Slow Down

After Christmas I vowed to slow things down, not plan too much, and take it easy.  I had a lot of help while Mattias was in India, but the extra workload took it's toll.  Almost immediately after Mattias returned we were hit with a Karlsson-wide stomach flu, keeping me away from human kind for a full week.  Magnus' molars (all 4) started to erupt and the I-won't-let-go-of-mamma's-leg phase began.  Clearly, no one in the family got the "Let's take it easy" memo.

I bitch and moan, but there have been a lot of happy little moments tucked into the chaos.  The boy's love of rock and roll continues to grow, and music time with Mattias is always a hit.  Another new development is Linus' favoritism towards Mattias.  He constantly says "I love you best pappa.  You're my best friend."  And when I'm being stern and enforcing household rules, he cries "I want pappa!!!!"

 

Magnus has begun to walk in earnest, still preferring his funky one-kneed creep.  When he does walk he goes with the hands in front zombie-walk.

 

His fascination with all things mechanical continues to grow.  Diggers are his favorite, but he calls anything yellow with big wheels or tracks a "digger!" The only thing he likes more than diggers?  Me.  And I will fully admit that I lavish in his admiration and devotion, getting a tiny ego boost every time he peels off Farmor or Mattias to come to me.  He's just so soft and sweet, and perhaps I realize this phase is short and transitory, I definitely appreciate it more than when Linus was in the same stage.

 

Just last weekend we finally got a dusting of snow, followed by some rain, resulting in a crunchy sheet of ice.  Doesn't matter to the boys, it was white outside so that meant they could use their sled.

We're still taking it easy (in our own terms)-- no plans for the next 2 weekends, no crazy craft or garden projects on the horizon.  But knowing me, I'll find something to fill that time.

India trip

I figured I would use the blog to post some pictures from my recent India trip. Ellie was a super wife/mom and let me go on this mancation while she stayed home and used the Jedi force on the kids.

The flight there was really long, and I didn't arrive in Mumbai until 1am. After a crazy initializing cab ride where the driver's car kept breaking down, I got to the hotel where Hillel was staying. The next morning we checked out of the hotel and took a long cab ride down to the train station. I didn't spend much time in Mumbai, but I can say this: the city is huge, and like much of the county, it looks like it's either in a perpetual state of being built or torn down.  

We took a long train ride out to a really awesome World Heritage site-- Ellora and Ajanta caves.  These ancient temples were carved right out of the mountain, taking hundreds of years to complete. We were pretty awestruck.

We spent two days exploring these beautiful temples, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

 
 


The mixture of ancient architecture and wildlife was really cool too.  There were monkeys climbing all over the place.



After the first day of temple viewing, we took an auto-rickshaw ride back towards our hotel.  For those of you who haven't experienced this mode of transportation, it's basically a small moped with a crappy metal enclosure to sit in.  It's probably the cheapest way to get around, and you always have a feeling that you are about to die. The driver decided to pack three extra people in his little vehicle (in addition to me, Hillel, and himself). It was a long, cramped ride, and we became well-acquainted with the other riders.  They turned out to be really cool-- they were MBA students on break from school, and they were exploring their own country much like we explore ours. We ended up spending the rest of the day with them, exploring a really cool fort that was partially in ruins.    




After the second day of temples, we took a public bus to a medium-sized (and extremely dirty) town called Jalgoan.  The bus ride was an awesome experience-- it was really crowded, dirty, and confusing, but it felt nice to travel the way everyone else did. We ended up befriending a group of students that wanted me to take pictures of everything we saw out the window.  I think they were more interested in my camera than in us! 






When we got to Jalgoan, we quickly learned that our overnight train back to Mumbai was 7 hours delayed.  The perpetual state of disorganization and unpredictability of India's train system is something to get used to. We decided to take a sleeper bus instead, and we were lulled by the constant sound of horns beeping and the smell of exhaust all night. The next morning, we were back in Mumbai and we met up with Mel in the Bandra neighborhood. Here is a picture taken from the beach.  Not a great place for swimming (the beach looked more like a garbage dump), but the weather was really nice and we walked around for a few hours.

That evening, we got on a plane to Delhi, and crashed in a hotel that looked like it was entrenched in a war zone.  Mel was not happy about his choice in hotel, but it was clean so whatever.  Mel and I got up early the next morning to take a train to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is located). The Taj did not disappoint. 






Mel and I spent the whole day pondering the awesome architecture, and we took some trippy long-exposure photos in a nearby fort. 

 






It was a really fun day, despite coming back to Delhi after midnight (it was New Year's eve) and missing out on the celebration. By this time, Hillel's friend Mike Soskis had arrived in Delhi and we met up with them at a bar.

The next day, we had a chance to explore Delhi a little. We decided to walk around the city's main bazar area, which was full of crazy alleys and shops selling everything you can imagine. 

 

At one point we heard some music in the distance and decided explore its source.  We ended up in a big colorful tent with a bunch of people participating in a Hindu ceremony.  We sat down (initially on the side reserved for women, which was really embarrassing) and enjoyed the amazing live music.  It was entrancing.



We were itching to get away from all the pollution, trash, and people, so our escape out to Corbet National Park that evening came just in time. Once there, we met up with our guide, Ramesh, who was really knowledgeable about the animals in the park. 
 



We spent two days exploring the park, but the most exhilarating part happened just one hour in: we saw a huge male tiger while riding on the backs of scared elephants! Somehow, during all the jostling from the elephants that were freaking out, I got a picture of the tiger.  He was not happy that we had crashed his party. 




We also did a lot of birdwatching in the park-- Mel was definitely in his element. One of my favorite birds was the Kingfisher (shown below).




We slept in the park one night inside a perimeter with an electric fence to keep the tigers out.  We woke up early for the sunrise and did some more birdwatching.



We finished off my last day in India walking along a beautiful river, and we ended up at a really cool temple build on top of a steep rocky outcropping.

 

I was sad to be leaving so soon, as the rest of the guys stayed longer for more adventure. The experience was truly memorable, and my lasting impression is of how warm and inviting the people there are. Despite the hardships people endure there, many seem to just float above it all.  Enjoy!   

 
 
     
 

Merriment in the Making

Now that Mattias is home safe and sound from India I finally have some time to tell you about our fantastic Christmas weekend.  It's hard to believe that was 2 weeks ago, a sign that we should all try to slow down and regroup during the month of January.

It was a gorgeous day on the 23rd so we decided to go downtown to spend to morning at the National Aquarium.  We parked next to the Washington Monument, a structure that Linus loves to point to anytime we're driving.  While we can see it from the end of our block in Arlington, Linus was still really excited to be standing so close.  The little aquarium is such a great place for small children, with lots of viewing platforms to stand on and space to run around.  The big attraction was their new albino alligator.

 Afterwards we took a 1 block stroll past the White House and over to the National Christmas tree.  It was a little shorter this year than in years past, but I'm short and stout so who am I to judge?  The best part about the tree is not the tree itself-- it's the villages and railroads on the ground surrounding it.  Kids love model train displays and can watch them for hours (even when it starts getting windy and cold).

 We started out our Christmas Eve celebrations at the elder Karlsson's house, where we hung out with Jonas & Lauren who were visiting from Chicago.  I had a great time making marzipan pigs and frogs with Linus, while Magnus sat in his reading chair with a few books.

 

We had Christmas Eve dinner out our place with a traditional Swedish spread featuring homemade gravlax, pickled beet salad, and Janssons frestelse (a potato gratin with anchovies), along with Swedish ham, meatballs, and pickled herring.  This Christmas dinner was particularly challenging because our normal supplier of Swedish food (IKEA) decided to stop selling a lot of necessities.  For years we eargerly drove to IKEA to buy the staples, so we were shocked to see a bunch of generic products that are generally less scary to the average American consumer.  Believe me, I was outraged and so was Linus.  He yelled "Shame on you people!  You're ruining our Christmas!" in the middle of the Food Shop several times.  Moving on...

 Unlike last Christmas where Linus was discouraged from trying different (fishy) foods by his own relatives visiting from Sweden (you know who you are), this year he took a few bites.  You don't have to like it or eat a lot of it, but you do have to try it.

 After our feast Jultomte came for a visit.  In Sweden it's traditional for dad (or a designee) to dress up and knock on the door to deliver the presents.  For $30 on amazon.com the tradition can be yours, too!  Here is Mattias getting ready in the basement.












 Linus was thrilled by the visit and immediately offered to help place the presents under the tree.  We were shocked because Linus usually goes completely mute around strangers, and was sooooo talkative around Jultomte.

 When we got around to trying to find Mattias to hand him a gift, Linus pointed up to Jultomte and said "You're pappa!"  I guess he wasn't fooled for one minute.  Gus and Sophia on the other hand were freaked out and barking the entire time.

 After the gifts were sorted into different reciepient piles (see Linus' obscene pile below) we got around to opening.

 Linus' favorites were his light saber, police uniform, and rocket ship.

Magnus loved opening gifts too, and tinkering with his new things.  There were so many presents eventually the kids got tired of opening them and had to go to bed.  The rest were saved for the next day.

We hope everyone had an equally wonderful Christmas as well.  Thanks to those of you who took the time to send a holiday card or a gift for the boys!