Mini vacation to Åland (and a day at the Beach in Stockholm)

So, we planned a trip for the whole family a bit back and with some help from my mom (economic that is) we booked a boat for six people and four bikes to Åland, and the cabin and tent space in Mariehamn.

Departure was Friday morning (31st of July 06:15 at the harbor)) so we took the bikes and bags to my workplace on Thursday.

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Waiting to get on the boat, passengers to Åland goes in last but out first!
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Breakfast buffet with the view of the archipelago of Stockholm and our view for the next few hours (play room for the kids, so much fun…)

Boat takes five hours, mostly we sat in the buffet restaurant or the big play room, but we also spent some time getting snacks at the tax free.

Åland here we come, Day 1 unpacking, shopping, bathing, chilling!

So, once of the boat we had like a ten minute ride to the camping where our cabin was waiting, a small red thing that would serve as home base for the next 4 nights (Friday to Tuesday). after getting there we set up camp, unpacking and raising tents and stuff like that, followed by a quick trip to the store.

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The cabin from the outside and from the inside, we got room for more than what we ordered, but that’s always nice, and might come in handy..

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The tenting starts, rolling out my ultralight and the the regular self supported two man tent for the boys to sleep in.
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More pictures of tents in different stages, my tent is up, the boys are getting there.

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Some pictures of the area, the main office and cafe/bar/reception and the green service house (toilets and showers).

After store there was time to check out something more fun, THE BEACH!
The girls love the beach, almost as much as me, so that’s always a good way to end a day!

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Going to the beach, don’t mind the ghost around me, just back light and “smart camera”


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Me and Mathias playing around on the floating deck, doing some jumping and diving.

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Random pictures of family time on the beach, Saga and Viljami digging in the sand, me and Saga in the water.

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The girls enjoying the freedom of outdoors, going to the play spot with daddy and the big brothers!

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Climbing in the web, Viljami left and Mathias to the right.

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The girls again, this time sitting on the swinging/turning things at the play spot.

That was the end of our first day, and the beginning of the first night, where I slept in a tent with Siiri and the boys shared the other tent. more about that soon™.

Day two in Åland, castle touring and factory sales.

Woke up after a pretty horrible night, turns out Siiri is not ready to sleep in a tent yet.
Oh well, breakfast and packing before heading out for todays 25km x2 (or there about), destination Kastelholm Castle.

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The boys, the girls and me (not pictured) waiting for Elli to come back after getting cash from the ATM.

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A view on the way, I love sea views, like seriously it’s the best!

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Proof that Elli was actualy there and biking, on the bridge with a view and speeding down the last hill before the castle!

The ride to Kastelholm took about two hours, not as quick as I am used to but not bad at all!
The area around Kastelholm has a few museums actually, the old prison museum (we skipped that this time) and the open old building museum that is free to look at (Jan Karlsgården)P1020756Lunch in the gardens at Jan Karlsgården, sandwiches, water and grapes (theluxury)

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The girls and Mathias riding some kind of home made creature

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More riding, this time the big wooden horse by the old stables.

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One of the few picture where Mathias is not trying to strike a silly pose..

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Mathias and Viljami both got to try their hand at Archery, old school style..

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Lots of pictures from around the Castle…..

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There is a place where you get to try on clothes and armors, we all tested something..

On the way home from Kasterholm we stopped by the Taffel factory shop (Taffel being a large Finish manufacturer of chips and stuff). all the kids got to choose some candy or chips they wanted for the trip.

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Girls and the boys posing with the taffel mascot, after buying some snacks for them selves.

After the trip it was back to the camping for more playing and bathing!

Day 3 – Mall and bath house!

We actually didn’t take any pictures this day, but we went to the big mall, called Maxinge and then later we went to Mariebad.
Mariebad seemed like a good idea on paper, but in reality it’s a nightmare when you have four kids, where one is suicidal!

Day 4 the scenic route south of Mariehamn.

This was the day Elli wanted to go check out Stickstugan a small knitting shop and cafe ten kilometers south of Mariehamn, so we took the girls in the wagon and biked there, the boys got some teen alone time at camp, they didn’t want to bike this day..

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Scenery on our trip to Stickstugan, some amazing sea views and some cute cows!

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Stickstugans cafe, they had good kladdkaka and some nice Ålandish pancakes!

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The girls got Icecream before a little play time in the small sand box at the cafe.

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I had some apple cider (non alcoholic of course), it was nice! to the left is the pancake that Elli had, she said it was good.

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The greenhouse that was built with 100% reclaimed stuff, looked nice, so we went in and took some pictures.

When leaving the cafe we saw the local cat, the girls obviously needed to say hi, so we lured it out for some cuddles!

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Said girls and me, and said cat getting lots of cuddles

Later in the evening, it was time for what we always do, bathing in the sea!
This time the boys found some common jellyfish, it had to be played with (or more like harvested and put in a small pond before released, and anything that they found washed up was showed to the girls to..

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Party time by the water, fun indeed.
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Top pictures: me holding a Jellyfish, Siiri holding a jellyfish, Saga holding a jellyfish and the last one is the jellyfish farm the boys made.

Day 5 – Departure for home day.

Well, it was one of those days I guess, get up early, stress with cleaning and packing and stuff like that, but we got all done in time, and we only forgot three items, two of which we got before leaving!

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The bikes packed and waiting for the short trip to the boat, we stayed by the camping the last hours, for the kids to play and the use of facilities..

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Siiri and me Selfies, oh and I made a new friend, a dragonfly landed on my finger!

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Waiting for the boats, check in is one hour before boat, so there was some waiting, thankfully not that bad really.

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The last boat trip, stacked up and ready for our lunch reservations.


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That’s it for our vacation, we biked home from the boat, which went good for 2/3’s of the way, then Saga woke up with a vengeance so we enjoyed lots of screaming until home.

Beach day in Stockholm-ish (Järfälla)

Since summer came really late, and was waiting for us when we got back from Åland we took the kids to Kallhällbadet in Järfälla for some bathing.

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Beach day with all that is included!

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Followed by a stop at Max in Barkarby

Long overdue post from 2014, Järva with mom

Right, this has taken a wee bit longer then it was supposed to.
Mom visited sometime (well august 2014) and well, joined for a ride around Järva, with the kids (all three) in wagons or by bike, so here comes pictures and maps:

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Siiri, with Saga in the wagon sleeping, going to see the petting zoo at bög gård

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Siiri with Grandmah and Siiri with Granddad (I mean the goat).

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Saga actually woke up to see some animals to!

After Bögs gård we started biking towards the old mill.

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Mom on the borrows bike and on the second picture one can see Viljami.

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Boiled sausages in bread at the mill, I got to use my trangia kitchen again!

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Saga doing what she does best, eat, first at the mill, then a little later at Säbygård.
From here we went to some play spot before home called.

Incase you are curious about the route, it’s about like this:

Everybody bike now!

Sunday and it’s a sunny day!

On Friday Elina got her new bike, something cheap from Decathlon, today was the day to try it out, with a easy ride around Järva, three stops planned, two Cafe places and one for our own picnic!


We started home, then went Bögsgård for a stop at Helenas Cafe, from there we went up to Översjön for some sammiches, and then to Säby Cafe, for buns!

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Pictures from Helenas Cafe at Bögs gård, Icecream for everyone!

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Pictures from our mini picnic at Översjön, there where sammiches, juice and some fruits and berries, and the kids got to run around for awhile.

IMG_1181 Base camp Översjön, not much more to say, the kids enjoy some relaxing with foods and drinks.

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Siiri and Saga, one is munching the other is sleeping, with Viljami in the background, working that pulla down!

First real long trip with the Burley

Today I went out with the two boys and our spoiled little princess (Siiri), the plan was to take a trip through Järva, up to Översjön for some BBQ and play time.

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Mathias and Viljami at the time of departure, had to stop there for Mathias to fix his shoelaces..

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Siiri in her protected environment, no kääpä (bugs) in there!

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First fika stop, Mathias and Viljami posing like always, Siiri looking serious.. this is somewhere around 4 km on the map (top of säbysjön, they had no breakfast so this would do)

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The kids enjoying some time by the water at Översjön, Siiri and Viljami balancing by the water and Mathias with his rock (or snail) that he found!

This place was also where the BBQ was going down, sadly, the ICA one time BBQ’s didn’t really work, so we had cold sausages and some juice before going on (the plan was to go home now, but that didn’t happen), instead we ended up having another fika, at Säby Cafe.

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Mathias with his ice cream and “awesome” hair, which he refuses to cut, Siiri making a face and blocking out Viljami..

From here we planned to bike to the McDonald restaurant in Rissne, but before we got there we stopped at Leffe’s place and at a playspot close to Spånga IP.

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Mia and Leffe just before we left from their place and Mia helping Siiri with her helmet!

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Lots of pictures from the play spot close to Spånga IP, Siiri playing with wooden cars, the boys biking on the roundabout bikes and the big swing!

On our way from the play spot to go eat at McDonald Ellie asked if we could get some sewing stuffs (weird needles and brown thread) so with 25 minutes to spare we had to find our way from Rissne to Sundbyberg, Garming Edge to the rescue!

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On the way to the cloth and sewing store someone fell asleep, doesn’t look like the most comfy way to sleep though xD
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Siiri was woken up to some Milkshake, Viljami had some Sundae with strawberry jam!
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Mathias with some caramel fudge sundae, looking bright as ever, these pictures are outside the McDonald in Sundbyberg, where we only stopped for some cold refreshments!

We got the needles and things for Ellie and after a short fika outside McDonald I again had to use my GPS to find a way home 😀
Siiri got a little angry and whiney on the way from Sundbyberg so we stopped by a park-slash-lake areas.

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Siiri by on her way to the water, posing as always… Viljami having a quiet moment, by the water, with his helmet on…


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The golden trio of kids out biking today, so fun to be by the water

The GPS found us a way home, and if we quickly mention, before moving on, my detour because I thought I knew better, we “soon™” was close to home!
There was time for another break though, the old man (me) needed a toilet and the kids wanted something cold again, so Ice cream at OKQ8 in Helenelund!
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The ice cream outside OKQ8 in Helenelund, Twisters for the boys, Piggelin for Siiri, I being older and more sophisticated had a Ice coffee icecream thing!

Being almost home we really only had one more shot at the McDonald lunch I promised earlier, though this was more the time for dinner, we stopped for some food and play time anyway!

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Viljami with his dinner, the usual, Cheeseburger happymeal with milk and some apples (Siiri stole his apples again!)

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Mathias with hair in his eyes waiting “patiently” for me to take the darn picture so he could eat, Siiri looking graceful as ever, she really just wanted the play spot anyway..

 

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The man himself, me, enjoying a cold cola in the sun, not sure if it’s visible on this picture, but I got myself a pair of stingy, fiery red shoulders today, so as I’m sitting here typing this I have yogurt on them to lessen the pain from the burn (Ellie said it would help, still not sure if she’s pulling my leg or not!)

Last but not least, the map from today, and under it the link to the runkeeper page from the biking, incase anyone is interested in the stats from this truly slow ride!


http://runkeeper.com/user/ombirons/activity/204902831

Another day with the kids out in Järva

I think we went out something like 10:00 o’clock and we came home like 1500(?)

So first off, the map from our bike trip (24.2 km)

A nice mix of gravel road and forest paths again 🙂

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First water break, Viljami having a sip while Mathias is waiting “patiently”… this is somewhere in the woods close to Bögsgård

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Action pictures from the same area, First Viljami then Mathias passing by in a blazing pace!

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The kids on one of the bird watching places by Ravalen

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First fika at Bögs Gård, ice cream and soft drinks for the kids, same for me and a coffee, oh and we got a free sugar and cinnamon bun! awesome time!

From here we headed the gravel roads towards Naturskolan, and headed a detour up past  Fäboda gård before heading down to Översjön.

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A well earned break for the boys at Översjön, searching for fish in the lake, especially wondering if there would be any pike there 😀

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The last fika of the day, at Säby Gård, the vanilla buns are amazing!

After this we went down to Barkarby Handelsplats and bought some biking gloves for the kids and after we got home we ended up going back to Barkarby to get a new bike for Viljami (again), since having both kids here ends up in (apparently) lots of biking, the small one he’s been using (the racer/cyclocross is just to big for him to reach the breaks) is so small and the gearing wrong.

Anyway, he now has a redish orange Scott Voltage 24, looking something like this:

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Viljami with his new bike, which according to himself was “super fast” even on like gear 4! and then a better picture of the bike it self, and yes it came with the water bottle and bottle cage!

 

Taking the boys out on a ride

Well, since the boys aren’t allowed on the computers (including xbox) before 12:00 I get to take them out on bike rides!
Today was Järva with kids (or as I like to call it ~1 hour of whining)


The route we took, from home past the motorcross place, over the forest to naturskolan, then up to säbysjön, översjön and down by IKEA and home

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Viljami racing ahead, Mathias coming after, this was basically where we started 🙂

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Mathias going “no hands” and Viljami taking the opportunity to race past him..

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The boys leading the bikes up the hill before our first and only “real” forest track, around 2.5 km in to the ride on the map (this was the most fun part, downhill, a little turns and stuff.

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A quick break, for photos and resting, but mostly photos, we didn’t stop for more then 5 min, the ants got annoying after that.

From here it was gravel roads home, lets see how tired the kids will be tonight!

(I went for another 30 km ride to meet my Wife in central Stockholm after this)

Burley Encore kid carrier

Sales, sales, sales…
We where just going to get the “cheaper” Burley Honeybee but ended up with the 500 crown more expensive Encore.

Well today was the first day of quick testing, Siiri being the test subject:

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Success, at least when you look at the happy face, but I gotta say it felt easy to pull around, even with my tired legs from yesterday.
The only downside, it doesn’t really fit on my bike, I need to get a adapter for the quick release on the back wheel, right now it’s just washers and it’s not “safe”.