Saturday, July 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Dad!!


Happy Birthday Dad, Grandpa, MorFar!!!
We all wish we could be there with you to give you birthday hugs and kisses ourselves, but since we can't, we want you to know that you're in our thoughts on this special day.
And Kate always does such a wonderful job making you feel special so we are happy knowing you're well taken care of.
Happy Birthday!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Having a great time in Sweden!


HAVING A GREAT TIME IN SWEDEN!!



Saturday, July 18, 2009

We've been out of the country FOR 1 YEAR

July 17 we left the US.
July 18 we arrived... I can't believe we've been in India for 1 year!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Mom


Having a slice... with a strong cup of coffee, surrounded by your grandchildren, in the country you love.
Wish you were here.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Trip to Estonia - Tallinn, Tartu & Võnnu


Mäeotsa
Võnnu, Estonia, my Grandfather's birthplace and childhood home



As we walked around the Võnnu graveyard, we came across many gravestones with the name 'August'. I pointed one out, and then another, so August started running around pointing out all the other August gravestones he could find.
In this photo I am consoling Annika because we didn't see a single Annika headstone. A relative pointed out that Annika is a new name and this is an old cemetery but that didn't seem to help.


My buddy Edgar (my mom's first cousin - my grandfather's brother's son). He was happy that I shared some Vodka with him, we were friends for life after that. Then he opened his secret wooden chest and got out a bottle of 45% proof liquor and shared that with me too. I told him I found the second bottle tasty so he sent me home with that bottle and a full bottle of Estonian Vodka.

More photos from Estonia, by Peeter Parmask, my grandfather's brother's grandson click here

There is sooo much more to tell about Estonia but I must go to bed. :-)

Friday, July 10, 2009

Sweden Part 1

The kids were great on the long plane ride to Sweden. We took Air France via Paris to Stockholm - and while aboard August made sure to say 'Bonjour' and 'Merci' to the stewards. He says he learned those words from his French friend Antoinne in Prep 1. The staff appreciated it and it was so cute to hear those words come from his mouth.

Upon landing in Paris, the steward for our section let the kids unbuckle and come to the window so he could show them the Eiffle Tower. The kids were so excited, mostly due to their love for the movie Ratatouille. Once we saw the tower we had to spring back into our seats and buckle up for the landing.

After a short layover in Paris we had a 2.5 hour flight, to Stockholm. I was excited to hear the people around me speaking Swedish but since it was an Air France flight people were still speaking French. :-(


We caught the bus to Uppsala and there was 1 smiling face + 2 sleeping children waiting for us when the bus reached it's destination. Linda was happy to see us because she didn't know what bus we'd be on due to flight delays, collecting luggage, customs, etc. Linda, Kaisa and Jonathan had just arrived from Egypt a few hours before so the kids were exhausted and catching a nap while waiting for us.

We got off the bus, said our HELLOs and started looking for a cab. They had to call a special cab large enough for our group of 6 + luggage. The cab took us on a 1 hour drive to our new home-away-from-home in Tarnsjö. Linda was a little taken aback by how far our sommarstuga is from the city of Uppsala but we were excited to be in Sweden.

As soon as we arrived at the cabin, we opened the taxi doors to exit, and the inside of the cab swarmed with mosquitoes. Linda and I both thought India and Egypt were bad but they don't have anything on Tarnsjö. We had to make a run for it into the cabin.

A few hours later the cabin's owner arrived. He said the mosquito infestation is the worst it's been in 20 years and he apologized over and over but there was little he could do. He said he'd buy a machine that kills mosquitoes by the thousands so we could be outside a bit and he would also put up a screened-in tent in the yard so we could enjoy meals outside. We said that would be good. We were leaving for Estonia the next day so this would give him almost 5 full days to deal with the problem.

The next morning the owner's son came to the cabin to pick us up to take us to the bus stop so we could start our journey to Estonia...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Heja Sverige!


Our Sommarstuga near Uppsala

Kids and I are off to Sweden/Europe!

July 1 - 18
Sommarstuga near Uppsala with Linda, Jonathan & Kaisa

July 3 - 5
Side trip to Tallinn, Estonia via overnight ferry. While in Tallinn we will attend the Estonian Song Celebration Festival - a National Pride concert that only happens every 5 years.
But the BEST PART of the journey - we will be meeting relatives from my Mom's side of the family. LARGE NUMBERS of relatives that we didn't know we had (and vice versa). Our small nuclear family is about to EXPLODE!
AND our children get to walk on Estonian soil... Mom would have been so proud.

July 18 - August 1
Sommarstuga in the Stockholm Archipelago, just me and the kids. Great island w/ lakes, forest, Baltic Sea, cute downtown walking distance, close to Stockholm, close to ferries to explore other islands in the Archipelago

August 1 - August 15
?? My vision is to go to Malmö - enjoy their beaches, city, towns and take the ferry across to explore Copenhagen, Denmark

August 15 - August 29
We meet up with Erik in Europe, city/country to be decided. We tour around via Europass possibly to European festivals and eventually make our way to Barcelona.

August 29
Fly from Barcelona back to Bangalore via Paris