After some breakfast (Pork products are banned in Doha where they live, so immediate bacon was a must) we went for a walk to check the city out.
They immediately loved it (Who wouldn't?!) especially how child-friendly and walk-able the city is. After a 7 hour flight with the kids, they weren't sure how much the kids could handle on the first day, but they seemed to be doing fine so we hopped on a boat and headed over to the Vasa Museum. Jacob was pretty excited about being on the boat (not as exciting as a train though)
By the time we got inside the museum though, Jacob was just about done with the whole thing. Blake and I really thought a huge boat would be really exciting to an almost 4 year old, but we were wrong. He feigned some interest, but he was more excited to get back on the ferry boat so we got out of there quickly.
That was it for day 1, but the kids rested and rallied for day 2.
First on the agenda for day 2 was a train ride! Hooray!
Since the weather wasn't cooperating (although a break from the heat was nice for them) I took the Griffins to a butterfly house a little north of the city (Blake had to work unfortunately). It had an awesome Koi Pond:
Jacob rushed us through the other exhibits because he was really excited to see the butterflies. Unfortunately when we got there, the butterflies were a bit much for him. (Some of them were quite big, and they do fly right at you. As a little kid, I am sure that is terrifying)
Maddie (who loves everything) enjoyed being pushed around though:
That was about all the kids could handle, so after a long bus and train ride back, we just went back to my apartment to relax and let Maddie nap. Jacob had fun watching the original Tranformers cartoon movie (yes- Blake owns it) and playing with the Swedish flag:
When Blake got off work we met him at our favorite restaurant for Swedish food- Kvarnen's. Jacob was at first excited to try some Swedish meatballs, but then started complaining about being tired, and then just zonked out right at the table before his food came. That kid really can't handle his wine! (ha- jk!)
We adults had a great dinner and Molly and Clifton got to enjoy some fine Swedish cuisine (reindeer included).
The next day (and sadly the last day) Molly and Clifton had yet to see Gamla Stan (old town, and definitely the highlight of Stockholm), so we headed that way in the morning. On the way there we happened to see a Garbage Truck, which Jacob is obsessed with (he wants to be a garbage man when he grows up- how cute is that!) and it just so happened to be Blue, which is the color of his favorite toy garbage truck. This was the highlight of the trip for him:
Then we took the uunnecessary train ride to Gamla Stan (it is a 10 minute walk) just to keep Jacob happy:
Maddie was just there to look cute:
Clifton even got to experience "stroller accessible" stairs:
Gamla Stan was quite crowded but cute as ever.
After exploring around that island for a little while, we jumped on a boat to go to Skansen- the old historic village. I thought the animals would be more of a draw for Jacob (moose, bears, seals- what isn't to love?!), but again, he was more interested in the mode of transportation we were taking on the way home (a bus). While we were there, they did get to try some Mjukglas (awesome soft served ice cream) and Swedish hot dogs:
We did get to see the bears, and then ran through the rest of the park to get to the bus and to keep Jacob happy.
Later that evening we had a nice pork meal at home and then we had to bid farewell to the Griffins. It was sooo soo great to see Molly and the fam again and hopefully the rest of their trip goes well! To see all the pics, click here.
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