Swedish VagaMom

⭐️ Simply the Best ⭐️ Happy Father’s Day to the one and only ♥️ You Amaze me every day with your humor, dedication, building/ fixing skills, kindness and everything in between ♥️ We love you so very very much ♥️

Early Mothers Day celebrations at this week. Loved spending time with my kiddos, their friends, other mamas and the amazing staff at ACG. The best part (besides my portrait)? V and K biking to school!!!
🚲🚲
Growing up in Sweden most kids walk/bike to school and our new house is just minutes away from their preschool as well as future kindergarten. We are looking forward to many more years of memories made on the path to and from school.

🛻Fun thing to do with kids in SD North county 🚜
Never in my life did I think I would enjoy an outdoor Antique Gas and Steam Engine museum 😅 But this was such a hit with the kids and I must admit, I had a great time too! So much excitement for the kids with 100’s of cool antique machines that they can climb on and “drive” as well as a blacksmith section and wearing. Highly recommended!

As we are in the midst of remodel and moving, this spring break was spent exploring San Diego. And we made the very best out of it!! From biking trails and indoor playgrounds to train museums and train rides to Old Town. And yes, some furniture shopping as well 😏

Took about 10000000 photos. Four turned out 🤗
So much Gratitude for these two little turkeys
🧡🦃 🦃🧡

Mahalo to the magical island of Kauai 🌺 This past week has been incredible for the Lowery family. Such a gift to be able to travel as a family again after almost 6 months of recovery for Chris.
How much fun we had in the ocean and on the beach! Super cool to see the kids getting more and more confidence in the ocean.
It was also beyond exhausting. Traveling with kids is for me the ultimate test of endurance, patience and sanity 🤪 Highest high and lowest lows. On repeat. Constant motion. From meltdown to unstoppable laughter. Are we there yet? Massively difficult sunscreen applications. Wait! Let that go! Stop hitting your brother! Oh, look how cute they are (when they sleep). Up with the roosters 🐔, more sunscreen, shaved ice (organic only, bc that makes it so much more healthier), stop doing this and get your hands of that! More sunscreen 🧴 Put that back, let go of your brother. Whining. Now wait! Watch your brother. More sunscreen and shaved ice 🍧 Mommy needs an alcohol. Running. So much running 🏃🏽‍♂️🏃🏽‍♂️ Broken ornament in the store and meltdown during the $700 photo shoot. More whining. Now mommy REALLY needs an alcoholic beverage! More sunscreen more crying. I need a vacation from my vacation
😅😂🤣😢😭🤯
Thank you for making this parenting gig so much more fun 🤩
Ps I love my children very much. Especially when they sleep😜

No school= opportunity for a nearly empty day at LEGOLAND. Having two kiddos is awesome and at the same time creates a lot of interesting dynamics in the family. Having some one on one time with each kid has been a game changer and so very important! Had the best day with Viggo riding rides and building a lot of Lego.

And FINALLY Viggo is back in preschool after what felt like a VERY long summer! Crazy how much happens in a year (pic #2)
Celebrating first day back as well as starting to move around
w/o crutches this week 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
(Pic #3)

This is my Swedish Tribe, the other part of me. My family, my children’s other half. It’s been 3.5 years since I saw them which is absolutely insane. Covid hit, then a name change that took us 8+ months of paperwork, about a million phone calls, numerous drives all over the county and ultimately resulted in not getting a passport for almost a year.

We were supposed to be on a plane to Sweden right now but because of Chris’ injury we have to postpone and honestly, it probably won’t happen until next year. It is so heartbreaking that nobody in my family has met Koa, that the last time they saw Viggo he was only 9 months old!

A huge shout out to my Swedes, I love you and miss you so much it hurts. I simply can’t wait to see you. Whenever that may be ❤️

Liberty & Justice for ALL

We had just put two months of sickness behind us (colds, stomach virus, food poisoning etc) when Chris left for Nicaragua for a week and both kids ended up with Foot and Mouth disease, double ear infections and eye infections. After that long week we were happy to have him back and everyone healthy! This lasted about one week as the final sh*tstorm arrived on May 25th when I got a text from Chris Lowery at the bottom of Poods skate bowl where he was lying and ultimately had to get rescued out of.

When I arrived Chris was strapped to a stretcher inside an ambulance with his lower leg and food pointing the wrong way. It was surreal. After 5hours in the ER, multiple x-rays and an ankle re-set (under anesthesia) later, we found out he had broken his tibia and fibula in 4 different places along with the dislocated ankle and ligament tears.

We have survived 11 days so far and are looking at 8-12 weeks of recovery. No lifting, no weight on the left foot, no driving etc etc.

Anyone who knows knows that he’s beyond active and very involved with his kiddos. This man surfs close to every day, skateboards and does backflips with the kids on the trampoline- yeah he still got it 😉 This man is the ultimate handyman and fixes everything in the house and beyond. He’s a busy guy that is ALWAYS on the go!

This is a huge adjustment for us. You who have 2 wild boys under 3.5 years old get it. It’s absolutely NUTS!!!! We are in survival mode at the moment to say the least. Thank you everyone who has been dropping by, sending food, called and helped with pick ups and playdates.

Surgery is booked for June 9th so send positive vibes his way for a speedy recovery! For now, we got Michael Franti’s “Follow Your Heart” album on repeat and a fridge stocked with adult beverages.

Love you Amor, we’ll get trough this and you’ll be back doing backflips and surfing in no time!

Birthday Blessings to this little monkey who’s turning 1.5 years old today ✨🐒✨
Happiest when he is in the water, this kiddo takes after his merman of a dad. A super strong boy with mad climbing skills who loves his older brother more than anything else.

Thank you sweet Koa for choosing us as your family. We love you more than you ever know sweet rainbow child.
✨🌈♥️🥳

***Retreat suggestions***
Looking for a retreat in late May/June. Yoga, yummy food, meditation, hiking, SUP- I need it all. Any suggestions for places in Mexico or Guatemala? Plus if it's a non-stop flight from San Diego. 🧘‍♀️🍍☀️

✨Over and out Montana ✨
After moving our departure date no less than two times due to us all being too sick to travel we are now back in Encinitas. This trip was awesome in so many ways and at the same time incredibly challenging.
✈️
Traveling with one child was wild but totally possible, and now I might add: EASY. Making a journey with one almost 3 year old and a 7 month old (that started to crawl on this trip) was hard AF. Week one was great, everyone was excited, energized and healthy. We had our oldest signed up for a day camp so Chris and I could take child numero dos on smaller hikes and outings. At some point though, kid number one came home with some nasty bugs and we ALL got sick with a cold that has basically never ended.
🤒
All of a sudden the accumulation of the altitude at 8000ft that makes it hard to sleep and can be challenging for little ones became very intense and between runny noses and insane amounts of coughing. We were woken up about 8-10 times/night between the two kids. Somewhere in this mess that lost my voice and Viggo turned into something similar to a demon child with hour long tantrums 😱😭🤪
The good new is that we decided to ship the old Land cruiser vs driving to MT. I’m pretty sure we would have had to turn around before LA.
Viva las vacacíones ✌🏽
PC

You’re damn right I wish I was the one being carried around, safe and sound asleep. Pictured here is one tired mama. Unfiltered. Traveling with kids is so much fun and can also be insanely exhausting. Try two little ones above 8000ft. It’s intense.

Big Sky, MT is my happy place and (typically) a place for rest and restoration but apparently brining two boys under 3 presents a bit of a different type of trip. The day-long hard core hikes of the past looks more like a 30min stroll with intermittent stops to search for bugs accompanied with crying or a complete meltdown. A relaxing afternoon by the pool followed by a long and delicious late dinner at Spanish Peaks is a memory of the past, as we now have to enter a wrestling match with the kids to apply sunscreen and beg my older one to keep his swim trunks on while in public. Diaper changes, the lack of floating devises and an unheated pool all factors into my desire to day drink.
A relaxing dinner now looks more like musical chairs as at least one person in the dinner party will have to leave the table consoling or holding a crying child as we have crossed the sacred timeline for bedtime.
A fun evening at the Farmer’s market will mainly consist of sprinting after my seemingly uncontrollable child while making sure he’s not breaking anything from the vendors and giving into buying lemonade as I forgot to bring enough water which will lead to more running and ultimately a massive sugar crash. And there it is, all wrapped up with a bow; traveling with kids. And somehow I would never have it any other way 💙💙

The 100 degree heat, mosquitos and forgotten flies couldn’t stop my oldest from catching his first fish 🎣

Plötsligt händer det (Suddenly it happens), the boys playing. Nobody crying. For about one minute.
But that minute; man that’s perfection ♥️♥️

Long gone are the days of “just one carryon” Now I’m that girl that gets the luggage service 😂

Happy Father’s Day to the most amazing dad and husband ! You make this insanely wild ride so much fun 🤩 we Love you ♥️

When you don’t feel like cooking or cleaning up. Hands down best dinner and dessert in Leucadia. Thank you and for saving the day 😋

Starting off Memorial Day Weekend early to beat the crowds. Spending some quality time with my boys on the beach was much needed. We have been dealing with a lot of extra tears and emotions at Casa Lowery for the past couple of weeks and it’s maddening to say the least. With one toddler navigating the roll as a big brother (yes that means sharing) and an almost six month old with insanely strong lungs dealing with what we think are teeth coming in..... needless to say I’m on the brink of crazy town myself 😩🤪🤯
Thank you for going trough this with me and making it bearable , I would be lost without you 🥰
How does all the parents out there deal with extended stretches of challenging times? Please share, I’m all ears.

Spending quality time or Egentid as we say in Swedish, with my kids now that I got two (!!) has been challenging. My baby, now almost 5 months, is demanding so much time that it is hard to give his older brother enough attention. My husband and I often divide and conquer and naturally I end up spending more tine with the littlest one.
But this week Viggo and I headed out on a little adventure: Strawberry picking at . We had a great afternoon with a tractor ride 🚜, sunflower maze 🌻 abs of course picking delicious strawberries 🍓
I highly recommend going in the afternoon on a weekday. We almost had the whole place to ourselves!
To all the mamas out there with more than one child, how do you divide time between your children?

@ Carlsbad Strawberry Company

Growing up with three sisters did not prep me for being a boy mama. Today my 2 ½ year old son corrected me saying “that’s the hydraulics mama” as I was trying to explain a part of some vehicle. Clearly I need a crash course in mechanics…. 🤦🏼‍♀️ for the record, “Hydraulics is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids”. Well would you look at that.

🍀Happy St Patrick’s Day from my Good Luck Charms🍀
Best of luck finding your gold at the end of the rainbow 🌈

A slice of serenity in the midst of absolutely insane chaos. Koa is enjoying his first yoga class (not pictured are the 10.000 pieces of lego and other toys all over the living room and the .us blaring the Cars soundtrack on maximum level as well as piles of laundry due to a broken laundry machine).
🤪😱🙏🏽🧘🏼‍♂️🧘🏼‍♂️🙏🏽😱🤪
Swipe to see my little yogis practicing all by themselves. Final shot displays what happens if I leave my yoga blocks out, and yes you are correct, those are bite marks. Apparently the saying “taking yoga off the mat” didn’t get trough to my boys just yet.
@ My Living Room

🌱The lunch box 🌱
This concept is something I’m trying to get used to as I never had to bring my own food to daycare/ preschool or any other stages of school in my entire life! In Sweden it’s simply a part of going to school; you get an education and nourishment 🍎
I’m trying to come up with fun, tasty and healthy options for my 2.5 year old and it’s tricky as he doesn’t are much for dairy products or sandwiches 🤔
Here is a typical lunch box for Viggo:
🦃 Turkey pepperoni and jerky
🐔 Chicken nuggets+ bbq sauce
🌱 Sunflower sprouts
🍅 Tomatoes and cucumbers
🥕 Carrots and strawberries
*all organic ingredients
Homemade “bliss ball” and goji berries
What’s in your kiddos lunch box? I need inspiration 🤗

Happy Women’s day all you beautiful wisdom women, sisters, wives, aunties, friends, daughters and MOTHERS! Of all the things I have done and been in my life, the roll as a Mother is by far the most important, rewarding and challenging. Pictured here is just another morning, trying to brush my son’s teeth while carrying my littlest one. It takes a village and what would life be without the women in our lives? May we always celebrate and lift one another up!

This book has been such an intricate part in helping me trough postpartum. I feel so fortunate to have this book to guide me trough this incredibly complex time. If you are pregnant or a new mama, this book is a MUST! From navigating a changing body and hormonal mayhem to nutrition and a beautiful reminder (and permission!) to SLOW DOWN 🧘🏼‍♀️, this is a book that is a part of the Postpartum Revolution.

A little crossed-eyed smile to brighten your day 😃

Three years ago today! and I had just left in Aspen and were visiting friends in Crested Butte, CO.
I remember being so incredibly excited, yelling of the top of my lungs and then taking a few more tests “just to make sure”. We went snowboarding and celebrated the amazing news under a perfect full blue super moon 🌚
@ Crested Butte, Colorado