Cross Country Skiing
What a fun and another activity our boys fell in love with. The condition were far from perfect for the 1st timers, but we were all anxious to try it. Chris and I have done it before a few times so we could give a few points for the boys. Everyone finished skiing safely expect for mommy Jurgita - who was trying to help Magnas with going down hill and fell herself on her tail bone. That was not pretty and extremely painful. No medical assistance can be applied except for just waiting for it to heal. Thank goodness for essential oils - they have been providing some relieve.
Right in the middle of cross country ski track - there is this beautiful small chapel, all fenced in and locked but very unique and somewhat fairy tale like:-)
We had a really cool dinner on National Woman's Day (Big deal here in Europe to honor the woman on March 8). It's a chain restaurant called Vapiano , There are franchise in Washington and other places, but i have never been to one and it's a need experience.
It's fancy cafeteria style. They give you a "credit" card when you enter and you use it to buy your meal and drinks, dessert etc.... at the end they scan your cards and give you a total. There are different stations: kids went and ordered pizza for themselves and swiped their card, Chris ordered spinach pasta and I had caesar salad with tomato soup. Red Italian wine of cause to seal the deal:-) At each table they have fresh basel and oregano to flavor your food, EVOO and balsamic vinegar. They also have their own indoor green house where they grow their own herbs:-)
Kala Kala - means Fish Fish in Estonian
We are so blessed to have the most amazing seafood available here in Estonia.
Every supermarket has a big variety of fish but of cause we seek for better. One of our favorite places to shop for fresh seafood is fish market near our house, there are also local farmers selling home grown produce (potatoes, carrots, onions, beets), baked goods, home made soups, smoked meats...... Unfortunately if only on Saturdays 10-2pm. So we were let on a small gem by a local Esti of a place that sells to restaurants as a wholesaler, but friends can shop there as well. So now we are on their "friends list" and can purchase the best seafood in town. Here they are: Kala Kala & Pojad
So the small fish boys are holding and the once that are on a plate are smoked hearings.
The big Cod file we purchased from our friends at Kala Kala & Sons - they recommend Cod b/c it's the season for it and the meat is very lean and tender. Cook with minimum of spices and on a very low heat (260F) for 45-50 min. Results are amazing!
One of Our Sunday Rituals - Bike Riding
We are so blessed to have not only a pedestrian and bike path along our street, but we also have a trail that goes along the beach and through the woods also outside of our house. Every time we are out on the beach trail - we have to pinch ourselves just to make sure it's not a dream. Mommy just got a new trail bike so I no longer have to run behind my 4 bikers, now I can be the caboose.
Mid point we ventured to a lovely French Cafe for some rest time and sugar rush. Great Lattes for all and desert choices: Cameron loved his 1st creme brulee, Magnas stuck with a safe choice of vanilla ice cream and Tadas picked cheese cake to split with mammy. Chris was suggested by Daniel our waiter to taste a creamy chocolate glazed cake. 40+ Euro snack stop was well worth it.
I can't get enough of magnificent sun sets
One of Cameron's favorite things to do is play Poka with his daddy. Mommy refused to play it anymore b/c she always looses and can't remember the rules of the game :-)
Magnas is most comfortable in the kitchen and if allowed loves hands-on: grading and pealing vegetables, stirring pots on the stove, pressing garlic, chopping salad. In this photo he is layering thin waffle wafers with Nutella and peanut butter for after dinner desert.
When we don't have track or swim practice during the week we love to go for walks on our beach and pick pebbles and sea glass
As of March - Cameron's favorite class is English (what happened to unconditional love for math). We may have his teacher to thank for and his approach of teaching. for the past week or so his class has been learning everything about screen plays. What they are, how to write them, then create one and act it out. Cam had a blast doing everything.
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| Cameron's Play Script - "The Victory" |
Our Volvo has finally got a bath. We pulled into gas station, filled up our car with gas (no payment asked). Then walked inside the mini market, payed for the gas and purchased a car wash with a code on a receipt to enter the wash in the back. It was 10.90 Euro for a 10 minute wash - the car was shinning:-)
So the weekend of March 15-16, while daddy is in Lithuanian getting ready for Vice Presidents visit -
Saturday we had a fun adventure to children's museum Miia Milla Manda. We heard that it was more for twins age, so we invited Cam's friend Sofija to keep him company (short history on Sofija - her dad is russian but her mom is 100% Lithuanian. The girl already speaks 5 languages and is as sweet, gentle and adorable as it comes):
We finished the night with Peetri Pizza. It's not our beloved Ledo, but will do for the next few years.
Sofija and Cameron had a project to complete. We purchased a paper model of children's museum we just visited to be cut and glued together. Here is finished product.
Sunday, March 16th - went ice skating again
and we finished a weekend with a sauna that twins helped to get started:
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| Jaffy, Jack, Lammy and Duran had to try sauna this time:-) |
In the beginning of March the Embassy arranged a Driving class for me and Chris. I was so excited to finally remember all the different and crazy road signs Europe has.
Unfortunately the class wasn't about European signs, it was about safe driving that Smith Systems (Drive Different) is implementing: 5 Keys of Space Cushion Driving
Key 1 - Aim High in Steering
Key 2 - Get The Big Picture
Key 3 - Keep Your Eyes Moving
Key 4 - Leave Yourself An Out
Key 5 - Make Sure They See You
First we had in class presentation (just for Chris and I) then took coffee brake and went for training on the road, then took driving test at the end. We both passed and even got a certificate for completing the Driver Direct On Road Defensive Driving Course
3:30 - Oscar Cortes Torralbo - PE teacher: Even when Cameron forgets his PE kit - he is an outstanding student and is very impressive with his physical ability.
3:50 - Kristin Kulm - Math, Ethics and Science teacher - she was happy to have Cameron in her class - he is eager to learn and enjoys participating in class. She also started to give Cameron 4th grade math problems - he has been working on them in class with detail and attention - she is happy with his results.
4:40 - Oliver Golding - English teacher - he loves Cameron positive attitude and a will to do things right. He is a good example to other students in the class.
4:50 - Caroline Abner - French teacher - even though Cameron started to learn French from 2nd half of the school year - he is catching up very fast and is starting with forming sentences and adding more vocabulary.
Our sunsets are magical - they remind me of the once we use to see up in Connecticut when my American mom and dad would rent a house in Clinton on the water.
I love when it rains cats and dogs - I don't need to wash my windows - the rain takes care of it:-)
Tadas and Magnas were invited to their 1st Estonian bday party at Zelluloosi batuudikeskus (address: Tartu mnt 80D, Tallinn). Their classmate Marta (half Russian, half Estonian) was turning 6 and these are the photos:
Sunday March 30, we took a ride to a small Islet 10 minutes from our house. A long strip of land in low tide allows people to walk to the end of the Pandju Islet. Water surrounds the path and piece of land at the end. Between mid April and end of July, birds begin to nest on this strip of land and visitor are prohibited.
And of cause after collecting a million unique rocks the boys found a ledge to jump of.
We took Betty Rohde out on a date to Leib restaurant http://m.leibresto.ee/
I am wearing Chris's grandmothers mink coat. It has her name embroidered inside and it was given to us by Chris's dad and Carolyn to use it during cold Estonian winters. Hope Betty had a fun night out as we did.
I am not a very good writer but I do know my food - here are the reviews of the place and food. We went to Leib because one friend recommended and it has very high ratings in the restaurant pool.
We would definitely take friends and family to Leib for it's amazing ambiance. However the menu was very small and we found very little vegetarian options. There were no salads and only one fish dish which we ordered but were not wowed by it. There were too many flavors going on: the fish, creamy pickle relish sauce, fresh dill and fried onions.
Chris ordered pork - he wasn't happy with eating meat but pork itself was delicious. Garlic and spinach mashed potatoes were also yammo:-)
Creamy flounder soup with spinach - I was expecting something like creamy crab soup but this was only milky not creamy:-) that was a surprise. The pink colored flounder looked very beautiful placed in the middle of a milky mote and again to my surprise it appeared to be raw. Overall the soup had great taste and the fish had firm texture.
The best part was cappuccino and Sea Buckthorn pie for desert. The pie reminded me of lemon or key lime pie.
March 29 - Saturday, after our swim team practice Chris bought all 3 boys new scooters. The boys had to earn them by collecting 30 gold stars as a brother team, not individual as they usually do. It was not easy at the beginning to help each other earn gold stars, but when they got the hint it was almost funny at times to watch their team spirit come through. Here is a small example:
We are in the car driving home and Tadas is telling on Magnas that he did something. Cameron jumps in and sais: "I don't think he meant to do that and it looked like an accsident - RIGHT Tad....RIGHT Tad?"
When Tadas got the hint that if we take a gold star away from Magnas, the whole team looses a gold start. He then confirmed that it was NOTHING and told to forget about it:-)
So the scooters were earned in about 2-3 weeks and it was worth it:
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