Half a year

It's been half a year since my last post. And what a crazy time that was. It was/is the time of Covid-19 and George Floyd. It's the time of home schooling and wearing masks. It's a scary time, but so full of opportunities.

And while life as we knew it came to a hold, nature just went on being amazing and blooming. Dolphins returned to harbours, deer came back to the cities and the air we breathe was as healthy as it hasn't been in centuries. It's pretty awesome how nature took back space and to see how small mankind is in comparison.

While all this happened, spring came and went and now summer is in full swing. We ended the school year and headed into summer break, although there are hardly planes jetting around the world to bring people to destinations, where they would go on and destroy this wonderful planet.

Covid-19 is shit, but at the same time it made clear, who the boss is around here. And it's not us.

That being said, we will enjoy summer break as much as possible.With BBQs and fresh strawberries. With the smell of sunscreen and a dip into the pool. With watching butterflies and enjoying sunshine.

Have a great summer!

Love, Sanna

Summer break

I cannot believe that 6,5 weeks just flew by and the new school year started today. Life has been a rollercoaster ride through summer break and I'll just give you the most important facts.

• Week one was super boring. The kids went to camp and I hung around home, napped a lot and was just overall bored.
• Week two was hot like hell and LittleL skipped camp for the pool and iceream.
• Week three was back to camp for the kids and lots of (emotional) work for me as we cared for granny and stayed beside her deathbed for about ten days.
• Week four, granny died.
• Week five we went on vacation to the sea, which was the best thing that could've happened for my body and soul.
• Week six we did school shopping, had ice cream and I returned to work.

And here we are. Heading into a new year of homework, friends and tests. I am heading into my first full school year at my new job/school, so it will be super exciting and hard work, too.

In other news, it was pitch dark, when I got up at 5.30am this morning. This means, the dark season is around the corner! I cannot wait for fall.

Have a great day! Love, Sanna

Letter to summer

Dear summer,

thank you so much! For being a real summer this year. For sunshine from May to August. For the warmth (and heat) and the richness of fruit and butterflies. Thank you for being wonderful during summer camp and for lots of BBQs outside. Thank you for many visits to the pool, for water slides and not using the tumble dryer for weeks. Thank you for lots of ice cream and cocktails on ice. Thank you for finishing of bottles of sunscreen and Aloe Vera. Thank you for waterbomb battles and running around without shirt (the kids!). Thank you for heating up the sea, so we could take a dip and play around the waves (we didn't do this for years!)

You were truly amazing. You lifted us up and we had lots of fun with doing all kinds of outdoor activities and hours on the sunbed.

I can hardly remember a year I felt so good to see you go. Just because I feel like we had enough sunshine to carry us around the fall and winter. But now I am looking forward to hoodies and boots and pumpkin spice everything. I am looking forward to crunchy leaves and days in the woods. I am ready.

And I cannot wait to see you again next year. 

All my love, Sanna

Summer break - Week 2

As we are heading into week 2 of summer break, temperatures are going through the roof and we had to make a little change in plans. We thought that LittleL's last day at daycare/kindergarten would be this coming Friday, but then I saw that nice information at the door, that there are sick kids with hand foot mouth disease. So DH and me decided to keep him home as we don't want that to ruin our summer getaway.

This gives me some time to love bomb my littlest boy a bit. It's just the two of us this week, with DH still at work and BigL gone for summer camp everyday. Today, we spent some hours at the pool and LittleL is so close to swim properly. I am planning on going to the pool everyday for two or three hours to keep us going with that. Also, I got a sunburn. I told BigL a hundred times to use enough sunscreen at summer camp and then I got a sunburn today. Mother of the Year, that's me. (I am slathered in Aloe Vera as I type this.)

So, apart from the pool and hanging around the garden and playing board games and UNO, we are doing nothing special this week. We just try to survive the heat wave (although we are so happy about this real summer this year), eat lots of ice cream and nap during noon.

We will smell like sunscreen (way more for me!!) and sunshine and we will be happy when our neighbours/friends will come home from holiday on Friday. LittleL is so looking forward to see his little girlfriend again. We will celebrate with a BBQ, I'm sure.

Have a great week, everybody! Love, Sanna

Summer Break Week 1

And here we are. Summer break is in full swing. BigL is gone for summer camp every day between 9am and 4pm. LittleL is still going to kindergarten this and next week. Today is actually the first day I am home alone and guess what...

... I am bored.

I did two loads of laundry, I cleaned the bathroom and mopped the floors, I shopped school supplies and caught up with Grey's Anatomy Season 11. (Derek is DEAD??) I did some doodling in my bullet journal and out of sheer frustration did the online banking (which I hate).

And now, here I am. What to do?

Blog? Okay, done in ten minutes.
Clean out the kitchen cabinets? No!
Sew myself a summer dress? Might work, but there is not enough time today left.
Clean mirrors and windows? No way.
Clean car inside and out? Again, no.
Meet a friend for coffee? Which friend? They are all working!
Online shopping? Uhm, let me check the bank account ... no.
Chat with the neighbour? I already did that. She is gone now for housework.

Pick up LittleL and have some icecream? Probably!

Have a great day, everybody! Love, Sanna

A month later...

Wow, only a month later and all these projects are done! Our garden is so beautiful by now, with all the new decorations and plants and DH did an awesome job.

We also have a new roof and connstruction workers are gone for days now, so we can enjoy our days outside and sunbath in bikinis and nobody's really watching. Yeah for that!

We are still experiencing summer in spring and we all enjoy it so very much. We actually went to the pool today and I watched Linus in disbelief do some swimming. He is going to swimming class for some time now, but it is without parents, so I had no idea he can actually move arms and legs together. Awesome! I am hoping for his "Seepferdchen" (Sea horse diploma) during the summer. It's like a little swimming exam to proof that kids can really swim and are allowed in deep water on their own, for example. It would mean no more driving to swimming class and waiting for an hour outside the pool. Ah, that sounds great, doesn't it?

As it is already June, we do have five weeks left until summer break. Five weeks!! That's only 20 days of work before we are heading into summer full force. Before summer camp and vacation and endless days in the backyard and at the pool. Before ice creams and the smell of sunscreen and going on bike rides. I cannot wait for all this to happen.

Summer, I am cheering for you! Have a great day! Love, Sanna

Not ready for fall

It's the last weekend before school starts and it makes me sad to see summer go. With the end of summer break and the end of August comes the cooler season. So far it's still pretty warm and the pool is up and it smells like sunscreen. We had a great summer and an amazing vacation at the coast. We spent days on the beach and had way too much ice cream. Everything was sandy and the kids smelled like salt water all the time. We also visited Hamburg with the kids, who have never been in such a big city before. It was loud and hectic and DH and me were a bit stressed to have an eye on the kids all the time so nobody gets lost, but it was worth every minute.

Now, we are preparing for normal life again. We shopped school supplies and I realized I forgot to order school books. Just in time as they were delivered yesterday. I am super mom.

The forecast says temperatures will drop next week and it really is chilly in the evenings, which does not keep us from sitting on the proch until the sun goes down and share some drinks with friends. We will spend these last days of summer outside with ice cream and pool games and enjoy them as much as possible.

Have a great weekend! Love, Sanna

Down came the rain

Week 2 of summer break. It's raining cats and dogs. BigL is at summer camp nevertheless. Every morning I ask him, if he wants to go and every morning, he says, "Of course!". So we bought hiking shoes to withstand the mudder and he is happy.

Little L and me are running errands, went to the mall (I bribed him with a BIG cookie) and hang around home. We watch movies and nap and do puzzles and play and love being with each other. It's pretty awesome. Today he helped me with housework, which took like forever. But we have all the time in the world and I love his company.

So, that's pretty much all we do these days. End of story.

Love, Sanna

Summer Bucket List

Only one more day, and I am heading into summer break (poor kids have one more day to go). As every summer, there is stuff I wanna do and there are things and places I wanna see. Here is my summer bucket list:

• Go to the fish spa. I wanted this for years and I will so do it this summer.
• Visit the coast and dip my toes into the North Sea. Not sure if I will take a full dive, depends on how warm it is.
• Visit Hamburg's new Elbphilharmonie.
• Play lots of Uno and other stuff with LittleL during his two weeks off from daycare (plus our summer getaway).
• Meet with friends, have coffee and cake and good conversations.
• Laugh more, dance often and go to a concert (Gentleman, honey?)
• Try to use my smartphone less.
• Visit the family party at summer camp.
• Paint my toenails all kind of colours.
• Wear flipflops only.
• And shorts and dresses.
• Oh, and my size twelve bikini. Woohoo!
• Go horse back riding with the kids.
• Shop for school supplies (note to myself: NOT on the last day!!)
• Have an outdoor movie night.
• Have lots of BBQs.
• Finish season 10-12 of Grey's Anatomy.
• Take naps on my sunbed.
• Get together with family and friends and celebrate DH's 40th and LittleL's 5th birthday.
• Read ten books.
• Enjoy life.

Have a great summer, everybody! What are your plans? Any suggestions of what I REALLY have to do?

Love and hugs, Sanna

Summer Reading: Little Beach Street Bakery

I love reading. I love the seasons. I love seasonal reading. I read Christmas books in winter, lovely short stories in fall and books taking place on the beach in...well, in summer.

I would love to introduce you to my favorite summer reads, just in time for summer break and your vacation on the beach.

I am starting with chick lit by Jenny Colgan. In fact, it's a trilogy, but just the first two books are set in summer. Little Beach Street Bakery and Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery.

This is what it's all about: Heroine Polly Waterford just lost her boyfriend and her job. As she is looking for a fresh start, she moves to the sea side resort of Polbearne in a little flat above and abandoned shop. To get her thoughts straight, she does what she loves most: baking. With every loaf she bakes and with every rich ingredient she adds, she finds more of herself and a new life (and love) where she never expected it.

Oh, how I loved these books! I read them - have a guess - last summer on the beach. And if it wasn't for me to actually be on the beach, I would have smelled the salty air of Polbearne and heard the waves break. The writing is really good, the story extraordinairy. Chick lit, but without the idiotic heroine. No Bridget Jones moments. Great characters, unexpected twists.

In case you are looking for a good summer read, go for it.

Also, the third book in the series is called Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery. Just perfect for my anglophile, Christmas loving self. But I will talk about this in half a year.

Happy Reading! Love, Sanna

Four weeks

The countdown has started. It's a short week for me because of a holiday on Thursday (I am free on Fridays), so there are only four weeks left until summer break! I am so looking forward to getting some time off work and spending it with my kids and family.

For the first time in ten years or so, we are NOT going to the Netherlands (because our holiday home was occupied), but we are staying within Germany and will spend some time at the North Sea coast. In fact, it's the very same sea we are going to every year, just more up North. We are real adventurers.

Apart from that, I plan on being lazy, do everything without a hurry and I am looking forward to visit Big L at summer camp.

I also wanna read lots of books and I herewith as for recommendations. I love seasonal reading, so I am looking for romance that's set preferably on the beach. I already have downloaded the latest books of Kate Angell's Barefoot Williams / Boys of Summer books. I L.O.V.E. these! Have you read them?

I might also re-read SEP's Honey Moon. I haven't read it for ages and I feel like doing it. But summer break is six weeks and I need more books! Spill!

What are your plans for summer? Any specific? Adventurous? I'd love to know.

Until then, finish the school year strong. Stay focused, but don't forget to dream about the beach.

Love, Sanna