Travel luggage?

I'm getting through my winter blues by looking ahead and planning our Sweden/Iceland/Possibly Norway trip in June. Drew and I were talking about why we chose to spend our hard earned money on travel because that's a question we get a lot. And it's a lot of money to be spending on just a few weeks. I mean that could probably be down payment on a small house. Or a car. Or 35 Stitch fix boxes (when you keep every piece in every box like myself so far!) The point is, it's a lot of money for not a long time to enjoy it. But for us it is. Because it's not just those three weeks we will enjoy. Part of the fun of traveling (for us anyway!) is the planning/dreaming we get to do before we go. The excitement I get just every time I even think about our trip is priceless. Plus all the memories for years to come? Again, you just can't put a price tag on that.  So today on my travel dreams is luggage. We need luggage. Mine is old and ratty. And heavy. We are going to be traveling with two adults, two kids, a stroller, a carseat, diaper bag, camera bag PLUS our luggage. So we need something light weight and easily maneuverable. And that can fit lots and lots of Swedish goodies we will no doubt be bringing back. 
Maybe something like this? Any suggestions?

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My life is getting in the way of my blog

And obviously I wouldn't have it any other way.  It's been a busy week and every time I have thought about opening up my computer to blog I've said eff that. I'm tired. And put it down and laid on the couch watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy. 
Drew's been out of town since Thursday (his grandfather passed away so he went back to Iowa for the week) and it seems like it's been non stop since then. Jasper has the busiest social calendar of anyone I know (basketball practice, basketball game, swedish school, school, playdates- and that's just since Thursday) so between that, Tindra's whiney phase of refusing to be put down, our disaster of a house and work have taken precedence over anything else. I'm used to doing most of that solo since Drew works crazy hours, but I usually get at least Some help, especially weekends. So I'll repeat. I'm tired! And when I'm tired I babble. So lucky you. 
Moving on.
Two teams of a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds who have never played basketball before being let lose on the court is pretty much the funniest/cutest thing ever. I was actually super impressed with how well they all did. We need to work a little bit on passing the ball but really, Jasper did So good! 

Friday and Saturday it was sunny and in the 60's. Today we had a 'mini blizzard.' Wednesday it will be in the 50's. Hello bipolar Denver. 

Wednesday I get to do a photo shoot with a 5 day old baby, which I'm Super excited about. I've only done newborn photo shoots a few times. I think they are some of the hardest to shoot, but also the most fun. 
Today I ran the farthest I have on the treadmill for Ever. I'm starting back up with the couch to 5k program, sort of. Just kinda winging it and doing it 'my way'. Which is hilarious since I'm as far from a runner as you can get. Seriously. Until tonight I had been running half a mile, walk half a mile run half a mile. And then tonight I bargained with myself and promised myself I'd make brownies tonight if I ran a mile without stopping. And I did it! Not a big deal to most, but to me it was huge. And I ran it in under 10 minutes, which again for me, HUGE. You better believe I made brownies. And ate three. I mean come on, I deserved it. And that is why running makes me fat. Run one mile, eat three brownies. Worth it. 
Okay that's all for now. Time to go snuggle up with Jasper. My sleeping buddy when Drew is done. 

Questions?

I randomly get questions about us, our life, how we met, denver etc. etc. and I don't always do the best job answering them, so if there's anything you want to ask, here's your chance! I'll try to be an open book! Feel free to ask anonymously if you feel more comfortable that way! Nothing is off limits, though I don't 100 percent promise to answer if it's TOO personal, but really, ask away! 

I realized this weekend that I'm getting older.

I know I'm still considered young to most others with kids, but this weekend I realized I have gotten old. I mean really old. For several reasons. 
1. We hired a babysitter to go to a concert Saturday night. (Hiring a babysitter always makes me feel old in general) and when we got to the concert at 7:30 and found out it didn't start till 9:30 I was floored. "9:30? Why does it start so late" Drew, the concert goer, had to inform me that 9:30 is a perfectly acceptable time for a concert to start. I yawned. 
2. Since we were there so early (we thought the concert started at 8) we had our choice between being up front standing or sitting down in the back and I didn't hesitate before voicing my opinion "Lets go sit in the back, I definitely don't want to be standing for three hours getting bumped into and beer spilled on me." Luckily everyone agreed. We are all old. 
3. The second the music started I turned to my friend, "Wow that's loud, I wish they would turn it down." Yep, officially old when you start thinking music is to loud. AT A CONCERT. After a few minutes I did forget about how loud it was. Or maybe they did turn it down? Either way, it was still enjoyable. 
4. The husbands disappeared around midnight to get a last drink before the show was over and were gone forever (long story) but the moms/wives were ready to leave by then. We finally dragged our husbands out as the encore was beginning because it was already 1:30! And we had a babysitter to get home. 
5. All. Day. Hangover. From two drinks! I never even got drunk but got a hungover. Ridiculous right?   I was ready for bed by 7 PM Sunday night. 
So I guess it's time to change the title of this little blog of mine, because this mamma is officially no longer young.

Life Lately.

Through my iPhone, and some of Drew's.

 ^Jasper got a fish (who he named Martin) from Santa and almost every day after school he reads to him^

 ^Mamma and T brunch date^

 ^New years day the kiddos and I celebrated with the ball drop at the Children's museum^

 ^After Tindra went to bed new years eve, Jasper, Drew and I played games and drank sparkling juice and watched and^

old new years ball drop on youtube before he went to bed. I actually made it to new years this year!

 ^One of Jasper's last days of Christmas break we went to a great indoor pool/rec center with friends, it was hard to^

drag them out of the pool after three hours. They are both such little fish^

 ^We spent the very last day of Christmas break with friends celebrating Epiphany (Which I knew^

basically know nothing about but involved delicious cake and finding baby Jesus!

 ^BFF's^

 ^Tindra started gymnastics and loves it! Not surprising.^

 ^Jasper started basketball and Tindra does Not love standing on the sidelines watching him practice^

^Finally I'm in a book club! I've basically wanted to be in a book club since probably high school (book nerd alert) and^

 this one came with wine, delicious snacks, 'naughty apples to apples' and some fun girls! (Most of which I had never met before!) Also, I never would have met any of these girls if it weren't for blogging. Crazy huh? I had so much fun with fellow bloggers Kym, Sami and Alexes, our host Christa and all the other girls! 

 ^We celebrated this guys 27th birthday with BBQ on Saturday. He's officially old like me!^

Also I promise you he wasn't grouchy (in fact he was thrilled for all that meat) he just isn't a fan of having

his picture taken while he's eating. 

^Found all the above pictures on Drew's phone from Christmas. They were so happy with their new swing!^

A walk in the snow. And a tradition we need to steal from Sweden.

One of the greatest things to come out of Sweden (along with Ikea, ABBA and Ace of Base of course) is Fika. Fika is basically a coffee break, but it's so much more than that. It's a coffee date with friends. It's a coffee break at work. It's inviting someone to your home for coffee and a pastry. It's basically an excuse to stop what you are doing, whatever you are doing and have some coffee. It's a once or twice a day thing for most Swedes, whether at work or home. And basically we need this here. Yes we have coffee, yes we even have coffee dates, but it's not the same. Just trust me on this one. 
Anyway last weekend we had been cleaning, putting away Christmas decorations, organizing kids toys, you know that sort of exciting stuff when I decided we needed a fika break. And I decided we were going to walk to Starbucks for it (it's about a mile one way.) I should probably also mention it was basically blizzarding and had been for two days straight. But we have a sled, so problem solved. 
Tindra decided halfway through she wasn't a fan of the sled and wanted to walk. Which wasn't very easy for her since the snow was halfway up her little legs, but she is very stubborn and if she has her mind made up to walk a mile in deep snow, that's what she is going to do. 

 

Tickets booked!

2014 is off to a Very very good start indeed. Last night we finally booked our flights to Sweden (through Iceland where we will have a quick stop to see what Rejkjavik has to offer!) and then on to Stockholm and some other places in Sweden and possibly Norway for almost 3 weeks. I couldn't be more thrilled. Traveling is in my blood, and pretty much nothing else gets me anywhere near as excited as the opportunity to travel with my family. I think 2014 just might be one of our best years yet!

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Christmas!

Would you believe I didn't take my camera out once during the holidays? Yeah it's true and slightly sad. But did allow me to be completely in the moment at all times! We did get a few grainy cell phone pictures of our day, but not even many of those! We spent the morning opening presents, making and eating breakfast (Swedish pancakes and bacon!) and then playing with all the kids new toys. We might have spoiled them this year. We also Might spoil them every Christmas but I can't help it! I just love Christmas! While Tindra napped we introduced Jasper to the greatness that is Christmas Vacation. He wasn't that impressed. The rest of the day was spent eating more food (my cousin and his girlfriend came over) and more playing with the new toys. Along with blocking off our alley with Drew and I as human shields so Jasper could practice on his new skateboard. All in all, a perfect Christmas with my little family. Hope all of your Christmas's were merry! 

 ^I thought Christmas was fun when I was a kid, but it's so much better as a parent getting to be Santa^

 ^She stole a cookie off the table (Santa's cookies) and I didn't even stop her. ^

^She's already ridiculously obsessed with this stroller. I mean obsessed^