This past week was "ski week" in central Finland. Schools were closed for the week and many families use the week to go skiing with their children. I believe the week is now called "winter holiday" since not everyone skis, but regardless of the name schools were closed and families have fun. Tea and Talia's school was still open since it is also a daycare, but many children were absent so it was a bit of a different week for them.
We started to enjoy the week off last Sunday when my mentor Olli-Pekka invited our family to go to a nearby frozen lake with sledding and cross country ski trails with his family. We jumped at the chance to do some traditional Finnish snow activities and bundled up, packed the cross country skis and sleds and headed out. The place was only about ten kilometers from our home so it was just a short ride away.
We had so much fun! As soon as we got there the girls spotted the Finnish whip sled. Each girl took a turn sitting in the sled while Adam and the other girl pushed the pole around. The sled can go pretty fast and it is a challenge to stay on. Talia went flying off once! Here are some pictures of this very traditional ride. Since it is on a frozen lake the track is pretty bumpy and the girls had such a blast bouncing around and screaming "faster!". They could have stayed on that sled all day.
We eventually convinced them to give some other children a turn and tried some other activities. Talia bravely put on the cross country skis and did a little skiing with Adam. She had tried it once at school and is a little behind the learning curve since the students at her school start skiing at age two. It was frustrating to her to learn how to get back up if you fall, but she was a trooper and put in a good effort.
Tea spent a lot of time on the nearby sledding hill and has discovered the thrill of going over bumps in the middle of the track. Once she realized that the faster you go the further you fly she was off speeding down the hill and steering towards the biggest bumps. I also tried cross country skiing for the first time. I loved flying down the smooth tracks but it was hard work to go uphill and keep my balance. I'd definitely give it another shot. It was a lot of fun.
We warmed up in the little hut, had some hot chocolate and then headed home, exhausted from just a few hours of playing outside.
The girls had special events planned each day at school. On Monday they had "toy day" so they shared a favorite toy with the class. Each day Tea and Talia's classes stayed together since there were so many kids absent. This made Talia very happy because she could play with Tea the entire time. On Tuesday the girls went sledding. Wednesday was ice skating. Thursday was skiing. Friday they went to the nearby elementary school to play on the HUGE piles of snow around the school yard. They loved all the outside time and it was fun for them to be together for the week but I think they are also looking forward to their friends returning on Monday.
Since schools were closed this week I had a more laid back week as well. There were no schools to visit so I was able to be at home each afternoon and do some different things with the girls. On Wednesday the whole family headed to the large lake in Jyvaskyla to go ice skating. A track that is at least one kilometer long is plowed on the ice and people can skate the track or ski just outside the plowed track. But that's not all people do there. We saw a man biking around the track. Another woman was pulling her four children in a sled around the track. One mom was pushing a stroller with her baby around the track while her two other children skated ahead. We even saw people walking their dogs around the track! We stuck to the more traditional approach and just skated. It was so much fun!
The girls are both getting to be very good skaters and they really seem to enjoy it. They are learning how to do some "tricks" and like to show off their spins and jumps and one footed gliding. The ice seems to be about two feet thick so I think we have a few more weeks of skating ahead of us!
The rest of the week was spent playing and having fun in different ways. Talia and I went out for a lunch date on Friday so that each girl could have some alone time with one parent. We played Spot It while we waited and then had some pizza. Adam and Tea had their own date at a different restaurant. It was nice to be alone with just one child for a few hours.
Finally, we went out to see some Finnish children's theater yesterday. We saw Puluboi ja Poni (Pigeonboy and Pony) in Finnish. The girls could point out some words they know but mostly we just watched the action and tried to figure out what was going on. But who doesn't love a grown-up dressed as a pigeonboy, a man dressed as a woman, and some Finnish reggae music. We had a fun time even if we don't know exactly what happened in the story!
This week the girls should be back on schedule and I will be in Helsinki at a conference for a few days. Adam's sister arrives on Friday and we are headed north to Lapland to meet Santa this weekend. We will have more fun updates and pictures soon!!