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!