Our neighborhood

I haven't taken too many photos yet of our neighborhood. But here is just a sample of what we see on one of our daily walks outside...







(This is a little flower kiosk across the street from us.)



Dog parks and skating rinks are EVERYWHERE!

Home away from home

I have to admit, I was a bit worried about our accomodations here in Helsinki before we arrived. The size alone...750 square feet...had me a bit worried. In reality, it's not bad AT ALL. In fact, the layout is perfect. The kids have their own room (which I didn't photograph) with a place for their books and toys. We also have a "family closet" in their room which houses our 14 outifts. (We brought 14 outfits for each person to cover winter, spring and summer seasons.)



The living room doubles as the "master bedroom." That lovely blue couch pulls out to a bed for Rob and I. Actually...it's not too bad. It's quite comfortable! Besides the furniture shown here, this room has a t.v. and a place for all of the games we brought, a desk and a small love seat which is terribly uncomfortable and useless!



The kitchen/dining room is quite spacious and has already housed several family game nights since the kids won't return to school until the 16th.





Although we haven't seen much sun here in Helsinki, the apartment is filled with light during the day because each room has huge windows on one wall. It's bright, colorful and clean and within walking distance of school, work, church and shopping (more on that later). What more could we ask for?

The view from here...

15 HOURS of glorious sleep! We woke up at 12:30 p.m., had a bite to eat, showered (that takes a while for 5 people in a one bedroom apartment), got dressed, unpacked and noticed that the sun was starting to set!

I love the view from our apartment--we look over a dog park.

We're Here!

We've arrived in Helsinki! The kids did a GREAT job on both flights. Only Lily was able to curl up in a little ball on her seat and sleep for a few hours, so we are all pretty tired. The personal movie/gaming consoles were a huge hit and maybe one of the biggest reasons the boys were not able to sleep.



More from Helsinki tomorrow!