First Spring harvest.

We cut rhubarb today! Beautiful, isn't it??
I ended up with 5,5 kg (12 lbs)!
All washed, chopped and divided into freezer bags and in the cellar freezer.

I left the majority of the smaller stalks, hoping that they will get a bit larger by the end of the week, and then I'll try to cut what I can on Friday before we leave for our trip!

We got out the suitcases today. Going to start with 2. :) I'm trying to talk Fredrik into taking 4 (since we have 3 tickets, we are allowed 6 suitcases). I told him that no matter what we say about not buying anything - we are going to anyways.. :P So why not have the suitcases to bring the stuff back in, instead of shipping boxes..! :)) I think my reasoning is pretty good!!

Fredrik and I don't plan on taking many clothes, but we have to take plenty for Leia. I am going to sit down tomorrow, and make a list of things we need to have with us in the cabin. Leia will need extra clothes, and it doesn't hurt if Fredrik and I have at least an extra shirt, in case Leia gets sick or really makes a mess, etc.. How many diapers we might need, how much food for Leia, etc.. etc.. We plan on having a bag with extra Leia clothes, Leia food and snacks, diapers, etc.. And then a book bag with tons of books and stickers. There isn't much that you can take with you on a plane that is appropriate for a toddler.. :/ Everything she wants to do just involves running around, making messes and making lots of noise!! :)) Everything you can't or shouldn't do on an airplane. :)

It is a relatively short flight, though. The flight itself from Arlanda (Stockholm) to Newark (New Jersey/NY) will be about 8 hours. And usually the international flights end up arriving at least a little earlier than planned.

Then we have a very SHORT 2 hour layover in NY.. :/
But some good things: most everyone will be visiting when we go through immigration. That means the US citizen's line is always empty. Fredrik gets to join Leia and I in the US citizen's line, since he is the father of my baby and he enters on my US customs papers, instead of foreigner custom papers.

I think we are allowed at least 6 carry-ons too.. :/ :) Which is a bit excessive! (Not including the stroller!) But we are going to try to keep it to 2 carry-on bags, my purse as a personal item, and then Leia's stroller which doesn't count as any baggage at all.

So get off the plane, get Leia in the stroller, get to the immigration and customs area, go through immigration, get our luggage, go through customs, give our luggage back, enter the airport, find out gate and get to our gate.. yeah.. we'll be able to do that in 2 hours !! :D hehe
I'm thinking we should be able to handle it and look around a little in the airport too.

Hmmm.. I'm thinking that Farfar will drive us to the airport Monday morning, pretty please??? :)) But when we come home, they will be on vacation, so we'll have to take a taxi, and order one with a car seat.

Hmmmmm... Fredrik has to go back to work tomorrow.. :( He almost should have taken this week off so that we can get things ready for our trip.. :))) Need to clean up and mow and get things ready. On Friday we will have to empty the living room, since the fireplace should be getting fixed while we are away.

Leia goes back to daycare tomorrow.

I realized something, though!
When we are in the US, it will be the first time that she's EVER heard another child speak in English !! I think it will be very strange for her. We've decided we're going to send her daycare postcards while we are away. I just need to remember to write down their post address.

But that is enough for tonight!

Yesterday I baked:
- 8 medium sized quiches !!
- 2 loaves of bread
- 1 banana-nut loaf
- and some of Fredrik's favorite cookies

Tomorrow and the rest of the week, I plan to make more bread.

Fredrik has bought plenty of toys lately, though.. :P
He bought a neat little gadget that our neighbor has - to pick dandelions! It is pretty practical. And then we finally bought a plastic box to keep outside for all of our outdoor stuff that we don't want to get wet, like seat cushions, etc.. A good place to store Leia's outdoor toys, too.

Okay, now it is bedtime!