then we thought the bear would eat them so he would be full if he saw us again ;)

The trail was easy with a wide path and not so steep. Sometimes we had to walk on rocks and cross the river so it was a real hike. We like it!

After maybe 2 hours of walking we reached the Spider meadows and it was just stunning. There were mountains all around and the river was floating right through the pass with huge green fields covered by flowers around it. Like a picture from the movie Sound of Music!

We found a spot next to the river where we sat down and had our lunch and just enjoyed the nature. This is definitely one of my top hikes ever!!

There were still snow on the tops and we had heard about some snow fields U could walk to so we started to go there but when we got closer we realized it was really steep and that it would take too long time. Anna was just wearing flip flops also (crazy) so we turned back to the car instead. In the valley, U could find tents wherever and it looked really cool just camping in the wild but they seemed to be a bit more serious hikers than we ;) With all the right equipment and definitely not flip flops ;)

It was a long walk back and since we didn't go hiking in a while, and we are not really working out so much now, my legs were hurting. My knees where screaming cause I pushed them too hard so it was nice when we saw the car. Sadly we had got a parking ticket cause U have to pay when U are in a National Park and we hadn't really understand the instructions so we just skipped that. We thought no one would drive out in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday, but we were wrong ;) Now we need to pay $75 instead which kind of sucks but we were positive and said that that was a pretty good price to pay cause we didn't got eaten by a bear, we didn't pay the campground and we were together and had a great weather. We also has a story to tell now ;)

There were not much traffic on the way home so it went fine. We were both just so tired and not fresh so it was nice to come home and take a shower. I had to hang up the tent cause it was a bit wet.

The family wasn't home so I had the house for myself in the evening which was nice cause then I could walk around in my pyjamas and just relax.

I had a great weekend with my very best Anna Gabriel and I think it was good for me to get out in the nature, maybe I'll not be so tired this week.

I'm glad we did it together since it's not long before we leave this relationship :(

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Hiking with my Anna!!

2010-08-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) I thought I could wake up on my own, that no one would wake me up, but no! Anna texted me at 10 cause she thought that I had to be awake at that time. On a Saturday when I don't have to work or have anything planned in the morning? Is she crazy? I also had a nice dream that she woke me from so thank U!!

The morning was really nice cause I was alone at home and I could update my blog and work on other stuff that needed to be done. I also called back home, the second time this week! I think I miss them ;)

At 3:30 I went to Anna's place with the car full of hiking and camping equipment, we were going out in the woods! Anna wanted to do that this weekend cause she hasn't really been out as much as I have, like with the family, and there is not so many weekends left. And since she's my other half and I don't think anything is fun without her, I came ;)

From the beginning we had planned to go to the Olympic mountains, where Forks is, but the weather was not supposed to be good there so we headed east instead, towards Leavenworth. It took about two hours to get there and the gas was down on red so we were glad when we saw a Shell station ;)

We had called and talked with a lot of campgrounds but most of them were full but one gave us a good tip and also a great map where we could find several once so after driving on a non pavement road for about 30 minutes, we found one that was good for us. It was the first time I've driven on a non pavement road since I got here and it so reminded me on the way down to my grandma!

The campground was really in the middle of nowhere and we were in a National Forest so it was all very calm and quite. The area is called Wenatchee National Forest and it's a bit north of Leavenworth. We camped right next to a river called Chiwawa River and it was surrounded by mountains so it was beautiful!

We started with putting up the tent, which was big but not very complicated. It was just the top that we didn't really got right but we made it how we thought it would be and I think it's better that the original ;)

There were so many mosquitoes and other biting bugs that I was almost panicking!! I made a bandanna out of a shirt so that I could cover my ears under my cap. This made me look like my brother Robin so that was what Anna called me all night ;)

So we quickly made a fire to get rid of all the bugs. We had to collect some branches, cause we didn't bring any wood, and it was kind of hard starting a fire cause they were all wet. But after a while, Anna got it going and we kept it alive the whole evening. I'm really proud of us how we can survive in the wild. We know how to put up a tent, how to start a fire and Anna could open a bottle of beer with a stick ;)

There were one more tent at the campground and it was a couple from Spokane who lived there. When we came, it was just the man cause his wife were driving some people in to the city cause they had got a flat tire and didn't have a extra. Bummer! He was nice and when the wife came back, the others were with her and they had to put up their tent also to spend the night.

Me and Anna grilled hot dogs over the fire and then marshmallows. We had also potato salad, chips, chocolate raisins, grapes and bread. It was a feast!!! The best thing was to put chocolate raisins in the warm marshmallows, a kind of smores! Sticky but so good!

We talked and had a really nice time and didn't notice how dark it had been until our fire was out. It was so dark it looked like U stared at a black wall or sth. Good thing we had flashlights so that we could brush our teeth and get in to our warm and cozy sleeping bags.

It took a while for me to sleep cause I was listening to all the sounds and afraid that a beer would come and eat us. Here the big Brown bear and the Grizzly lives so U have to be careful not to leave any food out or spread a odour ;) Anna said that I needed to go and wash ;)

Finally the sound from the river made me go to sleep and I slept good the whole night with my wife next to me ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Mc Donald's and soccer

2010-08-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

Today (Friday) I was SUPER tired and after being at the dentist with Filip, to fix the braces that was broken, I put the kids in front of the TV and laid down on my bed and took a little nap. It didn't really help cause I thought of all the stuff I need to to with the insurance, the blog, my travel and other stuff so I couldn't relax.

I took Sofia and we went out to see if I could find a scanner to borrow somewhere so that I could mail my medical report to the insurance company. We went to the library first but they didn't have one but she told me that the Fed Ex Office would have one so we went there. They had one and she scanned my papers and sent them to my mail so I could pass it on to Gouda. Now that thing is out of the way, I just hope everything is right and that they got everything they need now.

The medical report was kind of funny. There were sentences like: "...she's nearing the end of her 1 year employment as an opera", "She's a very pleasant non-toxic female in no distress" Don't sound like a medical report so I hope they wont think I wrote it myself ;)

I decided that since it's Friday, me and the kids would have lunch at Mc Donald's. This made me popular with the kids and we drove to the one in Kirkland and the kids got chicken nuggets in a Happy Meal and I took a burger. I had to bye extra nuggets cause they eat so much and I think Filip ate 14 pieces!!! He's crazy ;) We also took a ice cream as dessert. A vanilla sundae dipped in chocolate. This is sth I wish they had in Sweden cause it's so good, but messy! The kids had ice cream all over the face and I also got some in my lap ;) But it was worth it and U can always wash yourself and the clothes ;)

We were all very full when we left and back home we watched TV until I decided that we needed to get out of the house. The weather today was not that good, cloudy and grey, so we went to a park first and played. Then the sun came out and it was really warm so we went home and got our swim suits and went to the beach. There were not many people and NO LIFEGUARDS. The kids were so happy cause now they could jump immediately from the docks. I also went with them out and watched them while they tried to get some rocks from the bottom. Filip tried to push me in the water but I threw him in instead ;)

The family was invited to Stendahls but I had a soccer game so I just drove them there and then to Arena Sport where I play indoor with a coed team. I couldn't play last week cause of my wound so now I was extra excited and they said that they had missed me ;)

It was better this time cause we were4 girls which meant that we had a sub and didn't have to play all the time. We played pretty good but the others were more synchronized so we lost with 7-3 but I scored 2 times ;) It's fun but so much harder that outdoor.

Afterwards, I went to Kadda's place cause we needed to plan and book our California trip. we booked our flight from San Francisco to Seattle cause we have a date when we need to be back in Seattle. We also have the hotel in Las Vegas, we are staying at the pyramid Luxor ;) It's shaped as a pyramid so the roof in the room is a bit angled..so cool!We also booked the Greyhound bus tour between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We felt like we needed to be on a Greyhound bus cause it's American ;)

So that's what we booked today but we still have some other stuff to book: the flight to Las Vegas, the staying in Los Angeles and San Fransisco, the rental car, the tickets for Grand Canyon, Six Flags and Universal Studios....hmm still a lot of work. And we need to see where we want to stop on our way to San Fransisco...can't someone plan this for us? ;) I'm so excited!! And it's not many days left!!!

Me and Anna decided to go east instead towards Leavenwort and Lake Chelan cause there the weather is always good. Just hope we'll find a campground!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Just a Thursday

2010-08-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today (Thursday) Filip had R practice in the morning so we went there and at home we didn't do so much before lunch. We were all kind of tired so we watched TV and I was on my computer.

After lunch we went to the beach and stayed there all afternoon. Anna joined us with Slater and then M came with Julie and Alex. The kids got ice cream, Filip took a shaved ice and Sofia got a Spongebob ice cream from the ice cream truck that came. They were happy ;) And I was happy. I played with Julie and Alex and Anna played with my kids, it's really nice to change some time and I like when they are younger and can't argue with U ;)

Now the t-shirts are here also, the Fancy Nannies and they are really cool. Mine is a bit big but it's OK cause I want to have it to sleep in or play soccer. It's gonna be a memory forever!!

We had dinner at home when Lotta and Jonas came and then they went out with the kids and I went to Anna's place...what else? ;) we took Ace to the dog park where he could play with another boxer and they were a bit aggressive cause they were so excited. Anna talked with the other owner but I went to a bench and observed from a distance...dogs are not my favourite animal and they looked kind of violent.

We walked around the little pound with Ace and one time he just jumped in the water, and he can't swim ;) He's kind of stupid but so sweet ;)

Back at Anna's place I was dying from sleep but we had to plan our weekend. Anna wants to go camping in the Olympics cause she hasn't been there jet but it's gonna be bad weather but we said that we are Europeans - "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing" so we looked up some campgrounds that looked good and then we'll see on Saturday when Anna is off how it looks like.

We also checked the invite to our goodbye party next week! We are having a party at Jason's and Rob's ( American friends) place and it's gonna be so much fun, just hope there will be a lot of people.

I drove home really tired and Anna told me to go to bed and I better do what the boss says ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Mariners

2010-08-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday) was a sad day, specially for Sofia. Helena was going back to Sweden. Sofia was really sad and cried all morning. It was heartbreaking to see and now they won't meet in one year! But then the family is moving home to Sweden and they'll be neighbours, but one year is long time for a little girl.

Filip had his R practice again so we went there, all three of us and me and Sofia looked in a magazine while Filip was in. This time he got a home work but I don't really know how to do that. It's hard since we don't know the sounds and stuff but hopefully Filip know by himself.

Back home, me and Sofia made chocolate balls. It's really messy but they are so good ;)

Patrizia called and said that the kids could have a play date if they wanted. Both of them could go to their place and I was like: YES!!! Cause I had a appointment at the doctor for my final check up on the wound so that would be perfect for me. We just had lunch at home and then I drove them there. I knew that they had a pool so I brought the kids their swim suits so that they could jump in if they felt like it.

It went fine at the doctor and he just changed my dressing and said that I should keep that a couple of days and then just change to a band aid and let the wound close up. I'm glad that the medication helps and that it's getting better so I can start living again!!! I mean, to be able to swim, play soccer and tan properly ;)

I called Patrizia to see how it was going and it was fine so the kids could stay there for a bit longer. I took the opportunity to rest which was really nice cause I was so tired, again.

The kids had had a great time at their friends house. They had been in the pool most of the time and didn't want to leave when I came, which is funny cause they didn't really want to go there in the first place ;)

Back home me and Filip played Monopoly again for the first time in a while but we didn't have time to finish cause I was going to watch the Mariners play tonight as the monthly activity with my au pair agency.

I had told Lotta that I needed to go at 5:30 cause the game was at 7 and I had to go to M's place first but Jonas didn't show up until 5:45 so me and Anna had to rush to Kadda's instead where M picked us up. With us was also Goska so we were a full car which is great when U split the parking fee ;)

We came there just in time and parked in the garage next to the Safeco Field which was perfect. We had seats pretty high up and we could see the whole field really good. There were already a lot of au pairs and this time were also the Seattle au pairs there so a lot of people. I met Jacob, the Swedish guy I flew here with, and Patric, the German guy that's friend with Anna.

I felt like being a real American so I bought a beer and me and M shared the traditional garlic fries ;) They were good but and they gave U a slice of apple so that U would feel fresh in the mouth afterwards, it didn't help ;)

Baseball is more of a social thing than fanatic watching. I mean, we talked, ate and walked around while they were playing but it's just because a game can be really long since the innings are not time limited. We left before the game was over, I think around the 5th inning and a full game is 9. When we left, Texas was in the lead and I think they won also.

Cause we also got a $5 gift card, me and Anna bought a cap with the Mariner's sign on it which was really cool ;) Now we look even more the same ;)

This weekend is the big Sea Fair in Seattle and today was when all the sailors came back from the sea so there were a lot of white dressed hotties walking on the streets when we drove home. We cheered on them and at a red light, M pulls up her camera and takes a picture on a gang of officers :) They were posing for her and it was just hilarious ;) Anna didn't know that the window was down so she made a LOUD "Excuse me" sound and everyone on the sidewalk looked in to our car...hahahah we laughed long for that.

A great night with the girls but I wish we could have stayed in Seattle to get to know some sailors ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Goodbye Ramona :(

2010-08-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) me and the kids went to the movies again in the morning for the free summer shows. This time it was Coraline and I think it's a really creepy movie. We've seen it before and Sofia was still afraid and had to hold my hand all the time and I'm glad she did cause I was also afraid ;)

We went home and had lunch before we went back to the bowling place we were yesterday and now they had the power back so we could play. We played for one hour and we had time to almost finish two series. The kids are so funny when they play cause they can't throw the ball as U are supposed to throw it, they more toss it away with force. That makes a horrible sound on the track and I'm afraid it will break every time. The first round Helena won and the second I won. The kids had this fence so it was much easier for them, that's why I didn't won the first time ;)

It was really hot today so when we came home we packed our beach stuff and went to the Waverly Beach Park as always. Anna joined us later with Slater and Jay and it was really nice. The kids got a ice cream and they all played together in the sand, digging and building. Sofia tried to wash gold but was not that lucky ;) Anna had showed Jay my blog yesterday and now he was excited cause he was on it and he asked if I would post a picture of today and write about him. I got a new reader!! ;)

The family had a BBQ back home but I was going to Starbucks to say goodbye to Ramona and then to Bellevue Downtown park for a movie.

I picked up Anna and we went to QFC to buy some dinner/goodies for the movie. We bought: chocolate raisins, Ritz chips, BBQ Oahu rings and tropical juice ;)

At Starbucks we got to meet Goska, the new au pair after Ramona, and she was really nice. She's from Poland I think.

M had made a frame with a photo of all five of us and we all signed it before Ramona got it. It was really nice and she was happy. We actually have another gift but it didn't make it with the mail for today so she'll get it when Kadda goes home. It's a t-shirt with the text "Friendship over borders" on the heart and on the back it says "Fancy Nannies" under is the Seattle skyline, then 2009/2010 and then it's the American, German, French and Swedish flag. It's so cool and perfect for us to have as a memory. I hope it'll come soon cause I wanna see it, I wasn't there when they made it.

Me, Anna and M had to leave pretty early cause we wanted to see "Percy Jackson & the Olympians. The Lightning thief" and we wanted to have good seats. We found pretty decent ones and put on the sweatpants and sweatshirt and wrapped the sleeping bag around us. M had brought these cool chairs that was very low and perfect when U lay down on a blanket. Anna called us old ladies but I think she was just jealous cause she didn't get one ;)

The movie was really good cause I like when it's about history and Greek mythology. It was a bit like Narnia with all the centaurs and satyrs.

This day was good but I'm so tired lately, donno if it's the medication that does that or if I'm just working too much....probably the last thing ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

The Aquarium

2010-08-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday) me and the kids wanted to go bowling and Patrizia, Christopher's and Elise's au pair, had called me earlier and we decided to meet there and bowl together after lunch. So at 1 we went there but the bowling place was out of power and it would take hours for them to fix it. Disappointed we sat in the car again and after a discussion we agreed to come back tomorrow and now go to the Seattle Aquarium instead. The kids have been there before but I have never, so I used Helena as a excuse also to make the kids OK with going there.

I was lucky so I got a parking lot close and there were not so much people so we didn't have to wait so long until we could get our tickets and go in. I had the Primecard so we got it cheaper ;)

The first we came to was a huge aquarium that was like a wall with huge fishes swimming around looking funny ;) The glass was so weird that both me and Filip got dizzy so we continued.

In the next room were a lot of animals that lives on the shore, like sea stars, and we could touch them and feel the different structures. It was a bit yucky but fun for the kids. Filip was kind of against going here cause it was boring, but as with the zoo he was very excited once we got in.

They had a big octopus that crawled along the glass of it's tank so we could see all the suction caps on it's arms, kind of cool.

It was not so very special but it was nice walking around looking at all the colorful and funny fishes that swum around in huge tanks. There were a lot of different seals and also otters and they were cute. Not such a big place so it took maybe just an hour to walk through it, but then we spend some time looking in the gift shop and the kids got some face painting also. Sofia got a cute little pinging on her cheek, Helena got a octopus and Filip got a orca whale. All really cute.

The kids wanted to check out the antic store that was close to the parking and I saw a opportunity to get the kids busy ;) They have so much cool stuff there, everything from old furniture to old Playboy magazines ;) We didn't buy anything but Filip wanted a crosswalk sign that flashes. Wonder where he wants to put that?

Back home, I packed the beach stuff and we went to Waiverly Beach park again and the kids got some shaved ice and they didn't have to wait so long for the lifeguards to leave so they were happy.

I had to walk to Bartell Drugs to get some more medication cause mine is almost empty and I need to send all the receipt to the insurance company. Just hope that I get the money back soon!

I don't really have time to write on the blog or do anything else on the computer so that's why I'm late with the up date. But I will write about every day so be patience....hahah, it sounds like I have a lot of readers ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Ramona's goodbye to Seattle

2010-08-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) Ramona and Kadda left the house pretty early cause they had some stuff to do before we were meeting again for Ramona's last weekend in Seattle. She wanted to say goodbye to the city so we were planing to take a ferry to Bainbridge and maybe go canoeing.

Me, M and Anna slept a bit longer and then we took it pretty slow with the breakfast and M Skyped with her boyfriend so we got to listen to some French, cute ;)

At around 1 we didn't wanna wait longer cause we wanted to use the day, so we called Ramona and Kadda and we decided to meet at the piers in Seattle. M took me and Anna in the car and after some looking after a parking spot, we went in to one of the parking garages just by the piers. Why walk? ;)

We walked there for a while and looked in all the cool stores there and smelled the sea. I like it down there, it reminds me a lot about the coast in Sweden!

When we called Ramona, she had changed her mind so she didn't want to take the ferry anymore! Instead we met them at Pike Place, I went to Hard Rock Cafe and finally got my shirt from there. This time I bought a sweater instead, a black with black, shiny print on it. Nice!

We took the bus to the Seattle Center where we thought there would be sth cause of the Sea fair that's going on, but there were nothing special. We went to the center house and grabbed sth to eat. I had the kebab that I had once before and it was still good plus that the guy who served me was really cute ;)

We took the bus back and then walked to the car and M drove us to Kerry Park which is on Queen Ann, and U have a amazing view over Seattle from here. It's actually seen in one episode of Grey's ;) It was beautiful and we could see all Seattle with the Space Needle and the mountains and that's a really great view. I don't think there is much that can beat that. It's definitely sth I'm gonna miss.

M was in a bit of a hurry cause she was going to the movies with some French people, but she drove us home and even though I went to bed really early, I had time to do some stuff on my computer which is always good!!

Today it's 1st August, which means that I only have 23 days of work left!!! See U soon!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Last Elliotte Party

2010-08-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) I woke up early cause me, Anna and Kadda were going to the outlet mall and then maybe on a hike. The weather was perfect for shopping cause it was grey and cloudy.

The drive there is about 40 min maybe and we had planned well cause we were there before they opened so we could have a cup of coffee to get some more energy.

We walked through it all, had lunch and a cheesecake on a stick and it took us about 5 hours ;) i bought a pair of jeans (of course), a pair of Converse, a carry on luggage for the flight home and a Puma t-shirt. I'm very happy cause now I can cross out some stuff on my list ;)

We dropped Kadda at home and then me and Anna continued to Mercer Island were Anna bought some German stuff for the present to Elliotte and then we drove to IKEA were I bought some Swedish stuff.

The party tonight at Elliotte's place is a birthday party so all the girls are giving him a Swedish/German/French basket. I put in a Swedish cookbook, crisp bread, Ahlgren's bilar and dajm. Anna had some German cookies, Kadda some pudding, Ramona some German beer and M had a baguette and some French cookies. We were really proud of our gift and it looked really nice.

After IKEA we drove to Anna's place were we had a gourmet dinner of "polarbröd" and "sill" ;) It was really jummy!

When Anna had packed her stuff we went to my place and I took a shower and started to get ready. After a while M came and then also Ramona and Kadda. Everyone was sleeping at my place cause the family was out hiking this weekend so I had the house for myself.

M made jelly shots for the party and we ate cake and listened to music while I was getting ready. Me and Anna were in a rock mood tonight so we had made a play list with just old rock songs like: living on a prayer, bed of roses and many more ;)

At 10 we grabbed the gift and I drove to Elliotte's, since I'm still on antibiotics I could not drink. But I had a great time anyways. When we came there were not so much people but Elliotte was really happy of the present and then more people came and the party really started.

We spent most of the time outside and since I wasn't drinking I was very cold! But I stayed cause there were just so much fun people who I wanted to talk with. The girls were having jelly shots and we have to have them at the next party cause I wanna try them.

I got to know one thing at the party, a sad thing: Fredrik Ljungberg is not playing for Sounders anymore!! He has been exchanged to Chicago!! What is that? That means that the chance of seeing him in Bellevue again is very low!! Bummer!

At around 2:30 I started to gather all my sheep and we drove home and everybody got ready for bed. Anna was sleeping on the red sofa downstairs, Kadda on the blue sofa in the kitchen, Ramona in Sofia's bed and Emilie was sleeping on a mattress on my floor ;) I had a full house ;) It was nice that we all could go out this time cause it was the last party for everyone, and having a sleepover at my place then was just great! One of my favourite nights this far. Thank U guys!!

Funniest of the day: My joke: "Hey, let's fill up the bathtub with champagne and we'll have a bubble bath"...hihih totally hilarious!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Improv theater

2010-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday) I had to go to the doctor for a check up on my bug bite. Sofia came with me as a moral support and I'm glad cause I needed someone to hold my hand cause it was painful today as well. This time, I went to a infection specialist to see if the wound was infected and if the antibiotics were right. He had to open the wound again cause there were still some more puss that needed to be removed. It was painful :(

I have to have the wound covered for one more week but I only have to eat one of the antibiotics cause the test result showed which bacteria it was. Now I also have to put a antibiotic cream in my nose three times a day and I need to shower with a special soap. It just sucks, one more week without swimming! Arrgghh!

After lunch, I put everyone in the car and drove Sofia and Helena to their last cheer leading class and then me and Filip went to Anna's place. First I had to get the new medication I needed and it was really expensive. This sucks so much cause I already spend so much money on medications, but I know the insurance company will pay it but it will take a while until I get those money. Why did this happen to me and right now? I'm a good person, or? ;)

At Anna's place, Filip and her two older boys Jay and Lance, jumped in to the pool while me and Anna watched from the side, enjoying the sun.

The kids have never met before so it took them maybe half an hour before they started to talk ;) They were just swimming around, watching each other from a distance. It looked really fun ;) Then they dove after a coin and they played really well together. Too bad we had to go early cause the girls had a show now when it was the last time and they wanted us to come. Me and Anna said that maybe the boys can play another time as well. Too bad we didn't try this earlier...whatever!

The girls were good, but a bit goofy and didn't take it so serious. It was fun to see what they had learned and there were a little girl that was so good. I bet she'll be a real cheer leader when she grows up.

Sofia and Helena had made up a cheer of their own that they showed everybody, it was cool and they ended with: Go Sofia! Go Helena! ;)

We drove to the beach and there the kids celebrated with a shaved ice. It's shredded ice that they put flavours on. It's really big here and looks cool but I never tried it.

I'm still not allowed to swim so I was on the grass reading while the kids jumped from the dock and collected rocks.

Back home, we had an awesome BBQ with artichokes, meat and salad...jum jum. After I went to Anna's place cause the kids were gone and she was just hanging at the pool. I didn't stay long cause we decided to go to University district and the improve theater we've been to a couple of times.

Anna tried to do a parallel parking but after the third try we said it was too narrow and she parked on the sidewalk as last time ;) We are European, we do what we want ;)

The show was funny and we laughed a lot. I could never do what they are doing, I think too much and am too slow. When they ask for a topic and I start thinking, someone else has already said sth ;) Good for me that there are others that know how to do that so I don't have to entertain the world ;)

Luckily, Lotta was still up when I got home, so she could help me to change the dressing cause it were all soaked with blood plus that I tried to wear jeans tonight, not a good idea. Pain!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Saloon ala Emilie

2010-07-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

Today Jonas took Filip to the doctors to look at his throat and try to figure out why he's always so hoarse. Then he had his "R-practice" so I had to pick him up there when he was done.

I got a answer from the insurance company about my hospital visits but they just answered that they cover the visit I'll do tomorrow that I have schedule. They didn't say anything about my visit on Tuesday or my medications so I sent another email and asked so I'll see what they'll answer tomorrow. Probably that they wont pay, we'll see.

The kids were a bit hard today and I was not in a good mode so it was not so fun. Before lunch I called home and talked with them and that was nice. It's not so long until I'll see them all again, only 48 days! ;) I so wanna go home now, or I would like to stay if I didn't have to work ;)

I drove the girls to cheer leading and then me and Filip started to build one of his marble tracks. It was fun, and quite ;) Filip is always so calm and nice when U are alone with him, it's when he gets together with the other two he transforms to some energetic, silly monster ;) I like the calm Filip better.

When it was time to pick the girls us we packed the beach bag cause again the weather got better in the afternoon and the kids wanted to swim so we went to the Waiverly Beach Park again cause there the lifeguards are off early ;)

We almost went home earlier than planned cause the kids were out of control and didn't listen at all so I lost all motivation and just wanted to go home. But then I thought, better being here on the beach than at home where they'll fight even more so we stayed and when the lifeguards came they played well together in the water.

Jonas joined us after work and he had brought some dinner but I had to go to the mall so I didn't eat with them. I had asked M to bleach my hair so I needed to get the stuff for that. I went to Beauty Works and there they had everything I needed and it was so cheap. I paid $12 for bleaching powder, the liquid, two pair of gloves and a comb!! If I had gone to the hairdresser I would have to pay $120!!! I was happy!

I stopped bye at Anna's place on my way home and said goodnight to Slater and talked a bit with Anna before I went home and came home at the same time as the kids and M ;)

She's so nice and I'm glad she's my friend! She mixed the stuff and prepared foil and I put on a dirty t-shirt and took a seat in the saloon chair ;)

It took maybe 40 min or sth to go through the whole hair, well she did highlights so she didn't take all the hair. She was kind of worried in the end that the cream wasn't enough but she made it. We went to the shower and since I don't have a hand shower we filled up the tub, I got the kids play pillows and build a bed that was the same height as the tub then I laid down with my head down in the water ;) M was in the tub and tried to wash my hair as much as possible. Then I took a shower and got the rest out.

M looked a bit nervous when I came out and I asked if I was all orange but she told me that there were sth weir on the top of my head. When we had dried it I could go to the mirror, at this time M was looking really scared ;) It's lighter than before and it looks good, except of the golden spot on top of my head. There is a area just on top of my head that is kind of yellow/orange. I don't think it's so bad and I'll see what happens when I'm out in the sun and I'm gonna try to put some lemon juice in it. I'm not upset and M was really relieved ;) I'm just thankful that I could save $120!!! What will I do without her?

I guess we weren't sure about the time and maybe this was a area that was more sensitive...I donno, I'm not a hairdresser. If I don't like it in a while I maybe go to the hairdresser or I'll go dark again. But I'll try working this out cause I like being blond, it makes me look more Swedish ;) Tomorrow it's Friday, jippie! I'm going to the doctor and I'll see what they'll say. The wound feels better today. It's still bleeding but it doesn't hurt so much anymore so I think the antibiotic helps.

Thank U M for a great hair session that we will remember forever ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

No swiming for me

2010-07-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today I wasn't so tired when I woke up which I thought was weird since I was up at 12 and then 6 to take my medications. I had to wake up Filip cause we were going to his "R-practice" and we needed to be there at 9:20. I took a shower with the wound covered with plastic wrap. It was kind of tricky cause I tried to have the leg under water as little as possible so I had to be kind of bended ;) But I made it and felt much fresher afterwards.

I also tried to call my insurance company but they are located in Denmark so I missed them by a half an hour. But I'm glad cause I don't wanna talk with a Danish person ;) I sent them a mail instead so I'll see what they say.

At the speech practice I called and got a appointment for the check up on Friday with a infection specialist or sth. I hope there will be no problems cause I don't wanna have this the rest of my stay here.

Back home, I had a big mess in my room that I needed to clean up and the kids played. Filip and Helena started the New York puzzle that's really hard. But that's good cause that keeps them busy ;) Me and Sofia watched the movie Tinkerbell until lunch cause the weather was not that nice and we were a bit tired.

I drove the girls to cheer leading again and back home Filip was working on the puzzle so I could be on the computer a while but then I joined him and tried to help but it's hard. It's so dark and some of the pieces fits but are at the wrong place anyway, tricky!

The weather got better in the afternoon so we packed the swimwear and towels before we picked up the girls and then headed to the beach. I couldn't go in the water but that was OK cause I thought it was a bit cold anyways. The kids jumped right in but then spend most of the time on the playground until the lifeguards were gone so they could jump from the deck.

It's so beautiful here! Just laying in the grass and look out over the water with Seattle on the other side and the mountains behind the city. I could actually see the Space Needle from here and it's cool ;)

We stayed maybe 2 hours and then we met up with Jonas and Lotta in Kirkland, we jumped in to their car and then went to Bellevue and the restaurant Blue C where we had sushi. I'm not a huge fan but they have some pretty good stuff. I like the noodles and the California Rolls that has crab, avocado, mayonnaise and rice in it.

Filip was crazy this time! He ate 7 plates with just beans...weirdo! ;) When we were done, there were a lot of empty plates, and I think the kids stood for most of them ;)

We went in the mall cause Jonas had to fix his phone at Apple and Filip needed new shorts and Sofia a new swim suit. I just walked a long, fantasized about all the things I would like to buy ;)

When we got home I walked down to QFC and got the Saab, cause I didn't want to leave it there all by itself the whole night ;)

Now I'm really tired, donno if it's a side effect of the medication or just cause I didn't sleep so much tonight. I'm just gonna check some stuff on the computer and then I think I'll crawl in to bed, maybe I can have a whole hour of sleep before I need to take my pill ;)

I already lost the competition with Anna and M, or I didn't loose but I had to give up cause of the wound and I'm not allowed to drink on Saturday any way cause of the antibiotics so I'll be the driver. But it's still gonna be the best party so far, I can feel it!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

The ER

2010-07-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) I was really tired cause I barely had any sleep tonight cause of my bug bite that had got worse and now it's so painful. It even hurt just when I walked so I think there's something wrong that wont go away by itself as I was hoping. But I'll deal with that later today.
I had to wake up the kids today cause we were going to the cinema to the "free summer movies" at Crossroads. Today it was "Aliens in the attic" We have seen the movie before but it was OK cause the kids like it and I think it was fun for Helena to see how the cinema looks here cause I think it's bigger than in Sweden. The kids got some goodies and we had a great time at the movies and we had time to go home and get lunch before I drove the girls to their cheer leading.

Max and Ty, friends of Filip, came over and played for about 2 hours. They were so good I barely noticed them. Too bad they could only play for such a short time but they had camp in the morning and then I had to pick up the girls.

While the boys were playing I had cleaned and filled up the pool so the kids could have a place to cool off at home.

Lotta came home early so I could go to the hospital with my leg. I wanted to go alone, cause I'm a big girl now ;) No, but I felt like if I could do this alone, I can do whatever...almost ;) But I when I was there I wished I had my mum with me cause it was hurting and I was a bit scared. Plus that I never remember the name of my medications and stuff I'm allergic to, maybe it's time to learn that ;)

Everything went great and I didn't have to wait at all. I had one doctor and two nurses who helped me and they were all really nice and understanding. They explained really well and showed me what to do. They had to cut the wound open a bit more and then they pressed all the yucky stuff out. That was painful!! But the nurse tried to talk to be through it all but at some point I couldn't answer her cause I was biting my tongue. They put in a gauze packing inside the wound so it would suck up the rest off the pus and also prevent new bacterias to get in to the wound. This was also very painful!! Over they taped a dressing to protect the wound and that I shall change every day or when it gets wet. First i thought that I should change the gauze inside the wound and I was like: "What?!" But no no, I'm not allowed to touch that and I have to make sure it stays in the wound. Pfew, that would have been painful and yucky.

They gave me two kinds of antibiotics, one for all the common bacterias and one for a specialized bacteria. They don't know what bacteria I have so they give me for everything. There is a lot of pills, one of them I have to take 4 times a day with 6 hours in between so when the clock is 12am, 6 am, 12pm and 6 pm. The other I have to take 2 times a day and with 12 hours in between so at 8 am and 8 pm. I also have to take probiotic that helps the body to restore the balance of the good bacterias since the antibiotic takes away all the bacterias, not only the bad ones.

The worst thing is that I'm not allowed to swim or be in direct sunlight the rest of the week!! And now when it's summer and really hot and I have a tanning schedule I need to follow ;) Anna, my friend in Sweden, are going on vacation soon and I have to be more tanned then her, cause she is always so brown and now I wanna be worse ;) Well, well...I hope it's still sunny next week and that the wound will heal quickly.

After a couple of hours and stop at Bartell Drugs where I got the medication, I could go back home and tell everyone about my first visit to the hospital here, I would have wished I didn't had to go but I guess it was the best.

I don't know yet if the insurance will cover this cause I went to the ER without being in a life threatening emergency, well my wound could have been life threatening but I don't know. The hospital sent the bill to the company and I'll try to call them tomorrow. What's weird is that they are located in Denmark, not Sweden, so I hope they either talk Swedish or English cause I don't understand any Danish!!

I came home in time for dinner, we got steak and artichoke from the BBQ and to that a salad. It was jummy!!

I made a schedule for my medications cause I need to take them for 10 days and there are a lot of pills to remember. Plus, I like to be organized ;)

I weren't allowed to play soccer since I ate the medication and cause it's not good if the dressing gets wet. I was kind of sad when I had to call Jen cause I know that they needed me, but even if the doctors said it was OK to play I think it would have been to painful cause it hurts just when I'm walking. This meant that I could join Anna and watch "Monsters vs Aliens" in Bellevue Downtown park. we haven't missed one movie yet and I hope we'll see them all.

First we had to stop bye at Starbucks cause M had the probiotic pills I needed. I didn't find them at the PCC here in Kirkland so I asked her to check at the one close to her, and they had it. Then we stopped at Safeway and bought a cake, sour men and snickers for the movie...jum jum! It gets dark earlier and earlier each week now so the movie had already started when we got there. we got better seats than last week but still not perfect. The movie was funny and cute, I didn't see it before and I had a great time as always with Anna.

Back home I got ready for bed and set my alarm for 12am, it was just in half an hour, and then I put in reminders on my phone for the medication. I'm gonna sleep in 6 hours interval ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Smores

2010-07-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday) I finally did the thing I've tried so long. I woke up at 7 and went out for a walk!! This is thanks to the competition with Anna and M and I'm so gonna win this ;)

The girls slept really long, and wouldn't for Filip, they would have slept longer but he was bored so he went upstairs and woke them up...why? Just so mean.
I skyped with Ida and that was really nice. She's getting glasses so she showed me her options and it all looked really good. I miss her and everyone else so much and I could go home right now!

After breakfast the kids played by themselves and I tried to pack my suitcases for my trip home. I wanted to see how much they would weigh so that I won't go over the limit. I didn't pack all my stuff, just the clothes, but it seems fine. The big one was just 19 kg and I can pack 23 in both so I'm not that worried, plus I'm gonna leave some stuff here that's broken or try to sell some that I don't want, like some shoes.

We had lunch and this week it was time for the girls to have a camp, cheer leading camp. So I drove them to the same place where Filip had his Lego camp and sadly it was the same teacher Sofia had the last time. We don't really like her cause she's not that authorised or structured. But I think it'll be fine and it's also a good way for Helena to practice her English.

Me and Filip went to the beach where we met up with Christopher. I had called Patrizia and knew that they were gonna be there so Filip could have someone to play with. At first, he didn't want to take the swim test but after Christopher passed it, Filip also did it and passed so both could go on the deck and jump. It was so nice and sunny and the water was really warm so I also jumped a couple of times.

We picked up the girls and went straight back to the beach and I'm glad we didn't have trouble finding a parking spot cause there were a lot of people, of course.

After about 2 hours of swimming and tanning ;) we went back home and got ready for dinner. I went to Platos Closet, the second hand store, to see if they had something fun. I wanted a pair of shoes for Jonas party but also some party dresses to bring home. I tried on so many stuff but didn't bye so much. I found the shoes, a pair of black high heels with open toe of the brand Steve Madden!! Jippie!! They were so comfortable and match perfect with the dress I'm wearing. Then I also bought a blue top, a red dress with white dots (super cute) and also a pink sweater sweather with short sleeves. Not really what I had planed but whatever!

Back home I had dinner. Super good fish that they had BBQ and to that cos cos. For dessert, we made Smores over the open fire. It was so cozy and good but Sofia and Filip were just so clumsy so they made a big mess everywhere. But I didn't care cause I was off ;)

I joined Lotta in the couch and watched Friends while I tried to write on my blog. It was not easy cause I got distracted from the TV, but I mange to write a bit ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Birthday party

2010-07-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) me and Anna slept pretty long. I was surprised when I looked at the clock cause Anna is usually up early and now we slept until 10! Not like her!

we had breakfast and then she had to work, so we just grabbed Slater and went to a park in Crossroad, Bellevue. It was really nice and while he was climbing at the playground, we relaxed in the sun. It such a hard work being an au pair ;)

They dropped me off on the way home and I took a nice shower cause today it was really hot. I wrapped the presents I had bought for Ebba and Axel cause today we were going to their birthday party. Lotta came home pretty stressed and had just realized that the party started 2 hours earlier than we though which meant that we had half an hour before it would start, and Jonas was at the store with Filip and Helena. No panic!!! But we were just a couple of minutes late and we weren't even the last ones.

There were a lot of Swedish people there, of course, but also some americans and a french couple. Jenny's mum and sister were visiting from Sweden and her mum was the most amazing person I ever met. I donno why but she had just such a great personality and I talked with her the most of the time. She told me all about her and her daughters' lives and we talked about traveling and exploring the world and collecting experiences before settling down. Just how my life looks like, it was so cool!

The entertainment for the party was a guy with a lot of reptiles. He had a huge toad, lizards, snakes and a alligator. He showed and talked about them and we got to pet most of them and sometimes he scared us with them, or he scared Lotta most of the time ;)

The twins got, in the end, to have the biggest snake around their necks and both Henrik and Jenny had to help cause it was so big. Ebba got scared so they had to take her away but Axel sat there although with a sceptic look on his face ;)

It was a great party and it was a while since I saw the Stendhal's so it was really nice. I also talked with another grandpa that was here on visit from Sweden and he told me that they were used to the heat cause they have a house in Thailand and lived there for 11 years or sth. Some people has it good....fun for them!

Back home, the family packed to go to the beach and I met up with Anna and M at QFC where we bought some nice stuff for a picnic and then we went to the beach as well. We bough a hamburger also before we took place at the dock and enjoyed a wonderful dinner watching the sun set behind the mountains.

We made up a challenge for the week cause we talked about how hard it is to motivate yourself to go up in the morning and go out for a walk or run. So, all of us needs to go out three times this week! The one who don't do it, will be the driver to Elliott's party on Saturday ;) And if we all do it, we'll take a cab....it's easier when we are several and there is a competition. We made a pinkie swear that we would be honest if we did it or not so we'll see how it goes.

I was so tired when I got home and I wanted to be alert in the morning when the challenge start so I went to bed immediately and I think I fell asleep the same time as the kids ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

ps. I didn't have a camera for the party so sadly I have no pictures ds.

Inner tubing

2010-07-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) Anna picked me up pretty early cause we were going inner tubing with some cool people. First we had to buy me a tube so that I could float down the river so we went to Bartell drugs and I found one at once. I got the black "River Rat" ;)

Back at Anna's place, I helped her to water her neighbour's plants and driveway ;) They were on vacation so Anna's boy was in charge of watering but now he wasn't there so Anna took over.

Janet picked us up around 12 and with her was Denice and Betty so we were a full car meeting up with the other cars in Kirkland.

We drove almost to Snoqualmie, to a place called Fall City. Here we parked three of the cars and since this was the end of our ride, we went with the rest of the cars to the start point. It was so hot so we all just wanted to go in to the water but it took a while to fill all the tubes and the other floating devices.

Finally everyone was ready and we tide all the tubes together and got in the river, but that was not such a good idea cause then we just spun all around and didn't get forward. So the tubes got cut of from the rafts and we could go down the stream.

The water was cold but after a while U got used to it and this was just amazing. I did it once before with the family but then it was more organized with a shuttle and U rented the tubes. Here we all did it by ourselves and there were so many people with all kinds of cool floating things. Some had these awesome mattresses and some had boats. The best was a double tube with a place for a cooling bag between, classy!

The stream was not that strong so it was slow and nice most of the way but there was one time when I fell off my tube ;) There were big rocks and it went fast so I crashed in to Anna and then fell off in the middle of the current. I was so scared!!! I thought I was gonna die ;) All I thought of was get up on the tube, get up on the tube. Anna was thinking of jumping in after me but she gave me a minute ;) And I got back up so it was fine. The rest of the ride was nice and it took about 2 hours to go down the river but in the end it was kind of cold so it was nice to get up.

Stupid me brought my camera, and still I had it in a zip lock it got wet and stopped working....hm...but I got the tip of putting it in a bowl with rice cause that would suck the water up.

When we came to the end point, we had a BBQ. Trev and her husband, who had planned all this, had brought a grill and hot dogs for everyone. We also had fruits, chips and drinks so it was great. We stayed there in the sun for like 1 hour before Janetn drove us home and I jumped in Anna's pool for the first time. It was cold!! Even though everyone else said it was warm, they were lying!!!

Me and Anna didn't do much the rest of the evening. I looked up stuff for my flight back home to Sweden so now I know more about my luggage and stuff.

We wanted to watch a German movie that Anna had told me about, but we just saw the beginning cause then it was stopping and we decided to go to sleep instead.

The funniest of the day: Anna saw a spider in her room and she's terrified of spiders. She's gonna take it with a paper when it JUMPS!!! She screams with so much fear and it really sounds like someone is killing her. Downstairs we hear Lisa and Todd jumping up from their chairs preparing to run up to see what was going on. Anna said carefully: "Sorry, it was just a spider" They weren't that happy...but I laughed ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

ps. Today I've been in the US 11 months!! See U soon ds.

Sun sun sun

2010-07-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today, I took all of the kids to the beach right after breakfast cause the sun was already out and it was warm so no time to loose. We went to a beach called Houghton beach and it's just down the street towards Bellevue. It's a nice beach with a playground and a beach volleyball field, but the water is a bit gross with too much of seaweed but who is sensitive?

There were not so much people, maybe cause it was just 10 in the morning, but there were a bridal couple taking some nice wedding pictures out on the dock with Seattle in the background. The dress was so pretty!! It was a tight, tank top and then the skirt was big, with a lot of folds and it looked like a cream cake. In the waistline was a light blue ribbon, the bridesmaid had a matching blue dress. They all looked so pretty and they did some funny pictures with attitude. When they were done, and walked bye, they didn't look so pretty. The bride was nothing special and I usually thinks that every bride is pretty, but not this one. Whatever, they seemed happy and I bet they think they are beautiful!

I told the kids not to go up on the dock before they were done cause maybe they didn't want three kids in their background ;)

Sofia was happy cause there were no lifeguard on duty so now she could also jump from the dock. I laied on my towel next to them and had a watching eye on them while I red my book. It was really nice today and the kids did great. They ran and played at the beach volleyball field a couple of times and after two hours we went back home and had lunch.

We took Filip to the last session of his LEGO camp and then we went to the beach again. This time to a place called Waverly Beach park, it's a bit longer there but still close. Here there is not much of a beach, there is a grass area and then there are rocks on the bottom of the water so it hurts when U walk there. But this time, when I was in the water, I had my flip-flops on so that was fine. The only problem was that I had to squeeze my toes so that I wouldn't drop them ;)

It was so nice cause it was a bit windy and then not so hot but U could still dry off in the sun and tan of course ;) Helena did some fishing but didn't have any luck.

When we picked up Filip we all got to see when they smashed a huge LEGO pyramid that one of the teacher had made. Apparently this was a wish from the students ;)

We went back to the beach and stayed there for about and hour before we went home. Filip was fishing and this time he was lucky. At first it didn't go any good but then a nice guy gave us some other bate and then it worked better. We were lucky that there were some big and strong men there cause none of us could get the fishes of the hook. i didn't even wanted to try cause I think it's gross. We went home with 6 fishes and Filip was so proud!

I had a soccer game tonight so I got ready while Jonas and the kids took care of the fishes. I signed up for a indoor summer season with a girl from the team. So now I have soccer twice a week so I could be in some kind of shape when I come home ;)

It was indoor at the Arena Sport in Redmond where I've played before and it was a coed team, both women and men. It was kind of stressed when I got there cause the game was about to start but after a minute I had my equipment on and was on the field. Since I sent my indoor shoes home, with mum and dad, I had to play with my running shoes and that looks so unprofessional I think. but it could be a great way to make them underestimate me ;)

It's so different to play inside and we didn't have a sub so I had to play all the time. It was so warm and barely any air conditioner so it was really hard so I was not that good, a bit lazy I think ;) But I scored twice so I think it's OK. The game was just 2 times 20 minutes so not that long. I thought we had several games tonight so I tried to save some power but next time I know I don't have to do that. Sadly they scored 7 and we 4 so we lost but this was just the first game of the season with a new team and not a real goalie so I think it's OK. The other team was really good and I think I'll do better next time now when I know how it is.

On my way home I stopped at Safeway to look for a tube to float on in the water. They didn't have any but I bought strawberries instead. U could buy a small package with organic berries for $4 or U could buy a huge package with not organic berries for $4...sorry but I bought the big one!! I wanted strawberries so bad and I knew that the family was having guests so I didn't think there would be any problem.

The family had a BBQ back home and Lindsey and here kids were here too. I took a shower and then joined them. It was jummy but so did the bees think cause they were everywhere. I don't like them. Can't they just stick to honey or whatever.

I like this evening cause I don't have anything special planned and can just be...I like it!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Girls night

2010-07-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today (Thursday) Filip went to his first meeting with the speech trainer cause of his trouble saying "R". It seemed good and now he has to go twice a week, one time with a American trainer and the other with a German one cause we think that the sound might be similar to Swedish. We'll see how it goes but this means more driving for me cause it's in the morning...well well

The girls watched a movie and then they played nicely by themselves so I could spend some time at the computer.

After lunch, I drove Filip to the LEGO class and then me and the girls went to Grasslawn Park where they played for a while. Yesterday they were at Build a bear so they had their new animals with them and they played a lot with them today.

We picked up Filip and we had brought the fishing equipment and our swimsuits so we went immediately to the beach where we all were on the dock and watched Filip fishing. The girls were swimming for a while but I stayed up cause it was cold!!!

Filip didn't get any fish but there was one Russian guy or sth who got a huge fish. It was some kind of green fish and I think it was about 1 meter, so cool!

We went home to then walk down to meet Lotta at the Mexican restaurant Cactus where we were gonna have dinner. I had a discussion with Sofia that was not very nice and I've noticed that both the kids have big trouble apologizing, they don't know how to.

We also met Jonas and one of his work buddies (I think) and then we had a great dinner together! I love Mexican food!!

After, the rest went to the water front cause there is a outdoor concert every Thursday, but I went home cause I was meeting the girls tonight at M's place. I first went to pick up Anna and I had to stay there for a while cause she wasn't off yet but that's OK cause I like hanging out there.

We had to stop at Target on our way cause I needed birthday presents for Ebba and Axel and of course sth good to eat tonight. Not a TV night without sth jummy ;)

M was cutting Ramona's hair so they were outside when we came. The first I did was to invite them all to Jonas 40 years celebration in the end of August. It's so cool, Lotta and Jonas have rented a mansion in Woodenville where we also can spend the night. We are gonna have a "kräftskiva", a Swedish tradition where we eat crayfish and drinks schnapps ;) It's gonna be so much fun!

Kadda had brought a movie, I already forgot the name ;) It was about a geek who hadn't have a girl and then he goes on vacation and meets a girl. But there is just all this fucked up situations and it was hilarious!!

M gave away some stuff she didn't want anymore so I got back my Reebok shoes I exchanged with her and then I got her Nine West boots..hehe, I'll see if I'll take them home. Depends on how much my bags will weight. Anna showed me her bags that she had tried to pack, it wasn't pretty ;) She needs to send a package. I think I'll just leave stuff here and then hope the family can take it when they'll move...in about a year ;)

In the car back home me and Anna did this creepy thing again. She said the exact words I was about to say...it's so weird but totally hilarious. What the sentence was, I'm not gonna write here cause it was a bit too dirty...;) I just love discussing stuff with her cause we are thinking so similar that U never have to argue ;) We also had the same taste, in a Victoria Secret store on Hawaii we both, at the same time, pulled out a bra and said: "Hey, this is cute!" We both bought it ;) Oh, I'm gonna miss my Anna Gabriel!!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

My twins turn 21

2010-07-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today are two HUGE birthdays. They are among the most important in my life and I can't join in the celebration. It's Ida and Elin, my favorite twins who turn 21 today. Happy Birthday to U both and I love U so much!!!

Me and the kids saw the movie "Honey I shrunk the kids" again!! They really like it and it's fine for me if they watch TV cause then I don't have to engage so much ;)

Filip had a appointment at the dentist today, again!! One of the brackets were loose so we needed to fix that. I wonder how many times I need to go there before I go home.

We had to hurry home, but first a stop at Noah's bagel to buy bagels for dinner tonight. At home, I quickly made some noodle soup for lunch and then the girls and me put on swimsuits and then I put everyone in the car and we dropped off Filip at his LEGO camp. Me and the girls, went to the beach since it was sunny and warm today!! There were a lot of people but we were lucky cause a car was leaving so we got a parking spot close so we didn't have to walk ;)

It was so nice there and since there are lifeguards I could really enjoy the sunshine with a lot of tanning and a great book!

We picked up Filip and back home, everyone got a ice cream. I was just tired, cause it's really exhausting working with kids, if u didn't know already ;)

Filip and Helena got to go to QFC and by tomatoes and milk, Sofia always gets jealous but she's too small to go there.

We played Sorry before Lotta and Jonas got home and then we had our salmon bagels and Lotta was taking the girls to Build a Bear and I said that I could take Filip to the beach cause I didn't have any plans and I felt like cool swim would be nice. He bought his fishing rod and wanted to be on the bridge so he tried a couple of times but he weren't lucky. We jumped in the water some times but I'm not so comfortable in deep water so I stayed most of the time up on the dock ;)

After an hour, Lotta and the kids came and the girls wanted to jump in a water a couple of time too so we stayed a little longer before we went home, I took a shower, went downstairs with my computer and turned on the TV and there was: GREASE!! I love it!! A great ending of a day!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Not such a fun day

2010-07-21T10:10:00.001-07:00

Today (Tuesday) the kids slept pretty long again, which is really nice to me ;) We watched the movie "Honey, I shrunk the kids" and it's a cute movie.

The kids couldn't play together today cause they were just arguing and fighting so we decided to bake a cake. It's not so easy to follow a Swedish receipt here cause the measurements and the ingredients are not really the same so I had to improvise a bit. And in the middle of all we were out of eggs, so we had to pause the baking and me and Sofia went to the store and got some new ones.

The cake weren't as mum's use to be but I hope it'll be good anyway ;) I think my mum has to teach me and show me how to bake and cook. ;)

I drove Filip to the LEGO camp again and now the weather was really nice so me and the kids went to the beach. We went to the place where Sofia jumped from the bridge another day, but today there were lifeguards and then U need to pass a swim test to go out on the deep parts and since she can't swim properly, just "dog swim" Sofia couldn't go on the bridge. I think all these rules are kind of silly. I mean it's good that there are lifeguards cause then I can relax more, but still...can't they say like, U don that on your own risk or sth. I donno, but Sofia was disappointed.

Sofia was not very nice today, at the beach she was all rude and saucy, which is not so unusual, so I drove the girls home and tried to calm down on my way to pick up Filip. I succeeded but after being home a while, Sofia started again and this time I couldn't take it anymore so I sent her to her room and let her be there for over an hour. I'm just so sick of her "queen behaviour" and all the crap she's giving me. I don't know what to do, when I try to tell her she's just laughing in my face and that's the worst thing ever. I'm just so sick of it now.....whatever

The cake we made was good, it didn't taste like it used to but we could eat it ;)

I made dinner for Jonas and the kids, I had a game so I didn't have time to eat. The game was in Seattle and cause of the early game start and all the traffic, we only had 8 people in the beginning but it worked really good. We, or I, scored twice in the first 10 minutes so I think it's better to have fewer player on the field cause then there is bigger space to run and play the ball on. We didn't score again but they did so the final score was 2-1. We won but we, or I, could have scored a couple of times more. I'm just so frustrated with myself that I always makes it so complicated when I'm trying to score. Instead of going around the goalie I shoot right at her....why???

Jen dropped me off at Starbucks in Bellevue cause I needed to meet Catherine and pay her the baseball tickets for the game we are going to in August. The girls were there but me and Anna were going to the movie "A night at the museum 2" in Bellevue Park, so we just stayed as long as we needed. Catherine was of course late so we got crappy seats in the park, just behind some gigantic chairs. We thought of knocking them down...would have been fun ;)

Anna fell asleep, so cute ;) But both of us saw the movie before so it was ok. I was not that fresh since I didn't shower so my sleeping bag smelled not so nice ;)

Anna drove me home and she gave me the funniest of the day: "My host mum was spit by a bider" Totally hilarious!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Monday, again

2010-07-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday) the kids slept long after the exhausting weekend so I didn't start working until 9 so that was nice cause I was also tired.

We watched TV until lunch time and today was Filip's first time at his LEGO camp so I drove him there and for the next three hours, I just had the girls. We went to the pool here in Kirkland but I didn't go in cause I thought it was too cold. So I just sat in the sun and finished my book, I didn't like the ending but it was OK.

When we had been there for like 1,5 hour, we had to go home cause it was time for me to pick up Filip. He said the camp was OK but he didn't know anyone so it could have been better. But he told me that they were building with a engine so they could make the constructions move. Today they build a gondola and a car. Sounds fun to me!

Back home, I just gave them some snack and then I had to clean some cause Lotta and Jonas were having guests today which also made them come home earlier than usual so i just worked to 5 which was really nice.

They were gonna have a bbq but I went to Anna's place instead cause we didn't see each other for the whole weekend and we had some catching up to do ;)

She was working until 8 so I just helped her and played some with the kids before we went to Bellevue. There we got sth to eat in the mall and then we went to the Bellevue Downtown park and ate and talked. It was really nice to be with my friend again!!

I drove home early cause I needed to write on my blog and check some stuff before I went to bed. I was so tired, and it's just Monday!!!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Back home

2010-07-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) we slept pretty long and it had been a nice sleep except that my back was a little upset from the hard ground I guess.

We had some yogurt, that U either drank or ate with a fork ;), and then we packed all our stuff and started the long walk back and again with all our pack. It was hard not to get too much sand in the bags and I guess we'll find sand everywhere weeks from now ;) The sad pat is that now I wont know if it's Hawaii sand or La Push sand I'll find :(

We went to Forks again to have lunch, this time at a Chinese restaurant and yes, they had also sth with Twilight. They had these huge paper dolls of the characters waiting in the entrance. I mean common, it's a Chinese restaurant!

We didn't take the ferry back cause we didn't want to wait for two hours again, so instead we drove south and around the Olympic mountains.

We stopped in Olympia cause we wanted a ice cream, but there were some kind of festival with a little amusement park. The kids got some tickets to go on rides and Sofia went on this "flying mat" by herself and in the beginning she laughed but when it got higher she looked terrified. But when she got down she said it was "Awesome!"

We all went on the spooky train and that was fun! Not that spooky but still...;) There were a lot of food of course and the kids had grilled corn but I just wanted a lemonade and since this is America, u get a one liter lemonade. OMG it was huge!! But I drank it all, took maybe 1 hour ;) We discussed this issue and it's the same when U order a ice cream with this "loose ice cream" with a lot of flavours. In Sweden, U can choose 3 different flavours and U'll eat it. Here I take 2 flavours and have to throw away some in the end. Their portions is huge!!! There is no chance U'll starve here ;)

The traffic was bad from Olympia, back home, so we were home around 8 and after unpacking I had to get out for a while. After this week and weekend with the kids, I needed a break from it all if I'll manage next week. So I went to Wendy's and bought a burger, then went to the baseball field and watched a game. There was this weird man in front of me who first was on his phone. When he hung up, he turned around, smiled at me and said that his brother was getting out of jail tomorrow ;) I was like: "Good for him" ;) He also said that he thought the brother had been there for 6 months but apparently it had been 1,5 years ;) I was like: "OK?" and U wanna share this with me because?...that's the thing with the Americans, they are so open ;)

Back home I was tired but I had to fix my work applications and it took some time cause the documents didn't want to do what I wanted but after some bad words and some fixing, I was done and could go to bed.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

FORKS

2010-07-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) we woke up at around 10 and it was nice to have been able to rest after that exhausting drive yesterday.

The other tent was already up but we met them at this "reception house" where we had breakfast. This camping, which was called "The Lost resort", was located totally in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing to do. Well, there were some great hikes and I'm sure the nature is beautiful, but nothing to do on the camping area. So after breakfast, we took down the tent and put everything back to the car and headed to Forks.

It took maybe 1,5 h to get there and the first thing that we see is the welcome sign we also see in the movie ;)

We parked in the center and walked around with not really knowing where to go. We found a store that had a lot of Twilight stuff (I mean all stores had Twilight stuff but this one had A LOT) and there we got a map over the city and where we could find all the Twilight stuff.

We walked to the school but they had tared it down and were gonna build a new one but we saw the sign and took some pictures.
We had lunch at a place called the Twilight Lodge where the menu was totally Twilight inspired. U could have the New Moon burger, the Rosalie sandwich or the Nakey Jakey ;) So funny and so good!

We wanted some dessert so we went to a sweet shop across the street where the kids got some candy and I took a ice cream. I also bough a bag there which was really cute. It came as a zipper and I had to zip it up and then the bag was created ;) It's pink and so cute, I just needed to have one ;)

We drove to a grocery store to get some food for our camping and then we went off to La Push, the werewolf territory ;) We passed the treaty line where it said: "No vampires beyond this point" ;)

Apparently there was some kind of yearly festival in La Push just this weekend so there where A LOT of people. We couldn't park anywhere close to the La Push beach so we choose the next beach, called the first beach. We had to park the car and then walk about 1 km with all our tents, sleeping bags and other pack so it was a warm and hard walk.

The beach was so beautiful! There were high cliffs out in the water and big waves were splashing up on the beach. we had to climb over a street of trees that had been flushed in to shore by the ocean and it was just so amazing how big and how much trees that laid there.

We put the tents up and the kids jumped in to the water. I can't understand how they could do that cause it was freezing cold! We made a fire and there I spend a lot of the time, warming my feet.

I walked and climbed a long the beach and it was just so peaceful and beautiful. I saw a wale or sth that had been stranded and eaten, not so fresh ;)

We ate hot dogs and also corn that we put in the fire and they were so good!! Then made smores over the fire which was really cozy. The water got lower and pulled back out which uncovered rocks and a way out to one of the cliffs. Me and Filip went there and saw a lot of corals and other reef animals. We didn't have any shoes so it was painful walking on the mussels and pointy stones ;)

There were some other people also camping on the beach so when it got dark, U could see all the fires along the beach, cozy.

Closes to us was a youth gang and they had put up a big pole in the sand (don't know why) and then the kids also did that, and they was cheered on from the camp ;) They also had some fireworks/bombs but they were nice and warned us first before they shot it. It was really loud! I thought there would be a landslide after that ;)

There was supposed to be fireworks at the festival and someone told us that we would be able to see that as well, but sadly the forest was in the way so we just saw the sky light up in all different colour. But that was nice too ;)

We went to bed after that and this time I had Sofia and Helena in my tent. They also did great and soon we all slept heavy. But we got woken up by another bomb and then some fireworks. I almost went outside to yell at them but I was too tired, and I didn't wanna get more sand in to the tent. Otherwise I would have gone ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Off to Forks

2010-07-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday) me and the kids started slow (cause I was tired ;)) with a movie. We saw Enchanted which is a really cute movie and then it was lunch time. We made pancakes and Filip and Helena helped me with the making since I suck on it ;) I know, it's sad but true. Then it's good that I have such a big help in Filip, and this time also Helena.

After lunch, the kids played and I cleaned and did some laundry and packed my bag cause today we were going camping over the weekend in Forks. I was really excited since I'm a Twilight fan but I didn't have so high expectations cause I've heard that it's not much to see. But still it's gonna be cool to be able to say that I've been to Forks!

I packed the kids in the car and went first to Anna's place cause I needed to borrow a sleeping bag, and then we went to Microsoft and picked up Lotta and Jonas.

We drove for about 40 min or so to Edmonds where we had to take a ferry over to Kingston. The only problem was that A LOT of others also wanted to take the ferry so we needed to wait for maybe 1,5 h before we could get on!

While we were waiting we saw a seal! He just came swimming bye when we ate our hot dogs and he was so cute, I always think they look so sad. I wanted him to jump and do some tricks but he didn't.

I did a blunder when we went on the ferry, I said to Lotta: "Hey, we are really close to the water!"...well, we are going on a ferry, it's supposed to be close ;) Sometimes I scare myself ;)

We wanted to walk on the ferry but we weren't allowed to walk where the cars drove, as we thought, so a guard had to take us up a stair and then open the door to the walk entrance...oops!

The Stendahl's were also supposed to join but they couldn't go as early as we so when they reached the ferry line, it was even longer than when we came, so they didn't want to wait. But we were still in the line so we told them to drive up front and then we left a space where they could come in. People didn't look very happy but whatever, thought we. When we came up front there was this police who directed the traffic and he talked really long with the Stendahl's and finally he sent them away. Apparently people had told him that they had gone in in front and that was not popular ;) Well, well...

We continued our trip and they said they would try tomorrow morning again. The ferry took about 20 minutes and it was sunset so the colours were really nice and the mountains were like shadows in the sky. So beautiful!

Then we drove, and we drove, and we drove and yes we drove. We had not made a reservation on any camping so everywhere we tried, it was full. Sometimes we had to drive really far in to the woods to then drive the same way back cause they had no open space.

Once, we got pulled over by the police cause he thought that Jonas had been drinking ;) Apparently he was going all over the road but after smelling his breath (kind of easy test) he gave us some suggestions of camping.

We ended up driving to the place longest away and at around 1 am we put up our tents in complete darkness and just threw in our sleeping bags and fell asleep. It was nice to stretch out after sleeping in the car, I felt like The Hunchback of Notre dame ;)

I shared the tent with Filip and Helena but it was OK cause everyone was tired and fell asleep immediately!

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

LLOOONNNGG Day

2010-07-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

Today I got up at 7 to take Filip to the dentist, I felt like a zombie ;) Jonas and Filip went to the dentist yesterday cause apparently, they thought it was on Wednesday even though I had written in the calender on Thursday. I wasn't awake so I couldn't stop them, so I had to go today instead.

It went fine, this time he choose the American colours, red, white, and blue, and it looked really nice. Dr Lund (hot!!) showed me a picture that was taken on Filip's teeth before we started with the braces and U can't believe it's the same mouth. They have changed and moved so much in such a short period of time it's kind of creepy but great!

Back home, the girls were doing some arts and craft and I went to pick up in my room and do some laundry before we all put on swim wear and went to the beach. This time it was another one so we took the car cause it's further away. There was not so much people and the beach was still in the shadows but I took a spot in the sun, opened my book while the kids went to the water. I thought it was too cold so I didn't go in today, but I was fine in the sun ;)

Also now the kids behaved well and after 2 hours we went home happy and I made lunch for us.

Lotta came home around 2 to get Filip to a speech trainer to see what they said about his pronunciation problem, specially with the R sound.

Meanwhile, I took the girls to Grasslawn Park again where they played for a couple of hours and I red some more of my book ;)

When Filip and Lotta came home Lotta stayed so I did some arts and craft with the girls and we also had a ice cream. When Lotta had to get Jonas from work, I was on the computer and the kids were playing but this time a little bit too noisy and messy, not so fun. And I was tired after this long day so I was in a very bad mood.

Finally Jonas got home and we could have dinner, at 7 which means that I today worked for 12 hours!!! Bahhh!!!

I took a quick shower before I went to M's place where me and the girls created a blog where everyone of us are gonna do monthly updates, when we are back home, so that we can see and follow what happens. A great way to stay in contact with each other after this year. It turned out really well, there's just some small stuff to fix but I think it a great idea and it's just perfect.

Now I have to call my mum cause I had got a letter from the university I applied for. I already know that they accepted me, but I'm gonna say now since it starts the 24th of august, when my year is over here. It's too late, I just wanted to see if I could get in ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

ps. In two months I'll be on Swedish ground!! ds

The zoo

2010-07-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday) I had decided that we were going to the zoo. I were there last week with Anna and her boys but I wanted to go with my kids as well and now when Helena is here it could be fun for her too.

So I packed a big lunch and a lot of water, I had the sunscreen and band aid with me so I felt prepared....;)

Of course Filip was all whiny about how boring it was on the zoo and that he didn't want to go, he wanted to be home...bla bla bla. But I just said get in to the car and this time I remembered to tell Filip to bring his DS and the girl a book or sth so that they would be calm in the car. And it worked!!

At the zoo the kids were so great and Filip was really excited about anything so I think he was glad that he didn't stay home.

One cool thing with Microsoft is that U get sth called a Prime Card and can get tourist stuff (and in a lot of great stores) cheaper. So now I paid $5 instead of $16 per person...me like! ;)

We started with the African part and saw zebras and giraffes on the savanna and then we worked through Asia with the elephants and monkeys and all other cool animals. The kids were really good and interested. They asked me all kinds of stuff about all animal and I felt really important and good when I could answer the most of them ;)

It's really nice to walk around here at the zoo cause there is so many plants and trees surrounding the walking path, that it feels like you're in a jungle. And it also gives a nice shade so even in a sunny and warm day like today, U can enjoy spending a day at the zoo.

At around 11, we stopped for lunch and I had made some sandwiches for us and then the kids had some chips and cookies. Jum jum! And also here the kids behaved really well and talked and was nice to each other, I was so proud ;)

We went to the reptile house where we saw all the snakes and crocodiles and the girls were really scared ;) One cool thing was that we saw a small tree snake who tried to catch a fish in the water. We were fascinated by it and stood there for maybe 10 minutes before we went on. So cool! The kids actually got to pet a snake which they were so proud of, but they washed their hands a couple of times afterwards ;)

Since the kids behaved so well, they got some ice cream. Well, Sofia and Helena took ice cream while Filip choose a soda instead. They had deserved it!

After the tropical rain forest and the bears and eagles we had seen it all and went home. We spend around 4 hours at the zoo so the kids (and me) were exhausted when we got home. But it was so warm and sunny that we just put on our swim suits and walked down to the beach.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk but it's so worth it. It's a real beach with good sand and there is also a beach volley ball field and a playground, so there are other stuff for the kids to do than to swim.

Filip and Helena took the swim test here as well so they were allowed to go out on the deck and jump in the water. I went with Filip once but I'm a bit scared so I only jumped once ;)

It's not as at the beaches in Sweden. Here is always a life guard and they have a rope about maybe 5 meters out in the water and to pass that (if U are young) U have to take a swim test to show that U are able to swim. And, at 6 the lifeguards are leaving so they tell everyone that the beach is closed and no one is allowed in the water anymore. What!! But as soon as they are gone, people go in the water anyway. Can't they just say that "Hey, now U swim at your own risk" or sth. Kind of ridiculous...well well

At 6, Jonas and Lotta came and me and Lotta went across the street and bought some burgers for our dinner. We had it at the beach and it was so nice cause it was still warm and the sun was beginning to set behind Seattle.

When we were at the zoo earlier today, I got a call from that Austrian au pair, Patricia (not how she spells it) and asked if I wanted to see a movie tonight. I was really surprised but happy that she invited me so I said yes.

At 8 me and Anna (yes she's always with me ;)) met up with her, and that other au pair I saw at the pool yesterday, at QFC here in Kirkland. We went to Patricia's brother who lives here in Kirkland since 2 months and is working for Microsoft. It was a really nice apartment but we couldn't watch the movie immediately cause he had a projector and the sun was still to bright. But that was an excellent excuse to get to know each other.

Patricia is only going to be here for 8 weeks over the summer and the other girl for two months so they are just the light version of us ;) They were all really nice but sometimes they talked Austrian which neither me or Anna understood...but we could some German ;)

There was also another guy who joined us later, a friend of Patricia's brother.

We saw a movie that I don't remember the name of but it was really fun ;) Afterwards, me and Anna wanted to leave cause it was kind of late and we were tired, but the other guy was like: "U don't have to leave just because the movie is over. Stay and talk!" So...we sat down again and talked, for maybe an hour but then we said that we REALLY had to go and so we did ;)

It was a nice evening and it's always fun to meet new people, always good to know someone in Austria..or? ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

The wild things are at the pool

2010-07-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) I walked with the kids down to the Marina park here in Kirkland, just by the waterfront, cause M had told me about these kid's concerts they had there every Tuesday. I just needed sth to do with the kids and it was OK. In the beginning, they were like: what's this? It's boring...bla bla bla. But then in the end they were dancing almost in the front.
Meanwhile, I spoke with M who was there with her kids and the weather was nice so it was a great way of starting the day.
We walked back home and had lunch and then the kids played by themselves a while before we all went to the pool. I had spoken with a mum of a friend of Filip and Sofia and they were supposed to be there too. This was great, even though it was a bit cold and not that sunny, the kids had a blast in the pool. Helena and Filip took a swim test so they could be at the deeper end of the pool and use the jumping board, while I played with Sofia in the more shallow water.
Then Filip played with Christopher and Sofia with Helena so I got to just sit in the sun and read my book ;) I met Christopher's and Elise's au pair who came here two weeks ago from Austria. I knew that she would come cause the mother of the kids had told me, and she was really nice. There was also another au pair but I didn't get the chance to talk to her.
We went back home after maybe two hours and the kids took a shower while I cleaned up the mess we had left behind in the kitchen.
Tonight, I had a soccer game so I didn't stay for dinner. I only lightened the grill cause they were having a BBQ, tempting to stay ;)
We played at Mercer Island and me and Jen were a bit early and wanted to use the bathrooms. There was some construction work so there were only Honey buckets to use and they were FULL!!! So disgusting, but if U have to go U have to go...juck!
We didn't get a full team until maybe 10 min in to game time but the other team were also missing players so it was OK.
The game was not that good, they weren't good but we didn't manage to score. They didn't play good soccer, just kicked the ball away as soon as they got it and after a lucky free kick, they led by 1-0 at halftime. I felt pretty good though and had some nice runs but that last pass didn't work for me today, so frustrating! We manage to get a goal in the last minute, I had the assisting pass, so 1-1 was the final score.
One girl asked me if I would be interested of going to Victoria, Canada to play a soccer tournament. That would be so cool but the thing is that it's on the first weekend of September and then I'm traveling with Kadda. Plus that my VISA has expired by then so I can't get back in the US. It would have been fun though.
Back home, I took a quick shower, grabbed a blanket and two sleeping bags and drove to Bellevue Downtown park where the outdoor movie is. Tonight it was "Where the wild things are" and me and Anna snuggled up on the blanket in our sleeping bags with some candy ;)
It was hard to see cause it was still a bit bright and the colours in that movie are just too dark. But there was sound so we could hear, and I saw the movie before so it was OK. It's a good movie but a little weird.

I was so tired during the movie, that I almost fell asleep ;) So back home I rushed to bed to get some hours of sleep. It's tiring having to work the whole day now when I'm used to be off during the day. There is never room for a nap ;)

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Strawberry and peach pie

2010-07-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the first time of work for me in three weeks, this time with three kids and of course it was raining. Panic!!! But it was OK.
I woke up and had breakfast with the kids and then they watched TV and played by themselves really well. Sofia wanted to go to Jasmine so I took her there and she was home so she could play there for a couple of hours. This made it easier for me cause now I only had two to look after ;)
Me and Helena baked a strawberry and peach pie. I've never done it before and to be honest, I'm not very good in baking, but I had my mum's receipt so it went fine. The only thing was that I couldn't ind any potato flour to sprinkle over the berries so I mixed flour, butter, sugar and vanilla and put over...whatever!
It looked really good but we tasted it first after lunch and when Sofia was back and it was delicious. I'm proud!! And it was so easy and baking is a great way to activate the kids, well at least Helena ;)
For lunch we had noodle soup AND Mac & Cheese cause I asked Filip and Helena what they wanted and they said both and as the nice au pair I am, I made them both ;) Took me about 5 minutes ;)
When we were done eating, I packed a little bag with some drinks and snacks, and then put everyone in the car and drove to Grasslawn Park in Redmond. The kids were crazy and loud in the car so it was nice to just let the kids run around while I concentrated on my book ;)
We were there almost three hours and I was really cold but the kids weren't, even though they were soaking wet from running in a water fountain ;) But finally I got them in the car and they were as crazy and loud before.
Sofia and Helena stayed outside and played while Filip played some computer games and then we played Sorry together. He won :(
During dinner the kids were very loud and silly but we came up with a solution for the car problem. Sofia made me one green, one yellow and one red card that represent three warnings. First I'll show the green if someone is not listening to me and then yellow for the second time and then red for the third and last warning. The one who gets a red card doesn't get a ice cream in the evening, or another punishment. I'll try that next time cause if it doesn't help I'll not take them somewhere anymore.
Jonas and Lotta also got to taste the pie, and the kids got to taste the strawberry cake, I brought home from Anna's yesterday, so we had a nice meal together.
I took a shower after dinner and now I'm just in my room thinking of what to do. I got to know today that Lotta is team Edward!!! After seeing the Twilight movies, and we are going camping in Forks this weekend so I'm happy. Hopefully I'll run in to some vampires ;)

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Ride the Ducks

2010-07-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today the kids woke me up, everything is back to normal ;) It was around 7 but I manage to fall back to sleep until the damn crows, that apparently has a meeting every morning outside my window, started to chat. Aarrgghhh!! If I only had a gun!!
Another thing was that Sofia burst through my door, without knocking, while I was still in bed. I'm like what?! She had found the present she had for me from Sweden. It was a little plastic "smurf" figure. So cute!! I showed them the show "The Smurfs" before they left and told them that I watched it a lot when I was a kid and Sofia remembered this and saw this little angel in a store and bought it for me. So sweet. But still: Knock before U enter!!!
I had a great breakfast, no one was in the house ;) And then I watched the first half of the world cup final. Go Spain!!
Anna picked me up and we went to Seattle to go on the tour Ride the Ducks. It's a car/boat that shows U Seattle from the roads and from Lake Union and during the ride U should make a fool out of yourself by screaming and waving at complete strangers on the side walk. It was fun and U get these whistles shaped like a duck beak and U actually sound like a duck as well.
We met up with the au pair group and we were about 20 people which was cool. Anna is not in my au pair organisation but I brought her anyway, she hasn't taken this tour either so.
We got a crazy captain that had a lot of hats, kind of weird and not so funny....well well the tour was great and the best thing was when he drove the "dunk" in to Lake Union and we could see the Seattle skyline with the space needle on the other side. There were also two pirate ships on the lake today cause of a sea fair or sth, and one of the ships is actually in Pirates of the Caribbean. It's the Lady Washington that gets the title HMS Interceptor in the movie. It was really cool to see and the captain said that those ships rarely came here to Seattle and that we were lucky. They also shot their canons at each other, for a show or sth, but that was really lucky that they would do that just when we were on the lake. Just awesome!
We also got to see the famous floating house where the movie Sleepless in Seattle took place. Pretty cool huh?! ;)
After the tour that took a bit over 1,5 hours, me and Anna walked to down town and checked in some stores. We bought a doughnut that was jummy and then we went back to Anna's place. There was a lot of people and we helped with dinner while the kitchen was getting build ;) It was fun and the grandma was so nice and then Todd's (Anna's host dad) brother and girlfriend came and they were all funny and really nice. I got to try my cake that I made yesterday and it was jummy!! It doesn't matter that the layers were uneven, it was still great!
Afterwards, Anna drove me home and now I'm just finishing up my blog before I'll turn out the light and prepare for a first day of hard work in weeks...wish me good luck!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

An active but slow day

2010-07-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) Anna came to my place early and we went out for a run. Did U hear that? We went out running on a Saturday morning ;) We were out for about half an hour but it was already so warm that we considered jumping in the water instead, but we made it all the way home and then we walked to the beach.
Anna wanted to have a spot in the shade and I asked her how old she was cause I, the youth one, wanted to be in the sun to get as much tanned as possible. But after a while I had to crawl to the shade as well cause it was too hot. ;)
We spend 2 hours there and during this time we agreed that there is a lot, and maybe only, fit people here in Kirkland, and everyone looks good. Or it can also be that the not fit persons don't come to the beach ;) I'm not complaining cause this means a lot of hot, half naked guys to look at and that's fine with me ;)
While we were at the beach, Lotta had picked up the rest of the family at the airport so I got a big hug from Sofia when I stepped in through the door. The kids looked so different but I don't know why. Maybe cause they were tanned and had their hair shorter but sth was it.
Helena, the kids cousin, also came with them and is gonna stay almost 4 weeks here. She's really nice and looks exactly as her mum ;) Apparently she and Sofia plays really well together so I don't think it'll be any problem. I'm just sad that my vacation is no has ended.
I finished the cake for Anna and now I can't longer come to her au pair BBQ cause I had promised Hanna to drive her to the airport. So I showered and got dressed and then went to her house to see if I could help with sth. I went through her drawers one last time to make sure she didn't forget anything. Her host dad had to carry the bags up from the basement and to the car cause they were HEAVY!!! OMG, I wonder how much overweight she needs to pay ;)
There were some road work so the freeway was closed for one part so there was a detour that was long, confusing and the traffic was awful. Luckily we manage to get to the airport in time and I was sad saying goodbye to her cause it feels so weird that her stay here is over and that makes me think about how soon my year is over. It's just so unreal. Me and Hanna live really close in Sweden so we'll meet again but what about all the other cool people I got to know here? It's gonna be hard.
On my way back home, I stopped by at IKEA and bought some candy. Dajm chocolate, Bilar and liquorice fishes...jum jum!
The traffic was even worse on the way back and I think over all it took me 2 hours to get to the airport and back, it usually takes between 40 min and an hour. So I was not so happy about that I had to spend 2 hours in the car while the family was at the beach but whatever.
Tonight, Elliott had one of his parties but M changed her mind in the very last minute and I couldn't take the Saab cause of the battery and Anna had other plans so we had no car.
I grabbed a blanket and my book and went to the park. I sat down under a tree and had a really cozy time reading while a light breeze cooled me off. Thank U!
Back home, I was on my computer and had some dinner when Anna called and said that her plans had been cancelled so we could go to the party. I was mentally getting ready for bed but changed that and got ready for party instead.
There was not so much people but the ones who were there were cool and I had a great evening talking with my friends. We went home pretty early though cause Anna was not really in a mood, kind of slow. All this day I've been feeling a bit off and slow, don't really know why. Maybe it's the heat or maybe the fact that the kids came home today and my three weeks of no responsibility came to an end ;)

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Goodbye Hanna

2010-07-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday) Anna picked me up in the morning to go to the zoo with Slater's summer school. We took the two older once as well cause one of them was going as a helper to the class while the other one also wanted to come. But at the zoo, the two older went with the class while we walked with Slater a bit after them, he's a bit slow so it takes a while. We also got lost from the class but then we just walked by ourselves until Anna got her phone and rang to Lance and we met them at the playground.
The zoo is great cause even if it was really hot, U can enjoy it cause there is a lot of trees that gives U shade and U can rest whenever U want. We saw a lot of animals but they were all sleepy cause it was so hot, so they weren't so active ;) My favourites are the penguins, I like how they walk and then they look so gracious in the water.
Anna drove me home and I took a nap cause I was exhausted, maybe cause of the heat but it took a lot of energy at the zoo cause of all the kids. Even though they weren't my responsibility I was like tense and always checking them. Now I also understand what Anna has been talking about one of her kids being awful. I always liked him cause he's nice and happy when I come, but at the zoo he was like doing whatever he felt like. He kicked at the fence, threw rocks at ducks and just acted like a jerk. OMG, I just wanted to leave him at the monkeys ;)
I made the strawberry cake for tomorrow and I couldn't get the cake to ferment this time either so I could cut it in to two and then there was a thin layer still in the bottom of the baking tin that I put as the top ;) Whatever!
I went down to Kirkland and the pearl store and made a bracelet to Hanna as a goodbye present from all of the girls. She was leaving for Sweden tomorrow and tonight we were gonna have a goodbye dinner at Cheesecake. So I took a quick shower and got dressed before I hurried down to the bus to Bellevue. I was the first one there so I asked for a table and soon Hanna came there, and then the girls dropped in after a while. It was me, Hanna, Ramona, Kadda, M, Anna and two other girls I don't remember the name of. We got a table outside and it was really nice. Hanna also got a balloon from us with the text: "You will be missed" Unfortunately she dropped it so it flew away :(
The dinner was as always great and I was so full when I left. I had the fresh grilled salmon and it was delicious! I also had a tropical smoothie that was jummie!
We went to the mall and some of us had a frozen yogurt and then we just sat there and talked.
Anna had been invited to a party, from a old guy in the grocery store!!, so we went there to check it out. But we saw some older people coming out so we felt like it was a bit too mature party for us. We went to the beach to see if there were some people hanging out but we couldn't find any. It felt weird cause first we had been in a party mood and now when there weren't any, it felt like we got a hangover immediately. Just weird! ;) Instead we went home, a nice Friday night ;)
I skyped for about an hour with Anna and Elin from home and it was really nice cause it was a while since we did. I miss them so much and I can't wait until I'll see them again.

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Twilight evening

2010-07-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today (Thursday) the neighbours woke us up with a damn jackhammer, at 8!! Is that really necessary? Common!
It was already really hot in the morning and i would have liked to jump in the pool but I went home, don't remember why ;)
Anna had invited me to her au pair meeting on Saturday that was a BBQ and U were supposed to bring your favourite dish from your country. Anna asked if I could make a strawberry cake again and of course I said yes. Her wish is my command ;)
I went to QFC and bought the ingredients and also rented New Moon for tonight. When I got home I ate lunch and did some laundry before I took my stuff and went to the beach here in Kirkland.
There were really a lot of people and so many hot guys!! OMG! Everyone is so fit here and looks good...me like!!
I found a spot on the grass and put down my blanket and started to celebrate the sun ;) I cooled off in the water a couple of times and that was really nice. I didn't think it was possible to swim in the lake but it is! There's just a lot of seaweed so it's kind of gross.
Anna said that she was gonna come with Slater after his nap but there were so many people that they didn't find a parking spot. She went back home but M joined me instead with her kids. I was happy that I didn't have to be alone anymore and her kids are so cute. I got to take Julie out in the water and she loved it. When I took her out of the water she was: "Again, again!" ;) Alex was a bit afraid and didn't want to be in the water.
After about an hour I helped M take the kids to the car and she drove me home cause I needed to make dinner. Tonight me, Lotta and Anna was gonna have a girl night with movies. We were gonna watch Twilight and New Moon, Lotta has never seen them or read the books so now it was definitely time to get her involved in the Vampire hype ;)
Anna came around 7 and we stared with Twilight and to that we had some ice cream, that melted really fast cause it was so hot!!
Even though I've seen both movies before I always get really excited and emotional ;) Go Edward!! ;)
Lotta enjoyed the evening and liked the movies but I don't know if she was more Edward or Jacob, I'll try to get her to the vampire side ;)

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Sleepover

2010-07-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today (Wednesday) I slept long and woke up just in time for the other semi final, Spain-Germany. I expected a great game but was a bit disappointed. Spain won so I'm happy but there was not so much action. Now I can tease those cocky Germans I hang out with ;)
Of course I drove to Anna's place and surprised everyone...not ;) Instead of going to the beach today, we stayed at their pool. It's only about one meter of water but that's just enough to cool of in. We played with Slater who used us as horses and slashed water on us ;)
After a couple of hours in the sun, we all were kind of tired so we went inside. I had to return a movie so I went to Blockbuster and also rented Twilight for our Vampire evening tomorrow with Lotta.
I went back to Anna's and just did nothing until she was off. We went to a Mexican fast food place in Bellevue where we got some nice burritos and then we walked to Bellevue Downtown park to see if there were some cool people.
It was so nice!! The sun was setting but it was still warm, there were a lot of people hanging out or playing Frisbee or volleyball. There were also a lot of dogs who smelled our food and came to see if we dropped sth. One actually stole some from Anna's plate when she looked away ;)
We did some language practise, she spoke German and I Swedish and that was a lot of fun. We also decided that when I visit Anna in Germany, there will be only German and when she comes to me, only Swedish. I wonder who will survive best ;)
I slept at her place today, for the first time!!! I was really excited but her room was so warm, I nearly panicked. But the windows were open and we had a very thin blanket.
The view from her window is amazing. I know I might have said it before but it's like a drawing. We watched the sun set behind the mountains and saw Seattle with all the lights. So cool!
We watched two episodes of Happy Town before we said goodnight and that series is getting really weird. It's good but there is just so much going on with everyone. But I like it!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Summer is here!!

2010-07-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today (Tuesday) I actually went to the gym in the morning ;) Right now the visits are not that frequently but whatever, it's summer ;) I was there about one hour before I walked home, took a shower, made lunch and watched Holland play against Uruguay in the first Semi final. They won with 3-2 and I was cheering for them so I'm happy!
I went to Anna's place and it was really hot and sunny so we were outside by their pool under a parasol, zipping on a fresh, fruity smoothie ;) Me and Jay, one of her kids, read Swedish girl's magazines which was really fun ;)
When Slater woke up from his nap, we all went to Medina Beach park where Emilie and her kids were already playing in the water. It was very tempting to go in the water but I just put my feet in and then we just laid on the beach, tanning. Almost as good as on Hawaii except that Anna couldn't relax since she had two kids with her.
The funniest thing was that there were 4 lifeguards on duty, guarding the small beach with maybe 10 kids or sth. We felt really safe but I wonder who pays for them. Bill? ;)
We spend some hours there and when we got home, Anna had only half an hour left to work which was nice. She made dinner for the boys while I was on the computer and then we went for a walk with Ace, the boxer they have. It was so nice cause it was still warm and this is not even the hottest day of the week so I'm really glad that the summer is here!!
We drove to Bellevue Downtown Park where they now have started with outdoor movies. There was a huge screen and U just put your chair or blanket wherever U wanted and just enjoyed a late summer nigh movie! Today it was Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. It's really sweet and funny and we had a nice and cozy evening.
Tonight Anna had left me so I had to sleep alone, I was a bit scared but I did good ;)
Today I was extra glad cause earlier this week I couldn't find my camera charger and I was so pissed cause I didn't think I had forgot it on Hawaii but I had looked everywhere in my room. I asked Kadda and Anna if they might have accidentally got it home but no. But today, when I was at Anna's, she found it!! So funny! She didn't know how but I don't care, now I don't need to buy a new camera!!!
Funniest of the day: Anna: "Justin Beiberlake" hahahah

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Inglourious bastard

2010-07-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday) I waved Anna goodbye when she went off to work to bring home the money for our household ;) I wanted to go to bed again but I had to clean up from the party yesterday since Lotta was coming home today.
I picked her up at the airport and I had to wait a while cause I was early, but it was OK cause there were a lot of soldiers to watch ;)
Lotta was tanned and she told me that the weather in Sweden is great and their vacation had been great. I really envy them for being home and met their family and friends but soon it's my turn.
Now it was only Lotta who came home, Jonas and the kids will be here on Saturday so I still have one week without kids. Nice ;)
Back home, I made lunch and Lotta was really tired considering the 9 hours time difference, but it was only 2 here so she didn't want to go to bed yet. Instead she went to the mall to stay awake ;)
I called back home cause I didn't talk to them since before Hawaii. It was really nice and we talked for 1,5 h and about everything. The kitten had been home now since yesterday and they changed the name from Nisse to Chabo, a bit better ;) I told them about Hawaii and they told me about their midsummer celebration. Now I could finally give them the date when they need to pick me up at the airport ;) Feels so weird that U now can write it down...hahah but I wont do it here. If u wanna know, check with mum and dad.
I took a nap for about 2 hours before I went out in the sun and red some Swedish magazines that Lotta had brought. Our crown princess is now married so I could read and look at pictures which was nice since I didn't follow it at all. There were a lot of nice dresses and it's just such a cool collision since the groom is not royal.
Lotta went to bed early and I updated my blog until my honey came home from work ;) We walked down to Kirkland and bought a frozen yogurt and went to the Marina Park. There weren't so many people but the weather had been better than during the day so it was really nice to watch the sun set behind Seattle.
We walked to the baseball field to see if there was a game and this time it wasn't a break as i usually is when we want to watch, so we stayed for a little while but then it got cold. We went to the Redbox in QFC and rented the movie Inglorious bastards with Brad Pitt. It's about a group that kills Nazis in France during the war. It was a very weird movie and really grotesque. They showed a little bit too much when they killed people, not my favourite movie but it had it's comical parts ;)
The movie was long so it was late when we finally got to bed but it's OK for me since I don't have to work ;) I think it might be hard when the kids are back and I need to be up around 9, but we take that fight next week ;)

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Happy Birthday M and America

2010-07-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) it's 4Th of July which means Emilie's birthday and the Independence Day of America! I was really excited for this day cause I've heard that it's such a big deal here.
Me and Anna were really tired when we woke up but we had to finish M's present so we couldn't stay in bed plus there was a parade in Kirkland we wanted to see. We were kind of stressed but we manage to get down in time to see the parade. There were a lot of people and a lot of American flags ;)
When the parade started, there were a lot of kids riding their bikes or walking or sitting in strollers, almost every kid in Kirkland were in the parade and it was cute but we were like: "Is this is?" We had expected sth more and bigger. But after 10 minutes with only kids, we walked back home cause we needed to get ready. (Later I got to know that the kids parade was just a pre parade to the real one. So we missed it ;) Whatever!!)
Our plans for today was to spend the day at Gasworks Park in Seattle where they have the biggest firework around and since we only get to experience this once we wanted the best ;)
Me and Anna packed the car, it looked like we were going camping cause we had chairs, blankets and sleeping bags with us ;) We picked up M and Emilie and then Kadda and I needed to fill up the car with gas and of course it didn't start after that. We took the charger but the car wouldn't start anyway!! Luckily for us we were at a gas station and a nice guy helped us to jump start the car with his car. I wonder what he must have thought, and he saw our trunk with all the equipment ;)
Emilie got her present, a scrapbook over the year and a Seattle sticker. It was from me, Anna, Kadda and Ramona and we had been working on it during the week. She loved it and it was just a great gift. I also want sth like that ;)
Before we went to Seattle, we stopped at Cheesecake Factory and bought some delicious cheesecakes to have at the park. I didn't want to shut down the car so I was driving around in the parking garage while the other bought the cakes ;)
It took us a while to find the right place to park but we got a great spot not too far from the park. We had to walk maybe 15 minutes but it was OK. There were a lot of people there, they open the park at noon and we came there around 3pm but we managed to get a pretty good spot in the middle of the hill facing Seattle. we put down our blankets and sat down and enjoyed our cheesecakes! The weather was nice when we came but after maybe 10 minutes, it started to rain. Of course!! But we took the sleeping bags and umbrellas and thought that it would go over soon, we were wrong. After half an hour maybe we gave up, it was too rainy and cold and it didn't look like it would get any better. We decided to go back to mu place and then watch the fireworks in Kirkland instead.
We stopped at QFC and bought some good drinks and then went to my place and ordered pizza ;) It was nice to get out of the wet clothes and to be inside. We played Twister and then we had some cultural exchange by some drinking games with dice and cards. That was fun but I just had water so I think it was more fun for the other girls ;)
At 9:30, we walked down to the waterfront in Kirkland where the fireworks would be. It was cold but it wasn't raining which was good. There were a lot of people but we walked down to the beach and took a seat where we could see out over the water. We sang the national anthem and waived with the flag, felt really patriotic ;)
The fireworks came from a huge boat out on the lake and it was amazing. There were a lot and they were beautiful! I'd heard that the Kirkland fireworks would be small but this was bigger then in my hometown on New Years ;) We could also see the shows from Seattle on the other side of the water and it was just great. I think this was the best place to be cause we could see everything. It lasted for maybe 20 minutes and then we started to walk home. We stopped on the way and talked to people we had seen earlier and it was just a great evening. I wonder when Sweden will be this big with celebrating the national day, probably never ;)
I drove the girls home and then me and my honey went back home and went to bed ;)

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Germany, tattoo, shopping and party!

2010-07-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) me and Anna, as the hardcore fans we are, got up at 7am to watch Germany play against Argentina in the quarter final. It was kind of hard to stay awake and I closed my eyes a couple of times but I was present during the whole game compared to Anna (the German one) who fell asleep after the first goal. Hardcore...
After, we continued with M's gift for a while before we decided that we needed a nap and went to the coach again. Anna fell asleep (not so hardcore after all) while i watched the exciting game between Spain and Paraguay. I'm glad that Spain won cause there's all the hotties ;) After, I also fell asleep but M called and woke me up and wondered if we should do sth. I went up and made lunch for me and Anna, pasta with bacon and Parmesan sauce...the best!!
M called again and said that she needed to go shopping cause she was having birthday dinner with her HF and wanted something nice to wear. Me and Anna were really slow, it kind of felt like we had been partying all night yesterday. We didn't have a plan with the day. Kind of nice but also frustrating. I gave the suggestion that we could go to the tattoo studio again and see if I could get an appointment next week and how much it would cost.
The girl at the front desk took my sketch and changed the size and I also had to choose another type of lettering cause it was too small. When I was satisfied she asked if I wanted to do it today!..ehhh: "If U have time?" was my answer and she told us to be back in an hour. OK, I wasn't prepared for this but it felt good so now I got all excited instead!
We walked to the mall and Anna gave me a smoothie to celebrate that I was getting a tattoo. I think she was more excited that I was ;) We walked around and I bought some cookies at Starbucks to have afterwards when the blood sugar level is down ;)
Back at the studio it was really hot!! I thought I was just nervous and that's why I was sweating so much but Anna was also hot ;)
When the tattooer was ready (don't remember his name) he took us back and got me ready. I had to sit on a chair and rested my upper body on another chair while he was working on my back! There was another guy, also getting a tattoo. He was old and had so many tattoos all over him. It was fascinating and gross at the same time. I was watching him meanwhile Anna watched so my tattooer didn't make a mistake. Anna was a big comfort, although I think she was more anxious than me ;) But she also wants one now so I shall try to persuade her ;)
It took not long at all, maybe 30 minutes and it didn't hurt, so much ;) Just when he did the top and was kind of on the "back ribs" but I'm from Europe and I'm strong ;)
I haven't said what I got yet, but U see the picture ;) It's the shape of Sweden and under it says "Made in Sweden" ;) I thought that was funny! Saw another girl on a party once who had Made in Hawaii and that's how I got the idea.
I'm just afraid that sth is wrong and I don't see it, like a coastline is wrong or sth. Well, well...;) I was really happy when I left the studio and nothing could ruin my day, not even the Saab which didn't want to start. ;)
We stopped at Anna's place to pick up some stuff and then we went to Seattle and University Village for some shopping. We didn't wanna buy anything but of course U always end up with some bags anyway. First there was a good sale at H&M so I bought a jeans skirt and we found t-shirts with the text: "Sunny Hawaii Waikiki" and a nice Hawaiian print on. It was totally we so Anna bought a blue one and I got a green. Battlesisters!
We also stopped at Victoria Secret who still had the same great sale as on Hawaii so we bought one more bra, the same actually ;) So comfortable, I love it!!
Anna got a call from Janet, a American friend, and she invited us to a party tonight. Since we didn't have a plan with the day and mostly just floated around we said OK and first went home to my place and got ready and then I drove to the place. It was a BBQ so we brought chips and Guacamole...jummy!
There were a lot of cool people there and we had a great time with a lot of laughter and games. We played one game I never did before, it's called: "Duck, duck, goose" and all the contests sit in a ring except one who goes around the ring and touches every one's head and says "Duck" when she touches some one's head and says "Goose" the person on the ground needs to get up and catch the other before it comes to the open spot in the ring. Kind of senseless but so much fun ;)
After a couple of hours we said thank U and went home, me and my roomie ;) The day turned out pretty good even though the start was kind of slow, I like!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra