Juhannusta

Today is the midsummer celebration in Finland. They call it juhannusta(midsummer). It is a big celebration. It is the longest day of the summer. From now on it is going to slowly get darker earlier. It saddens me in a way because it feels like summer is going by way too fast!!

During the day we went to one of the  beaches in Espoo.

Ezra was able to do his favorite thing. Throw rocks and play in the sand.

The water is FREEZING!! Here is proof that I was the first to get in.

Serenity came in next, but only only because she accidentally fell all the way in. She was crying, but gave a big smile after I told her how brave she was and that her and I were the only brave ones that got in the water.

So of course Steve had to show off and dive under the water after that.

Josie was up for the challenge until she realized how cold it was. 

Alex was too busy reading

It was a beautiful warm day as long as you stayed out of the water. haha.

We took a short break 

Than round 2 we wanted to make the most of this long day so we went the opposite way of the crowds and found a garden park in Espoo and played until the sun went down ( sort of because it doesn't really seem like the sun ever goes down here)

I think this was right around 10 pm

These two are so funny together

Our attempt to get a family pic with a mini tripod. 

Wonderful day. 

Taking a hike

So I haven't blogged in awhile, but I have found some quiet time and wanted to write about a good day we had today. 

We went to a national forest in Espoo, which is about an hour or so away from us on bus, probably a lot closer with a car. When we got there automatically we could smell that camping smell (the good one of the trees and being outdoors) and we knew we need to come back with sleeping bags next time. 

I took this picture because it reminds me we are in another country! Finland is starting to feel more like home and so sometimes it is nice to be reminded to keep the adventure alive because we don't know how much we will actually be able to do here and I don't want to say oh we should have done that or we should have gone there. 

Stopped to take in the view and to have a little snack. We did a 2km walk around a lake. 

2 km is about as far as you can get when you are trucking around a stroller. lol. Next time we will be more prepared.

There was this cool walking path on the trail that was made out of boards. Serenity and the girls loved it. They felt like adventurers. 

The trail was cool. It would have been even cooler if we didn't have a stroller. haha. The wheels were still too wide to go along the path, so Ezra went with dad and I two-wheeled the stroller.

I fell behind a bit and started taking pictures of lily pads. For some reason I started obsessing about them because I realize now I have over twenty pictures on my camera. haha. Anyways I think the main thing was that I have never really seen them floating around on a lake before and I was hoping to get a picture of a frog jumping across them(maybe that only happens in cartoons).

Obsessed I tell you. This picture was taken from a little island that we reached crossing a floating bridge. I was in lily pad heaven. haha.

All in all we had a beautiful cookie filled day. 

Vappu

Vappu is a holiday celebrated in Finland on the 1stof May, which means May Day.  From what it I u understand Vappu is  a mixture of celebrations; labor day, university student's holiday and celebration of Spring. Everything closes down for the day and many people head into Helsinki to picnic and enjoy the day. The celebrations start the night before,Vappu eve, and go throughout the day. 

This morning we had two very nice moments. We had started our journey into Helsinki by loading up the crew and headed out of our place. We turned the corner and all of the flower beds from the night before in front of  the store fronts below our home had been ripped apart from some late night vandals. Vandalism happens quite often in our area, but the difference today was two little girls about 8 or 9 years old were placing the plants back into the flower beds. Serenity began to pick up the plants and put them back as well. So we all began to replace the plants. It took us only 15 minutes or so of our time, but the thought went through my head if those little girls had not been there would I have picked up the plants or would I have just walked by? I noticed as we were replacing the plants others that walked by picked up one or two and replaced them as well. I even noticed people picking up garbage that had been poured out from the night before. It was nice to share that moment with others around us. In a weird way it makes me kind of grateful for the vandalism for the experience that we had this morning. 

The other nice moment we had was Steve received a phone call when we had just gotten off the bus to Helsinki from a stranger that told him he had his credit card. Steve had left it at the booth where you refill your bus pass. He told him that he was heading towards Helsinki and that he would bring it to him. Within 20 minutes of the phone call Steve met up with him and was able to retrieve his card. One act of kindness from a stranger. 

So on with our day. We headed out rolling in the stroller. We have now downgraded to a single stroller, so that we can actually fit in elevators, buses, stores, etc.. We have also upgraded it with a skateboard attached to the back. Serenity is in heaven. haha.

I hope I never get used to looking at the sea here. It is so beautiful.

Some of the flower beds in front of our house. Alex is very proud of her picture taking.

Bubbles were the hit of the day for the little ones.

I was trying to get some building in the background with these two. We were surrounded by some pretty amazing places. Picnicing in the park. Such a beautiful day.

So many people were out today enjoying the weather and the celebration. Ezra was looking for the bubbles.

Balloons were a big thing for the celebration today. They were everywhere. They also had things like they do for new years like hats, party whistles, string confetti, etc.....

It was really not that cold, but the girls had to carry the blankets from the picnics.

Money was burning a hole in Josie and Alex's pockets so Josie bought herself a panda mask and Alex bought snaps.

These girls were actually getting along today. Very nice day. If you look in the background the hat the girl was wearing I think is a graduation hat. So many people were wearing these hats today. I am sure it is a tradition to wear these hats for the celebration no matter when you graduated.

Can't get enough of the bubbles

Trying to be discrete. just taking more pics of the white hat.

Ez is messy and loving it.

There were so many street performers out today. These guys were amazing.

Josie cracks me up. Making gangsta signs while rocking the chocolate.

This dude was pretty cool. I think Steve needs to get himself an act.

This boy was rocking out with electric guitar. He was making bank. I need to teach my girls to break dance or something.

April 25th 2012

I think officially for me today this has been the nicest, warmest, absolutely beautiful day in Espoo. The sun is out. We only had to layer once to go out. I took some pictures of the shops that are around us right now. They have varied since we have been here. I love the location where we live. I have always thought it would be fun to live above a shop, so that everything is just right there. The long winter has made me appreciate the warm weather we had today even if it is only 11 degrees(52 degrees F). I am so excited to go exploring this summer and see all that Finland has to offer.

This is taken from my balcony. They have put out seating now since the spring has officially arrived. It's a little sandwich shop called Picnic, it's a little sandwich shop.

 

This is the view from the other direction. The little stand down there is selling strawberries, blueberries and green beans. The store behind it is Stockmann. Very nice department store. It also has a grocery store. Very expensive. Just window shop here mostly. haha.

Growing a jungle

So as a family we have decided that we are going to plant a balcony garden this year. We decided to start growing indoors first because it still gets pretty cold outside at night (oh and during the day. haha). We have about 5 books about gardening that we have collected over the years and we finally began to thumb through them. About 10 minutes later we realized that we have no clue about gardening. So with a lot of seeds and faith we added dirt and water. Over the weeks we have seen our mini jungle form and have been so excited about it. I realize now that we have over planted and am so sad to have to sacrifice some of these plants so that others can grow. I am so excited to have our mini garden and will update the progress for it. We have started it inside because it is still cold outside, but hopefully it will warm up soon.



This is our little strawberry plants. Which I didn't think I was going to see because the seeds were so itty-bitty , but they surprised me and started to sprout.




It is now November 15 and our garden has not really bloomed but it does have determination and that is why I have not given up on it yet.

We did get a mini green pepper. Some mini tomatoes. If there was a contest for best mini garden I think we would win. :)

Top ten reasons to ride the bus/ not ride the bus in Finland

TOP TEN REASONS TO RIDE THE BUS IN FINLAND

1.SAVE ON GAS MONEY
2.MOMS RIDE FOR FREE WITH STROLLER
3.DON'T HAVE TO WARM UP YOUR CAR OR SCRAPE WINDSHIELD
4.NO CAR PAYMENTS OR INSURANCE PAYMENTS TO WORRY ABOUT
5.ALL YOUR FRIENDS CAN FIT.
6.OCCASIONALLY GET THE BUS DRIVER THAT LOVES THE 80'S
7.GET TO MEET ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE
8.KIDS LIKE TO RIDE THE BUS AND PUSH THE STOP BUTTON
9.THE BUS TAKES YOU ANYWHERE YOU WANT TO GO EVEN IF IT IS A FEW TRANSFERS AND A LITTLE WALKING.
10.YOU CAN TEXT, READ, SLEEP, RELAX WHILE RIDING.


TOP TEN REASONS TO RECONSIDER RIDING THE BUS IN FINLAND.

1.SOME BUSES MAY SMELL LIKE URINE.
2.YOU MAY GET RANDOMLY FLASHED
3.LONG WAITS IN BETWEEN TRANSFERS.
4.KIDS PLAY MUSICAL CHAIRS WHILE THE BUS IS GOING
5.CAN'T DO BIG GROCERY SHOPS OR YOU ARE HAULING IT ALL HOME.
6.MOST BUS DRIVERS DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH(WHICH IS FINE IF YOU SPEAK FINNISH)
7.LEAD FOOT BUS DRIVERS(ALWAYS PUSHING YOUR IMAGINARY BRAKE)
8.FORGET BUS PASS
9.FIGHT FOR STROLLER SPACE(THROW DOWN)
10.KIDS LIKE TO RIDE THE BUS AND PUSH THE STOP BUTTON(EVEN WHEN ITS NOT TIME TO STOP, OH HOW THE BUS DRIVERS LOVE THAT ONE)

904 square foot home!!

As I began my post I decided to figure out what 84 square meters is in square feet and I realized that my family and I are living in a 904 square foot home!! At first I was a little apprehensive to sharing walls again with neighbors and the size of the "flat" made me a little nervous, but I really enjoy it. Many things I don't have to worry about. Heating costs, yard work, only have one bathroom to clean, when I clean the house it does not take very long, but it does get dirty fast.

Space is limited, but I have found that this is the reason they have created Ikea (pronounced ick-E-a in Finland). Today we bought a pan rack so that I could have a place to store all my pans. I can only keep one room clean at a time it seems here so I will take pictures one room at a time. I love my kitchen it is my little sanctuary. (those who know me would not believe it), but I have learned to love cooking for the moment and am happy that my food turns out as well. I am not saying it does all the time, but it has been more often than not. I want to post more pictures of my house when I get the other rooms a little more organized and get some pics of the place I live. We picked this place because we ride the bus everywhere. We decided to do this to save money as well as it gives us a nudge to explore more and get to know Finland better. Below us is a department store, grocery store, pharmacy, playground, etc...., so we feel a little spoiled. The snow came again today and I am hoping that it will stay. Finland is pretty, but it is so much prettier when there is snow covering the trees and the ground during the winter.