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?