July 4th in Skelleftea

In Sweden, July 4th is, well, the day before July 5. So, needless to say the U.S. team had to create its own celebration of our nation's independence day. After dinner (remember, it's pretty much sunny here until midnight) the team went down to the lake and had it's own party. The team played games, including a Swedish game named, we think, Kubb, that involved knocking sticks down with other sticks. (Yes, the competitive juices were flowing...it's the U.S. Women's National Team after all). The team also roasted marshmallows and made smores, sang patriotic songs (America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner among others), and a local man came out and lit off some small fireworks. (They are illegal so permission was sought from the local police to light them the park). There was also some hacky-sack being played, some rocks being skipped in the lake and plenty of chips and salsa. Sounds like many a July Fourth celebreation back home, and fun was had by all! Really, you couldn't have a much better Fourth of July in Skelleftea, Sweden, as you can tell from Rachel Buehler above.