stockholm weekend pics, blossoms and chocolate

we lightened the load this weekend, inviting relaxation inot our days, after 10 days of travel and a full work/school week.

we stayed in pjs until late in the afternoon, we visited the cherry blossoms. we binged on the big bang. 

we had a late easter egg hunt and celebrated a birthday with a steakhouse visit... two traditions we love (hope kai never gets too old for easter).

nothing really to do, nowhere really to go.  it was nice.

hope your weekend was spring-like too!

16 / 52 weeks

 

kai: jumping into natural pools with the omanis, quad biking in the desert (pictured above), eating dates in the mountains, snorkeling in the gulf of oman... a good week.

towards a warmer climate

there is a little more that can change the trajectory of an afternoon than a mistake.

kai works on his homework but he wants to be playing on the xbox.  he settles at the kitchen table to give it a try as i make a snack.  peanut butter and apples, cucumber slices, a chocolate covered rice cracker.

i join him at the kitchen table and we work.  he studies for his science test as i prepare blog posts, edit photos, research for our upcoming vacation, plug in work dates into my calendar.  we chat, he shares school stories about the vegan speaker in his individual and societies class, the lunch on offer at school that day was a good one, the funny youtube video.  i listen. i observe.  i embrace the chit chat but notice not much studying is happening. 

i offer helpful suggestions to get him focused.  they are not welcome.  he offers no solutions, just smart alecky responses.  i find his objections to my help grating.  a lovely late afternoon at the kitchen table turns... i yell.  

a mistake that wasn't in the plan.  kai is hurt and disappointed, eyebrows furrowed, lost in my sudden outburst.  how confusing to have his mother turn on him, no notice.  the sunny day letting in warmth and light into our kitchen seems to cloud over.  

my heart breaks to have hurt him, to have turned our warm and cozy kitchen to a cold uninviting cave. 

a mistake. how does the saying go, we should embrace our mistakes and learn from them... evidently, it's hard for me.  parenting is hard. 

nevertheless when mistakes arrive, as they do, i think i am a little more prepared than the last time.  i started yoga again, i remember to breathe, i empathize, i set the tone and make it warm again.  i am the grown-up after all.

so, i make a silly face.  i bring out fabrique's nut and cranberry bars.  and another chat to reassure my love...  eventually, the clouds part and the kitchen is warm again.

i can't wait to catapult ourselves to oman for a much needed vacation... warmth and togetherness to reset, recharge, and relax.

collage - changing things up

 

i found malin gabriella nordin, a swede and artist, during a night of going down the rabbit hole that is instagram.  the colour, shapes, and simplicity in her paintings are the perfect pairing with spring well under way.  don't they evoke a happy state of mind?  

i love her collages, the re-making of materials into something new and perhaps better.  her work has made me think of my own life, bettering it, creating, embracing possibilities.    

  

definitely an artist to swoon over... all photos from her website.

travelogue: oman, along the coast

oman is littered with wadis - riverbeds in deep and narrow gorges carved out of the mountains.  fed by natural springs, these green oases provide an ideal place to swim in the scorching heat but first you need to get to it with a hike.  the wadi we chose was easily accessible but some require more effort. the reward?  palm ringed lagoons, emerald rock pools and waterfalls.  not surprising, omanis like to picnic here.  swimming in the these natural pools was total bliss; kai loved jumping in from high up with the omani kids.  

the bimmah sinkhole, a dramatic limestone opening filled with emerald water, was pretty cool.  taking the concrete steps leading down, we took a refreshing swim in the 20m-deep pool. sinkholes are formed when groundwater travels through easily-dissolved rock. apparently, this one is considered the most beautiful of its kind. 

and then, in the end, there was relaxing by the pool at the sifway boutique hotel and snorkeling in the gulf of oman.  it was pretty wonderful.

thanks for taking a peek... it was such a different and wonderful experience!