I have so little time to just be in the garden, especially recently. Or to just be, period. So I make sure we take our meals outside when possible. Sometimes the kids (especially Adrian) grumble over the extra distance they have to carry everything (at least 10 extra metres each way, poor kids!) or about the sun or the heat, but I overrule them.

The deck on the east side of the house gets sunshine in the morning, and it usually isn’t too hot at that time of the day. By lunchtime we get shade from the cherry tree so we don’t get baked. We’ve arranged furniture in such a way that we can get the juice and butter out of the sun, and we have a power outlet so we can plug in the toaster as well, so we have all we need.

Today was the last day of school, which the school celebrates the same way each year, with singing by the kids and speeches by the staff and other ceremony as well. It was sweet the first time I saw it and has gradually come to feel more and more boring and routine.

We have a tradition of our own, to celebrate the beginning of summer break with conveyor belt sushi in Kista, which we also did this year. After that the kids tried out the VR rigs at the mall at Kista, mostly on Ingrid’s initiative. Ingrid enjoyed the experience as much as she had expected; Adrian found it a bit scary and nauseating.

We dyed Ingrid’s hair pink and purple and blue, a.k.a. mermaid hair, because someone on Youtube had done it.

The result did not look quite as good as on Youtube – the colours were less vibrant. Ingrid was disappointed at first, but when she saw it in daylight the next day, she thought it was quite pretty after all.

We skipped the traditional national day picnic and replaced it with a sausage grilling hike around lake Källtorpssjön near Hellasgården.

It was a beautiful day for walking – warm and sunny without being too hot. We walked mostly through the usual Swedish rocky pine forest, with the occasional beautiful clifftop view of the whole lake. The trail was nice and varied, following the edge of the lake at times and getting deep in between trees at other times, and had just the right amount of ups and downs to remain interesting. The parts nearest the parking lots were relatively crowded, but there were fewer people further away, on the other side of the lake.

The trail’s only shortcoming was a lack of suitable picnic spots. Finally by early afternoon we were so hungry that we set up our picnic and grill right next to the path. I have a love-hate relationship with single-use aluminium grills: they seem so incredibly wasteful, but at the same time they are so incredibly convenient. And the grilling is an absolutely essential part of a hike for the kids, almost the whole point of it.

The kids had packed binoculars and were amazed at how much closer things seemed when looking through those. The binoculars also allowed us to spy on follow the progress of a swimmer who swam all the way across the lake to one of the islets and then back, towing a very visible red buoy which made him/her easy to spot.

Hot summer weather arrived, not exactly unexpectedly, and Ingrid urgently needed summer footwear. We went shopping. Ingrid is now completely in love with her new sandals. They’re black, of course.

We went to see the Miro exhibition at Waldemarsudde. Nice weather, nice walk, nice lunch at the café, another nice walk to a nice fika afterwards at Rosendal – but the exhibition itself was underwhelming. “Yep, Miro, black squiggles” was what I got out of it. I don’t know what was lacking – perhaps Miro himself is old news now, or perhaps the works just weren’t presented the right way.

Ingrid and I played Othello. I won. I had a strategy; she just tried to flip the most pieces every time.

Much the same as last month.

This month’s highlights include scout hikes (one that has already taken place and one to look forward to). And of course Ingrid is already looking forward to the two scout camps she’s going to attend this summer. Plus summer in general – she’s growing tired of school and homework and all that.

Current favourites:

• Super short jeans shorts
• The Sims 4 and Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Katy Perry’s Bon Appetit

Given the choice, both kids always read while eating. Ingrid is a fast eater and knows exactly how much time she has and needs, so for her it’s not a problem. Adrian on the other hand often forgets the actual eating because he gets so engrossed in the Bamse he’s reading, so for him books and magazines are not allowed at the breakfast table.