Midsommar i Fallet - Part 1

Last night we went to Ulf and Karin Milgård's house at Stora Mellosa for midsommar festivities.  It is a big tradition to go there for midsummer... in fact Andree, Nina, Kurt and Jonas were all there for a midsummer party 23 years ago.  Many of the same guests came to the party last night.  One special guest, Torvald, is world famous for his antics on that night 23 years ago, when he ran round and round the house totally naked with a garden hose and a pot on his head in brilliant impersonation of a fireman.  The party last night was a little more tame but very fun allt he same. 

Guests last night included: Ulf and Karin, Richard and Karolina, Birgitta and Kalle, Torvald, Hans and Birgitta, Gunnar and Britt, Nina and Robert, Andree and Kurt, and Jonas.

The party can be divided into three parts: Arrival and Games (Part 1), Dancing (Part 2), and Dining (Part 3).

THE ARRIVAL

Above are Jonas, Andree, Ulf, Nina, Robert and Karolina. This last image is of a traditional swedish wedding psalm sung to the bride and groom on their wedding day.  Ulf said he found it at an antique sale and of course Nina and Robert were serenaded by the group.

THE GAMES

After about an hour we all moved outside for some games.  The weather was pretty bad (cold and lightly raining) so we donned coats, and wellies and headed out.  Karolina was the organizer of the gaming that afternoon and had set up a quiz game, a gummy frog spitting contest, and a ball toss. 

First was the quiz game.  We walked around in groups and had multiple choice questions numbered 1 thru 10 to answer.  Questions included: what year was the coca-cola bottle introduced (1916 for those of you who are ignorant) and what exotic fruit was introduced as a aphrodesiac when first introduced widely into Sweden (the tomato... I was totally wrong having Figs as my answer).  Tough questions if you ask me...

Second came the gummy frog spitting contest.  The challenge was to spit a gummy frog the farthest distance.

Andree handled the challenge with grace and beauty.

And just look at the power behind Kurt's gummy frog spitting.  A tour de force.  He did not win the competition but got the prize for most energetic competitor. 

Below/on the right you can see gummy frogs.

Above you can see the margin of win between second and third place in the spitting competition.  Robert leads by a hair.

The third game was a ball tossing contest!

Above is Torvald dominating the compeition.  Below is Andree playing with her mits on...  

The winners of the compeition were:

First Place - Andree

Second Place - Gunnar and Britt (Tied for Second Place)

Third Place - Robert and Nina

Fourth Place - Hans

Fifth Place - Torvald

Sixth Place - Kurt