I must admit I have never fished before. This is actually the first time I have tried my hands on fishing for a huge fish and it's a lot of work, mind you. Jarno and I have been trying many times in a day, and I successfully fished one on the third day only. But look how huge the salmon I got. I think it is a more than a kilo. The salmon served as our main course for the day... fresh catch. Thanks to Olavi's four fish course meal, I couldn't have caught the salmon without them.
We also did our yearly farming activity quite early. And the usual, we planted some potatoes and onions. For three consecutive years we've been getting so much of potatoes and onions (almost a year supply) that I rarely go to the grocery to get them. Our strawberries (also we planted three years ago) have been surviving the winter months and now it's flowering very well. We're expecting honey strawberry's in no time.
Olavi's four fish course meal:
1. "normal" fish food 2. bread (dark and white), fed alternately 3. macaroni - which didn't seem to be a favorite 4. soft, sticky dough - this was really a great idea. The dough sticks to the hook well and salmons loved the bread taste. I tried this once and got the fish right away. Or maybe, I was just lucky.
The long planned mommies' outing finally realized last weekend. We went to Olavi's summer cottage at Hartola and enjoyed an all-filipino weekend - meaning we did nothing but cook Filipino food (except for Emily's nordic tomato and mozarella). We have been talking about what to cook, we actually ended up having a lot of ingredients with us. Here was our weekend menu.. just writing them down make me want to do this again!
Saturday Lunch : (kinain naming lahat ng nagkakamay / eaten with bare hands) Grilled Barbecue, Eggplant and Tomato Salad with Bagoong, Tomato and mozarella, Rice Snack : Bilo-bilo!!! Thank you meg for the amazing food... ang tagal ko ng di nakakain nito! Dinner : Pansit bihon
Sunday Breakfast : tuyo (courtesy of Pen) and sinangag (fried rice) lunch : barbecue (ulit!) and Pansit Bihon Snack : bilo-bilo (in short, tira-tira)
The weather was great, we had the chance to do some sun bathing. We also tried our hand on fishing and almost caught a salmon from the pond. If we were not screaming our hearts out, the fish would have stayed on the hook. Of course, we didn't leave the summer cottage without a taste of Finnish sauna plus the whipping ;).
It was a really fun-filled weekend. Great weather, great place (thanks to Olavi and Riitta who have prepared the place and made us feel like we were in a hotel), delicious food and hilarious company!
It's been a very busy week so far that I haven't had time to update my blog. Weekend was spent fishing and then mother's day came so it was family Tenni reunion once more. And then I was trying to finish my article about chiropractic before tomorrow's deadline. I still have to blog about my chiro treatments which were AMAZING.
But for now.... we just got the photos from the baby swimming! So who's the next Dyesabel???
Janina grooves to the sound of "Dangerous". This is her favorite for the month, following the success of last month's "Keep Bleeding" by Leona Lewis. Oh, and watch for her street dance move at 00:40.
We arrived almost midnight at Helsinki from the Tallinn cruise. It was a family trip and at the same time, a celebration for Olavi's 75th birthday. This was actually my first time to step foot on Tallinn ground. I was there two years ago with friends, but we stayed in the cruise ship cause I did not have a visa back then and the trip was just one night. And now that Estonia is officially part of the Shengen visa area, I didn't need any visa to enter the country.
Tallinn is a very unique place, considering it is only an hour and a half away from Helsinki by ferry. The old architecture has been well preserved and you can definitely feel a piece of the country's history while going around. We stayed mostly at Tallinn's old town, walking around and trying the exotic food. I especially liked the medieval restaurant, Olde Hansa which offered a meal close to "crispy pata".
The trip was fun, despite being a bit exhausting in the end. But it is during these occassions that I am glad I am a part of Jarno's family. Here are a few of the photos I got the chance to take.
Got an email from the Chief Ed of Helsinki Times today. This definitely made my day...
"In the 25 April-1 May issue of the Helsinki Times my vote for the best article would have to be "Buckle Up and Save Lives" It's articles like this that I feel are important as well as interesting because they deal with important everyday issues that have an impact on the well being of people, and in this case especially, the well being of children."
Too bad the article is still not posted on the net unlike the ones I've written from previous issues. But I must say that this is one of those stories I have written so quickly. I think it's because I can relate to the topic, being a parent myself. I have promised to write for one more issue of the paper, but it might actually be the last.
It's the first time after four years that we went to have a picnic at Kaivopuisto during Vappu day (Finnish labor day). We actually wasted about 30 minutes of our time looking for a parking space, so we opted to drive back home and walk all the way to the park. It wasn't a bad idea after all, since all the stuff we had fitted in Janina's pram's basket. This includes the outdoor grill, food, picnic mat and Janina's toys. Unfortunately, the weather was not as promising as in the morning when we got there at around 2 in the afternoon. It started to be cold and bit windy, but having the grill made up for day, anyway. We had some makkaras (Finnish sausage), corn and fresh fruits (courtesy of Pen and Felix) to celebrate the day.
I noticed that nowadays, there were a lot of booths selling grilled sausages and fries plus other ready made food all around the park. Something which were not there four years ago. Also, the atmosphere seemed more "decent". Meaning, less drunk, wasted people lying on the grass. I think I have seen more families and friends just having a picnic today compared last time. Or maybe the older ones are good enough to hide their hang-overs from the previous evening.
Just when we were eating, I realised that exactly a month from now, I will be going back to work. So I better make the most out of the coming days. Come to think of it, this month seems to be really jam-packed with events / trips. We're again leaving for Tallinn this weekend for Olavi's 75th birthday. Haven't been there ever, so I'm really looking forward to this one.
Me and my mommy friends decided to go on a field trip to Sweden last Tuesday. We spent a couple of nights in the ferry, stopping over Stockholm during Wednesday where we brought the babies to Junibacken. I'm glad Janina was pretty easy to handle during the trip, especially that this is the first time I actually went abroad with her alone. She also got used to having Jani (Meg's son) around, that they started to play with each other more than playing "against" each other :). I'm amazed how both the babies had almost the same sleeping rhythms that made things easier for me and Meg.
This isn't my first time to go to Stockholm, but having babies around made this one very different simply because it's "babies first" policy. I thought I would have been an expert already as I have travelled with her a lot abroad previously, but I spoke too soon. I guess you'll never stop learning these things until they get a lot lot older. For example, the length of time walking almost doubles because of the little ones and it gets much much warmer nowadays so those short stop overs are a must.
Overall, the trip went pretty well, tiring, but it turned out fun. So I'm sure this won't be the last field trip for the moms. Oh, and thanks to emily who organised the trip! More photos here.
Jarno and i promised we'd both get back in shape this year for summer's marathon. I actually started earlier than he did. Two and a half months after giving birth to Janina I joined ashtanga yoga classes. And then when Janina turned three months, we both started going to Baby gym. Now that the weather is getting better, we have decided to start jogging again and we actually managed to do it with Janina. Hands down to her great pram, which has proven its worth so far. And of course, thumbs up to our little baby who seems to like the "fast" paced stroll outside.
Still about sports, Janina did her first two dives in swim class last Thursday. I'm actually surprised how she has handled it well considering we have missed three classes in a row (both Jarno and Janina were sick then). The regular practices in the bath tub has helped. We pour a small bucket of water to her head several times while saying "dive" to her , like what the instructors have told us. I didn't get a video or photo since I was swimming with them. I will definitely be on bench next time to watch them and capture the moment again.
Janina has learned to do "hei-hei" (hello or bye in English) waves. It's hard to get a video of her doing it cause once she notices that you have the camera on her, she'd stop whatever she's doing and focus on the cam.
Janina also had her first Hop Lop experience last Saturday. Jarno and I couldn't think of anything to do, so we drove all the way to Espoo to check out the new indoor playground. This is one of the places that have areas for less than a year old babies. Too bad there's no Hop Lop yet in Helsinki. She liked moving around the mat and standing up against everything she could get hold on to. I especially like it that you can leave your baby playing around for some time while you grab a bite or drink a cup of coffee on the side. I suggested this to the other moms this week and we're set to go there again this week Thursday.
Nearly 7 months, and Janina is getting more and more curious about things. She has also started to crawl very fast that we have to keep an eye on her nowadays. Jarno has completed his task of baby-proofing the cabinets and the electrical sockets. But I guess there are just things you just can't take her eyes (like cartoon channel) and hands off from. She is showing signs of following mom and isi's footsteps. :)
The photos were taken exactly a week apart. Just when you thought it's spring time, winter finally shows up. I think this was the most snow we have had since the start of the year. If the weather stays the same until the weekend, we finally may have the chance to bring out the ski's again!
I have been excited about this long weekend. It's been a while since we have really had some time together, and we have also decided to drive to the summer cottage during the weekend, grill some food, enjoy the peace and quiet. Unfortunately, Jarno came ill at 4 in the morning. He's been really feeling bad that we had to cancel the plans for the weekend. I've been away last weekend and Jarno travelled during the three days early this week that this could have been a "catching up" time all together.
I hate it when things don't go as planned, well, that's life. I guess I'm off to doing mommy duties (to two babies) during this long weekend. One of those days when you just can't help but rant.
Top 5 things that made Levi worth visiting for the second time during the winter:
1. Koskenkorva + Battery : It's my first time to try this drink, and it isn't as bad as you'd think it is. In fact, with the proper mix, you'll end up having a tasty and heart warming (literally) drink :)
2. Downhill skiing : Aside from being able to stand on the skis and learning how to do it, I was able to witness SS' ass shakin'!
3. Reindeers : I didn't get the chance to see them, but I am happy that they have made TS happy, even without the spankin'. Congratulations TS... I'm sure it was a very good experience for you.
4. Kikkeli : A combination of three things. Thanks to V-M for the "first hand" demonstration.
5. Number 47 : Until now I still don't know why it was "number 47" but this has definitely brought the house down in many occasions. Kudos to PV's greatest fan!
There's probably more worth adding to the list, but I opted to trim it to 5. Anyway, as they say, what happens in Levi, stays in Levi.
It was Janina's first day at baby swimming today. It's Jarno's job to bring Janina there every Thursday evenings, but I didn't want to miss her first day, so I jumped in as well. Well not so fast actually, it turned out the pool was 150 cms deep, which is same as my height (damn!). I ended up tip-toeing and paddling during the 20 mins. I was joking afterwards to Jarno that if I was alone there during the first day, we'd probably end up doing synchronised swimming (smirk, smirk). Well the good thing was that I did get a chance to practice some of the different holding positions with Janina - only this time I needed to be at the steps.
As for Janina, she seemed to enjoy the swimming. At first she probably thought it's one huge bowl of water, so she was trying to bow her head and taste it. We've started giving her water from glass now that she's taking solids, so that's where her curiosity came from I guess. Then she also kept watching the other babies while they were playing around. We had to leave the water 10 minutes earlier than the others since we were new to the class. The teacher said that even if the baby doesn't look tired from the swimming, they really get exhausted. And she said it would be good to leave the water while the baby is not very tired, then she has a good impression and would feel excited for the next sessions.
It was also Janina's first time to go to sauna so Jarno and I thought we'd probably bring her with us during Saturday night sauna. Janina slept right away once we got back to the car, and honestly, I felt tired also. I'm thinking I'll join them both again when my Finnish classes end in a couple of weeks, maybe then Janina can already play with the toys and hopefully start diving (like what the teacher said). I always knew she had it in her (liking the waters). She's always liked being under the shower or taking a bath. I think we've got a future swimmer in our hands (hoping!).
Well I wouldn't call it really a new found career as I intend to do it only while I am on parental leave. I have decided to work as a freelance writer for an English newspaper in Finland. I thought it would be a good way to use up my time while I am at home with Janina. But honestly, I never thought journalistic writing would be time consuming. So, after doing a "real" interview with the necessary persons and 3 cups of large earl grey tea, I finally had my first draft.
Now that I think about it, the last time I have written for a newspaper was way back in elementary days (18 years ago??) when I used to be part of the newspaper club. Back then, I really didn't take journalism seriously, never even considered pursuing my writing days in High School.
Anyway, good news is out! My article did come out in this week's issue and boy, am I glad to see my name in a newspaper. The editors have asked me to write some more articles of my interest for the coming issues. I might actually get the hang of this... Abangan!!!
Janina is showing signs of being the life of the party nowadays. She likes being around other babies / kids and when she gets close enough to touch them, she makes sure she holds on to any part of the body she can hold on to. Sometimes she gets so excited she doesn't notice getting hit by some toys. That's my girl - just socialize, socialize, socialize.
One thing Janina's been fond of doing nowadays is pushing herself to sit down. Jarno and I will have to buy her a high chair soon (maybe this week) to get her to practice sitting longer. I've always thought it will make life easier once she's able to sit on her own chair. And now that she's been eating solids more often in the day time, we'd be able to eat much peacefully in front of the dining table - or maybe not. :)
