My third birthday

Hi All, this week on Wednesday was my birthday. I turned 3 years old. Mom and dad came early in the morning and celebrated me. Cake first thing when you wake up? I loved it!

Just look at all the goodies I got on my birthday tray!

Mmmmm, godis (=candy)!

My dad bought a cake for me that had my name on it and brought it to my daycare. We celebrated during the snacktime and it was so much fun! I love birthdays!

My daycare teacher, Miss Ashley, made me this beautiful birthday crown. I adored it and wore it all afternoon and all evening until I went to bed that night. Also, look at my pretty dress. I got it from my cousins Ebba and Inez, moster Sara and morbror Steven and my grandma Ingela. I wore it to daycare the next day. Have I told you I just LOVE dresses?

One of my birthday presents was a doctor's bag, fully equipped for an exam. A little bear was included with the set. He was feeling very sick all of a sudden so princess-doctor Elsie had to come to the rescue.

More cake in the evening. Too much cake you say? Really? Can there ever be too much of a good thing?

Here are all my birthday presents. So much fun! I can play for hours and hours with all of them now. What a great birthday!

Yesterday mom said my hair is too long. I had to go to a hair dresser and get a hair cut. I was a bit scared, but the hair dresser, Carmen, was very nice to me. I got 2 lollipops! Well, if I can get that every time I cut my hair I say; go ahead!

My new hair cut! What do you think?

Halloween

Last weekend was Halloween. It's a great holiday I think. So much fun to do! Dad carved pumpkins that we put outside on our porch. We lit candles inside of each of them. Look how great they turned out!

The colors of the trees in Michigan in the Fall are just so amazing. The colors somehow seem more saturated than the colors of the leaves in Minnesota. 

Look at the leaves of this bush which is in our garden. Bright red leaves. So pretty!

We bought our pumpkins at Meijers. They had a huge mountain of pumpkins outside the store so mom took this picture of me there. It was such a beautiful day. Really warm so I didn't need to wear my jacket.

On Halloween day I dressed up as Supergirl right away in the morning. I have tried my Supergirl outfit out quite often over the last few weeks and now I was so excited that Halloween finally was here.

In the morning we went to a bookshop that had a Halloween event. I colored pictures with pumpkins and witches. Dad also read a book for me.

In the afternoon we went to Woodland Mall because they had a trick-or-treat event for kids. They also had a huge tent where kids could jump as much as they wanted. I had a lot of fun! On this picture though, I'm concentrating on opening my candy. By the way, the candy I got was all gone by the time we left the mall!

At home, mom was trying to get a photo of me flying around the house in my costume, but I was too fast so the picture is blurry. 

In the evening a lot of trick-or-treaters came by our house and we gave them all candy. I loved opening the door and handing them the bowl of candy. And of course I took the opportunity to grab a piece for myself every single time. I guess I didn't really care much for dinner that night, but hey, it's only Halloween once a year!

Recap of the last few months

Well, it's been a very long time since I last visited you here at my blog. So long that some people actually thought I had stopped the blog altogether. But no such thing. It's just been a very busy time. So, now when I finally am writing again, I wanted to give all of you a very brief recap of the events of the last couple of months. 

So, back to the end of the summer dad, mom and I visited the little town Saugatuck. It's about an hours drive from Grand Rapids. It's a real fairy tale town. Beautiful and quaint. 

I got a little plastic boat from a toystore and we also had some ice cream from an old fashioned cute ice cream shop. 

A few weeks later we went to Ann Arbor, a town in the east part of Michigan. It's a very artsy town, full of art galleries, markets and events. 

We went to the Sunday Artisan Market where they sell handmade crafts and art every Sunday from April through December.

The day we were there they had a music festival. An orchestra was playing beautiful music and people were learning how to play folk dance in the middle of the street. Mom and I didn't really care to join the lesson, but we danced on our own with the rest of the people and we had a lot of fun! I LOVE dancing!

At the end of September Grand Rapids has an event called Art Prize. Anyone in Michigan or in rest of the US, or the whole world for that matter, can submit artwork to this competition and the art is then installed throughout the city. It's very cool. You can see art almost everywhere. This one was in the art museum and it was so cool to look at!

In one of the restaurant buildings called "the B.O.B" they had tons of artwork. I enjoyed a huge coloring book where anyone who liked to could color the pictures.

Dad liked this giant pig the best. It was quite impressive. Just look at the size of that thing compared to the people below!

Lately I'm playing in my "kitchen" quite often. I cook everything from soup to spaghetti, and I also serve cookies and ice cream for dessert to my guests.

What did you say Pinky? Not enough ice cream in your bowl? Well, let me take care of that!

So, now I have caught you up to the fall season. On this picture it was still quite warm, or at least warm enough, to wear my fall jacket. Mom, dad and I were visiting the mall during the weekend. We do that almost every weekend. It's sort of a ritual now; mall, lunch, bookshop. And then it starts all over again the following weekend.

My first summer in Michigan

So, perhaps you are wondering where I have been all summer? I have been quite busy although mom totally admits that she has been a bit lazy with posting new photos of me on the blog. Just you wait until I can do it myself. Then you will get frequent posts, promise! This summer has been busy and low-key, all at the same time. Mom works a lot, and so does dad, and I'm very busy going to daycare ("dagis"). I have many great friends in the new room I'm in. I'm in the bigger toddlers room now. My friend Cole is older than me but he is one of my best friends and we have so much fun together. On the weekends I bade in my pool on the patio. It is a lot of fun!

We also had BBQ in the backyard pretty often this summer. It's been a hot, humid summer so it feels good in the evening when it cools off at least a little bit. I love the corn dad grills and tomatoes is my favorite dip veggie!

Dad also loves corn and BBQ in general and so does mom!

We have an ice cream shop close by our house and we go there pretty often. I LOVE ice cream!

On Saturdays we usually go grocery shopping at Meyer's and then I get to ride the horse they have by the entrance. It's only 1c(!) and so much fun!

Sometimes I also get a lolly-pop ("klubba") and I love that too! Summer is the best time of the year I think!

Mom and dad have been doing quite a lot of yard-work and planting of flowers lately and I' have been helping. Look at all the dirt I'm helping mom get out of the big bag. All the dirt on the ground? What about it? You'll have to expect a bit of a mess when you are so busy creating!

Mom and I were very happy with how the plants turned out. Our back yard looks more cosy and inviting now. And yes, the dirt on the ground is gone. I helped mom sweep it up with my own little broom!

Here is our house. I'm sitting on the stairs. On Thursday evening I got eat my dinner there and I really enjoyed this fun little picnic!

Visit from Sweden

My aunt Sara, uncle Steven, Ebba and Inez came to visit from Sweden at the end of June. I was soooo excited to have Ebba and Inez to play with! Although Grand Rapids is new to us, we wanted to show them as much as possible of our new city in the 2 weeks that they were here. Here we are having dinner at the Mongolian BBQ restaurant that is close to our house. Yummy!

Inez and I (and my plush dog Mojo of course) are sitting on the stair in front of our house. It is great that our new house has so many rooms. Our guest could have a big room all to themselves upstairs.

One day we went to Grand Haven. We spend most of the day at the beach by lake Michigan. This lake is so big that it almost looks like the sea! Ebba and I were so excited to run into the water!

Wow! This is so much fun!

My aunt Sara was so fun to play with in the water.

Mom and Inez rested on the beach after a dip in the water.

Ebba has a very cool swimsuit with Ariel printed on the front.

When Ebba and I finally got out of the water it was time to get some ice-cream. 

And then we built a great sand castle. We decorated it with feathers, twigs and little stones. It even had a wood bridge leading up to the front gate of the castle.

One day we went to the farmers market by Reeds lake. It was a lot of fun. Aunt Sara bought pies, popcorn and cherries and we also got some bread and fresh vegetables and a few plants.

Dad finally had to buy the BBQ grill he had been thinking of getting for a long time. So one evening we had grilled chicken, corn and italian sausage for dinner.

We moved my little chairs out and added our little sde table so that we could have some fun on our own (I know we don't look that excited, but it really was quite fun!

Then more swimming, this time in Millenium Park where they had a great little lake, just the right size for us.

I love spending time in the water!

On the way home Ebba, Inez and I played in the tall grass that surrounded the little sand beach.

We also got some use of the bathtub upstairs. Inez needed some hair styling tips so Ebba and I showed her some cool up-dos.

Sometimes we were just tired though, and then we watched DVDs together Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Lilla Spöket Laban etc. etc.

Then, it was time to celebrate passed and upcoming birthdays; namely Ebba's and Moster Sara's (from May), Inez (July) and mom's (August). It was mostly Ebba's celebration though, since turning 6 years old is a big affair (I can just imagine when it's finally going to be my turn!). Sara did such a good job decorating the backyard with colorful balloons!

Happy Birthday Ebba! Now blow out all of your candles!

The cake that Ebba picked out herself had a Sleeping Beauty figurine on it (and lots of candy of course!). 

The cake was very good!

When Ebba had finally opened all of her presents it was Inez' turn. Where Inez is? Well, behind the wrapping paper of course! She is all too busy opening her presents. I got some great gifts too! Not my birthday, you say?! Hmm, true as that may be, I sure enjoyed opening those great gifts! My favorite gems: A Pippi Longstocking DVD and 2 Alfons books!!

The big birthday celebration took place on the 4th of July, Independence Day. For lunch we went over to Roses, a great restaurant at Reeds lake. We each had a little American flag to wave and our pretty dresses on.

Ebba and I enjoyed the sunshine outside of the restaurant.

Here we are, all together, although Inez, Ebba and I have already gotten tired of the photography session so no more smiling from us (there is a limit to how many "cheese" you can say in a row).

Very tired now, after a long, hot day at Reeds lake. Riding on daddy's shoulders feels good. I was in good need of a nap.

Late that evening we went back to Reeds lake to see the fireworks.

We had to sit there for a VERY long time before the show started, but once it was on it was worth the wait. Look at how pretty that is!

Taking in the fireworks show!

Hello, and welcome to my play-house, I say, as we happily ran around in the Grand Rapids Children's Museum in Downtown Grand Rapids.

Mirror, mirror on the wall; who is the tallest of them all? Who would have guessed that it was you Inez?

Welcome to my bakery, says Ebba, and serves up some great plastic pastries for us all to try.

There are only a few days left of the visit and we head off to Chicago. We stayed at this great hotel, The Wit, in downtown, and we all loved it. 

Chicago meant a whole new adventure that really warrants it's own chapter in my blog so I may come back with more detail, but I can tell you we were very busy. Among other things we tried a lot of fun restaurants, like this Japanese one. Ebba, Inez and I all loved their Miso soup. Inez loved it so much that she finished Sara's portion too, yet still wanted more so Sara had to order a second bowl for her!

Mmmm, tasty! 

It's been so fun to have you here, cousins Ebba and Inez, moster Sara and Steven. This week I have felt a bit lonely at daycare. I miss the busy, bustling rumble in the house, and find that I need to play extra rough with daddy each night to keep myself occupied. 

But as I say to mommy: "till joooulen, we go to kousinen on the airplane". I can't wait!