Sweden has adopted Halloween with enthusiasm, but some parts are more popular than others. Trick-or-treating is very widespread; carving jack-o-lanterns not so much. The kids and I really enjoy it though, so we do it every year.

The supermarket has “Halloween pumpkins” but the choice this year was unusually narrow, and we had to make do with weird pumpkins. Mine was oval; Ingrid’s had a hole in it.

Every year I’m somewhat surprised that the kids come through the carving process without cutting themselves or anything else (apart from the pumpkin).

Ingrid at her desk.

Ingrid is preparing for a major history test, covering the era of the Swedish Empire. She is constructing a timeline across four A4 sheets of paper, with drawings symbolizing major events – births and crownings and deaths and wars and peace treaties and such.

Ingrid on her way to a scout hike.

She moved up to the next age group as of this autumn. Bigger scouts have bigger hikes. Ingrid’s previous hikes have involved maybe a few kilometres of trekking, and staying in a hut of some sort. This time the scouts will be sleeping under tarps – that they will be carrying, along with food and stoves and water. Her new pack that we bought for this hike (the old one was hopelessly undersized) is almost as large as mine! The kids will be out for two nights instead of one. And they will be spending most of the day between those nights walking. I foresee picking up a very tired girl on Sunday.

Ingrid is programming a game in Scratch. It doesn’t always behave the way she wants. How well I recognize the feeling that I see on her face.

Ingrid loves drawing. In the evenings she often disappears into her room for hours and stays up late, drawing. Currently she likes drawing cartoon-style girls, practicing various poses, clothes, hair styles and backgrounds.

This is why I have so few photos of Ingrid doing anything other than reading. All the other things she does in a little dark corner in her dark room!

Ingrid is finishing off her Bulbasaur cosplay costume for next weekend’s ComicCon, which she has been preparing, saving money for and looking forward to since spring.

Ingrid reading a book for school.

She rather enjoys reading, but doesn’t have the same deep need to read as I do. I guess it’s like with me and movies: I can enjoy a good movie, but I can also go months without seeing one and not really miss it. I’m tempted to argue that books are different, but are they really?

It’s Friday night, and it’s Ingrid’s turn to choose a movie for us all.

Drawing while Instagramming while watching some stuff on YouTube.