Helsinki

We recently traveled to Helsinki, Finland. It was super cold with snow and ice everywhere! This picture was taken from the Suomenlinna Island Fort off the coast of Helsinki. The sea was frozen solid except for a narrow path that is used frequently by the ferry's. Odin enjoyed the company of many friendly folks we visited. Here he is with Miaja.
We are back now in Umeå and as usual, Odin is playing with many of his Swedish friends. Cornelia came over to visit and Odin was super excited to see her. So excited he tried to kiss and hug her...she wasn't so sure she wanted so much attention!
Odin has great balance! Papa says he gets it from him. He has no troubles climbing up on the rocking horse and staying up without holiding on while it rocks, but mom wasn't comfortable snapping the picture until he grabbed the bookshelf.

Swedish Girlfriend

Today at open preschool Odin saw his girlfriend, or might I say soulmate! We were getting ready to leave and her mom sat down next to us. Here in Sweden getting ready to leave is a 10 minute adventure. First you have to put on the second pair of leggings, then the wool jacket, then the two pairs of socks, then the windproof coat, boots, two hats, and finally mittens! So, during this time Odin gazed into Oliva's (we learned her name today) eyes. I swear he was spellbound by her beauty (she's still bald but two weeks shy of being one year old; soon I think she'll have pretty blond hair like her momma). Is it possible I felt their chemistry?!?! Hopefully we'll see her again next week at preschool. It pains me to think we'll be leaving in about 6 weeks and Odin may never she Oliva again. Maybe I should get her parent's email address...as a mom I would hate to mess up Odin's love life at such an early age! :-)

Skiing at Nydala

Today we went skiing for the first time this winter. We bundled Odin up and put him in Kenneth's sled (it is important that Odin stay really warm so he'll SLEEP!).
We skied through the woods on a trail called the Hundspår. The trail is used for cross country skiers with dogs. The dogs pull the skiers and they go really fast!

Joining us on the trip were Peder, Lena, Cornelia (like Odin in a sled) and their two boys, Joar and Arvid.

After skiing we were all very hungry. Fortunately Anita had made blueberry muffins. They were so good; Odin even ate some!

Christmas Tree Lights

Today we took down the Christmas Tree, but before we took it down we got a video of Odin and a favorite activity...helping Papa turn on the lights.


While Papa was at work and Momma was supposed to be watching Odin...

...he climbed up on the dinning room table. Momma swears she took her eyes off of him for only one minute! He enjoyed himself tremendously up on the table; dancing, playing with the candle sticks and shouting at the cars he could see driving by through the window.

Papa made chocolate chip cookies and although we are both committed to not giving Odin too many sweets we couldn't help but let him taste the delicious cookies.

Uncle Anthony

Uncle Anthony and his girlfriend, April, visited us in VERY snowy and cold Umeå. We spent two days checking out the sights and eating at mom's (and now Ant's and April's) favorite restaurant--both days!
We showed off the great bus system... Ant and April wanted to experience extreme cold (and possibly see the Northern Lights), so we took a train up to Abisko in Northern Sweden, 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle!Since it was so far north we only had about 4 hours of daylight and we never saw the sun. We stayed in a log cabin near the base of the mountain. The cabin was quite cozy (= small). But we had fun...we cooked and danced (Odin loves to dance) and even ventured outside for some winter activities.We went for some hikes around the area, it was very cold.

Uncle Anthony and Dad showing off the ice on their eyelashes and beard.
Mom took a break to climb some ice waterfalls. What a mom!

Dad also did some ice climbing. Though Odin also wanted to climb the ice waterfall, he had to be happy running around in the snow. Ant and April (expert rock climbers) put us all to shame and climbed as if they were spiderman and spiderwomen!

Back home...to LOTS of laundry.