Lydia got a last-minute invitation to a birthday party this afternoon, so Olof and Tage and I made a quick trip to town just before noon to pick up a present. When we pulled into the Rusta parking lot, there was a station wagon with the hatchback open and a metal gate corralling in some Golden Retrievers. Olof said, “wow, three dogs,” so I took a closer look and said, “no, there’s four … wait, five!” As we parked our car, I told him, “you know that I have to go say hi to those dogs.” When I reached the other car, I saw that there was another dog in there that I hadn’t seen before and while I was marveling at driving a car around with six dogs, I noticed that there was a puppy curled up in the corner. Seven Golden Retrievers! They’re not my personal favorite, but I do have to admit that they’re very nice dogs. They were all so calm and relaxed while I was standing there talking to them. Mette and Asbjørn would have been barking their fool heads off.

It was a truly beautiful day today, with nice temperatures (for Sweden in February, that is) and plenty of blue skies and sunshine. It was a great day to be out and about. I hope we have more of it tomorrow, so I can take Tage out for a walk while Lydia’s in school (well, of course I could take him out even if it weren’t so nice, but I’m not as hardy as some of these Swedish moms who take their babies out no matter what the weather).