Well, I'm back.
Like I already said in a locked post some days ago, our vacation took a bit of a turn when upon arrival we found out that my father had just been diagnosed with stomach cancer. We tried to keep our plans as much as we could for the kids' sake but of course everything was different, especially since my father couldn't go with us anywhere and so I felt guilty every time we left him at home. He's not really sick yet, actually he's still waiting to hear how bad it is (initial scans seem to indicate it hasn't spread and is still located in a small area, but scans are never 100%, are they?) and when the surgery is, but he has to be near a toilet at all times and was very nervous about leaving the house because of that. We managed to take a day at the docks in
Malmö, drinking coffee and basking in the sun our second day but after that he stayed at home and only really left for doctors appointments and then to drive us to the train to the airport the day we left.
But still, we managed to have a nice time and dad's wife told me the night before we left that us being there had been a lovely distraction from all the worry. Hopefully by Thursday we will know more about what happens next. *crosses fingers*
I'm sorry
sagaluthien that I never contacted you. We ended up having a shorter time in Gothenburg than I had anticipated because we had to return the car to my sister in Malmö the same night and since I had already made plans to meet up with my good friend
bittersweet_art and half the day was going to be spent at Liseberg with the kids I just felt it would be too rushed. As it was we ended up speeding our way through Liseberg, dragging the kids to the car and getting home almost an hour late. *sighs* Hopefully next time, although I don't know when that might be.
Anyway...
In those two weeks we managed to:
+ go to Bakken in Denmark with all my siblings except my brother who was studying for an exam. They sprung this on us the day after we arrived and since it would be my only chance to spend time with my sister who lives in Stockholm and was going back there with her family right after, we couldn't really say no despite me feeling guilty for running out on dad so soon after arriving.
+ go to Gothenburg and have a lovely meeting with
bittersweet_art where we talked about slash and porn and writing and music for two hours while hubby and the kids patiently waited. It was wonderful, thank you, bb. *hugs*
+ go to Legoland in Denmark. (We thought about skipping this because of the circumstances but the little guy had been looking so much forward to it, finding the website even all on his own to look at everything he would see.)
+ go to Copenhagen Gay Pride and then the zoo. (I have to say, our Gay Pride is so much more glamorous. Sorry, Copenhagen, it was fun but I'm still bummed about missing ours.)
+ meet up with my lesbian crush for dinner in Copenhagen* where she was visiting her brother that week. It was so wonderful, I miss her since she moved to New York, I haven't seen her for so long and she won't even be coming home for Xmas.
+ go to Malmöfestivalen and eat weird food. (Incl. Padalecki meat or moose. Yum.)
+ go shopping in Lund and Malmö. Slim pickings for me, I bought one pair of pants, one sweater and one dress. Oh, and tights. The girl filled her suitcase, pretty much, plus she bought art supplies, manga and squishy toys but we talked her out of buying the Hermione wand since it was almost all the money she had left. (They got money from their grandparents.) Now of course she regrets it and wants us to find one online to give her for Xmas. *rolls eyes* The boy got Legos and a shirt. We tried to find jeans for him but he's so skinny the only ones that fit were girly skinny jeans and he refused to wear those. *sighs*
mr_felis bought jeans, sweater and a gazillion ice creams.
We got home yesterday, although at one point I thought we just might not make it. Just as the plane was about to touch ground it suddenly roared and went up again! It took some time before they told us why (there was too much traffic apparently) and it really didn't sound convincing (the flight attendant stumbled over her words) so I was sure there was something horribly wrong and we were all gonna die. The kids of course thought it was all fun and were laughing and looking out the window and so I had to try and not show how terrified I was but when we finally landed 15-20 minutes later I just started crying. Did manage to recover pretty quickly, or at least hold it off until we were out of the plane and in the terminal, where I went to the toilet and had a small panic attack, hyperventilating and feeling like I was going to throw up. Thankfully I don't think the kids noticed anything, too excited about the whole thing. Although I'm sure I almost broke hubby's fingers, I was squeezing his hand so tight across the aisle. (Of course I was the one sitting alone on the other side since on our way to Sweden I was sitting with the kids. I kept thinking, if we die I won't even be able to hold on to my children. Just thinking about it has me tearing up all over again.)
It's good to be home. Even of we somehow managed to leave a bag of trash by the door instead of taking it out and there were flies EVERYWHERE. We've cleaned and vacuumed and they're still here, tiny little things that make me itch all over. *shudders* Not sure why our cat sitter didn't take it out, she must have noticed. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
*It looks like we spent half our time in Denmark but really, it was only three days and an evening. It only takes 30 min to get to Copenhagen from where my dad lives in Sweden since they built the bridge/tunnel, which is why we kept popping over.