Up to the north!

We went up to the north of Minnesota, to Duluth, on a mini vacation. We stayed at a very nice hotel with a great view from the top floor restaurant. The restaurant was spinning so we got to see the whole town while we had our breakfast.

The buffet was not bad either! I especially liked the waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Off to the scenic highway 61 for a tour along lake Superior. First off we stopped at Two Harbors. Mom and dad stayed in a lighthouse there a few years ago, but it was fall then and not so cold. The view was still beautiful they all said, but I was sleeping in the car so I didn't get to see this place.

Then we went to Gooseberry Falls; so pretty, but all the water was frozen. They had a great museum shop were we bought some hot chocolate and warmed ourselves up in front of the fireplace after the tour to the waterfall.

The Splitrock lighthouse was beautiful too. What a view!

Here I am with grandma Grace and dad.

In the evening when we got back to Duluth we went to the Bentleyville light festival.

Very, very cold out, but the lights were beautiful!

There were even tunnels made of christmas lights.

Taking in the view.

Next morning was sunny but even colder than yesterday.

I went swimming with mom in the hotel pool this morning.

Waiting for breakfast is quite boring, and it took soooo long for the food to arrive!

In the chocolate factory I got a goodie to bring with me home.

I slept most of the way home to Minneapolis. It had been a good trip!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day in the morning; Mom lined up all my Christmas gifts on a table and asked me to say "cheese"! OK then, mom, but just this once. I have a lot to do today, playing with all my new toys and books. First off, the domino game from Bella (yesterday night I already tried out a few of my new books. Alfons is my sure favorite!).

3PM we had guests coming. Mom had made scones and tea. Our guest brought cake with them. Yum!

My new friend Amanda and I had a lot of fun playing together!

Christmas Eve

The day before Christmas my friend Bella stopped by. She had made cookies for me, so nice! And I got 2 gifts as well. Wow, I wonder what could be inside. I also gave Bella a gift and a bag of chocolate covered almonds.

In the morning of Christmas Eve there were so many presents under our tree!

In my stocking there were 3 little gifts that I could open right away.

Wow, I got a pair of socks with Barbaskön på from my grandma Ingela! I love them! All day we were so busy. Mom and I went downstairs to Bonnie and Tom and gave them gingerbread cookies and chocolate, and then we went next door to Jacqueline's place and we gave her and her husband some goodies too. She has a cat that is really cute and I got to play with it! Then we went out for lunch and to buy a few last minute things we needed.

In the evening we had prepared a great Christmas meal. We had everything from potatis gratäng to ribs and turkey.

I however mostly just wanted to eat the avocado and cucumber although I did try the meatballs a little bit.

And then, jultomten (Santa) came! How exciting. I was not afraid at all. The Santa had a very deep voice, but didn't he look a little bit familiar too?

Oh, how fun to open all the gifts! I was so excited by each one that I wanted to stop and play with it and not open the rest. It was a very fun evening. Tomorrow, I will tell you about everything I got. Sweet dreams and Merry Christmas!

Advent is coming to an end...

Advent is coming to an end and there are only a couple of little gifts left on my advent calendar. Today, it's the 23rd of Dec. and I opened the next to last gift. I have really enjoyed opening my calendars each day (psst...I have one with chocolate inside too, and I love opening it and EATING the chocolates, but I'm not allowed to do it before dinner).

Now, what could be in this little gift?

Oh, it's another play-doh, an orange one. Lucky that I have my baking tools ready to go!

Santa Lucia!

13th of Dec: It's Lucia and mom dressed me up with glitter in my hair, white dress and red satin band around my waist.

I was mostly excited about running to the gingerbread cookies so it was a bit hard for mom to catch me on film!

Listen to me sing Santa Lucia, and, ahmm, eat a gingerbread cookie...

Cinderella

On the 12th of Dec. we went to see Cinderella at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis. We went with my friend Bella and her mom and dad. Bella and I had a lot of fun together, both before and after the play.

Well, here I am, program in hand, eagerly awaiting the play to start.

Poor Cinderella, she had to work so hard. Her stepmom and stepsisters were not nice. I said: "That's NOT OK!"... although I have to admit those stepsisters were quite funny!

At one point a cow fell down from the ceiling! Can you imagine how surprised we all were! Even mom and dad who knew the Cinderella story were not prepared for this one!

In the end Cinderella got her prince and it was a very happy ending! I loved Cinderella so much and I sat through the whole 2 hours, excited and amazed by the performance. Mom, dad, when can we go again?

Macy's Santaland

The second week of December we went to see Macy's Santaland. I was there last year too, but I was so little then that I don't remember what I saw. I eagerly anticipated the display and it was just delightful!

I saw little house-maids cleaning the house for Christmas....

...and the animals in front of the decorated little house....

...and Santa visiting to give out presents to the kids in the house...

...and of course Santa's workshop and all the elves! Wow, I wish I could have played inside the displays!

Holidazzle Parade

At the beginning of December we went to see the Holidazzle parade on Nicollet Mall street in downtown Minneapolis. It was cold, but not freezing yet, and I was very excited waiting for the holiday parade to arrive.

We went there with my friend Bella and her family. They sat next to us on the street waiting, and then the parade finally started passing by!

It was so beautiful, every train was lit up with colored lights. I loved it!

Each train was more beautiful than the previous one. I wish it would have lasted longer!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a rather quiet day at our place. Dad was not feeling that well and I had a cold so we stayed at home most of the day, except for going out for lunch. I played the whole afternoon until the evening. My "kaniner" and Mojo were put to bed near the kitchen island because they were so tired. While they were "sleepe there" I was off to "Malla Ammerica".

I had my cap on, my Crocs, and my handbag (that I got from mom). OK, I think I need another banana and perhaps a lemon. Lucky that I have a lot of "pengar" (=money)!

Here is my Thanksgiving dinner. Dad had made a nice steak in the oven and we also had mashed potato, stuffing and gravy. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's my birthday!

What a birthday week it has been! Mom and dad had planned a birthday party for me on Saturday the 21st of Nov. Here is the invite they sent out. The theme was travel; Paris, Stockholm and Beijing the destinations.

Tuesday the 17th was my actual birthday and mom and dad came in and sang to me in the morning. I got a fruit tart with 2 candles in it (yum!), and some choooooocolate, mmmm! I also got several gifts.

Mom and dad bought a cake for me that we brought to my daycare. Everyone there sang Happy Birthday to me too!

Then, in the evening another present had arrived in the mail from Sara, Steven, Ebba and Inez. I got a pair of pants and t-shirt with flowers on, a fun Emma DVD, Lilla Spöket Laban balloons and little party candles that looks like animals. So much fun!

From my grandma I got an Alfons DVD and some handkerchiefs. From mom and dad I got alphabet blocks, a baking set, a puzzle, a basket with plastic fruit and 2 t-shirts, although they didn't make it in this picture. I love the DVD and the fruit basket the most!!

Yesterday I tried out my new baking set. I helped mom bake Eifel Tower cookies for the birthday party. I did a few cookies, but then I got tired (and full from eating the dough) so went to bed. I guess mom had to finish up the cookies.

Saturday the guest finally arrived. We had a buffet table with food from the 3 different theme countries; meatballs, potato gratin, and "peppar kakor" (=ginger bread cookies) from Sweden, panini, mini quiche and Eifel tower cookies from France and mini dim sum-like food from China. It was all very good!

Time for the cake that mom had made. I tried to blow out the candles but it was quite hard so mom and Bella had to help me a bit. It was a team effort!

Yum! The cake was good! We had such a good time! We also played a lot of fun games and did a postcard craft. Zander was very good at solving the games!

Then it was time to open the presents. It was really fun to open them. I got so many nice things.

Before everyone left they got a nice goodie bag to bring with them home.

Wow, look at all the gifts I got. A book and dress from Lisa and Scott, a drum from Bella, pants, socks, t-shirt and a stickerbook from Chloe and 2 puzzles and a wooden train from Zander! I will be VERY busy playing with my new toys in the coming weeks!

What a fun party week! I have had so much fun. I wish it could be my birthday more often!