School Pictures

Yeah, we make pretty cute kids....

 

My only complaint with the Finnish way of school pictures is that you are supposed to order your photos BEFORE they are even taken. This, to me, seems extremely inefficient, because if the pictures don't turn out, the company will print off what you've ordered and send them to you.

Should you decide you don't want some of the pictures, you mail them back what you don't want and pay them for what you kept.



From a company's point of view, this seems like an awful waste, because they are printing off photos that may end up the garbage. But maybe that's just me.

Sunday Mornings

Every Sunday morning during the darker Finnish winter days, we have been going to a sports complex in Helsinki that opens its doors to children. For two hours, they have many fun and
active areas for the children to participate.

There are many different things to play with:
- obstacle courses
- climbing wall
- a variety of bikes
- large playmats
- bouncy castles
- tunnels
- shaped foam pieces to stack and build blocks
- gymnastics area including monkey bars, ropes, and balance beams
- basketball, floor hockey, ping pong, bean bag toss, soccer, etc.
- large indoor track to run around
- sand pit for jumping

It really tires the kids out but they have a great time. I must admit it tires the parents out as well :)
It is closed for the month of December but will reopen in January. I'm looking forward to having a few quiet relaxing Sunday mornings without rushing off the gym, but this is a really great way for the family to play together and I'm sure we will start going again when it opens back up in the new year.

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween is one aspect of North America that I really do miss. Although some of the stores are trying to bring it to Finland, it just doesn't seem to be catching on very well. Fortunately both of the kids go to international schools, so the schools do put on a Halloween party during the day. Grandma brought over Halloween costumes from Canada, so at least they had a costume.

The kids do miss out on trick or treating here, though. I remember fondly taking Maddy door to door in London, although she was so little and now she'd be a whole lot more fun!!!! Keeping that in mind, we decided to do an Easter egg hunt in the house on Halloween in order for the kids to still get some special Halloween treats. They really liked it.

In the evening, Charlie's school hosted a Halloween party for the families, which we decided to attend. Charlie had a wardrobe switch so that he could be a monkey in the morning and Spiderman at night :)

Of course we are happy to be living in Finland and it provides our children with a very fruitful life that they may not get in Canada, but I really do think they are missing out on trick or treating. Who doesn't want to bang on people's doors and take their candy? Hello???

Grandma is here!!

Andrew's mother was here at the end of October for 5 days. It was a short visit, but it was fantastic to have her here, and the kids were thrilled! Although she was tired, she was a serious trooper, because my kids did not let her rest at all!!!!
We took her to the Flamingo Spa Waterpark for a day, we carved pumpkins and spent time around the house, I took her shopping, and we went to the children's sports park. Mainly, we hung out and played and did puzzles and read books. She got to experience a lot of quality time with the kids, which was the purpose for her trip.
Always wonderful to have Canadian visitors!!!! Sad to see her go, but happy for the time together.

Although it appears that Maddy likes pumpkins, she was actually quite disgusted at the pumpkin "guts". Which meant that Andrew and I were left to carve the pumpkins. In true Conley fashion, we turned it into a competition. Andrew was faster, but mine is scarier, therefore I think I am the winner. It's about quality, not quantity. Be the judge for yourself...

 

Eventually we got out the drill and Maddy was interested in carving some flowers into the pumpkins. Very beautiful pumpkins!

This photo was taken shortly before Andrew knocked the pumpkin off the bathroom counter and spilled wax all over the floor. Ha ha. Shh, don't tell the landlords :)

Little Man Turns 3!!

Well, he might be wearing size 24 month pants, but my little man turned 3 in October!!!! Unfortunately I had school on his actual birthday, but Andrew managed to give him a very special birthday morning by taking the kids to the zoo.

When I came back from school, we had a nice afternoon celebration the four of us, including a cake and gifts. Mom sent over a Chuggington musical birthday card from Canada, and Charlie was just elated!! Although Charlie hasn't grown much in the past year, it does mean that his "Happy birthday to me!" shirt that he wore for his 2nd birthday could be reused for his 3rd birthday :)

 

 

The following day, we invited some of my friends over with their children for another party for Charlie. The house was decorated with Cars decorations and Charlie was positively thrilled.

 

 

Happy birthday, little man!!



Ham

Just a few glimpses of Maddy at her best :)

Bike Races

Andrew has been cycling for a couple of years now, especially after he purchased a good road bike, and has now become comfortable enough to compete in some races. Of course he participated in Vatternrundan in Sweden with my dad and brother, but now he's decided to compete on home turf.

He did a Vantaa bike race to practice his strategy in his first mass start. Vatternrundan had like 28000 cyclists, but the start times were spread out over a 12 hour period. The Vantaa bike race was a few hundred racers, but they all started at the same time. He participated in this race with his co-worker Kari, who unfortunately had some bad luck with his wheels and could not finish.

Andrew was pleased with his race, especially since it was pouring rain and very windy that day. He believes he made some tactical errors but this race was a practice for him and he said that he learned a lot. Here is a photo of him at the start of his race.

He ultimately was practicing for the Tour de Helsinki, where they finished in the Velodrome (another first for Andrew) and Andrew did FANTASTIC!! He stayed in the lead pack the entire time. Unfortunately he was the leader for the last 15kms until the others, who were drafting behind him, flew past him right before the finish line. Jerks. Another lesson learned.

I'm very proud of Andrew and his accomplishments. Poor Kari had more bad luck with his wheels in the Tour de Helsinki, so instead of drinking beer in the sauna to celebrate, Kari drank beer in the sauna to mourn the race!!

For now, Andrew is training indoors for the dark Finnish winter months. But the kids and I are looking forward to cheering him on next year for whichever races he decides to participate.

Well done, Andrew!

Bad Weather?

I think I've talked previously about the tolerance of bad weather in Finland. It's not a big deal if it's yucky out, you just have to make sure that you're wearing the right clothes.

I was reminded of this Finnish culture yet again yesterday, as it was pouring rain. Driving through the suburbs to the mall and noticing that all the kids in the schools were playing outside in the rain. This would never happen in Canada.

In Finland, all kids have at least one set of "rain clothes", which are essentially rubber pants and rubber coat and rubber mitts. These are completely waterproof and can be worn over most outdoor clothes. For example, Rukka makes these products:

http://www.rukka.com/rain/products/#!product/welded-anorak2

Usually I'm always on the lookout for good North American products that should be brought over to Finland to be introduced to the market (chewy chocolate chip cookies, shoes that light up, etc.) but for once I'm thinking about bringing Rukka products to Canada.

Although when the schools don't let the kids go outside in the rain, there may not be a market for it after all....