The Åland Trip

A couple weeks ago we joined our friends Kalle, Frida and Isa for a week of climbing on the Finnish Islands called Åland.  This was Hammie's first time in Finland and after the week she decided it would be ok to come back sometime.  Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Hammie takes a break from her artwork to enjoy the scenery 

 The cabin we rented for the week was perfect for two little families.  

 The crew in Åland.  Lina, Kalle, Isa, Frida and Hammie

Hammie could go on swinging forever but I think dad is getting bored

 Hammie discovered dad's stash of dried fruit and proceeded to stuff her face

Taking a stroll

 The flowers were in bloom and those outside the cabin we rented felt the wrath of Hamzilla

 Swinging is a big hit

Hammie tries to find a hiding place

Leaving a Mark

Hammie is very into drawing at the moment.  When out climbing we bring along some chalk and Hammie proceeds to mark up the landscape.  She occasionally offers lessons where she hands us the chalk, directs us to a blank piece of rock and tells us what we should draw.  Fortunately her vocabulary is pretty basic so I get away with mostly drawing animals (dogs, cats, cows, horses, etc), plants (mostly trees and flowers), and a few random objects (bicycles, cars, houses, the sun).  I reckon it's only a matter of time before I will be unable to field her requests and she realizes that her dad is a horrible artist.  I just hope she hasn't inherited my drawing skills.

 Lina takes art lessons from Hammie

Hammie in France

I'm putting together some climbing videos from our time in France this March.  While the videos will be mostly climbing Hammie makes some cameos so I thought I'd post them on this blog as well as my climbing blog.

Here is the first video.  Those non-climbers may just want to search out the Hammie footage.

Our Little Monkey

Hammie is getting pretty good at imitating different animals.  One of her favorites is the monkey.

The Hammie Crane

When Chris was here in Sweden he invented an amazing device that eliminates the need to bend over when picking objects up off the ground.  His invention is pretty easy to work and comes in a compact size but it does require a fair degree of maintenance.  Here are a couple pictures of Chris demonstrating his "Hammie Crane" 

You carry the Hammie Crane just like a 6-pack

A closeup of the carrying mechanism

The Hammie Crane has two grippers that are capable to picking a variety of objects and has a built in sensor for detecting things with a high sugar content

The release mechanism is voice activated and can be set to either Swedish of English.

Riding in Style

Even though Hammie is fully capable of walking, her little legs make the going slow and she gets tuckered long before mom and dad.  Fortunately her parents double as pack-mules and she spends the lion's share of most hikes on her dad's shoulders.  Of course when we go bouldering our crash pads make a pretty cozy place for a little person.

Hammie always rides in style.  You can't beat the vantage point and it's the optimal position for applying encouraging whacks to her dad's head 

Rock Art

Hammie has been showing her artistic side.  Every time we go out climbing she grabs a piece of chalk and proceeds to draw on everything within arms reach.  This form of ephemeral art is really catching on as copycat artists are already emerging.

Anne takes art lessons from Hammie, the master of chalk.