I had a great visit with Matt, Stina, Merete & Mr. Finn over the 4th holiday. They just moved from Capitol Hill to Tacoma Park (all of 6-miles, and a state away). Their new house is perfect with a huge backyard and a park a block away. Here is the fam at the fireworks!
We played a lot while I was there... and, I ate a lot of Merete's sugary snack food... Here we are at the waterpark, a few miles from their house. Finn LOVED the water, and Stina even dunked him fully-under several times. He loved it all!
Merete, jumping to Stina. She couldn't' get enough of the pool. When we got home, she slept for at least two hours. We think she would have slept through the night, but we woke her up for dinner. Swimming is hard work for the kids!!
Stina and Matt took full advantage of my visit by getting some PAINTING time done in the house. Here is Merete with Stina during a painting break.
There is really nothing like holding a kids hand as you walk. What a warm feeling! Merete is a GREAT hand-holder. I had a lot of fun walking in the neighborhood with her over the 5-day visit. Here we are on our way to the Tacoma Park Parade (man, was she excited!!).... and, I guess, me too! 
If you add up all the swinging she and Finn did during the visit, you'd guess I pushed them for about 3-hrs or something! Here is Merete, posing for me as she swings. She's a GREAT poser! She also won't swing herself... Matt is trying to get her to swing herself, but she says she prefers to be pushed (who could blame her?). Anyway, I was basically her personal assistant during this trip... if she wanted to hear "Yes", she knew where to come. 
Mr. Finn isn't bad himself! I took over 400 pics during this visit... I kept trying to capture Finn with this look on his face. How sweet is he??!!
Lastly, here I am with Merete at the Fireworks. She had to sit in my lap and cover her ears because the pops were so loud. 
It was a marvelous time. We could not have asked for better weather... and, it was such a nice break from LA for me, to see the fam & kinda lay low for the duration. I LOVE the house they bought, and can't wait to visit again! 