The kids played outside every moment. They pretended to be panthers climbing the rocks. They dug for treasures, sticks, and searched for Moose. Supposedly, moose are in abundance in Sweden. Sadly, despite our many moose hunts, we never saw a moose.
Our moose hunt always required a walking stick. Matthew did not allow me or even Jane to be without one. We learned about how to track Moose. We saw where they slept, ate, walked, and more.
The property we stayed on had it's own lake. So, we enjoyed many canoe rides,rather, the kids enjoyed canoe rides with their dad. It was one of the highlights. Rick would paddle them around the lake while they saw, in Chrissie's words, "deers bounding." They splashed their toes in the waters admiring the lily pads and looked for moose.
We had campouts and always ended the day with story time next to the fire. Fires make Matthew giddy. He absolutely loves building fires. More than fires, he loves eating popcorn by the fire (an idea Chrissie got from "Farmer Boy," our current read).
Jane is developing some serious fashion sense. Despite the chilly weather, she insisted wearing her bathing suit and "schuhe." It took a lot of persuasion to get her to wear clothes.
We also spent one night star gazing with Matthew and Chrissie. Surprisingly both the kids were very quiet. I was worried a moose was going to attack us. And Matthew was more than curious about the existence of stars with such conversations as this:
Matthew: "Will shooting stars shoot us?" Rick: "No."Matthew: "How did the stars get in the sky?" Rick-"Heavenly Father put them there."
Matthew: "How did he put the stars in the sky? " Rick: "Good question. I don’t know." Matthew: "Maybe he got a ladder and put them up there....(Matthew thinking)...I know how He makes shooting stars. He puts a cannon up in the sky and pushes a button and then it shoots the star across the sky."
And it was in these quiet,simple moments that we felt an abundance of love and happiness.
1 comment:
I like Chissie's "Ode to red" with that red dress and red and white clogs.....so cute! And love Jane in her bathing suit....reminds me of another skinny little girl that could be found in her bathing suit... outside.... in the winter. And I love Matthew's rendition of the creation.
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