I am deathly afraid of snakes. Not even an exaggeration, they absolutely send shivers up my spine even when I think of them.
So you can imagine my horror when I got a text message from my neighbour at 3am that her boyfriend just got bit by a snake down by the end of our driveway!
I believe her words were that he got bit by a snake hiding under the garbage can and I better watch out because they are poisonous and "they are everywhere". Especially with little kids.
Immediately I panicked, especially since Maddy is down by the garbage can every day checking the mailbox, and Charlie spent that entire afternoon pushing his little wagon around the front yard while I cleaned out the shed.
Despite the fact that it took me at least an hour to fall asleep that night after reading her message, I woke up feeling like we needed to move out of this house and into a top-story apartment building.
Andrew did a bit of research and discovered it was a European viper, which are venomous. However, they are usually very scared of people and bites are rare. I am trying to be more relaxed about it and realize it was a fluke that this happened to our neighbour (who is fine, by the way) but it's hard for me to shake the feeling that the kids should just be allowed to wander my front yard without me inspecting the grounds first.
I have encouraged Maddy to stomp her feet before approaching the mailbox, to announce her arrival as she nears the garbage can. I have pushed the can over a couple of times and there was no snake there anymore. The good news is that my classmates have given me really good advice on how to deal with the snake (apparently shovels are the trick) and my landlord told me about pills you can buy at the pharmacy for home use in case anything happened.
Although I am tempted to give a point to Canada for this mishap, Andrew was nice enough to point out that there were venomous snakes in Canada as well. I ponder why it appears that I know nothing...
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
We are Turning Into Finns!
I have mentioned in previous posts about how much Andrew and I are embracing the Finnish culture. In the past week I have two experiences that validate this statement.
Last Sunday Andrew rode in the Tour de Helsinki bike race. His time was amazing!!!! While he was racing, I took the kids to the large municipal swimming hall nearby. Our first experience a few years ago in the Finnish swimming halls was complete shock, with the amount of nudity everywhere. Bathing suits were absolutely not allowed in the sauna and there were zero stalls to change in. Over the years, we have grown accustomed to this, as was evident when we went swimming with the kids in Boston and there were stalls everywhere!!! Maddy was curious why there were so many stalls when we can just get changed out in the hallway. Now that we are back in Finland, it was not a surprise at all to go to the change rooms and get undressed in front of everybody like it was no big deal. I was surprised at myself for how little of a deal it was.
This Saturday we spent the day at Nuuksio National Park. There is a new Haltia Finnish Nature Center that opened up right near the park and we explored that in the morning. Then we drove to the park where we went for a hike. I had packed makkara (sausages) and had a campfire right by the lake to cook the sausages and eat lunch. That is very typical of Finns to cook sausages and go for a hike. The kids really enjoyed it and the hike was nice. Now all we need to do is learn how to pick mushrooms and then we will be even more Finnish :)
Last Sunday Andrew rode in the Tour de Helsinki bike race. His time was amazing!!!! While he was racing, I took the kids to the large municipal swimming hall nearby. Our first experience a few years ago in the Finnish swimming halls was complete shock, with the amount of nudity everywhere. Bathing suits were absolutely not allowed in the sauna and there were zero stalls to change in. Over the years, we have grown accustomed to this, as was evident when we went swimming with the kids in Boston and there were stalls everywhere!!! Maddy was curious why there were so many stalls when we can just get changed out in the hallway. Now that we are back in Finland, it was not a surprise at all to go to the change rooms and get undressed in front of everybody like it was no big deal. I was surprised at myself for how little of a deal it was.
This Saturday we spent the day at Nuuksio National Park. There is a new Haltia Finnish Nature Center that opened up right near the park and we explored that in the morning. Then we drove to the park where we went for a hike. I had packed makkara (sausages) and had a campfire right by the lake to cook the sausages and eat lunch. That is very typical of Finns to cook sausages and go for a hike. The kids really enjoyed it and the hike was nice. Now all we need to do is learn how to pick mushrooms and then we will be even more Finnish :)
Back to Reality
Now that the Boston move is over and we have completed our Lapland trip, it feels like we are finally getting back to reality. Maddy is again in school 5 days a week and she is enjoying her extra-curricular activities of gymnastics, ballet, and soccer. It seems our weeks are pretty busy driving her around to her events, in addition to playdates and birthday parties and the rest.
Charlie has started going to a playschool two mornings per week, just for 4 hours at a time. Now that he is almost three years old, it is good for him to have some independent time away from Mommy and I'm trying to make the most of my time away from him. Nothing too exciting, I'm spending most of it at the desk working on my homework. But I feel like I accomplish quite a bit in those few hours, despite how fast the time goes by. Now that he is not napping anymore, I especially look forward to school days because I am missing that free time in the middle of the day.
As for me, I am back in full swing with my MBA. I completed two courses in August and next week I am back at it again for two more courses back to back before my next break. In addition to preparing for these courses, we are trying to wrap up the Business Project and my independent self development project. Looking forward to December 18, when I will have completed 19/20 courses. The last one will be taken in February, with our graduation in May.
For the rest of the year, we don't have much planned. I will be so busy with school and Andrew is now in full swing with his new position as a Project Manager. Other than the kids' birthdays coming up and our usual weekend family outings, we will remain pretty low key until the end of the year.
Charlie has started going to a playschool two mornings per week, just for 4 hours at a time. Now that he is almost three years old, it is good for him to have some independent time away from Mommy and I'm trying to make the most of my time away from him. Nothing too exciting, I'm spending most of it at the desk working on my homework. But I feel like I accomplish quite a bit in those few hours, despite how fast the time goes by. Now that he is not napping anymore, I especially look forward to school days because I am missing that free time in the middle of the day.
As for me, I am back in full swing with my MBA. I completed two courses in August and next week I am back at it again for two more courses back to back before my next break. In addition to preparing for these courses, we are trying to wrap up the Business Project and my independent self development project. Looking forward to December 18, when I will have completed 19/20 courses. The last one will be taken in February, with our graduation in May.
For the rest of the year, we don't have much planned. I will be so busy with school and Andrew is now in full swing with his new position as a Project Manager. Other than the kids' birthdays coming up and our usual weekend family outings, we will remain pretty low key until the end of the year.
Running
In June, I decided that I was going to start running. I was searching for a way to get more "me" time and also a way to get healthier. This seemed to be my answer.
So in the middle of June, I started running 4 or 5 nights per week after the kids went to bed. It has worked out nicely, as I have managed to increase my endurance, I have an opportunity to leave the house and clear my head, Andrew has an opportunity to be at home by himself for a while, and I have shed many inches off my waistline!!!
It was a bit difficult during our Lapland trip but I did manage to also keep up my intense running schedule, for the most part. It was a motivator to keep running, though, because if I ever stopped for a minute to rest, I'd be eaten alive by mosquitoes!
On August 31, I participated in my first race. It was the Midnight Run Helsinki and I ran it with 9000 other runners. It was only a 10km race but it was through the downtown core of Helsinki and began around 9pm. It was interesting to run in the cobblestone streets, as I was paranoid I would twist my ankle, but luckily I survived and ran a personal best time.
At around the 8.5km mark, I thought to myself that "I will never do a half marathon", ha ha. We'll see how my training goes in the spring. I enjoyed the race but I'm not sure if I have the willpower to pace myself when I am surrounded by competitors - my first km in the Helsinki Run was 4:11, which is an insane pace for me.
For now, I will be happy with my progress so far. I'm not feeling extremely ambitious about competing in longer distances but perhaps I will sing a different tune once my MBA is completed and I have more free time in the evenings.
So in the middle of June, I started running 4 or 5 nights per week after the kids went to bed. It has worked out nicely, as I have managed to increase my endurance, I have an opportunity to leave the house and clear my head, Andrew has an opportunity to be at home by himself for a while, and I have shed many inches off my waistline!!!
It was a bit difficult during our Lapland trip but I did manage to also keep up my intense running schedule, for the most part. It was a motivator to keep running, though, because if I ever stopped for a minute to rest, I'd be eaten alive by mosquitoes!
On August 31, I participated in my first race. It was the Midnight Run Helsinki and I ran it with 9000 other runners. It was only a 10km race but it was through the downtown core of Helsinki and began around 9pm. It was interesting to run in the cobblestone streets, as I was paranoid I would twist my ankle, but luckily I survived and ran a personal best time.
At around the 8.5km mark, I thought to myself that "I will never do a half marathon", ha ha. We'll see how my training goes in the spring. I enjoyed the race but I'm not sure if I have the willpower to pace myself when I am surrounded by competitors - my first km in the Helsinki Run was 4:11, which is an insane pace for me.
For now, I will be happy with my progress so far. I'm not feeling extremely ambitious about competing in longer distances but perhaps I will sing a different tune once my MBA is completed and I have more free time in the evenings.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Raseborg Castle
One weekend in June, we decided to take a trip for the day to Raseborg Castle. On our way back, we stopped at in Ekenas, a beach town, for some water fun. It was a really great day!
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Lapland Trip Part Two
The second half of our trip involved visiting Vuokatti, Kuusamo, Ruka, and Oulu.
The main purpose of our trip was to stay at Andrew's work's cottage for a week. He got use of the summer cottage in Ruka for 5 days so we had decided to make a trip of it and drive up, stopping along the way.
In Vuokatti, we visited the world's largest Angry Birds Activity Park, which worked out really well because it was one of our only rainy days of the whole trip. It was a giant indoor playpark (picture a McDonald's Playland but WAY bigger!) but also included a skateboard/scooter park, a golf course, a hockey area, gymnastics area, soccer, basketball, field hockey, cannonball shooting, arcade, etc. The kids had a fantastic day and Andrew and I were exhausted!!!!!
On our drive to Kuusamo, we stopped at the "Silent People", an oddity of Highway 5. It is a giant field of scarecrows, in a way, almost 1000 of them. They were made using peat from the fields and dressed with donated clothing. Reminds me of a field of zombies, it is kinda creepy but fun at the same time. It was just off the highway in the middle of nowhere but had fresh fire-made pancakes and we bought little stuffed reindeer toys for the kids in their gift shop.
Getting closer to Kuusamo, we knew we were approaching Lapland, as we finally spotted some reindeer on the side of the road (or in the middle of the road). While it is still exciting for us to see them, I believe the locals hate them, as the reindeer are constantly on the roads with no apparent hurry to get off.
In Ruka, we found our nice summer cottage and it was a pleasant change of scenery from the tents and tiny cabins. It was nice to have our own shower, bathroom, kitchen, a fridge, and beds. The kids had their own room too. We did a lot of hiking during our 5 days in Ruka, particularly in the Oulanka National Park. One day we did a 7km hike and Maddy did awesome!
Ruka is basically a ski town, with the town centre being the shops at the bottom of the ski hill. There is not much going on in the summer time, but they do run a summer sled track down the side of the mountain and the ski lifts bring you to the top for some nice views of the area. It was cool to ride up the lift and see all the reindeer on the side of the hills. Maddy loved the sled track, her and heran their sled much faster than Charlie and I!
We had one rainy day in Ruka and we decided to take Maddy bowling for the first time. It was a nice time, as the bowling hall was really dark and had fluorescent lighting everywhere. The kids thought it was pretty neat.
The hiking was really nice and the bugs weren't too bad as long as you bathed yourself in mosquito spray!!! Charlie did well on the hikes, I think he grew to like the hiking backpack a little bit. His favourite parts were stopping along the water and throwing rocks in. His favourite thing to do now whenever we see water.
Our final stop on our trip was Oulu. It was a couple of hours drive away and it was where the train left to take us back to Helsinki. As opposed to driving all the way back, we decided to maximize our trip by seeing more things and then taking an overnight train back. The car can go on one of their vehicle cars and we get a room on the train with two beds and sleep overnight. I think the train ride was about 9.5 hours but it was through the night.
Oulu was nice to walk around, it was on the water and had a lot of bridges and gardens. They had a market square where we bought some nice oil paintings of the Lapland landscape. We also found some football jerseys of the Netherlands soccer team for the kids. They liked having matching shirts.
Other than getting off at the wrong train stop in Helsinki (ie a different stop than where the car was dropped off....), the train ride wasn't bad and the kids enjoyed the adventure. It was nice to be back home though in our own beds. I started one of my classes the following day. Maddy still had the remainder of July off from school, so we still got to enjoy lots of beaches and parks and outdoor activities before going back in the first week of August.
We have done two trips to Lapland now. Both have been really nice. I'm glad the kids don't mind the hiking and they seem to have a taste for adventure. Only I'm hoping our next "adventure" doesn't include a tent....
The main purpose of our trip was to stay at Andrew's work's cottage for a week. He got use of the summer cottage in Ruka for 5 days so we had decided to make a trip of it and drive up, stopping along the way.
In Vuokatti, we visited the world's largest Angry Birds Activity Park, which worked out really well because it was one of our only rainy days of the whole trip. It was a giant indoor playpark (picture a McDonald's Playland but WAY bigger!) but also included a skateboard/scooter park, a golf course, a hockey area, gymnastics area, soccer, basketball, field hockey, cannonball shooting, arcade, etc. The kids had a fantastic day and Andrew and I were exhausted!!!!!
On our drive to Kuusamo, we stopped at the "Silent People", an oddity of Highway 5. It is a giant field of scarecrows, in a way, almost 1000 of them. They were made using peat from the fields and dressed with donated clothing. Reminds me of a field of zombies, it is kinda creepy but fun at the same time. It was just off the highway in the middle of nowhere but had fresh fire-made pancakes and we bought little stuffed reindeer toys for the kids in their gift shop.
Getting closer to Kuusamo, we knew we were approaching Lapland, as we finally spotted some reindeer on the side of the road (or in the middle of the road). While it is still exciting for us to see them, I believe the locals hate them, as the reindeer are constantly on the roads with no apparent hurry to get off.
In Ruka, we found our nice summer cottage and it was a pleasant change of scenery from the tents and tiny cabins. It was nice to have our own shower, bathroom, kitchen, a fridge, and beds. The kids had their own room too. We did a lot of hiking during our 5 days in Ruka, particularly in the Oulanka National Park. One day we did a 7km hike and Maddy did awesome!
Ruka is basically a ski town, with the town centre being the shops at the bottom of the ski hill. There is not much going on in the summer time, but they do run a summer sled track down the side of the mountain and the ski lifts bring you to the top for some nice views of the area. It was cool to ride up the lift and see all the reindeer on the side of the hills. Maddy loved the sled track, her and heran their sled much faster than Charlie and I!
We had one rainy day in Ruka and we decided to take Maddy bowling for the first time. It was a nice time, as the bowling hall was really dark and had fluorescent lighting everywhere. The kids thought it was pretty neat.
The hiking was really nice and the bugs weren't too bad as long as you bathed yourself in mosquito spray!!! Charlie did well on the hikes, I think he grew to like the hiking backpack a little bit. His favourite parts were stopping along the water and throwing rocks in. His favourite thing to do now whenever we see water.
Our final stop on our trip was Oulu. It was a couple of hours drive away and it was where the train left to take us back to Helsinki. As opposed to driving all the way back, we decided to maximize our trip by seeing more things and then taking an overnight train back. The car can go on one of their vehicle cars and we get a room on the train with two beds and sleep overnight. I think the train ride was about 9.5 hours but it was through the night.
Oulu was nice to walk around, it was on the water and had a lot of bridges and gardens. They had a market square where we bought some nice oil paintings of the Lapland landscape. We also found some football jerseys of the Netherlands soccer team for the kids. They liked having matching shirts.
Other than getting off at the wrong train stop in Helsinki (ie a different stop than where the car was dropped off....), the train ride wasn't bad and the kids enjoyed the adventure. It was nice to be back home though in our own beds. I started one of my classes the following day. Maddy still had the remainder of July off from school, so we still got to enjoy lots of beaches and parks and outdoor activities before going back in the first week of August.
We have done two trips to Lapland now. Both have been really nice. I'm glad the kids don't mind the hiking and they seem to have a taste for adventure. Only I'm hoping our next "adventure" doesn't include a tent....
Never a shortage of lakes in Finland...
My Superman!
Testing out her golf skills in the Angry Birds Activity Centre
Building blocks
The wrecking crane
One of our hikes.
The Silent People field. See, kinda creepy huh?
Can you find the Conleys??
From atop the Ruka Ski Hill
Loving the views from the top
Finnish sunset. Only two hours before sunrise :) Finnish summers are awesome!!
One of the lakes in Oulanka National park
The Oulanka Canyon
Some flora. Or fauna? I don't know the difference.
Still looking adorable after hiking 5km
The Oulanka River
The bridge crossing the river.
A really cool shot
His favourite new pastime. Throwing rocks in the water.
A beautiful hike.
Family pic in front of the rapids
Bowling! Her first shot ever was a STRIKE! (beginner's luck though).
One of the many reindeer we saw in Lapland.
The policeman statue in the Oulu Market Square. The kids in their new jerseys.
A new outdoor toy
A summer beach in Lapland. Empty. Too cold!
A really neat shot of a halo around the sun. Andrew gave me the scientific explanation of what
was going on, but I think I stopped listening...
My girl hiking.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Lapland Trip Part 1
Most Finns take the entire month of July off and spend that time at their mokki (cottage). As Andrew and I are both trying to embrace the Finnish culture as much as possible, Andrew took two weeks off in July and we took a road trip to Lapland. Instead of staying in a luxurious cottage, however, a large portion of the trip was spent in tiny cabins and in a tent.
I was extremely nervous about the tent sleeping situation and the car was packed to the rim with blankets, pillows and sleeping mats. In hindsight, it was a really great idea because we saved a lot of money not staying in hotels, and Maddy says her favourite part of the trip was sleeping in the tent!
The first half of our trip, we went to Kotka, Hamina, Kouvola, Lappeenranta, Savonlinna, and Kuopio. We travelled up the east side of Finland towards the north. All of these towns were on the water, with nice harbours, tons of parks and playgrounds, and lots of fun things to do.
In Kotka, we went to the Maritime Centre Vellamo (like the Maritime Museum), and the Sapokka Water Garden. The kids enjoyed the museum and got to sit in a hovercraft-type machine and push lots of buttons. In Hamina, we visited the old fortress and walked through the streets of the old town.
Our next stop was Kouvola, which was really fun because we spent one full day at Tykkimaki, the 3rd largest amusement park in Finland. As the kids are getting bigger, they can enjoy more rides and it was a really fun day. We stayed two nights at a campsite attached to the amusement park and also took a rowboat out. That was interesting because the boat is so tippy and keeping two little ones grounded is a bit difficult. That, and Andrew rows in an S line and takes a bit longer to get to our destination :)
Lappeenranta was really nice. We did a nice hike on an island and Maddy collected tons of bugs in her bug container. Thanks for the gift, Oma! She got so much use out of that thing. We also visited the harbour where they had giant sand sculptures, and we went to a traffic park. These places are really neat, kids can drive different sorts of bicycles/carts and learn about yielding and watching for pedestrians and stop lights and things like that.
On our way to Savonlinna we stopped in Imatra, to do a hike along the rapids and see their famous hotel. And of course in Savonlinna we saw the Olavinlinna castle, which is just gorgeous! It is the northernmost medieval castle in the world. We also walked through the old town.
After Savonlinna we visited Kuopio and went to the top of the Puijo Tower, which is 235ft tall. We got a very nice view of the town and the surrounding lakes and islands. We also did a couple of hikes there and Andrew got a nice workout cycling up the Puijo Hill.
The first half of the Lapland trip complete! The kids did a great job of keeping up with us, and we were pretty happy to find lots of parks and playgrounds. Naps were usually taken in the car in between towns so that they were ready for action at the next destination.
Super hard to narrow down the photos, Lapland is just so beautiful and we had great weather. But here are some.
I was extremely nervous about the tent sleeping situation and the car was packed to the rim with blankets, pillows and sleeping mats. In hindsight, it was a really great idea because we saved a lot of money not staying in hotels, and Maddy says her favourite part of the trip was sleeping in the tent!
The first half of our trip, we went to Kotka, Hamina, Kouvola, Lappeenranta, Savonlinna, and Kuopio. We travelled up the east side of Finland towards the north. All of these towns were on the water, with nice harbours, tons of parks and playgrounds, and lots of fun things to do.
In Kotka, we went to the Maritime Centre Vellamo (like the Maritime Museum), and the Sapokka Water Garden. The kids enjoyed the museum and got to sit in a hovercraft-type machine and push lots of buttons. In Hamina, we visited the old fortress and walked through the streets of the old town.
Our next stop was Kouvola, which was really fun because we spent one full day at Tykkimaki, the 3rd largest amusement park in Finland. As the kids are getting bigger, they can enjoy more rides and it was a really fun day. We stayed two nights at a campsite attached to the amusement park and also took a rowboat out. That was interesting because the boat is so tippy and keeping two little ones grounded is a bit difficult. That, and Andrew rows in an S line and takes a bit longer to get to our destination :)
Lappeenranta was really nice. We did a nice hike on an island and Maddy collected tons of bugs in her bug container. Thanks for the gift, Oma! She got so much use out of that thing. We also visited the harbour where they had giant sand sculptures, and we went to a traffic park. These places are really neat, kids can drive different sorts of bicycles/carts and learn about yielding and watching for pedestrians and stop lights and things like that.
On our way to Savonlinna we stopped in Imatra, to do a hike along the rapids and see their famous hotel. And of course in Savonlinna we saw the Olavinlinna castle, which is just gorgeous! It is the northernmost medieval castle in the world. We also walked through the old town.
After Savonlinna we visited Kuopio and went to the top of the Puijo Tower, which is 235ft tall. We got a very nice view of the town and the surrounding lakes and islands. We also did a couple of hikes there and Andrew got a nice workout cycling up the Puijo Hill.
The first half of the Lapland trip complete! The kids did a great job of keeping up with us, and we were pretty happy to find lots of parks and playgrounds. Naps were usually taken in the car in between towns so that they were ready for action at the next destination.
Super hard to narrow down the photos, Lapland is just so beautiful and we had great weather. But here are some.
Ducklings!
The Maritime Museum
Getting to push the buttons!
Home sweet home....
Hamina City Hall
Kissing in the millstone (this is the part that Maddy says yuck!)
Boating!
My boys
Tykkimaki!!
My big boy with his favourite guy
Lovin the John Deere
Hiking sure is hard work....
The traffic park. She is looking both ways!
Creepy sand sculptures
Defending the fortress
Me and my gal
Imatra rapids
Olavinlinna castle
Proof we were there
View from the Puijo Tower
Andrew asked me if I wanted to carry the camera bag or Charlie. I picked Charlie, he is lighter!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)