Girls' trip to Paris coming up!

Yeay - my daughter's Xmas gift is booked and payed (sch! it's a surprise ;) In the end of January me and my friend will take our daughters to Playtime Paris -to shop for the latest kids' fashion and just have a blast - we found a reeeaally cheap flight and what seems to be a great budget hotel so we'll have a Little Money left to spend :Since we left Paris the last time my daughter has wanted to go back so I hope she'll be really happy - it's just for a few days but it seems that we'll have time for both the eiffel Tower (been to paris several times but never been up!), the Play Time Paris expo and on day for shopping and playing around at the great playgrounds - for example in Jardin de Luxembourg, perfect stop between shopping Sprees ;) Can't wait! But of course first we have christmas coming up and I have a few more days of vacation, would really like to go to a christmas market in Germany for example...

Things to do in Sweden- Skövde

i.e back home for us :) Being back home and having a few days off as I have now and then cause I work 24-hour shifts, I need to amuse the kids nearby and thought I'd share my tips from around the lakes of Vänern (Swedens largest lake, it's huge) and another lake caleld Vättern, wich is were we live, about 20 km north of Gothenburg and 300 km south of Stockholm. We live at the countryside and most of the time the kids are happy to be outside at home but sometimes both me and them needs to see some people ;) (guess that's why they love going to bigger cities like Paris and Copenhagen ;) Anyway, about 20 minutes by car from our house there's a city called Skövde, not that big, but it offers a great load of stuff to with kids! Skövde Today me and my two youngest ended up at "Stella's playland" (Stellas lekland in Swedish),a great place for the children to run around in, going down slides and jumping trampolines. Free for adults and an "adultcorner" with tv and computers - perfect as I can blog and keep an eye on the kids having fun together at the same time - even if I go down a few slides with them too - it's fun! My oldest son is spending the last days of summer holiday with his grandparents in Gothenburg and at the festival (Kulturkalaset)held there this week - he'd been trying sailing and a lot of other fun activities for children. This place is easy to reach and find both by car and bus, and you could also walk here from the centre of Skövde, guess it'd take about 20 minutes. A little cafe that serves snacks, children-(and veggie-friendly food, coffee etc. Special area for the youngest so the bigger kids aren't in their way andd vice versa. If you're here at summer make sure the kids are wearing socks, or you'll have to buy them a pair each. Other fun stuff to do in Skövde with your kids is the great swimming arena with lots of fun stuff and also a spa for mom, dad or older brothers and sisters - Arena Skövde www.arena.se We also visit Balthazar sometimes were the kids can try different experiments lead by preschoolteachers and check out cool stuff like how to create energy, what it would be like beeing on the moon etc. This summer the barbecue is on from 12-13 so you can barbecue your lunch if you'd like! http://balthazar.nu/english/ When weather is good there's a artificial lake in the park Boulogner and great nature at the mount Billingen - where you also can ski both downhill and flat during the wintermonths!

Benalmadena - travelling there with three kids made easy :)

This year on my very short summer vacation, we went to a lovely Place called Benalmadena, just outside Malaga, in Spain. None of us having been there before we were all very excited of course!


To prepare our kids¨aged 4, 7 and 11 we showed them this great "touristguidevideo" when we told them where we were going:






http://www.spain-holiday.com/Benalmadena




Very informative for all of us! (I found the same translated to Swedish so I am sure it can be found in other languages too).




When it came to packing we used a lot of tips and tricks from the internet and they turned out great!
For our 6 Days I packed 6 outfits/child and it was more than enough. I also packed their swimwear and nightwear in their own carry-ons and I only packed one toilleterie-bag for all of us (yes your hair gets clean with kids' shampoo too ;). 
This way we had 4 bags on 5 people, leaving us the possibility to bring an extra carry-on to fill with any shopping that we may do.
We also saved the money it would have cost to check in a larger bag - and if it hadn't been for the stroller we wouldn't have had to wait for anything at the airport either.






A few Pictures from our flight from Stockholm, Sweden to Malaga, Spain!


 Roll the clothes, pack inside shoes and put the shoes between the poles at the pull out handle, put underwear, swimwear etc in separate ziplock bags and pack items that has more than one ourpose (like a fancy swimsuit that duoubles as a top and goodlooking runningshoes that you can wear in town aswell) - and you can fit 1-2 weeks packing in a carry-on without overweight!
                                                                            






                                                                                                                                     
 Having a little kid who loves running around it was great having this ergo baby carrier that allows you to carry a child up to 20 kg! I had him on my back after security check while boarding and then when he'd fallen asleep during landing he could continue his nap although we didn't have the stroller and I had both hands free beeing able to pull 1-2 bags or holding the other children's hands :)




This was a Little about the flight, tomorrow I'll update you on how our first days in Benalmadena were and my do's and don'ts of the touristattractions we tried.

In Spain!

Spending this week in the south of Spain at Costa del Sol in Benalmadena to be precise,  i'm eager to shark our experiences with you, but there are so many things to do and see here so when the kids finally are asleep and i have time to blog, i'm most of the time to tired to write anything useful ;)

So that's why the most of my tips from this area will be posten next week when we're back home. Then I'll also post more photos, can't seem to figure out how to upload photos he on the ipad.

But I will of course already now tell u a little bit of our experiences so far and how the travelhacks from pinterest  used on this trip turned out.
We started our trip sunday evening with an almost 5 hour flight so we arrived just before midnight.
I used a tip from pinterest and packes pyjamas, blanket and toothbrush for our youngest for easy acces on the plane and put it on, brusade hos teets and read him a bedtime story. He didn't fall asleep, probably becquerel he was to excited about the trip/flying, but this way he was prepared for sleeping when we reached our destination and fell right asleep in the taxi from the airport :)
We landed in Malaga were none of the taxi-drivers spoke more than a few words of english, and also there were no big taxis so we had to take two being fine in our family. We arrived to late to take the train or bus but it's a much better and cheaper choice if you get here a little bit earlier (last train from Malaga airport to benalmadena leaves at 23.42). Then arrange for a local taxicompany to pick u up att the trainstation - they will most likely both speak english and know the streets at your destination (the drivers from Malaga didn't and were very unpolite to the lady we rent from WHO i called and avsked to give him direktions in Spanish).

Anyway,we got to our rental apartment that is situated very much in the middle of everything with is perfect for us - just a few minutes walk weather you're going to the beach, the park, the city centre or to one of the attractions like tivoli world or selwo marina (dolpihins,sealions etc).

i'll create different blogposts of the attractions and places We've visited as i will about tired and testet travelhacks :)

See ya !

3 days to my vacation, 10 days to our trip to Spain....

...and I've already packed!
Yepp, besides from toiletteries my bag is actually done. And there is space left. And I swear, I have never, ever been this organsied when it comes to travelling, this time I've really thougt the outfits through, and hopefully didn't over - or underpacked :)

Tips from Pinterest I'm trying this year:


* Don't fold - roll! Takes a lot less space and the clothes doesn't wrinkle.





* Fill footwear with socks, underwear or other "small" clothes-items like tanktops or swimsuits for saving space.






* Put shoes in between the steelracks on the bottom of your carry-on, extra space there that you don't always think of!


* Put chargers, earphones etc in a box for glasses and put a spiral from a pen around the phonecharger so it doesn't break. Then put it with your phone and other electronics in a zipperbag for easy acces in security-control. Also put your travelsized fluids like toothpaste and foundation and medicin if you're travelling with that, in another see-through zipperbag for fast and easy security-check :)










- And don't forget to do this with your razor so u can bring it on the plane - maybee ;)



* The kids' bags:
- I've Always had the motto of never packing more for each kid than they can pull/carry by themselves in their own carry-on, and I've never felt they had to little with them.


This year I,m also trying out some great tips from my beloved Pinterest that are:


* Put one  whole outfit per day in see-throuhg zipperbag (u can reuse them for the next trip :), and then they can choose one every day on holiday, such a time-saver! I also put swimwear in one, pyamas in one and festive clothing in one. Saves space too as you can press out all extra air.





* Minimize footwear, one good pair to walk in on the plane and one more pair in the suitcase and maybe a pair of flipflops too if you're going on a beach-trip.


* Toys are better left at home - on a holiday you should discover new things ;) One "can't-sleep-without-teddybear", a favouritebook, something to draw on/with and an Ipad or similar is often enough to keep kids entertained during the flight.
We often by the kids one magazine each at the airport too.
If your kids love lego this could be a good idea too (u could do the same with a favourite magnetic puzzle):




* If you're flying at evening/night - pack a pyjamas and let the small kids slip into that on the plane - easier to get them to sleep and easy to put them to bed when you arrive at your destination late at night.




This way we manage to keep luggage at one handluggage each for 1-2 weeks! It's not the end of the world if they use the same t-shirt for 2 days if one gets dirty and u can always do a little washing-up in the bathroom-zink with shampoo if u don't have acces to a washing-machine. But we always pack a couple of extra underwear just in case :)


For more genius tips for travelling visit http://icoolbuzz.com/35-genius-travel-tips-that-will-change-your-life-forever.html


Happy travelling!

It will be a day at the beach(es)!

  




Today we will take the children on a small bike- adventure on a carfree Island just outside our city. The island is called Brommö and has only one house where the man who drives the ferry lives all year round - therefor it'll be essential that we pack enough food, drinks etc - so here's my list!
Neo, who's almost four, will be riding in the car´t behind my bike on wich we will put his litte bike on too s he can ride it as much or little as he wants to. The cart will also hold some of our supplies :)


So anyway, the packlist:


* Bikes


* One change of clothes /extra sweater if it gets cold each


 * Swimwear


* Sandtoys (remember to bring at least as many shevels as u have kids so them ;) Or just bring plastic cones - works as shevels, buckets and to make sandcastles from. On a bike trip with kids you need to minimize packing as much as u can.


* Some kind of ball, frisbee or similar.


* Umbrella, for shade at the beach for the small kids.


* Water/drinks - a lot!


* Picknick food that u know the kids like/will eat, snacks fruit. For hot days watermelons are great, but heavy ;) Don't forget a good knife, spoons etc. Easy-to-reach snacks can be a Life-saver too!


* Bugs-offspray and aloe vera or similar for bites


* Patches and tick-plucker


* Picknick-blanket


That's it!
Now we need to get packing :)
I'll update u with photos tonight.

Playing around again - Legoland, Spain and more!

This blog hasn't been active for a while because I have had so many other things to focus on but now I have a job that allows me to spend more time on the blog - and most important of all - more time time to travel! As neither of us parents are made of Money we mainly travel Europé and of course our own lovely country here in Scandinavia - Sweden :)

This summer (august) we're going to Benalmadena, Spain (near Malaga), where none of us has ever been before and we're so excited! I've never been that far South in Europe before and am of course hoping for great weather and fantastic family days spent on the beach. Since I discovered Pinterest a while ago I've come across a ton of tips and tricks for packing, flying and travelling with kids, I'll try most of them and then update you on how/if they worked!

But it's already summer and we've had a couple of great weatherdays here in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia too :p I work 24-hour shifts wich gets me a lot of free time, the kids have summerholiday from school and so does my husband who's a teacher - a lot of time for adventures that is!

So in June we went to Denmark for a visit to Legoland - that can be reeeeally expensive with three kids but we managed to get away rather cheap by camping in our tent at Legoland Holiday Village - great Place where u can bring your own tent or Caravan, or stay in their Indian tents. Playground, playroom with Nintendo and wifi, good hygien spaces such as family bathrooms etc.
Our kids loved their first tent - experience!



The tickets to Legoland are also cheaper if u by them at the Holiday village, and u get an extra day for free! And yes - you do need an extra day, especially if your kids are over 3 yrs old and like to go on the rides ;)

If you want to stay in more of a city than Billund is I can strongly recommend to find a b&b or similar in Vejle, about 30 min by car from Legoland - and in that case, don't miss the restaurant Spisegalleriet where u can try dishes like camel or alligator or just enjoy their huuuuge sallads buffet.

Tip: If you're planning a trip to Legoland Billund this summer try to go on aug 16th - Danish musicician Rasmus Seebach will be there playing and he's just lovely to listen to for the adults!

Another tip is that places like this often place offers in children's comic books, cereal packages ets. For example we found our coupons on the package of some hamburger bread we bought - "buy one children's ticket and get an adult ticket for free" (adult prices start at 13 yrs old, and kids under 3 are free of charge).


And while speaking of amusementparks and we're living close to Skara Sommarland (www.skarasommarland.se), a big water/amusementpark here in Sweden) we have seasoncards this year so a lot of daytrips there - and of course we'vee been to my hometown Gothenburg and the wonderful amusementpark Liseberg (www.liseberg.se), so here are some pictures from there aswell.




Neo with his beloved Liseberg-rabbit in the Liseberg-rabbit boatride :)

Other days off are spent on one of the many beaches around the area where we live (close to the lake Vänern) - I'll update you on what to bring and what is better left at home for more space in the car when planning a beachday with your kids tomorrow! Looking forward to blog on a Daily bases again!


Mariestad and Vänern, Sweden

Sports holiday in Sweden

So the sports-holiday, spread over three weeks in february dependibg on where in Sweden you live, has come to an end for our family. As both me and my husband are teachers we get the privilige to spend school-holidays together with our kids :)

This week we spent a few days in Skåne in the south of Sweden (rain , rain, rain....) and a day in northern Germany, most of it in Timmendorfer Strand where we discovered a huge (at least it seemed huge from the outside) spa and waterland (ostsee therme & hotel - www.ostsee-therme.de)
, an aquarium (sealife), a lovely beach for walks this time of year and probably great for swimming during summer, and lots and lots of luxurious holiday-homes along the beach.

There are lot's of things to do with kids in Germany, amusementparks, water-palaces etc. and the prices are good, we got a full dinner with soda and desserts for our 3 kids and beer for the father for around 50 euro :)

I also tried to find some flea-markets in Skåne at the way home as it's known as a little flea-marjet kingdom here in Sweden, but most of the good ones are only open during weekends this time of year.
Although I did find some stuff further up north, some clothes and cute mini-drawer for my sons room.

I love vintage, retro and fleamarkets and often try to find them at our trips (guess my lucky reaction when i realized the street outside our hotel in Paris turned into a huge fleamarket every saturday ;), sometimes I find stuff sometimes I don't but the great thing is you don't look for certain things, cause you don't know what you are looking for until you find it!

That's why I looked around at home for some money today as I knew I was going to drive by a local fleamarket on the way to picking up my son. I found around 5 euro and came home with The Desperate Housewives cookbook (what a thing ;), a really goodlooking noteboard for our hallway and a really nice abc-book :D

Next school-holiday is right before easter, in april. It's ten days and I'd really like to go on a kid-friendly trip somewhere warner than here -it'll have to be a budget one though as i also want to finish renovating our house this spring and summer :p- so who knows, maybe I can give you some budget holidaytips afterwards!

I'm back!

So I've been away from blogging for a while but now i'm back taking care of the blog, keeping it updated :)

It hasn't been much travelling with (or without) kids lately, except for our annual visit to the christmas-fair/market at Liseberg (amusementpark) in Gothenburg, despite the weather we had a really nice day there at our daughters birthday.

Sharing some pictures of the typical green rabbits who live there and of the Paris-wheel and the cute little shops that appear at christmas in the park.

At the moment our family are planning a trip to LA next christmas, so if anyone of you readers out there have any family-friendly ideas about what to do, where to stay etc, please share in a comment below! Never been to the States so hopefully it'll be a dream vacation!

 

Hopefully we'll get to Dubai during 2014 aswell, we'll see ;) Looked into the Tamani ( i think tht was the name of it) hapartment hotel in Dubai Marina, seems like good value for not so much money!