Meie Trick or Treat

Super kangelaste pidu

Sellel nadalavahetusel oli meid kutsutud uhele toredale superkangelaste peole. Lapsed riietusid kangelastena ja olid valmis ponevateks asjadeks.

Lapsed labisid super kangelaste koolituse Hullu Teadlase eesjuhtimisel ning seejarel labiti katsed erinevate mangude ja voistlustega.

Peo loppedes said koik endale medali ja diplomi ning lopetuseks ka kommi.

Esimene koolipaev

Kanadas oli eile esimene koolipaev. Minu lapsed alustasid see aasta erinevates koolides. Uks laheb nuud kooli bussiga ja teisega jalutame. Esimene koolipaev ei ole siin eriline - ei lilli, ei aktust ega ka pidulikke riideid. Uued on klassikaaslased ja opetajad, keda igal aastal vahetatakse. Oma klass saadakse teada alles samal hommikul. Selleks tuleb leida opetaja, kelle kaes on koikide laste ja klasside nimekirjad, kust siis leitakse iga opilasele oige koht.

Meie pidime alustama oma paeva bussi ootamisega. Veebilehekuljelt, kust leidsime kella aja ja bussi numbri, paluti esimesel paeval kohale tulla 10 minutit varem. Ootasime ja ootasime, kuid mida ei tulnud oli buss. Viimases hadas, et kooli mitte hiljaks jaada, otsustasime tudruku kooli viia autoga. Kooli juurde joudes, leidsime ulesse tema uue opetaja, kellele sai siis ka oeldud, et meie buss ei tulnud ja loodetavasti toob buss ikka lapse paeva loppedes koju tagasi. 

Seejarel tuli kiirustades poisi kooli juurde soita, et mitte teda hiljaks jatta. Onneks eelkooli klassid kellast vaga kinni ei pea ja ukse juures oli sahmerdamine ka parast kooli kella helisemist. Seal pidin kohe ara taitma ankeedi, kellel ma luban oma lapse koolist koju viia ja kas lapsel on mingi allergia. Kui oli aeg laps kooliuksest sisse saata, ei lasknud ta minu kuljest enam lahti. Hoiab minust kinni ja teatab nutuga, et tahab koju tagasi minna. Ei saanudki aru, mis siis temaga akki juhtus. See ei ole tal ju esimene aasta, vaid teine juba, ja pooled lapsed tema klassis on eelmisest aastast; opetajadki tuttavad, klassiruum sama, rutiin sama. Igatahes tirisin ta kooli sisse, nutuga vahetasime jalanoud ara ja nutuga ta lopuks klassi jatsin.

Paeva loppedes olid siiski koik roomsad ja rahul. Tudruku koolis alustati kohe testidega - matemaatikas ja oigekirjas, et teada saada koikide laste taset, kust oppima hakata. Kuid minu piigale need testid roomu teevadki. Poiss tuli koju kroon peas - et tema on nuud eelkooli vanemas klassis.

Koolist koju toid molemad palju pabereid, millele on vaja allkirjasid ja mida on vaja pohjalikult lugeda. Paberid on alates kooli reeglitest kuni vanemate vabatahtlikuna kooli toole varbamiseni. Ja vahepeal on vaja anda lubasid lapse koolis pildistamiseni ja kooli umber jalutamiseks ning informeeritakse ja kuidas plaanib kool vanematelt lisarahasid korjama hakata ja mis eesmargil. Igauhele midagi.

Head kooli aasta algust koikidele!!

Roosta seiklusepark

Siin veel moned pildid minu suvisest reisit Eestisse. Noarootsi kandis Roosta puhkekulas on vahva seikluspark, kus ma kasin oma ja sugulase lapsega. Hasti vahva oli. Oli kohti, kus ma julgustasin oma last pikalt ning siis kui tuli minu kord, kartsin ise jargmist sammu teha. Aga lopuks saime ikkagi hakkama ning tagasi tahame ka minna.

Blueberry picking

I'm back in Canada and my good times in Estonia are only on the pictures now. One of my activities there  was blueberry picking in the forest. I went there with my parents and my uncle's family. Luckily they knew a place where you just had to park the car on the side of the road, take a couple of steps, and blueberries   were just there in front of you. 

The Kids got tired and bored quite fast. So we let them go and explore the forest a little bit.

And when I got bored I just took some pictures of the forest and nature. But we filled our buckets and tummies. And my kids now know that not all the blueberries come from the store.

Souvenir Shops

Estonian souvenir shops are full of cute little things. Most of the items are made out of wood or wool. But i was amazed how creative people are making things from wood. There are all type of spoons and knives, baskets and barrels, cutting boards and stools, key chains and boxes,  trivets and medals, toys and dolls, etc.  The favorite wood to use is juniper, because of its natural pleasant smell.

I took first picture in Tallinn, but the rest of them are from Haapsalu's shop.

Toys out of wood.

Buckets, barrels, cutting boards and utensils.

Letters, puzzles and statue.

More wood stuff.

On the back there are some silk scarves, but in front wood again.

All the cute little characters and dolls.

Vikings.

Dolls wearing Estonian national clothes.

More vikings.

View from the top of Tallinn

 Tallinn is beautiful city. Even more from the top of the tower. It is possible to climb to the top of the Oleviste Church tower and to have a wonderful view of Tallinn. It has been the worlds tallest building between 1549 and 1625 until lightening strike caused it to burn down. Nowadays it is only 123,7 meters. Another interesting  fact about this tower is that from 1944 until 1991, the Soviet KGB used Oleviste's spire as a radio tower and surveillance point.

I visited this tower with my cousin and with our 3 kids. We started to climb slowly higher in the dim passage holding on to the ropes on the sides. The air was quite thick inside the tower in this hot summer evening. The higher we reached the dizzier we felt. Kids on another hand ran upstairs. I had to call after them and asked them slow down, no matter, they were quite excited and competed who would reach up first. Halfway through they had some chairs to sit and relax, but not us, we had to catch up with kids. Finally, heavily breathing and catching our breaths we reached the top and wonderful views. Here they are:

The way down was easier and we decided to count steps. We got 234 stone steps, but adding wood ones as well, there is apparently 258 steps all together. 

The Doll Exhibition in the Library

One of my favorite places has always been the library. In Haapsalu I visited my first childhood library and I found many pleasant surprises.There is a new attic, which is a very cozy place to sit and just relax between the books.

The library had a doll exhibition from Tallinn. It was so lovely. My daughter took many pictures and they are here:  

These are the dolls from the Estonian writer Eno Raud, called Naksitrallid.