Stockholm

In June, the whole Conley clan packed our pom poms and headed by ferry to Stockholm to cheer Andrew for the Stockholm marathon! It was my first long weekend since I started my job and it was just a really nice time to spend with the family.

Andrew did a fantastic job running and it was a lot of fun with the kids going from one part of the course to another to cheer him on. I believe we got to see him 4 or 5 times and then went to the Olympic Stadium to watch him cross the finish line!!!

Other than the race, we also toured around Skansen, which is an open air museum on the island of Djurgarden filled with different animals and also some rides. The highlight for me was probably seeing a lemur sleep pile, similar to that on the movie The Croods.

We spent a day touring around the city center, including the Stockholm Public Library, the Royal Palace and awesome streets in Gamla Stan. We also visited the Woodland Cemetery, which was very beautiful. A very nice long weekend together in Stockholm and a very proud finish for Andrew's 4th marathon!!!

A Really Cute Scarecrow!

June also marks a fun time for parents as we watch the kids' spring concerts. Charlie's school had their concert on Seurasaari Island, which is an open-air museum on an island. The theme for the concert was a farm, and Charlie played a quite adorable scarecrow! We were very pleased with his performance, and he seemed to be enjoying himself!

Charlie's teachers have been very patient and supportive of him, and we are pretty happy where he is. To his right is Genevieve, this is his best friend in his class.

Maddy Graduates from Preschool!

The end of May marked another graduation for the Conley family - Maddy graduated from preschool and was excited to move to greener pastures.

After a nice concert put on by the children, the teachers had a nice ceremony for the graduating kids. In Finland, it is customary for children to wear these white and black hats on graduation. For high school graduation, I believe, Finnish kids are given real hats (ie not made out of paper) which are kept for all eternity and brought out every year during Vappu drinking festivities.

A really nice way to celebrate Maddy's completion. Here are a few photos of my crazy girl!

 

Several months later, one of my classmates saw this collage of wacky photos and decided to recreate his own version. Enjoy!

 

 

 Very proud of my girl for the inquisitive, curious, independent soul that she is. A fantastic and caring older sister, and a really good kid.

Graduation

Well, the big day arrived!!! It was awesome that Mom flew from Canada to spend the week with us and watch my graduation ceremony. I really enjoyed all of the emails, posts, comments, and praises from all my family and friends who could not attend that day. It was truly a remarkable finish to a long journey.

Graduating with Honors Distinction was the icing on the cake.

After the ceremony, my classmates all hopped on a bus and we celebrated a fabulous evening at Mustion Linna castle with appetizers, drinks, great dinner, reception, speeches, dancing, and a performance from our very own MBA band! A fantastic night to end a fantastic journey.