Rock star

Just had to share this with you.... I especially love the head-banging, we-will-rock-you movements!

A decade of fun

A few weeks ago, Lucas reached a major milestone in the life of a child.

He turned 10. Ten! The big One-Oh!

When Matthew was born, Steen and I agreed that when our children turned ten, they could pick where they wanted to go for a weekend getaway. Lucas took full advantage of this opportunity and invited us all to join him for a long weekend at Disneyland Paris.

We had a terrific time celebrating Lucas in the realm of Disney magic. There is truly no other place on earth like a Disney park to make me feel like a child again.

Here are most of my men at the entrance to the park (Nicholas has probably snuck through the front gates and headed for Buzz Lightyear).

We enjoyed a nice meal at the Rainforest Café. It was Nick's first time there... he didn't particularly care for the "thunderstorm" part of the visit, but the presence of elephants made up for it.

Turns out that Nick was afraid of the characters... the "live" ones, that is, who were in our hotel in the morning and wandering about the park.

Despite his fear, however, he was really interested in seeing them (just not up close)... Here he is using a little girl (in front of him) and a wall (to his left) as protection just in case Goofy, who is standing just around the corner, should decide to jump out and get him.

The birthday boy couldn't, of course, have a birthday without a real celebration... and lucky for us, he sleeps like a rock (twice we've been in hotels where the fire alarms have gone off in the middle of the night and he just kept sleeping, so that Steen has carried him down 20+ flights of stairs)....

Anyway, here he is, not yet awake... 10 years old!

What is a party without presents?

One of my biggest concerns about this trip was how Nicholas would do with all of the standing line. In my mind, he was going to do nothing but fidget, jump out of line and run away. But, in actuality, he was probably the best line-waiter of us all... Waiting his turn patiently. Often we had to wait 90 minutes for a single ride. Here he is waiting to get on the rocket ships.

The day of Lucas's birthday, we arranged for lunch with the Disney characters. For Lucas and Matthew, this was great fun, but for Nicholas, it was the stuff of nightmares.

Don't worry. He still waved to all of the characters when he saw them in parades, and ever since we came home, he's been telling us several times a day that he is "Mickey Mouse's baby"!

Mickey himself joined us at the table for the singing of the birthday song.

Lucas enjoying his favorite -- cotton candy.

Nick gets a ride with Lightning McQueen, finally!!!! Such joy for a 2-year old.

The big boys hang out with their buddies from Monsters Inc.

Can you guess who's who????

One last ride on Dumbo on our last day, just before we leave, headed for a day in Paris.

Oh, wait, a ride on the horsies too, mommy!!!!

Lucas had also asked that we visit the Eiffel Tower. He gave up a day at Disney to go see it... He was with me when we came out of the Paris Metro, rounded the corner and there it was, right in front of us. Despite the pouring rain, he gasped and whispered "Oh wow!" under his breath. I know exactly what he means.

Summer fun

After we left New York, we drove across the country to the place I think of when I refer to going "home" -- Chicago.

Along the way, we spent stopped at my beautiful Aunt Alice and my wonderful Uncle Joe's home. We spent our time with them swimming, talking, eating and laughing -- and riding the Harley! We truly enjoy being with these two very special people and I hope to soon see them in Sweden (hint hint!)!!!

As you can see, Nicholas and Uncle Joe are two men with the same love of life.

All of the boys loved playing with my aunt and uncle's dogs.

As always, our time in Chicago was very special. We visited as much as we could with family and friends. We don't have many pictures because our camera's memory card was full, but here's what I could find.

Matthew at the bowling alley, where we joined mom and dad for a few games (all I can say is thank goodness for bowling bumpers)...

Nick insisted on playing the game on his own. Adults were only allowed to carry the ball to the starting line... Hence, we spent a lot of time waiting - and laughing.

In what was truly a highlight of our vacation, mom and dad took the five of us and grandpa to spend a week in Branson. There, we had a terrific time on the go-carts (well, everyone but Nicholas who had to be off-loaded from Steen's car during the race because he was so upset), at the pool, playing mini-golf on a dinosaur-infested island, playing cards, seeing some shows and getting drenched at Silvery Dollar City. It was an absolutely enjoyable week.

Here are Nicholas and grandma spending some quality time at the pool.

And these are three of my favorite guys hanging out at dinner.

Oh, I forgot to mention the bumper boat wars!

And the train ride through part of the Ozark mountains. This had to be Nicholas's favorite part. He's still playing with his toy trains every day!

Relaxing by the pool...

On our way home, we stopped at the St. Louis Arch. Of course, the sun came out, the skies turned blue and the rain disappeared. Steen, Matt and Nick went up to the top.

Here are the boys on the banks of the Mississippi.

After Branson, we had a few more days in Chicago. We visited the city and, more importantly, we visited grandpa. He treated us like royalty... we had an amazing, mouth-watering meal of pasta, meatballs and sausage. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water.

On our last day in Chicago, my parents held a pool party, complete with beer brats, hot dogs and plenty of fixins. They had bought it at a Rotary auction and it was held at Nancy Redmon's home. She's been a part of my life since I went on exchange 20+ years ago. We were so thrilled to be able to see her again and to take part in this terrific party.

Here are Nancy and a Rotarian cooking up our party food.

My sister-of-the-heart, Kathi, relaxing in the sun.

My beautiful niece, Samantha... maybe she was tired after all the swimming?

My parents, who think of everything, arranged a little surprise during the party... a party within a party! They bought this great cake and balloons, just a teeny bit early, to remind my lovely hubby of how old he's going to be in just a few months. We managed to avoid burning the house down even though we lit all 40 candles. And, of course, we sang - to his great embarassment.

To top off the party, we were served these grilled bananas, which were topped with nutella, nuts and marshmallows. Get out the grill! I'll have to make some of those before the snow comes!

All in all, we had an amazing, unforgettable time in the US this summer. Thank you to everyone who made it so special (in seriously random order) -- mom, Aunt Alice, Aunt Ruth, dad, Tim, Kathi, grandpa, Uncle Joe, Nicole, Samantha, Tony, Tyson, Uncle Mike, Aunt Ruth, Ramona, Nancy and the Schaumburg Rotary Clubs. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon!