We came back this week from our trip to Helsinki so it was a short week of recovery for us. We were both busy with work Jason left for Houston Saturday morning and will be gone the next week. I was sad for him to miss my first Mother's Day, but since surprised me by celebrating the Norwegian Mother's Day back in February (and he's bringing me goodies from the States), he's off the hook. ;-)
Saturday morning, Madi and I met some friends from work at Soma Gard. It's an outdoor petting zoo and play area. There were a lot of people there, but the place is so big you can't really tell! Madi loved walking around and seeing the sheep, chickens, ducks, cows, and horses. She also loved jumping on the trampoline, but her favorite was by far the swing!
My first Mother's Day turned out to be fabulous! Although I did miss Jason, he had a few tricks up his sleeve for me. He sent me a beautiful flower arrangement on Saturday and I got cards from my family and a fabulous charm bracelet from my mom!
Then when I woke this morning I had the best surprise yet... Jason had created a wonderful video card for me with pictures of our family. I have watched it over and over again and start crying everytime I do. I feel so blessed to have him in my life and he is a wonderful husband and father! (Although I am not too happy about how high he is setting the bar for the upcoming Father's Day... haha)
Best. Present. Ever.
Later in the morning my friend Jennifer and her son Graham came over. Her husband was away at our church Men's Retreat so the two of us celebrated Mother's Day by cooking a fabulous brunch for ourselves and enjoying a play date with our little ones (who had to have whichever toy the other was playing with... ;-) ).
Madi and I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend together! We are sure missing Daddy already, but thank goodness for FaceTime dates so we still get to see him while he's gone!
Happy Mother's Day to all of you fabulous moms out there and I hope you have a great week! Read more...
Thank you for being so amazing! You instilled in me values and morals through your own example in life. You have shown me what it's like to be a godly woman who trusts in the Lord. You taught me to work hard and strive to do my best in all things. You have always been there for me and have supported me in everything. Everything from soccer games when I was younger to getting into Mines and graduating with honors to navigating my way in the professional world and most recently helping me with this wonderful path called motherhood. I hope that I can build the same foundation for my daughter as you did for me. I wouldn't be the woman I am today without the sacrifices and hard work you put into our family. I am blessed to call you mother and blessed to have such an example and role model in my life.
I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!
Darcy
Jason,
Although it may seem a bit odd to write you a letter today, I wouldn't be able to celebrate being a mother to Madi on this wonderful day if you weren't in my life. Thank you for always being there for me, even when I'm not the easiest person to be around. You are incredibly patient, supportive, trustworthy, and loving. You challenge me to be a better person by your example. You are a wonderful leader, spiritually, financially, and emotionally, to our family. It brings me so much joy to watch you and Madison interact. I love you so much and I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you for making me a mother to our beautiful baby girl!
Love,
Darcy
Madi,
Thank you for coming into my life! I thank the Lord every day for blessing me with the honor of being your mother. You are such a beautiful and joyful girl! You light up those around you with your magnificent smile and your laughter is a sweet sound to my ears. I hope that one day you will know the amazing feeling it is to be a mother and to love someone so tremendously. It's the hardest and most rewarding job I have ever had and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I'm so excited to spend this first Mother's Day cuddling with you!
I promise we do more than just travel here in Norway... although it doesn't seem that way lately with our Easter trip to Greece and this past weekend's adventures in Helsinki! :-)
I reached out to a couple Finnish friends (Thanks Mikaela and Tuulikki!) for Helsinki tips and was promptly warned that we picked a special weekend to visit. We were arriving April 30th, the eve of May Day celebrations. The streets would be filled with fun-loving party goers wearing white caps (and sometimes brown depending on how old the owner is...) There would also be celebrations going on in Kaivopuisto Park on May 1 if we wanted to partake. So of course we did!
We met some friends from Norway who just also happened to be visiting Helsinki the same weekend as us and enjoyed a champagne brunch in the park amongst music and picnic tents - the perfect way to kick off our weekend in Helsinki!
After leaving the park we made our way around Helsinki to do some sightseeing. Most things were closed for the celebrations so we leisurely walked around the Market Square and visited the Helsinki Cathedral and Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral.
We also walked up a street full of embassies and were excited to take our picture by the US Embassy, where we were promptly met from a security guard out of no where asking us what we took a picture of and if we got any security cameras in our shot. We definitely looked like a suspicious bunch carrying a bundled up baby and an Angry Birds balloon, but after we showed him our innocent emblem picture he wished us a nice day and we were off again.
We took a ride in the underground metro and headed to the Helsinki Playground, an indoor play area for children. It gave Madi a chance to stretch her legs and us an escape from the overcast and rainy weather (which unfortunately stayed with us the rest of the visit).
We met back up with Shaina, Ana, and Alana for drinks and dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had a fabulous table right on stage so everyone could listen to Madi talk. :-)
We headed back to the apartment and put Madi to bed. Wait, what? This isn't an appropriate bed? Tell that to SAS who left our bags in Oslo and then lied to us about when they would arrive. It sufficed for two nights. :-)
The following morning we got our luggage (and most importantly the stroller!) and headed to the Helsinki Zoo. We were so excited because it was Madi's first time going to a zoo and we love zoos so were hoping she'd love it too! And we were in luck! She enjoyed pointing at the animals, talking to the goats, and even growled at the lion. I see many more family zoo trips in the future. :-)
Madi fell asleep before we left the zoo so we made our way over to the Temppeliaukio Church (an amazing church built around rocks) and the Olympic Stadium. The games were held there in 1952 and you could see a great view of the city from the top of the tower!
Our child is most definitely Norwegian because girl will nap for a good 2-3 hours outside in her stroller. She would fuss a bit going in (she hates to be restricted at all), but would settle and enjoy playing or watching everyone around her.
We decided to go to dinner that night since she'd gotten such a good nap during the afternoon. However, she was still pretty tired and a bit fussy, but let us finish our meal and get a picture with her serious face before heading back to the apartment.
On Saturday we caught a ferry ride over to the island of Suomenlinna. It's an inhabited sea fortress that has Swedish, Russian, and Finnish connections and has become a UNESCO World Heritage site. We spent a good bit of time there visiting the museum, taking the guided tour, and walking around the island coast.
She did not like being the cannon ball...
There was a playground on the island so we stopped over and let Madi swing, one of her favorite things to do! She would laugh when we ran towards her and loved being pushed.
After we left we made our way back to the Market Square area to grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Since I'd subjected Jason to Starbucks two three times already, we opted to try some place different and stumbled into a different cafe. The drinks and desserts were great and we got to hear some... interesting music and be entertained by Madi's dancing skills.
That night Madi decided she was tired of walking while holding onto something and took her first steps!! Sigh. I foresee a lot of running around chasing after her for the next, oh I don't know, 10 years?!
Sunday we visited the Helsinki Aquarium. Madi also went to one in Greece and we aren't quite sure if she's a fan of them... she seems to like looking at the fish, but it takes her some time to warm up to the dark atmosphere and the glowing lights. And by this time she was realizing that she can walk so most of our time there was spent walking her around so she could perfect her technique.
Gift shop swag.
While we waited for the bus Madi practiced walking in a giant marshmallow suit (a handy survival skill I'm sure) and we took selfies in our BA sunglasses.
I spent the rest of the evening punishing Madi for walking at 10.5 months. Suffice it to say she did not enjoy it - don't let the laughter fool you.
The last item on our sightseeing list was a Finnish swimming pool and sauna. We found one not too far away that had a separate splash pool for babies and visited there Monday morning. We decided to forego visiting the swimsuit-prohibited saunas because even though they are separated male/female, Jason and I just aren't comfortable doing naked in front of other people! So we can say we have visited a Finnish swimming pool and looked inside a traditional Finnish sauna. Done. :-) Pictures weren't allowed in the pool area so we couldn't capture Madi's excitement at the water slide or splashing around or walking back and forth in the pool, but it was definitely one of her favorite parts!
I begged Jason for Starbucks one more time and he indulged in what I'm ashamed to admit was my fifth visit during our trip!
Then we headed to the airport to catch our flights back home. I have to say one of the best things I have experienced in Europe thus far is the baby-friendliness of the airports. Almost all of the ones we have been to have strollers past security so you don't have to bring your own, baby rooms with microwaves, tea kettles, and nursing chairs, as well as play areas for little ones. We killed time playing with Madi in one of these lovely areas in the Helsinki airport.
Our sleepy duck completed her 24th flight (and 7th country!) and we headed home to put her to bed after a wonderful, but tiring visit to Finland!
