our big family vacation!!

Our big vacation is over!! wow, what fun, exciting, and  scary things we experienced. We saw lots of family, someone broke their arm (not Lilja!), we fished on a lake, watched fireworks on the lake, got stuck on a lake( yes me and Lilja) made home-made pizzas and ice-cream, were in a mosquito epidemic, had a tick bite.. (yes, Lilja and we freaked out) , went down a waterfall in an amusement park ( yickes) saw my cousin Ries graduate (tear) roasted marshmallows in a fireplace AND in a firepit! played in the water and on the beach, shopped and drank (not Lilja) way too much, and just had the time of our lives.. Now we need a vacation from our vacation!! so here are all the memories!!    

 

 

Grandpa picking us up from the airport.. Oh Lilja adores him!!

snuggles with Grandma..on our favorite spot having coffee..



taking a walk and watering the plants with Grandpa

feeding geese.. a little too close for comfort.. see how far I am??

 



Lilja just loves her cousin Tae.. he loves to explore and be silly.. perfect for Lilja..

 

 

and ofcourse we had to stop at the candy store!!



Every time we go to the cabin in Hayward, Wisconsin we make home made pizzas.. they have a stone oven, so they tastes like the best pizzas EVER!!

 

 

a smiley face pizza for a smiley girl.. Pepperoni, Lilja's favorite with olives, and egg..Tae is inspecting the end result.

 

 

she ate lots!!

for dessert we roasted marshmallows, remember I said there was a mosquito epidemic.. we could not even roast marshmallows outside, that's how bad the mosquitos were, so we took it inside..

waiting for the fireworks

the boys had gotten sparklers for the kids.. Lilja was very excited about that. 

That is DC (aran's cousin) and Bruce on the boat.. Only DC would be crazy enough to sit on the float firing off fireworks!

 

 

I love this picture.. Total bliss in those faces!! That is Tae, Cooper and Lilja.  Cooper is DC's little son, who broke his arm one hour later!

 

 

Grandma with her two grand children.. in love with them!!

exploring again.. Lot's of bugs to see and save 



Fshing with daddy was a highlight. The bugs were not as bad on the water. She also got to go canoeing with Daddy and Tae and Hans (Aran's brother)

Lilja.. this is how you hold a little fish. 

It got warm enough to swim and jump in the water.



Aunt Margaret loved to swim and helped Lilja swim across the water.

First and second cousins. They had so much fun paying with eachother. Lilja enjoyed playing with cooper quietly and Tae loved running around with Colin. Perfect matches!

The Shaw family. Margaret, Bruce, Harvey, Midge, Bob and Paula.



we  or actually the kids made home-made icecream.. just ice-cubes, rock salt, cream, vanilla . The kids had to shake it for 7 minutes and it came out great!!

 

shake, shake, shake!!

 

the day we left , we found out Aran and I were leaving from different terminals and I would have 5 hours to kill.. enter the idea of the Mall of America.. and wouldn't you know it.. it has a amusement park in it!! Grandma met us there and we had so much fun. Grandma even went on the swings and the merry go round. I went with Lilja on a log thingymagingy.. and wil never go on one of those again.. we did a 40 foot drop at the end and I still have butterflies in my stomach.. Lilja? she loved it and wanted to go again!! Little daredevil!!  It was a great ending of a fun vacation!

 

 

 

Thanks Grandma for a great time, we loved spending time with you one-on-one. so fun!!.

and this was the result in the plane!!

However, we had a little scare when we got to Seattle. My mom noticed this bullseye mark on Lilja's leg the night we arrived.. Yep, a tick bite!! we ended up in the emergency room that night and Lilja got on anti biotics quickly.. which she is still on.. so scary and very educational.. We did do tick checks every day.. but this little uicker got un noticed!! Thank god for Oma's!!

the best patient ever... we were at the hospital till really late.. I guess I got too stressed out as I ended up sick for 2 days after that. We thought maybe also a tickbite somewhere, but we decided, I was just tired, stressed and my mom was here.. so.. I can be a little girl again :)

Ries's graduation party was a lot of fun. they had this game that everybody played and Lilja really liked it. I will be searching for it.

 



Lots of tickles from Tante Brigitte

 

silly faces!! Brett ( my aunt Dara's brother) Ries, Lilja and Brigitte

Lilja loved Ries, she played with her untiringly and Lilja just adored her.

ofcourse snuggles from Oma!!



Lila's favorite treat?? Marshmallows the right way!! except she likes them raw :)

 

Livy was also one of Lilja's playmates.. they could be so silly together..an ear massage ?

 

Love this picture of Brigitte and Lilja!



so proud of Ries!! You did it girl!! You have become such a graceful, sweet and fun young lady.. Here's to the next step!! 

 

The proud family!!

the best sisters ever!!

My mom's brother Ewoud surprised her t also come down for the graduation.. Ewoud, Eddy and my mom.. I think my mom is ecstatic!!

Lilja dancing away!!

Great job Ries, lots of kisses from Lilja!!

My family lives in Gig Harbor, and it is a great little place to visit. A cute little harbor and a great restaurant , the Tides!!

Big fish down there. Unfortunately it was not the season to catch crab this time.. next time we will have to come a little later in the summer.

Finding crab shells with Oma. Lilja's favorite past time.. digging in water and dirt!!;

It was pretty busy with all the graduation stuff, but we fond some time for Lilja to "hang" around

My mom and Oom Eddy took Lilja to the beach for some one-on-one time and I got to spend the day with my sister and cousins and aunt.... shopping and having some great food!!

So cute!!



Finally we were home and Daddy had missed us very much. 10 days is a lot for Aran and Lilja to be away from eachother.. Oh yes, ofcourse I missed him too. so the next day we went canoeing for the first time in 4 years.. Lilja loved it and this will be our new family tine .

 

 



and we had some Maddie time the next day.. now it is back to work .

We had an amazing time during our family trip. And loved to have seen all our family. We all live so far away from eachother, but I love that we all make an effort to try and see eachother regularly. Lilja is really forming bonds and relationships and has not stopped talking about her experiences..Let's keep them coming!!