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Dala-Floda was where we spent our last day in the countryside of Sweden. It is the most beautiful little town with homes that are beyond charming and a stillness that was perfect. Ryan took us to a beautiful bastu (sauna) on a picturesque lake. While he and Kyle baked and steamed Gigi and I played in the sand and sun.

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After a few hours on the lake, we went for lunch a the Värdshus. A small, glorious, bed and breakfast in Dala-Floda with a renowned restaurant. The food they prepare is all local and organic, much if it from their own lovely garden. We sat outside at a table on the lawn and enjoyed our delicious food while Gigi ran and played on the grass.

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After fika we packed up to head back to the farmhouse to begin the process of packing for Stockholm…

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…our time in the Swedish countryside was incredible. I’ve always loved visiting the areas outside of cities when we’ve traveled in Itlay, Germany, France, and now Sweden as well. Outside of the city you get such a sense of the people, the culture, the food, the warmth of a country. It’s not surprsing that during our time there Gigi learned two new words, “kiss” and “freinds” which she uses every day now.

We met such wonderful people, ate healthy and delicious food, made new friends, had once in a lifetime experiences, breathed deeply, swam in a warm lake at sunset, watched an airshow, ate from the garden, walked barefoot in the grass, learned bits of a new language… had adventures.

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We are now settled in Edinburgh, Scotland and Kyle has started school. The tone here is so different from that in the countryside of Sweden. It’s drizzling a bit and you can feel the day to day city pace. Kyle has started school, he leaves with his bag around 7:30am and is having a wonderful time. Gigi and I are hanging with Uncle Ryan, I’m catching up on a little work, journaling, reading… It feels like we left summer behind in all it’s perfection in Sweden. It’s definitely fall here in Scotland.

I still have more photos and stories to share from our time in Sweden this week… these photos are from one day of our trip we spent just relaxing on the farm. One thing I loved about the farm life was going every morning with Gigi to check on the chickens and look for eggs. Then, to come right inside and make her breakfast from an egg she collected. I’m so excited to plan and prepare for getting chickens next spring.

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We spent the day playing, exploring, doing laundry, snacking on real Swedish fish, napping, reading, and soaking up the sunshine.

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Another thing we loved about being in the countryside was fika, afternoon coffee that is traditionally prepared over an open fire and served with sweets. Ryan’s neighbors invited us over to have traditional fika with them. We wandered over around 4pm for coffee. Normally I wouldn’t dare drink coffee so late in the day but throughout our time in Sweden I never found it to affect my sleep. Maybe it’s countered by all the fresh air. We sipped our coffee and snacked on brownies made my Kerstin. We also got to try her special flower water which was very sweet, made from flowers at her mountain cabin, and a homemade juniper berry cordial.

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Kerstin and Oboreo delighted us all with some violin playing! The girls, Gigi and Kerstin’s granddaughter Judith, couldn’t get enough. Gigi danced and jigged and cheered for more. It was wonderful. The more they played the sillier the girls became. Doing headstands, lying down and rolling on the grass, squealing and giggling like mad.

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After fika we returned to the house to prepare for a wood-fired pizza dinner with Lars, Karin, Isak and Sofia. Any time spent with this family was so much fun. Gigi couldn’t get enough of Miss Sofia. Everyone chipped in to prepare the ingredients and soon we we all assembling our individual pizzas.

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We spent the most lovely evening with the sweetest family. Meeting Lars, Karin, Isak and Sofia has been the highlight of our trip in the Swedish countryside. You can’t imagine a more kind and generous little family. They were so welcoming to us, doted on Gigi and really made our time in Dala-Järna so wonderful. These photos are all from a perfect evening we spent at their small lake cabin near the farm. We walked through a beautiful wooded area, the ground was covered in tiny blueberry bushes, and then came upon the lake. It was still warm enough for a swim and even Miss G got in the water to splash and play. We had fika (evening coffee) and sweets and sat on the porch until the sun set. It was one of those evenings for me where I just wanted to hold my breath and take it all in. We feel so lucky to be here, on this trip, meeting such wonderful people, making memories with Ryan and experiencing new things with Gigi.

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Here is my Fresh-Squeezed Margarita recipe!  I posted one last summer but it was only for one drink (I was pregnant at the time) but this summer it occurred to me that I should have a recipe for a pitcher of mix!  I mean, who’s going to go through the process of making ONE Fresh-Squeezed Margarita?!  This recipe really couldn’t be any easier, it just takes a little effort to do the juicing but it’s sooo worth it.

FRESH SQUEEZED MARGARITAS

Ingredients.
7-10 lemons
12-15 limes
1 cup sugar (plus more to rim the glasses)
2 cups hot water
tequila
lemon and lime zest

Directions.
In a large pitcher, mix 2 cups of hot tap water and 1 cup of sugar and stir until it’s completely dissolved.  Now it’s time to start juicing.  This is a great time to bust out the juicer that’s in your cupboard but it can be done by hand too.  Juice enough lemons to yield 1 cup of lemon juice and enough limes to yield 1 cup of lime juice. By this time your simple syrup mixture should be room temp.  Pour the juice into the large pitcher along with the simple syrup.  Put the pitcher in the fridge to chill for a bit.  While it’s chillin’ sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar onto a small plate and top with a bit of lemon and lime zest.  Get out your glasses, run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass before dipping it in the sugar/zest mixture.  Toss some ice cubes into the glass.  Pour in your favorite tequila (I usually pour in enough that the glass is just under half full of tequila) and top it off with your fresh-squeezed mix.  Garnish your drink with a thin slice of lemon and lime and your done!  Be sure to pour your leftover mix into ice cube trays and freeze it so you can make Margarita Conjeladas!!!

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
FRESH-SQUEEZED MARGARITAS

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We spent a day driving and exploring Falun and Sundborn, Sweden with Uncle Ryan. We went to Falun to have a traditional Swedish lunch at the old copper mines which were pretty impressive and then we went to Sundborn to see the Carl Larsson House, which was equally as impressive. The Swedish countryside is unbelievable. It’s vibrantly colored, the air is so fresh, and the people are friendly. We’ve had near perfect weather which the Swedes are all thankful for… apparently it’s been quite grey until we arrived. We’re soaking up every minute of country life here.

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