Easter Break 2014

Yes, I realize that I am a bit slow in sharing our activities from Easter break.  Since we are only a week away from a HUGE Norwegian Holiday, it's pretty much now or never with this post! Easter Break, known as Påske Ferie here in Norway, was the full week before Easter plus the Monday after.   Since we had not planned a "real" vacation for the week (and my husband was traveling for business), I decided to take a road trip back to Sweden with my girls  (For those of you new to this blog- we lived in Sweden for about 18 months before moving to Norway).  Last year we were invited to a very traditional Easter in Sweden- follow the link if you would like to check it out. http://ourfamilyinsweden.blogspot.no/2013/04/our-easter-in-sweden.html 

For this trip, we were fortunate to find three different friends to take us in for a night or two.  You never want to wear out your welcome in any one place, right?  As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days".  So true!

Our journey started with a 2.5 hour ferry ride from Sandefjord (where we live) to Strømstad, Sweden.  The ferry was pretty crowded, but we managed to find seats and settle in.

iPad and the fuzzy blanket...life is good

This was the first time I had made the trip to Sweden, or any trip which included a ferry, without my husband.   The driving is no problem for me, but I had one big (possibly unrealistic) fear about driving onto the ferry... that I would forget where I parked!  I have seen those people...wandering around looking for their cars.  Luckily I paid close attention and we found the car upon arrival.

Our five days in Sweden were VERY relaxing.  Note to self: my children are much more relaxed when their mom is not stressed out, worrying about a schedule and/or multitasking.  Coincidence?  Perhaps not.  These days away also helped me to realize how lucky we were to have met such wonderful people in a relatively short time.

First stop....such sweet girls!

Chilling out....we LOVE vacation!

Visit with our first neighbors!

Awwwwwww!  

The younger sister....showing her strength

I'm regretting that I didn't take more pictures of the kids and me with our friends.  I realize in these moments that I wish I were more like my mom who tries to bring out her camera at every opportunity.  At the time, this is often met with groans and eye rolls, but later you're so happy to have the photos!

After the whirlwind trip to Sweden, we still had three whole days left before we returned to our normal schedule, school, etc.   We celebrated Easter with some traditional American traditions...

We colored some Easter eggs...

and were paid a visit by the Easter Bunny!

I really hadn't planned on creating a traditional Easter Sunday dinner...it was just the four of us and no one was really interested in the work involved....so we started a new tradition of "Easter Tacos".  The girls had a Norwegian friend over for dinner who was quite amused by our dinner menu.  Okay...maybe Easter tacos will be a short lived tradition,  but at least there were no complaints and no leftovers!

An extra bonus was that the weather in Sandefjord was fantastic during the break!  We spent an afternoon with friends riding bikes and hiking in the woods.  This was followed by a picnic lunch at an old Viking gathering place (there is probably an official name for this place, but I'm not sure what it is).

The rocks are arranged in the shape of a Viking Ship

Happy girls enjoying nature

All in all, it was a fun yet relaxing week, enjoying time in Sweden and in Norway (while including a couple of American traditions).