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A Very Happy Mother's Day in Finland

We had such a great Mother's Day weekend! The Finnish flags were raised all over the country and everything except the flower shops were closed. That's the way it should be, right? The sun was shining and we were able to spend most of it outside. Translation: The boys are covered with more bumps and scrapes than usual. The trees are all getting leaves and flowers are blooming. It's been so long since we've experienced a true Spring, and we are loving it.

Did I tell you I have a new bike? I bought it from my lovely neighbor, who (sadly) is moving in a couple of months. Steve was kind enough to attach a basket and a bell for me. The basket is so great! It just pops right off and doubles as a little shopping basket. And then you can just pop it right back on easy as pie. Genius.

Lucky Duck

Yesterday the embassy hosted an early egg hunt for Easter. Guess who won the Guess How Many Jelly Bean Contest? Clue: He's the little one with the great big smile. Oh! And in case you're wondering, there were 367 beans (though much less now). Henry's winning guess, with a little guidance from his big brother, was 350.

Spring!

Spring is here and everywhere we go there are little green shoots peeking out from under the snow. It's so surprising to me that they are already (still?) green, because from what I understand the snow has been on top of them since November. Tough plants! Today Henry and I took the train downtown and met Steve for lunch. After some yummy sandwiches we wandered around and ended up buying a Moomin book. We were so excited to find one in English. It was a beautiful day for being outside-almost fifty degrees!- and the sun was shining.

For the record, all the Finns we have encountered are gracious about speaking perfect English to us as soon as they realize I have no inkling of what they are saying in Finnish. Though I still try to learn as many words as I can, I am already beginning to accept the fact that I am destined to be the stereotypical American that speaks only one language.


We are so happy and lucky to have beautiful walking trails like this so close to our house (even though we are only in this place temporarily). When we arrived two weeks ago it was completely covered with snow and ice.

Suomi

We are in Finland!

So far we are in love with our new country. It's cold, and rainy. Even though the temperature is staying above freezing (barely) there is still so much snow. Word on the street is that we should plan on it hanging around for about two more months. Not that it keeps anyone indoors. In the week that we've been here the boys (especially Truman)can't get enough. He puts on all his snow gear and plays outside until we force him to come in for food.

Almost everyday Henry and I walk to the grocery store to get the things we need for dinner. It's tricky trying to choose items when you can't read any of the labels. So far we've been lucky. We manage through the cashier transaction nodding and smiling. I try out lots of phrases on Google Translate and listen to the pronunciation countless times, but then when it's time to spring into action I get stage fright and can't remember anything.

I've considered trying some fake sign language in an effort to turn the tables. Or maybe even real sign language. I do know most of the alphabet after all. Plus or I could try out some stuff from my Baby Signing class from when Tru was a baby. I'd like to see the look on their smug Finnish speaking faces then. Of course I'm joking. I don't really remember any of it.



Both of the boys on one of our walks to get groceries.

Ok, so where were we...

Oh yeah, well skip ahead about 6 months. We are now out of the Philippines and have just wrapped up Home Leave. For those of you not familiar with the Foreign Service, that is the mandatory four weeks you must spend all your money, um, I mean, time in your home country for repatriation, aka rediscovering what it is to be American.

We squeezed in as much as we could. We hung out on the West Coast and enjoyed as much as we had time for. The main attractions included visiting family, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, exploring Arizona, Los Angeles, Disney Land, Legoland, the snow, the beach and a bunch of hotels in between. Exhausted? Check. We also had the chance to treat the kids to the concept of the Great American Road Trip. Overall, I would say it was a great success.

Now we are set up in temporary housing in Virginia while Steve finishes up his training for his next position in Helsinki. It's great to be here, seeing old friends, visiting museums and playing in the park, and if it were a long term set up I would be very happy. But all we've got is another week, and I think we are all ready to be a little more settled in and in our own home.


Enjoying the view at Zion National Park


A snow storm near the Grand Canyon.


Exploring ancient Pueblo ruins in Arizona.





The boys enjoying the beach in California.

Eleven Years and the Best Two Day Vacation Ever

On Sunday Steve and I celebrated our eleven year anniversary. I love that we got married on Labor Day weekend, which entitles us to a three day weekend pretty much every anniversary. This year we went to Boracay. To sweeten the deal we won a two night stay at a fabulous resort when Steve bought a boatload of raffle tickets at a charity raffle about six months ago. Since it wasn't a local holiday, the place was nearly deserted.

It would sound cheesy to call our get away magical, but that's the best way I can describe it.


We were greeted with fresh Dalandan juice and puka shell necklaces.



Best room, hands down...ever.



Same goes for the beach.










We ended our stay watching Fire Dancers on the beach. Sigh...

Cousins

Last week we had the joy of more Langleys in town. Steve's older brother Christian came for a visit with his wife Katrin and their three adorable boys Tom, Timmy and Terrence all the way from Berlin. They rented a beautiful house high up in the Rattlesnake area complete with an entire third floor that doubled as a giant game room/kid paradise.

The five boys playing together reminded me of the summer days that I spent playing with my own cousins. The kind of days that were packed with fun until bedtime. Aside from the game room, there was soccer, dirt clod throwing, rock throwing and all the general mayhem that comes with five boys playing out on the side of a mountain.

While the kids played, the grown-ups sat around doing what we do best; drinking, eating, talking. We were fortunate enough to have Steve's sister and her family and my sweet friend Karen in from Seattle at the same time. The only thing missing was Steve.

Henry's New Favorite Toy

I did not buy Henry a gun. He bought it with his own money. I always swore I would never let my kids play with toy guns. People told me it would be unstoppable. They will use a stick, they will use their fingers. They will aim their half eaten toast at you at the breakfast table. Well, it's all true. We've had water "squirters", laser "blasters" and even nerf guns (which are also cleverly marketed as "blasters"), but this is our family's first realistic looking gun. We are in Montana and I guess a rifle just felt right to Henry.

Today I let him take it over to the park across the street to play. I felt a little uneasy walking onto the playground with my gun toting preschooler, but why? Almost every little boy I know loves guns. Didn't we play with guns (yes, even girls) when we were kids? Check out this article from Mothering magazine which my dear friend Audrey, mother of three boys, pointed out to me a couple of years ago.

Henry seems pretty comfortable with it. I snapped this photo of him last night, after he asked if he could please have his gun so he could snuggle with it. He's a very sensitive and nurturing boy who cares for his gun.

Big Sky Country

We are spending our summer in Missoula, Montana. Steve was able to save up three weeks of leave and stay for most of June, and now the boys and I are on our own until the end of July.

Missoula is a special place for our family. Steve and I both graduated from the University of Montana. We were married here, and it's Truman's birthplace (he's fond of reminding us he's the only one from here). We have family and friends still living here, and we could fill many hours reminiscing happy memories and funny stories. Now we're busy making more.

To say we are having a great time is an understatement. We were able to find a great little house to rent for the two months that we'll be here. We have two parks within walking distance, a school with a great place to play soccer right at the end of our block, and best of all a yard! We are within walking distance to the local Farmer's Market and downtown. The weather is cool, and the air smells so fresh and piney it almost makes you cry everytime you walk outside. We are outside a lot. From hiking and biking to just eating dinner out on the deck, we are in heaven.

We are in full vacation mode. The sun doesn't set here until after 10pm and we're usually all still up to watch it sink behind the mountains. On a normal day we manage a leisurely breakfast around 10:30. We've decided it's probably a good idea to eat ice cream everyday too, especially since Missoula has the best ice cream ever. The boys have become master hikers and Truman has put countless miles on his bike. Some days are filled with doing "nothing". These are the days when the boys catch spiders, try to catch birds and trap squirrels (no luck!), play in the dirt, have water gun, balloon and, strangely, pinecone fights.

Have I mentioned we love it here?

Mt. Pinatubo

Last Saturday we headed up to Mt. Pinatubo with our friends Jeff and Jaime who were visiting from Chicago. We thought we were going to be in for a long hot grueling hike up a volcano. Instead we barely survived the roughest, bumpiest, dustiest jeep ride you could ever try to imagine up to a trail head where we enjoyed a twenty minute, easy, mostly shady hike.

The view from the top of the crater was beautiful. After a few pictures we headed down for a much needed swim to rinse of the dust from the ride up. The boys are happy they can now honestly say they have gone swimming in a volcano.

What They Don't Tell You

For those of you who are thinking of visiting the Philippines I've come up with a list of interesting things about the Philippines that were never mentioned in any of the travel guides I read before moving here.

1. Filipinos love music. I mean they LOVE music. Mostly easy listening it seems, and eighties new wave. Steve has compared living here to walking around in a musical, and that seems appropriate. While out shopping recently a particularly moving song came on the sound system, as if on cue-every one of the staff joined in the singing. Steve encountered Ricky Martin in a taxi recently, which is only odd because usually it's a little softer. Some standout favorites we've noticed while riding in taxis around Manila are: Air Supply, Richard Marx, Journey, Heart (esp. "Alone"), The Eagles, The Cranberries and Dido. I don't know if I should be as proud as I am that I find myself singing right along with them. Initially the grocery stores seemed to be on the easy listening train, though it seems that toy stores opt for hardcore rap, replete with explicit lyrics while you are shopping with your young children.

2. I've yet to figure out the method of how the grocery stores are organized. If I find the peanut butter, I feel like jelly should be a given. But no, not even close. Many things are like this. You would think if you find the ketchup, then you've found the mustard. Again, no. To make things even more confusing, certain things (say, cereal) are found in more than one aisle of the store. You may find some varieties of one kind of food (maybe cornflakes) after looking everything over and making a decision based on what's in front of you, you then head 10 aisles over and discover what you really wanted (muesli!). This may seem like a small thing, and really it is. But mix in an over abundant staff, hordes of other people blocking the aisle and a good dose of blaring music (think rave) and you've got a recipe for a serious headache. I'm sure there's a very logical system, but at this point I'm doubtful I'm going to figure it out.

4. Speaking of shopping. Generally speaking, Filipinos are superbly helpful and accommodating. Never in my life have so many people wanted to help me when I'm out shopping. Need a bathmat? Instantaneously forty will be displayed for your approval. A pair of underwear for your three year old? A parade of helpful staff are there with every style plus suggestions for any and every other clothing item that might strike your fancy. Once you've made your selections you head to the cashier where your items are carefully rung up by one cashier, while another one, after carefully inspecting the price tag, checks (literally) the tag with a red pen. The items are placed in a bag which has special tabs that are tied closed (no exception!). You sign two receipts and a third one is stapled to your bag. If you're buying electronics, it's going to be a longer process as it -naturally-needs to be tested and purchase double checked in a different department completely. Meanwhile, another employee stands by with a notebook making sure everything is taken care of properly and duly recorded. As a side note I need to mention all women employees at one particular shop are dressed in sea foam green dresses (not unlike a flight attendant) with pearl earrings, and a lot of makeup. Now that I'm thinking about it, it seems like they can't ALL be wearing the same outfit in ALL stores, but in my mind that's really how it seems. I'm going to have to look into it. Either way, it's kind of awesome.

5. Filipino names are all across the board. Steve gets to talk to a lot of people at work, and thereby gets to hear more names than I do. I'm not embarrassed to say that I enjoy asking what the best names of the day were. After quizzing Steve and perusing various magazines, here are a few favorites: Dingdong, Baby James, Tootsy, Love, Jon Bong Jovi, Ice Cream, Beam, Camry and M5. The latter a particular fave to Steve. I am in no way making fun of these names. Quite the opposite. I love the idea of naming your baby after something you really love or a happy sound. If I had a baby here maybe I would name him Little Cupcake, or maybe I would hyphenate and go with Cutie-Face. Too bad we're not having any more...

6. We are lucky enough to have a dishwasher in our house. While at Ace Hardware yesterday, Steve discovered this is a somewhat uncommon occurrence. He was looking for general cleaning supplies, and asked where he could find dishwasher detergent. He was promptly surrounded by a helpful group trying to figure out what he was after. After being shown various kinds of dish soap (the kind you hand wash with), cans of Ajax, and even laundry detergent, the group of employees called over the manager. With nearly the entire staff gathered around him, he tried to explain what he was looking for. The manager also suggested the Ajax was a good idea. Can't you just picture the whole thing? Hilarious!

Our friends Jeff and Jaime are coming to visit tomorrow, I probably should have written this earlier. Still, I think they'll enjoy the first hand experience.

Guess Where We're Headed!

Wow, I guess I've fallen off of the blogging wagon. I'm going to take a new approach: Shorter and more frequent posts. I promise. At least I promise to try.

We've been in Manila for over a year now. We have less than a year before we leave. The big news is where we're headed next- Finland! Pretty sure it's the polar (pun intended) opposite of the Philippines. In ten short months we'll be saying goodbye to our days of worshiping the tropical sun and hello to freezing temperatures and pathetically huddling together in the sauna. Actually we are super-duper, extremely, really, excited! Our neighbors will be Santa and his reindeer, and it's the perfect jumping off place for some great destinations. Woo-hoo!

See you soon!

Coco Beach

Here in the Philippines we are lucky enough to get both Philippine and American holidays off from work (by we, I of course mean Steve). The last month or so has been especially nice as we are now going into our third three day weekend in a row. We took advantage and headed out to a place near Puerto Galera called Coco Beach Resort. We took a two and half hour bus ride to Batangas and traveled another hour by boat. It was the greatest, most beautiful, most relaxing place we've been to so far. Just saying the name makes me sigh with contentment. The pictures say it all:

This was our twin boat that was traveling along beside us as we headed out from Batangas.

There it is!

We got right to work.

Henry enjoyed playing with the other little guys who were busy catching and racing Hermit Crabs. The people who worked at the resort lived on the island with their families and so there were lots of kids around to play with.

He also wanted to play with the guys who worked at the resort. They built a pool table out back, they played it with discs instead of balls. Henry was very interested.

Henry wearing more clothes than usual.

Henry and I were lounging on the beach enjoying some snacks when these local girls came parading down the beach looking for sea creatures.

This is one that they caught! It's a little Eel they just snatched right up in an old water bottle.

Truman helping the girls build a "home" for the creatures they captured.