Beautiful Muddy Morning

One of my favorite traditions since moving up to Washington is visiting the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, but my kids never get to go because I prefer to go during the day when they are in school (because it gets super busy).  Kya really wanted to see them, so we stopped for a quick visit on the way up to Canada during spring break.

It was cold and muddy, as we expected, but we didn't expect the WIND.  Holy Cow was it windy!!   We were a little early in the season so all the tulips weren't quite blooming yet but it was still so so beautiful!  And Summer had SO MUCH FUN in the muddy puddles (just like Peppa Pig).

Our Finnish Trip to Canada

I'm not sure if it was my parents DNA results, or the fact that we hadn't been up to Canada for a while, or that Tina had to teach about Finland for a multicultural night at the church, but for some reason we had a more-than-usual culturally filled trip to Canada.

Our last visit to Canada was for Eric's birthday.  We got to celebrate Eric AND a little bit of Canadian culture by watching Tyler and Trevor play hockey and even getting a little Poutine.

This trip was all about our Finnish culture.  First Grandpa taught my kids to make karjalanpiirakka (slippers) and they were just as yummy as I remember (although I'm not sure the kids loved them, and they aren't the best reheated).  Then Lisa dropped off some pulla (she is working to perfect the braided circle pulla).  

The next day we had a sauna.  None of us brought swimsuits, but a quick trip to Walmart solved that.  And we had our steaming HOT sauna...even Summer.   

 The next day was Lisa's birthday.  Mom made two Finnish cakes!!  They were even better than I remembered. 

We still had to squeeze in some Canadian chips:)

And we even got to hear some stories from my Dad about growing up in Finland...although, I think most visits we get to hear some of those stories--which I love hearing even more than eating all that delicious food.

Next visit we'll have to explore our British heritage!

The Blanky from Michael

Summer had many beautiful blankets as a baby...some made by Grandma, some given to us from friends, maybe even a couple passed down from her siblings.  But somehow, her blanket given to us from one of Mike's coworkers (Michael) became her very favorite--can't go anywhere without it--blanky.

This special blanket is a purple and grey giraffe pattern print and has a giraffe in the center with little tags around it (Taggies brand).  She uses blanky to go to sleep at night, she snuggles with blanky when she is sad or scared, she even uses blanky to heal an owie or make her tummy feel better when she is sick.  She takes it in the car, to the store, on trips to Canada, to church, to the doctor, she even took it on our big trip across the country to NY/DC.  It was a life saver when we were weening her off nursing...and off her binky.  It also comforted her when we moved houses this past summer.  Blanky is VERY SPECIAL...which is why she took it with us on our trip to Mexico...where it got LOST.

We had blanky with us the entire time in Mexico...through the airport, play ride, rental car, hotel, Xel-Ha, swimming pool, beach, countless restaurants, grocery shopping...until one trip to McDonalds where we left it behind.  I remember seeing the blanket flung over a chair and I said to Mike "you better grab that so we don't forget it".  He grabbed it, and that is the last I thought of it until I was putting Summer to bed that night.  Mike remembered giving it to Tyson in the play area and Tyson remembered leaving the room (without the blanket) while Summer and Jordan were still in there.  Once we realized it was gone, Mike and Tyson drove back to McDonald's in the dark and searched the entire restaurant inside and out for Summer's blanket.  I sat at the hotel waiting for a call saying "we found it"...even when Kya talked to Tyson and he said they couldn't find it anywhere I was sure he was kidding.  Well they came back with no blanket.  Summer had already fallen asleep without it, but I just felt sick about the whole thing.  Mike and I both searched online and found the blanket was discontinued by the manufacture.  But we found one on eBay!!!!

I told Mike to order a new one on eBay.  Summer survived without her blanky.  She asked for it sadly, multiple times a day, but she was fine.  When the new blanket arrived 3 days after our trip, I wasn't sure whether to give it to her or not.  Mike really wanted to, so I agreed.  She was SO HAPPY.  She accepted it as her old blanky, even though it was much cleaner and definitely smelled different.  She just said "Dad found my blanky" and that was that. 

Mexico--Last One (Randomness)

I will never forget the feeling when we first arrived.  The air was so warm (and coming from WA in February it was SO NICE), Country music was playing on the speakers, the palm trees were rustling in the breeze, and even though we had to wait forever for our shuttle, we were so happy and excited! 

Finding a good restaurant in Mexico was a bit of a challenge for us.  We had mostly mediocre food with a few gross and a couple that were super yummy.

Paying for water everywhere we went was a bit annoying...and caused me to drink more soda than I ever have in my life!  

 

We ended up getting McDonald's twice...which tells you a lot about our selection...here we are driving home with our Sundaes.

I loved 5th Ave...and Tyson hated it.  It was a tourist trap, but souvenir shopping is always my favorite.  Unfortunately I left without the starfish bracelet I wanted...regrets!!!  The people who worked at the shops were super pushy and tried everything to get us to get braids in our hair or to get fish to chew on our feet!! 

The gelato was amazing.

Every souvenir shop was filled with tequila (even with tequila bottles shaped like shotguns--yikes), braided bracelets, shirts, blankets, key chains...and one had these creepy statues.

Driving through Mexico was quite the experience.  Luckily Mike was willing to drive because traffic was kind of crazy. There were no lanes drawn in a lot of places and the roads flooded every time it rained.  As soon as we drove outside the resort, we would drive through such poverty.  Drunk people on the streets, stray dogs everywhere, kids sitting in yards of dirt with bare feet and dirty clothes.   

At stop lights people would jump on your car and start washing your windows, hoping to get a few dollars. 

There were tons on these bikes riding around full of either things to sell or just random garbage or belongings.  There were also ton of puck up trucks just full of people in the back, even some sitting on kitchen chairs drinking from giant bottles of pop!

The kids did amazing traveling.  On the way down we flew through the night and Summer slept the entire time.  Coming home seemed a lot longer, probably because we had a 3.5 hr lay over in Houston.  But the kids did well.  Summer had a bit of a hard time on the final leg but she eventually fell asleep.  We got home late Tuesday night and all the kids were up bright and early for school the next morning. 

It was a fantastic family vacation that we will remember always!!

 (Well, Summer may not remember it--haha)

Mexico--Xplor

Mike took the big kids on an adventure of their own, while Summer and I relaxed at the hotel one of our days in Mexico.  It was a day full of zip-lines, cave exploring, and AV driving.  They came home with a hilarious stories of "almost drowning" in the waterfall and the lifeguard pulling all but Dad to safety, Dad's wild and crazy AV driving, and many more amazing memories together.  

 

Mexico--Cenote Azul

We had plans to visit multiple cenotes, but somehow we only managed to get to one (not counting the one at Xel-Ha).  We chose Cenote Azul because it was pretty close to our hotel, had the clearest water, and was kid-friendly.  It was a pretty unique, incredible experience.

The kids got to jump from the cliff.

Look at that clear water!!  It was so refreshing after a hot day at the beach.

 Summer, Tyson and Dad spent a LONG time trying to capture little fish for Summer's bucket. Mike even got stung by a dragonfly in the process.  

The girls relaxed in the jungles while iguanas scurried around them.

Mexico--Tulum

Tulum was something we wanted to do for sure, but somehow it got pushed to our very last day in Mexico.  Unfortunately, that day was HOT and most of the kids were just kind of done...especially Summer.  But it was pretty incredible.  If I was to go again, I would go without kids and with a tour guide...and also go to Chichen Itza as well.   

Most of the ruins were roped off so you couldn't climb on them, but a little three year old managed to climb this one without anyone noticing:)

And the number of Iguanas was kind of unsettling....not to mention the enormous ones you could have your picture taken with---YUCK!

After we exited the ruins, we spent an embarrassing amount of money on ice cream bars and got to sit on these bar swings that everyone thought were pretty cool.