Ramblings: We Saw Some Really Big Rocks

When we asked Elvira and Keith what they wanted to do and see when they came to visit, they said they wanted to see Viking Stuff. And thus began our search for Really Big Rocks.

Sweden has many Viking, um, artifacts. And they all seem to be Very Large Rocks - burial mounds, etc.

So one morning we packed the men into one car and the women and children into the other car and we headed off in search of Really Big Rocks.

Our first stop: Skegriedösen. The Dolmen of Skegrie. Some sort of Viking burial mound. Only the top portion is visible - you know the part with the really big rocks.

Tipton stands among the Big Rocks.

Our next stop was Trelleborgen "a remarkable re-creation of a Viking fortress. It is based on the original fortress, thought to have been built by King Harald Blue Tooth in the 10th centure and excavated 1,000 years later." They had a little museum there, too. There was a Fairly Large Rock in the museum:

With a man carved into it, then the carving was painted. Pretty neat.

Here's a little info sign for the fortress. The Western Gate.

Here's what it actually looked like (Tipton and Keith are posing for scale. And also because we told them to turn around so we could take a picture.)

Tipton liked running along the top of the fortress wall. And of course, wherever Tipton went...

Lilli would follow.

Elvira and Keith waited very patiently while the kiddos ran all over the fortress.

Here's another one of those Fairly Large Rocks with a man carved into it and painted.

Tipton's favorite part about the Fortress was running along the top. Lilli's favorite part was the giant ice cream cone outside the snack bar.

As we were leaving Trelleborg, in route to our next Really Big Rock, Elvira and I saw this sign:

Of course we had to take a picture (hello, we're 8 years old!) Fart museum. hee hee. It's actually a Maritime Museum. I'll have to take the kids there one day. Just to say I've been.

Not long after we left Trelleborgen we found some more Really Big Rocks called Disas Ting.

which translates to Disa's Thing. Funny.

Lilli and Tipton play among the Really Big Things, uh, Rocks.

Disa's Thing was right on the coast. So we took a break from our search for Really Big Rocks to play among the waves and rather small rocks. (From the few Swedish beaches that I've been to, it appears that they do not have seashells, but rather small smooth stones. Very pretty.)

Lilli LOVED the waves. She liked splashing in them. I cannot wait to get her to Ocean City, MD next summer!

The children enjoyed examining the smooth pebbles and throwing them into the water. You will note that Lilli's shorts are missing in this picture. I had taken them off because they were so wet. Then she sat down in the wet sand...

We all enjoyed our impromtu beach excursion. But there we were longing to see more Really Big Rocks. So we brushed the sand off the kiddos and drove on.

To Kåseberg, to Ales Stenar (also known as the stone ship.) We parked and walked up to take a look at the sign:

Tipton saw the picture on the sign and said "We've already seen those rocks." Hee hee hee

Welcome to Ale Stones

It was a long walk from the parking lot to Ales Stenar. We didn't think it would be that long. Or that it would be uphill the entire way. Lilli spent most of the trek either on Mommy's hip or Daddy's shoulders. Tipton ran ahead with Elvira and Keith.

Sea Cows!

Ales Stenar! (Many, many Really Big Rocks.)

When we were almost to the top of the hill, almost to Ales Stenar, Lilli had to pee. There were no bathrooms. I had not brought the diaper bag or little potty with me. (I didn't know we'd be have a 30 minute walk to get to the Really Big Rocks.) And while I was trying to figure out what to do Lilli had an accident. So I just went with that. I pulled her off the path and just let her go. Then, of course, I had to get her out of her wet panties and shorts. We didn't want her running around the Really Big Rocks pantless so Dave took off his t-shirt and I wrapped it around her as best I could. It wasn't a perfect fit, so to avoid it falling off Lilli held onto the sides of it when she walked.