Jumping, Laughing and Cuddling

We started our adventure today by taking the bus to the city to go and visit the gym where Aino works. It was nice to get a little exclusive entrance for the kid's to go and jump on the trampoline, walk on the beams and be silly on the different mats. 

Anna and Risto also came and I got to snuggle with little girl while Risto and Aino entertained my kids. I joked that it is nice to have Aino take care of my kids so I can take care of little girl so Anna can get a little break. And really we were just talking about holding the little girl for 20 minutes or so, but I loved it. 

Saku was thrilled to take the ratikka back to Aino's place. Dad met us there for lunch and then we took the kids' to the park while Anna and Risto rested a bit. They have adjusted to being parents so well. I am in awe of it. However, I still feel like an extra nap or there is good for a new parents. Or really any parents:)

All of the jumping and playing made Eerika tired. She fell asleep in the stroller and continued to sleep at Aino's until she woke up when she needed to pee.

Dad enjoyed hanging out with little girl.

At first both of the kids were little afraid of Aino's dog. Luna makes a lot of noise when she breathes so when she gets excited, it sounds little scary for a kid. However, they warmed up to Luna and wouldnt leave the dog alone. 

There is a chance that Luna might get a GI distress after all the treats that Eerika and Saku fed her.

Somehow amidst the noise of four adults, two kids, a dog and a baby dad fell asleep. 

Aino täti spoiled the kids with some strawberry ice cream.

I might have taken a bite or two out of Eerika's ice cream.

An amazing Anna äiti

Tyllerö is such a  calm sweet baby. 

My little city kids taking the bus back home. They do so well with the buses and metros.

Light Nights in Finland

Saku has really gotten a kick out of the fact that we are on an opposite schedule of isi. When we wake up, he goes to be and vice versa. It has also been bit of a confusion why it is so light outside all the time. 

This was a picture of dad and my run at 8:30 on Saturday night. 

Newborn and Sleep Deprivation

No I didnt suddenly have a newborn though I wouldnt be against it.  We finally met Anna's little girl and we are sleep deprived from traveling and jet lag. I went five days with 3-4 hours of sleep each night and by Sunday I was totally feeling like a zombie. The other days were not too bad but Sunday broke me down. Thankfully I was able to sleep six hours last night, even if I was up by 3 am again. Saku finally slept uninterrupted through the night and Eerika was only up for two hours from 4 am to 6 am so  I am crossing my fingers that we will get on a semi regular schedule tonight.  I should mentioned that we all went to bed by 6:30 pm on Friday night. Eerika happened to wake up at 10 pm and was up for two hours before going back to sleep, so I was up with her and I could NOT go back to sleep that night. So when dad and Paula asked me, in the morning, when I woke up, I sadly had to say "10 pm last night". 

We have been able to enjoy the sweetness of Anna's baby. Because I am taking care of my own kids who have been jet lagged and little more cranky than usual, I haven't had a chance to hold little girl as much as I would like, but she did sleep on me on Saturday while Anna and Risto enjoyed a meal without worrying about holding her. You just forget how small newborn babies are. I loved every minute of it. I wish I could do more to help, so I am hoping to do more in the next few weeks.

I am not fresh in this picture after traveling 20+ hours and now sleep for 24+ hours, but I was happy to finally hold Anna's baby. 

Eerika was so happy to hold the baby.

Saku was excited to hold her too but he wasn't that comfortable when she was actually in his arms. 

Wacky schedule with fun stuff

A full day plus jet lag can make you feel pretty tired. I was lucky to haul two sleeping kids in a metro and then in a bus to get home from Anna's place. The metro was easy, but being in the bus was more tricky because there is only so much room for strollers and I only had one arm to maneuver things with since I was holding Eerika. Fortunately, a very kind Filipino lady helped me. 

Our day started with a shower/sitting in a bucket at 5 am. We had been up much earlier but at 5 am, I felt like we could start the day. 

We left the house around 6:30 to walk to the park. Saku was in a stroller and Eerika in our hiking backpack. People looked at me for extended time as I passed them. I must have looked strange.

We came home around 8:30 and had a snack of ruisleipa, yogurt and apple/pear. Then I made all of us take a nap. Saku woke up twice during our 2.5 hour nap to go to pee. I appreciated the fact that I didn't have to sleep in pee. Saku sleeps next to me until Troy gets here.

Right before noon, I woke the kids up, which was not a fun thing, and we headed to the bus stop. Saku kept sleeping in the stroller for a while, but once they were both alert and awake they enjoyed the bus ride. After the bus ride, we hopped on a metro and met up with Anna to go to a park nearby Anna's house. 

It was a really nice park. They even provided free lunch for kids, but we were about 45 minutes too late for the free lunch. It was raining just a bit, but Saku still wanted to swim. I had asked him at home if he wanted to swim and he had said "no". Fortunately, I didnt listen to him and brought his speedos anyways. He was in the water for 30 seconds and decided that he didnt want to swim. Same thing with Eerika.

We got dressed again and played for a good hour or so with different toys, which were all provided by the park. It was awesome. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining and warming us up so the we tried swimming again.

We ended up eating dinner at Anna's place. Well it was at 3:30 pm. But our sleeping and eating had been so off that it worked. The kids did not really eat anything except Berliinin munkki. Around 4:45, they started to fall apart so I headed home. Both kids cried when we left as they wanted to stay. Though I think they just wanted the opposite of what was going on. Within 5 minutes of leaving both of them were asleep. 

To say that my body was exhausted from carrying sleeping Eerika and pushing the stroller after a one hour trip is an understatement. We were all in bed by 6:30.

Of course now I have been up since 10 pm again after Eerika woke up, but I am just going with the flow. Saku has been sleeping continuously so I am claiming that a small victory. 

I still do not have a cute picture with Miss Tyllerö so that needs to be changed tomorrow when everyone is coming to Pajutie.

Our Second Day in Finland

It is 2:53 am and Miss E and I are playing. It is our second night in Finland so this is really not too surprising. In the dark, I heard  "äiti, I need a snack"`. I was hoping that it would be much later in the night since 2 am meant that I had only slept for three hours, but I was not surprised that it was so early. Eerika had slept a good seven hours during the day so I had hope but not expected that she would sleep through the night. 

I just read my blog post from two years ago when we did this for the first time with both of the kids. We took the exact same flight this time and we have been up on both nights, but I am getting a ton more sleep this time and have been so much less stressed out about everything. It is nice what a difference a good attitude and knowledge from past experience makes.  Also it helps that I have a two year old with me instead of a 4 month so I was not chronically already tired from having a small baby.

Yesterday's high lights

We slept from 9 am to 2 pm (myself) and 5 pm (the kids).

Saku got to experience the magic of recycling bottles here.

A little bit of fun in the mids of ordinary chores.

The kids got pick their own individual ice creams from the vast selection of ice cream cones and popsicles.

Both kids swam in the lake for the first time.

Eerika peed in the lake for the first time. She said she needed to go potty and we directed to her to the lake. She was pretty excited about peeing in the lake. Troy probably did not quite approve this way of parenting...

Eerika swam naked. True Finnish style. I felt so nostalgic as I watched my little girl play in the water. In the U.S, it would not be okay and while I am fine with that, the true Finn in me was happy to watch my naked little girl having fun in the water. She was naked because we werent prepared for swimming and I figured she would get colder if she got all of her clothes wet.

Saku went to sauna for the second time ever and sat on the highest bench and threw water on the rocks. Again, a true Finnish moment.

Aino cooked us a delicious meal and she played with us all day.

Today's Firsts

Eerika skipped a nap for the very first time. I should say that she has skipped a nap here and there if we were traveling, but this was the first "we are home and you are not napping today" scenario.  She is almost 2 & 1/2 and has loved nap time. This past week, she has started saying "I dont want to take a nap", but she would take it anyway without problems. Today, she climbed out of her bed twice and it was about 1:30 pm and I didnt feel like fighting it or having her nap way late. She was very happy for the rest of the day. But I do not want to give up naps. 

Eerika also got her first helmet today. We are slacker parents and didnt get her one until now. She doesnt really like biking so it wasn't really an issue before. She is a fast runner, actually very fast and loves to climb and jump and do tricks but she struggling with biking. Or I should say she bikes for two minutes and then decides that it is not worth her time. 

All pink in Hello Kitty. I am not a fan of pink when it comes to girl stuff but sometimes you just get some pink stuff for your girl.

Saku upgraded from a toddler helmet to a big boy Spiderman helmet.

Saku learned to ride a bike without training wheels two weeks ago. We were visiting Troy's childhood friend Matt and his family and we were impressed how their son knew how to ride a bike. Someone decided to see how Saku would do on Westin's bike and he learned to ride the bike within minutes. It is a much smaller bike than Saku's and I think the fact that he could put his feet down while sitting on the saddle made a huge difference.  We came home from our trip and took Saku's training wheels off and he did well. His bike is bigger and heavier which makes it more challenging but the boy is biking on his own. Today he learned to stop on his own without crashing. We still need to figure out how to get him started on his own. 

I am very proud of his biking. Mostly I am proud of the fact that he had few crashes and few scares and it didnt stop him from getting back on the saddle and trying again. 

Poop Free Day

I am grateful for today for many reasons. And I am not gonna lie, one of the top reasons is the fact that I didn't have to clean up any poop today.

Eerika has been potty trained for a month and a half and she has done so well. Because of the way she transitioned to underwear so well and barely ever had accidents, I have really struggled in the last week or so when she has started to poop in her underwear. Poop in the underwear is just gross. So we have been throwing bunch of them away. But today we are accident free and I am grateful for that!

A friend, who lives about 100 yards away from us, is moving and she has been so generous as she is minimizing clutter and reducing the amount of stuff that she is taking with her. Her trash has been my treasure as we now have nice patio chairs and recliners, random storage boxes that have helped me to get more organized and many stylish shirts that I love.  Not only has our family been blessed because of her, but I was able to bless another family because of Alisha's generosity. She brought over a huge box of pantry type food. I happen to visit teach a family who struggles financially and I was able to take the box over to them.  It has been a good reminder to be generous with our things when we get new things and want to get rid off our old ones. 

My body is back on track. I am working out again and I feel great. Yesterday I ran for 30 minutes and today I had a date with Jillian Michaels as she is trying to help me to say bye to my "trouble zones". 

I am packing up to go to Finland. In one week we will be flying over the atlantic. I am not looking forward to being away from Troy but I am ecstatic about our travel plans and being with my family. 

Cousins

Saku is the first grandchild on my side and the third youngest on Troy's side, so our kids are sort of in a cousin limbo because they are the oldest or youngest by several years. We are also far away from cousins, so we haven't gotten too much time with them. 

This summer has been different. While Troy was at scout camp during the first week of June, I escaped the Tucson heat and spent five days in Utah. This was the first time that Cambree and Eerika were old enough to play together and they played so well. I couldnt get over it. It was such a nice thing to witness and a relief that I didn't have to worry about breaking up fights every few minutes.  Eerika is exactly four weeks older than Cambree, so their ages match perfectly for a play mate.

They would sit on this pile of toys and play for hours. Eerika seemed to be a bit of a ring leader and boss Cambree around, but they both seemed okay with the arrangement t. 

Nothing like playing in some cold and dirty water

When we went to San Diego, Troy's parents were there and Cambree and Makayla as well. So the cousins got to play together on the beach for five days. Once we got home from San Diego, it was girls' camp week for me and grandma and the girls came down to Tucson to help Troy while I was gone. Yes grandma wrestled four kids on her own while Troy was at work. 

Fortunately, Makayla (almost 8) is very generous with her friendship and patient with Saku and they play very well together. They both love pretending so there was no limits to their imagination when they started to play. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of them. 

Cute girls in matching dresses after church.

Eerika and Cambree at the gym playing with parachute. Isi was very kind to take all the kids there.

Somehow the girls climbed over the fence while playing on the patio. I wonder who instigated this act of rebellion.

Play dough is always fun

Nothing like playing in the Tucson monsoon rain and then the sprinklers going off. They also decided to go and play in the sand after getting wet, which meant that they were filthy dirty. 

While we were in San Diego, Anna's baby girl was born. She is our newest cousin and I cannot wait to snuggle her. In few years, Eerika can teach her all sorts of tricks:) 

Destination: San Diego

Since we are going to Finland for six weeks, we didn't do much of "vacationing" this summer. However, we did take a five day trip to San Diego.

We had Grandpa's truck after a trip to Phoenix to pick up a new washer and dryer so we were driving that to San Diego while Grandma and Grandpa drove our car there and we swapped back. 

This truck was not the most convenient road trip car. It was so so great for hauling our washer and dryer and getting some more sand for our backyard, but it was a bit tight inside the car for us and our stuff. 

This road trip was also different since the truck didn't have a DVD player like our car. I embraced it and the kids did fabulous job entertaining themselves. OK, I entertained them by reading to them, singing to them and they got to play some games on our iPhones. We did watch about an hour of Curious George when we were an hour away from the beach house.

High lights of the road trip to San Diego

-Trying to have Eerika go pee in a disgusting porta-potty. She would not do it, so we ended up squatting behind it.

-Discovering that reading in the car does not make me car sick. This was huge for my entertainment and for the kids' entertainment. Saku loved the fact that I could read books to him.

Meeting isi at work so we could start our adventure.

Snacks are a must!

Bringing your own pillow is a must!

Wow an actual picture of Troy and I!

We got to San Diego around 7 pm and headed out to get some food. Pei Wei seemed like a good and fast choice. It was good. The kids enjoyed it, which was great but it was not fast.

Chop sticks and fortune cookies make a great entertainment while waiting for food.

Saku ate about 7 fortune cookies. 

We were "cool" parents, though our kids dont even recognize that yet and let them go for an evening swim at 9 pm at the hotel pool.  I did not get in. The 75 degree weather was awesome but did not entice  me to get into the pool. So I watched Eerika while Saku and isi did cool tricks in the water.

This is a blurry picture, but it shows what a strong swimmer Saku is. I am very proud of how hard he has work and practice and how well he swims. 

Eerika loved hanging out on the first step and putting her face in the water. And then she would go and warm up in the hot tub. 

It was about 10:30 pm when we finally got the kids to sleep. Yes, not ideal but I tried very hard to be a relaxed mom and be on a "vacation mode".