Mine and Sam's first weekend on our own in Stockholm

On Friday the sun was shining and we went to an amazing park called Vassa Parken. I am not sure if Sam liked it or not. We were there from 3.30pm until 7.00pm and he cried when we left! It is an amazing adventure playground the likes of which I never saw (for free) in London (although the playground at Hampstead Heath near to Tom and Steps was pretty amazing).

The centre piece of the park is surely the rubberised hill with slides and trampolines built into it. Sam ran himself into the ground and slept for nearly 12 hours. We both had fun, and I have to admit that whilst most of the time I had my eye on Sam as he ran around like a loon, there were quite a few Swedish yummy mummies to keep me entertained.

On Saturday, Sam and I met up with Elsa and Henrik, and their little boy Ossian (who is one year old). Elsa is Sam's mamma's best friend. It was pre-agreed that talk of the situation was off the table to avoid any awkward moments but to be honest, with two little boys to watch that was never really going to happen.We went to a place right next to where I work called Kulturehuset. It has an amazing children's library / adventure playground. Sounds odd, but it works, and Sam loved it.

He loved the staircase the most, as it has lots of hidden passages. He also loved the fish they have there, the kitchen he can play in, and being around other children (he starts nursery next Monday, I am sure he misses the Anglo-Spanish one in Clapham). In fact he loved everything except for the books (I tried to read him a story but he ran off).

In the afternoon it was raining. His grandmother's flat is quite small, and it was only drizzling, so we set off out with our waterproofs on. After 10 minutes the heavens opened. It didn't just rain a little bit, it was cats and dogs. So we stopped off at cafe at the marina and shared a blueberry muffin. Then a raspberry muffin. Then we watched the rain some more. After an hour Sam was getting bored, and the rain wasn't stopping so we walked back to the flat. I think it is probably the first time Sam has played in the rain... To say he loved it is an understatement. He splashed in the puddles whilst I stood under an umbrella until his lips were blue (Mum, I am only joking, but you could tell he was getting cold). So I put him in the buggy (no protest which makes a nice change) and pushed him home, and then we both sat in a hot bath until it was time for In The Night Garden. Despite the programmes racist (the Asian family have ten people in one bedroom) and sexist (Uppsy Daisy is clearly a prostitue) overtones, Sam loves it, ergo I love it too...

Today, Sunday, the weather has been nicer and Sam and I walked to Vassaparken, and he had a great time there splashing in the puddles. And I spoke to an English daddy... We may go there this afternoon too, why not, next weekend, it will be 20 minutes on the tube to get there....