Heather

Måns and I spent our 16th anniversary in sunny Nice, France! We had a wonderful apartment with a view over the roofs of the old town, plus a waterfall. We spent lunch and dinner each day sitting outside in the sun – pretty extraordinary for two Swedes to do in March!

The view from our window. Yes, that's a waterfall up there!

The building our apartment was in.

Lunch in Nice

Heather and Måns at the waterfall.

Måns

View of the port

View of the lighthouse

Looking over the beach

Måns in the fruit and flower market.

Måns bought me flowers for our anniversary!

Massena square

Måns and fountain

Måns with his crêpe

Måns on the Promenade des Anglais

Måns doing yoga. (or maybe it's some other guy)

Måns and Heather

Close up of the smooth rocks on the beach.

Breakfast

We have just returned from a week in Lake Garda. We rented an apartment in an old farmhouse overlooking the lake and mountains. We had fresh eggs from the chickens each morning and were surrounded by an olive orchard.
The weather was sunny on all days but one. The food, as usual, was amazing. The view was probably the most amazing of all. We stayed near the town of Saló, took a ferry to Torri del Benaco, visited Sirmione and spent time in the thermal spa there and visited Riva del Garda at the top of the lake with its dramatic cliffs overlooking the town and a detour to the beautiful Varone Falls – a waterfall that’s made a cavern in the mountain.

This is how we spent our days

Max and Leo and the olive orchards where we stayed

Leo in the courtyard of the farmhouse we stayed in

Max at the door to the courtyard of our farmhouse

The kids' room in the farmhouse

Lunch outside at the house

Leo and Max got us fresh eggs from the chicken coop every day

The boys relaxing in the hammock

Olives

In the yard

Our view every day

We made a fire each evening

Måns in Salò

Måns and Heather at lunch

Waiting for the ferry

Toscolano Maderno

Måns and Heather in Torri del Benaco

Torri del Benaco

Leo in Torri del Benaco

The boys with their appetizers - insalata caprese and prosciutto crudo

Feeding ducks

Heather, Leo, Måns and Max

Torri del Benaco

Sirmione!

Lunch outdoors in Sirmione

My favorite store in Sirmione

Leo and his marshmallow ice cream

We visited the thermal spa Aquaria. No cameras allowed but I snapped this picture through the trees when we left.

Full moon over Lake Garda

Salò - the closest town down the hill

Måns doing his favorite thing - sipping espresso at an Italian cafe.

Måns in Riva del Garda

Max and Leo in Riva del Garda (top of Lake Garda).

Cascate Varone (Varone Falls). 100 meter high waterfall that has formed a cavern

In Varone by the waterfall - I say it looks like THE TEMPLE OF DOOM

The waterfall again. Amazing!

Ok, not all Italian bathrooms are like this, but sometimes you come across them. Max does not approve. This is a woman's bathroom by the way.

This is what it looks like to drive along Lake Garda.

Leo had 2 parties this year for his birthday and it was great!

Birthday morning!

Opening presents

Leo - age 11 !

Family party

Cousin Clara

Cousin Hannes

Cake

Friends over for party #1

Harry and Leo

Måns approves of the pinball

Leo

Friends over for party #2

Eating Swiss Meringue

At the table

And again

We are back from another summer in Texas! We met up with a lot of friends (forgot to bring my camera for some) and spent a lot of time in the water as usual.

Måns got to try a deep fried Twinkie AND a deep fried KitKat this year.

I finally managed to get Måns and the boys to go tubing down the river in New Braunfels. (Big success!)

Leo caught a chicken with his bare hands.

Max enjoyed visiting the Texas state capitol of Austin. His feelings on the city:
“Austin is the life. Swimming, macaroni and cheese, corn and a glass of water.”

Hope you enjoy a small selection of photos!

Max and Leo

Feeding the horses with their cousin Blake.

Dinner at Oporto in Houston

Måns at Oporto

Sam, Max and Leo at PIrate's Bay

Heather and Vanessa

The PTP kids having fun in Erin's pool

Shawn, Dustin, Heather and Erin

Måns and his fried Twinkie

The boys out working the field

The Fire Museum in Beaumont

Leo

Max

Parker, Leo and Max washing cars

Måns playing Hercules pinball at Pinballz in Austin

Texas State Capital

Texas State Capital dome

Leo in Austin

Max on 6th Street in Austin

Leo, Heather and Max in the very cold Barton Springs

Leo, Max and Måns in the hotel pool

In Gruene, TX

Måns and Leo at the Gristmill

Leo on the river

Max relaxing on the river

Måns on the Comal River

Heather

At the New Braunfels Smokehouse

Måns at the Rooftop bar at the Tremont House

Max, Leo, Pablo and Diego

Måns, Dori, Daniel and Agustin

Mammaw, Monique, Aunt Darlyne and Heather

Monique and Emma

Heather, Tammy, Dawn and Monique

Earl and Dawn's kitchen sink

Måns and the boys in the lake

Daniel and Max in an hour long water balloon fight

Agustin grilling hot dogs filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon.

Leo and Pablo in the chicken yard

Måns, Jerry and Drake

Max feeding a stingray

Max, Mom and Leo

On our way to the U.S., we stopped for a day in Zurich. We were lucky to have great weather and of course I wanted to eat some fondue.

Max

Fondue!

Lunch

Heather and Måns

Around town

Leo and Max

Måns

The whole family

It was a little cold and a bit of rain, but we had a great trip to Paris!  The kids visited Disneyland Paris for the first time and the weather was great for that!  Favorite rides were the Big Canyon coaster, Pirates of the Carribean and Star Tours.

We stayed in a nice apartment in Montmartre and the kids discovered crepes, which we ate every day. We saw the Eiffel Tower (Kids comments: ‘Wow!’). We visited Notre Dame (Kids comments: ‘I don’t see the hunchback’ and ‘this is not as fun as Disneyland.’).

So we all enjoyed Paris with Disneyland being the number one attraction. Max has decided that he will eat at a crepe restaurant for his next birthday and Leo wants to know why Paris has so many carousels. Both plan to come back!

Our apartment in Montmartre

Montmartre

Max and Leo looking out over Paris

Sacré-Cœur

Måns and Heather by Sacré-Cœur

Carousel at Montmartre

Måns on the Carousel at Montmartre

Heather on the carousel

Max and Leo on the Carousel

Heather, Leo and Max at the Sacré-Cœur Basilica

Måns looking out from the balcony of his Montmartre apartment on a lovely Parisian evening.

View from our balcony

Enjoying the flaming crepe Suzette. They didn't believe us when we said the waiter would set it on fire.

Disneyland Paris!

Main St. in Disneyland Paris

Leo in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

Måns at Adventure Isle

At the Haunted Mansion

Mickey Mouse!

Max on the Orbitron Rocket

IT'S A TRAP! Star Tours ride.

Orbitron

Leo and Max at Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame Cathedral

Eiffel Tower

Heather and Måns at the Eiffel Tower (with an extra Max sneaking into the picture)

Max and Leo on the Carousel at the Eiffel Tower

Abbesses Metro

Just 3 cool guys waiting for the metro