Finland Day 1: Helsinki

 Today was our first full day in Finland.  Even thought it is Friday - and we left for Finland on Wednesday the 28th, we didn't get here until the evening of the 29th, and just ate dinner and crashed.  This morning we were feeling more like ourselves and ready to tackle the day.  We are 7 hours ahead of our home in Massachusetts so it will take a few days to right ourselves.

First I want to state that this trip was completely set by Finley.  This is her 16th birthday trip, and even though she is about to turn 17, we wanted to wait out Covid one more year before we traveled.  So this summer she is cashing in that trip.  She picked coming to Finland and all the activities that we are doing.

Today we started our day at an outdoor museum.  It was pretty great.  We had visited one of these in Switzerland, and this was very similar.  They take houses from all over Finnland from different time periods, and move them to this museum where they can be preserved and visited.  It was huge and we spent several hours walking around and exploring.  The weather today was beautiful and quite hot for Finland.

After the museum, we headed back into the city (we took an Uber to the location to make getting there faster, and took one back) of Helsinki.  We went to the National Library of Finland which was really neat to see.  We saw a big beautiful church (but could not enter because there was a wedding taking place), and a town square that reminded us very much of the ones in Germany and Switzerland.

This evening Finley wanted to visit some shops to explore, so we found a very large 4 floor mall.  We also went to a Moomin Shop.  If you are not aware of this very weird show, it is very popular over here in Finland (they actually have a Moomin amusement park and a museum - the museum we are seeing at the end of the weekend).  We had some dinner and came back to the apartment to relax for the rest of the night.

It was a great first day.  There is English everywhere, and everyone speaks it.  Not that I am surprised.  Well - a little surprised about English being on every sign considering that was hard to come by when we lived in Basel.  But here it is very easy to get around.

Houses that were in Seurassari Open Air Museum.  It is on an island.  It costs to go into the buildings (but the cost is minimal).  Or you can just walk the grounds (which a lot of locals do) for free.

This is the church

Church

Tower

The biggest house on the property - it was enormous inside

This is a group of the oldest houses they moved from the late 1600s

Windmill on the property

We thought this one was funny - this is where you would hide from bears

Another Windmill. This one was large.  It can be spun so the blades turn with the wind.

The huge church we saw in Helsinki that was having the wedding

Inside the National Library of Finland.  This library makes the list of "things to do". It was really beautiful inside.  This is the ceiling

This was the section of the oldest books to explore

In the main part of the libary were 5 floors of books

This is the large square that reminded us of where we lived in Europe.  On either side were the government buildings.

The large church and a statue of Alexander II

The Moomin Shop we visited

My ice tea with dinner.  It came with frozen fruit instead of ice cubes.

October 2022

 Another month has come and gone.  Most of the leaves have fallen, the weather has changed over, and holiday madness is about to begin.  We have a busy month.  Arlington came in for a quick visit - it was nice to see her.  She works every weekend and is so busy with school we don't get to see her much these days.  Finley went to her annual retinal specialist appointment and the news was excellent - no changes.  She has been stable for 5 years now.  Cainan went to the homecoming dance.  Pluto has gotten quite a bit bigger and is 4 months old now.  The chickens are still doing well-we insulated their coop for the winter, and we now have two chickens laying eggs.  

Enjoy the pictures from the month

We took Arlington out to dinner while she visited.  I know her siblings were glad to see her

Always grateful for good news when it comes to Finley's appointments.

Cainan looking very handsome for his Homecoming Dance.  After the dance he went to a party with his friends.  Finley and her friends went bowling.

And a couple of random pictures for the month

Finley made Brioche bread - it turned out great!

Pluto photo dump.  He is now 24 inches tall sitting and 30 pounds

He graduated from his Beginner Obedience class

Chicken antics - we saw online that if you gently scrape a few areas on a pumpking the chickens will do the rest.  They did not disappoint

We insulated their coop to make them snuggly for the winter.  Once the winter turns cold for good we will insulate their run.  We don't have electricity to the coop but heard they don't need it if we do a few things to shelter them from the wind.

This is Eggy.  She was our first laying hen.  She is always the first to greet me at the run door when I bring out the snacks

Two eggs a day now!  The one on the right is a light green color and is being laid by our Easter Egger, Hennifer

My sister in law sent me some chicken socks just for fun - they are fantastic!

September 2022

 Fall is underway.  Kids are back in school and we have a new puppy in our house!  We are TIRED.  IT has been 11 years since we have had a puppy and 5 months since we had a dog at all, and we have forgotten how busy a puppy can be.  He is doing well - potty training is going well, sleeping in the crate has been easy, and he has even started puppy classes and obedience classes.  He is so cute and sweet.

10th grade is underway!

Puppy picture overload.  Pluto came to us from a breeder in Oaklahoma.  After our first breeder fell through, we did a nationwide search looking for someone who fit what we were looking for.  That is when we found Paige and Fife and Wife Bernedoodles.  He came to us via flight nanny and it went so smoothly.  We got him on September 10th at almost 9 weeks old.

He did great at his first vet visit.  The breeder told us when he got his first round of shots with her, he had some difficulty, so our vet gave him benadryl before these shots and he did great.  

And then some randoms from the month.  I finished the puzzle from Mosaic - it was so fun!

This is Eggy - still our only laying hen - no one else has joined in the fun yet

Finley has some really great friends and those friends have some really great moms.  I am so glad to have gotten to know Kassy and Cynthia through their daughter's friendships with Finley