Feeding Swedish Ducks

Hey!  Their ducks are just like our ducks Mom!

European Leaves in Fall

Sweden Walking Trail on the Water

Sweden Bridge

Estonia: Beautiful Land

Estonia is a small country bordered on the east by the giant Russia, on the south by Latvia (another small Baltic country) and by the sea. It wasn't until we moved to Estonia that I learned the difference between the sea and the ocean. I've always used these words interchangeably.  I was quickly corrected while in Estonia because the Baltic Sea is only a small part of the larger sea in this area.  There is no ocean here!

It has beautiful landscapes, mostly rolling tree-covered ground with lakes, rivers and streams throughout.  There are large rocky areas, and of course there are regional differences throughout the country.  The best skiing is at Estonia's high point outside of Tartu; Tartu is university town and best-loved by those who live there; the best seaside town is Parnu (IMO) and Tallinn is where you go to get the best historical city atmosphere.  We never made it to the islands like Saaremaa, so I can't comment on them except to say they were highly recommended by those who could make the trip.

Culturally, Estonia is less Slavic than its sister Baltics, Latvia and Lithuania.  It was ruled for many years by Sweden and most Estonians seem to identify more closely with its Scandinavian roots.  Russia has had a profound influence of the country as well and many remnants of especially the communist era still stand.

Our Overseas Anniversary - a year remembered

It's been a year since we lived in Estonia and began our European journey home to the United States.  As a personal celebration both for our life there and our journey back again I thought I'd mention a few tips for those considering moving from the U.S. to Europe.

First of all, we were independent travelers, which means we had to make all arrangements ourselves.  Those traveling for government agencies, companies and other organizations will have a different experience completely.

LUGGAGE

In order to move for this 6 month to 1 year period we had to sort three groups of our belongings:  suitcases, shipping boxes, storage.  We were limited to four 50lb suitcases for our family of four, as well as three Sunshine Kids car seats.  Each of us took one carry-on bag.  My kids each dragged their own small, wheeled backpacks packed with activities and "surprises".  A friend had lovingly wrapped a small present for each of my kids for each hour of flight time (about 12 hours).  This turned out to be a wonderful way to keep them from getting bored as they had a new present to look forward to every hour.  NOTE:  Although luggage allowances flying out of the U.S. give you usual limits, do NOT expect to be given the same allowances for your return or when making a connection.  Always check with the airline specifically!  European allowances are much less than those for the U.S. and each airline has their own rules.

CLOTHING TIPS

Since that original flight I've since learned some helpful things about effective clothes packing.  My most important discovery?  Take all your socks and underwear and take a minimal amount of outer clothing appropriate for your trip.  This works best for our family because although I can stand wearing dirty shirts and pants to a laundromat, I can't stand not having any underwear.  Also, unlike adults who manage to stay relatively clean, kids manage to dirty every outfit they wear every day.  Which means a kids' minimal amount of clothing will be more than an adults'.  We also discovered that weather differs drastically throughout Europe, so sweaters and raincoats in the north (England, Germany, Slovenia, France, Holland) in late summer/fall was appropriate, while shorts and hot weather gear was necessary in the south (Croatia, Italy, Spain, Portugal).

EUROPEAN CAR RENTAL

We would fly overseas, then get a long-term car rental and drive ourselves throughout Europe to Estonia. You'll most likely have great difficulty arranging a car to drive through many countries.  Most rental companies require you to stay within the country in order to have insurance coverage.  As far as I know there is no car company that will cover you to drive through Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia or Russia.  Only two companies (at the time in 2008-09) rent European cars long-term: Peugeot                      (http://www.peugeot-openeurope.com/html/en/home/home.aspx ) and Renault ( http://www.renaultusa.com/carmodels.asp ).  These car rentals must be arranged for a specified amount of time before leaving the U.S. We decided to try Peugeot and even went to a car dealership to get a peek at an equivalent of the car we would be renting overseas.  Peugeot turned out great.  They really worked with us, even when we had to extend our original rental agreement (we actually had to return the original car and rent a new one) and during the misery of repairs after our one car accident. We picked the cars up in both Paris, France and in Calais, France and paid extra to return the car in Rome, Italy.

CARSEATS
In theory, our regular three car seats should have fit, but between the car seat armrests and the interior shaping of the rear seat of the car, they didn't.  Good thing we checked out the car in person before arriving in Europe!  After serious research we made an investment in the Sunshine Kids Radian car seats (http://www.skjp.com/product/97556/165XX/_/Radian65SL%26%23174%3B#) which did fit side-by-side in our rental's European-sized backseat.  We checked these seats rather than using them on any of the planes, and all our kids are forward-facing only so we've never used them rear-facing.  They are heavy, but do fold down for compact travel.  On our way out we kept these new carseats in boxes that we checked because they were easier to strap onto our rolling suitcases with tie-downs and keep clean until we got them into the car.  On our way home we strapped them on our cases without boxes and had success with that technique as well (although they didn't stay as clean).  I used Kiddopotamus Piddle Pads (http://www.elitecarseats.com/Kiddopotamus-Piddle-Pad.pro) to help keep the seats cleaner.  These are soft and effective, but are also smaller than some brands so can't always catch the mess.

LIVING IN ESTONIA

Food

It was very difficult to find out what sorts of things would be hard to find in Estonia before we left the U.S.  Luckily, because we are very picky about our favorite foods and I thought that shipping a few basic favorites would help us adjust, I sent our favorite brand of peanut butter and oatmeal in bulk in our shipping boxes, as well as my entire herb/spice cupboard.  This proved a good choice.  While familiar peanut butter is available in Germany, Estonia doesn't have good peanut butter.  All the herbs and spices are widely available, but the difficulty there is translating the labels to ensure you get the right thing.  At first everything was so unfamiliar that I couldn't find anything I wanted - not even milk or normal bread (FYI: their bread is much better than ours!).  It was just an adjustment problem though because once we'd settled in and become more familiar with the grocery stores it was just a matter of seeing what was there all along.  At first I could only shop at Stockmann (www.stockmann.ee) located at the corner of Liivalaia (which is Pronski at the corner) & Ravala/Tartu mantee (also changes names at that intersection) which is a mall and a grocery store.  Stockmann is easily recognizable, attached to parking and carries a lot of British imports.  As I became more familiar with the big things of Estonian life it was a lot easier for me to pick out familiar or at least recognizable foods at grocery stores like Rimi and Prisma, which are cheaper and Walmart-like in their product availability.  What not to bring?  Don't bother to bring electronics (or carefully research and purchase appropriate converters before you come) or anything for measuring.  I found it so much easier to use available British cookbooks and buy the measuring cups, etc there.  Mine were practically useless because they didn't do U.S. and metric and the cookbooks I'd taken called for expensive ingredients or ingredients I had no way of finding.  Maybe you'll do better, but in the end our favorite recipes were the ones we made up based on the ingredients we found readily available.

Driving

The speed limits are a lot lower, and if you're going to stay an extended period of time you'll need to get an EU drivers license.  Also, summer speed limits are higher than winter limits.  The roads are pretty narrow, but the cars are smaller.  I came to love the traffic lights that change from red to yellow to green because as I was driving a manual transmission and it gave me the time to shift into gear.  The toughest thing about Tallinn is parking downtown.  There is no public parking inside the Old Town walls, so it's a learning curve to figure out the closest legal parking areas for where you actually want to be.  Also, as soon as you get a car ask for a time clock sticker for your window (in some countries, like Denmark, not posting one in your window with the time of parking will result in a fine), and in Estonia specifically you will need to buy timed tickets in increments of 15 minutes up to 3 hours from the Parkimiskaart (usually little sheds or buildings with a cashier) which you'll scratch off the date and time and place in your window.  Remember to do your day-month-year in that order or you'll have an invalid ticket.

Shopping

You really can find everything you need here.  There is even a small selection of English language books at several bookstores (fiction and non-fiction for both adult and children), clothing styles are very European and trendy, handicrafts are everywhere and the food is excellent.  Many Finns come to Tallinn to buy alcohol (pretty much everything in Estonia is cheaper than in Finland - especially Helsinki) and beauty supplies abound.  I especially fell in love with double-sided glass nail files.  Why are those so hard to find here in the U.S.?  They are the best thing ever.

Getting In and Out

Although it is possible to drive to Estonia, no car rental company will insure you all the way through (at least none I know of), so that leaves flying (no direct flights from U.S.) and ferries.  Because of the car we did ferries both ways.  One from Stockholm, Sweden and the other to Helsinki, Finland and then on to Germany.  The ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki was very user-friendly, easy to find and ticket agents were informed and gave good instructions.  Our other experiences were not user friendly or clear and caused us some major frustrations.  Also, beware the time tables trying to get ferries in from anywhere except Helsinki because they only run on certain days and the companies often don't even answer their phones (in our experience).

LOOKING BACK

I'm happy to be settled at home again, but I look back at our adventures with a lot of fondness.  We met so many really amazing people, learned a lot about the beauty of other cultures, saw amazing landscapes and discovered a lot about ourselves.  Life is an adventure and it's difficult and challenging trips like these that are the worst of times and yet the very best of them too.  I can't wait to go back.

Junibacken on Djurgarden (Stockholm area) Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden (Sverige) is a beautiful and amazing place.  And although we'd visited many other destinations, I'd never seen any place quite like it.  I loved the entire country (we drove it and experienced many beautiful and interesting things), and found it one of the most kid-friendly/family-friendly countries in all of Europe and Scandinavia.  The prices are more reasonable and kids are a welcome and expected addition.  That said, today I want to limit my comments to one of our favorite Stockholm activities:  Junibacken.

Junibacken is the Swedish name for the Pippi Longstocking and Astrid Lindgren Museum for children.  Because the city of Stockholm is actually a collection of lush islands (called an archipelago), everywhere you look you will see water.  Junibacken is located on the island called Djurgarden.  Getting here by car or boat is easy from the downtown area (the metro doesn't have a line here), but once on the island we found it a little hard to find Junibacken.  According to their directions (see http://www.junibacken.se/english ) it's next to the Vasa (or Wasa) Museum.  "Next door" actually means across a very big grassy area (muddy when we went) to the northwest of Vasa Museum on the northwestern corner of the island.  If in a car, take the Galarvarvsvagen street east off the main road (Djurgarden) and park in the car park at the end of the road.  Instead of following the crowd to the south or east, walk west following the trail and you'll see a smallish yellow building with a green roof set next to the water.  Inside is the separate little world of Junibacken.

 With many miniature buildings, a giant model horse and explorable Pippi house, art activities, exhibits and a little indoor train-ride depicting the many characters from Astrid Lingren's books, what we thought would take two hours lasted all day.  The kids cooked up some pretend dinners, visited each other at the different houses in the "town" and scurried over the woodland models with kid-sized hidy-holes and slides.  They loved running wild in Pippi's house and relaxed for a minute with coloring and blocks.  Pippi appeared and acted out a portion of her story and, although told entirely in Swedish, my kids enjoyed it immensely.  It helped that we'd been reading The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking and they were already familiar with the story.  A small area dedicated to Astrid gave me lots to read and the kids items to look at as we lined up for the train ride.  Having not read any of Lindgren's other works, I was surprised by the scariness of some of her stories.  My littler ones had to cover their eyes during parts of the train ride, but my oldest really enjoyed it and wanted to read all her books then.  Afterward they had more opportunity to do creative free play in life-sized sets and we spent way too much time and money in the gift shop.  A day well spent.


Notes:  There is a restaurant and bathrooms.  A coat check and lockers keep your things safe so you have hands to play.  There are at least two floors and I felt that strollers were an encumbrance here, especially on the train ride and stairs, but big wheeled-strollers would be helpful walking through the outdoor paths if your kids are very little.  Although there were teenagers here, this is mostly a place that kids ages 2-9 or 10 would enjoy.  The opportunities for imaginative play and exploration are a refreshing break for the weary traveler and I highly recommend it.

Carpenteria State Beach

Camping is a little like having kids. You don't do it because it's easier. It's not. Camping is an experience in building relationships, working together, being patient when you're frustrated, and actually spending time looking at each other and nature instead of the tvs, computers, phones or laundry.

Camping is also a real-time lesson in cultural diversity. Go to any American campground and you will see a variety of plants, animals, natural scenery and people. Camping grounds, especially in California, collect a variety of people of all types, styles and attitudes - with one thing (and sometimes only one thing) in common - sleeping in the great outdoors. They all do it in different ways and for different reasons. You may find the couple from LA just up for a romantic weekend in their pop-up tent trailer, or the family who bring all their friends and relatives together for a big RV party, or the elderly couple who stay for a couple of weeks before moving on to another long-term RV spot, or the many others who take their dogs or bikes or surfboards and a tent to live at the beach for a long weekend . . . sans the highprice beachside hotel.

Carpenteria State Beach is no exception, and over the long weekend people took to their campers and tents in droves. We took the kids for our first campout in about two years. My sad, but valiant attempts at camping organization have earned me a reputation . . . mostly for forgetting to pack those little annoying extras, like FOOD. I was determined to not only have a good attitude, but to not forget anything. So I made my lists, and then more lists from those lists and then went back and checked my lists. In the end the worst thing I forgot was the ketchup. Camping is all about roughin' it, right? So the naturalist becomes sudden neighbors with the beach party rock n' rollers, the romancers next to the family with their kids and dogs. We had a lot of family lessons on courtesy (we tend to use our "loud voices" at early dawn) and proper campground ettiquette (don't stare into people's windows as we pass by and don't just walk into someone's camp and eat their food).

I had no idea where Carpenteria State Beach was when we booked it online at the last minute (see the Reserve America site at http://www.reserveamerica.com/ and fill in what you're looking for on the left. This site reserves campsites across the U.S., not just California). We had to piece together the camping sites for our trip, since most people book the good spots more than six months in advance. We had to move our spot twice over the weekend, but it was certainly good practice at put up and take down as we were more than a little rusty. By the last time we moved, we'd worked out almost all of those kinks that usually end up in marital disagreements (like giving and recieving directions on backing the trailer into a tight spot).

Carpenteria is north of Los Angeles, southwest of Santa Barbara on the 101 highway. It's a beautiful spot, nestled near the now-green mountains along the coast and against the ocean's relentless waves. The beach changes from sandy on the north end of the grounds to rocky with cliffs to the south. A seal nursery lies along the coast to the south during these winter months, where you can go and observe seal mothers and babies sunning themselves (remember not to disturb them in any way though). The high tide brings crashing waves followed by the applauding sound of rounded ocean rocks being slowly rolled back out to sea. Surfers get an early morning start in the cold waters. Low tide leaves plenty of room for tide pooling, sunning and swimming (if you dare). There are no real kid bike paths here, but everyone just uses the roads since traffic is sparce and slow. Pitted dirt paths lead to more beautiful views of the ocean, interesting local wildlife (like the seals and earthier ones like gophers), and a variety of plants. The State Beach is within an adult walk, or a short ride to the area around the Casitas Plaza where you can find restaurants, banks, laundromats and grocery stores. A Community Pool on the corner of Palm Ave (State Route 224) and Casitas Pass Rd would be a great place to safely swim with the kids if you'd like a more mellow, less salty swim. And across Palm/SR 224 is a small, but fabulous toy store (think Melissa and Doug gone wild) in a house-turned-shop. We loved the eeBoo Animal Bingo Game, everyone (ages 3-30+) was able to play this together over and over and over again.

There are three loops in Carpenteria. All have bathrooms and showers at both ends of each loop. The showers always work, but the hot water is optional . . . which means you pay 25 cents for a minute or two of hot water. We found we could get the kids by on 50 cents by getting them wet in warm water, getting out to soap up when the time ran out and then pay another quarter to have a nice warm rinse. Big community sinks with both consistent hot and cold water (located outside the bathrooms) were also good for a quick rinse, or washing dishes. The beachside spots are far preferrable to the other spots, due not only to the lovely views but also to having more space for the kids to run around off the parking lot. On one interior spot we couldn't even have a fire because our trailer would only fit directly over the camp's firepit. Every spot comes with its own table and firepit. Some have a lot more privacy, some have electric and water hook-ups and some are "dry" spots. Just be sure to know what you need and if you're not sure don't be afraid to try a couple on for size. We were pretty recognizable by the end of our last move because we'd seen and been seen by pretty much everyone. Like: oh, there those crazy people with the cute kids go again.

The next time, I'd probably shoot for booking the first loop, the Miguel, six months in advance since those ocean-side spots have access to the sandy part of the beach from their campsites (better for explorers under 6 years old). The other loops aren't bad, but the rocky break turns into a cliff the further from the entrance you get (much better for older explorers 7+). This was my idea of winter camping as the temperatures were really pretty comfortable, and it was not too crowded. Just don't make the mistake my hubbie made and come dressed only for summer . . . the nights still get really cold and it's only comfortable if you gear up like it was the dead of winter. It's so much easier to strip clothes off than to try to sleep shivering with cold. So must haves: a temperature-rated sleeping bag, extra blankets, warm hat, gloves (not ski gloves, but insulated soft gloves), warm coat, sweaters, long underwear, extra socks, firewood/kindling/lighter (I remembered ours this time) and don't forget the all-American camping classic: S'Mores.

How to Make S'Mores

Although this is classic American fare, there are as many ways to make them as there are people who camp. This is our family "recipe".

Ingredients - large marshmellows (white taste best - as good as marshmellows can taste anyway), toasting forks (bent wire clothes hangers work too but you can also buy these long-handled metal two-pronged utensils in sets for cheap), chocolate-chip cookies (often bars of chocolate and graham crackers are used, but we've found the chocolate is often too hard and graham crackers are too crumbly) and a dying fire with hot coals.

Directions - first place a marshmellow onto the toasting fork (I like to do one marshmellow at a time to get a nice even toast), place it near the bed of hot coals turning it slowly from side-to-side. Do not light it on fire because it will burn. Watch for the slight browning that will give it a slightly crunchy outside and warm gushy (is that a word?) inside. Remove the marshmellow from the fire and sandwich it between two cookies, pulling it off of the toasting fork. Eat. Repeat.

Okay, so it's not gourmet . . . but it's one of those things that you should try once in your life if only so the kids can get all sticky and gooey and talk about it until the next camping trip.

Winter in San Diego

As the rain poured down and the wind blew today in one of our few winter storms, I gave some thought to all the good weather activities there are to do in San Diego County.

Although we've been too busy trying to keep up with school field trips, homework, grocery shopping and other daily life trials, whenever we get a chance to show someone around we visit a few favorite spots. I have to warn you that although there are tons of very commercial fun spots nearby (ex. Legoland, Sea World, Disneyland, etc.), we prefer the places that give you a feel for the locale. I'll go into more detail about each one as we visit again, so come back for more.

Must See Tourist Spots:

1. Gaslamp District & Downtown San Diego - includes great theater, dining options and nightlife. Horton Plaza, an architectural wonder of shopping, is located nearby, along with Petco Stadium, a children's water playground, the convention center, a navy ship for touring, and Seaport Village. Seaport Village has some unique shopping opportunities, art, a great view of the ships in the waterway, a carousel and more eateries.

2. Old Town San Diego - don't get this confused with downtown because its actually quite a distance from downtown, so don't try to walk there. The best way to get there without a car is to take the Old Town trolley tour. This is a very fun hop-on-and-off tour that has many stops all over the San Diego area, including Old Town, Balboa Park, Coronado, Gaslamp and many others. And why would you want to go? This early settlement has pueblo-styled buildings surrounded by a defense wall and has a very special San Diego flair. A trip to the Mormon Battalion is very interesting for history buffs and my kids actually enjoyed it too.

3. Balboa Park - this is a sprawling area spotted with lots of Museums, dining, entertainment, the Zoo, the Science Center and lots of green areas and sidewalk entertainment during the summer. There is a free playground near the Science Center (southwest of it) if you're kids can't take another museum. The Science Center has a kidtown area for little kids (age 2-6) with a pretend shopping area, building blocks, and other fun stuff. And the fountain just outside the doors of the Science Center has kept many a kid busy and wet. Summer is really the season for Balboa Park, but there is still plenty to do at all times of the year.

4. Coronado Island - okay, its a peninsula NOT an island and most of it is a military base. But this has fun shopping, a fun children's library, beautiful fine white sand beaches and the Hotel Del Coronado, a historical site.

This is not a complete list, but each of these stops has several things to see, do and explore and just one of them can keep you and the kids busy all day.

Right now the weather is cold (in the high 50s, low 60s) and hopefully will be rainy (we have a drought-fire cycle here to contend with). While mostly this means it's pretty comfortable, it's still a good idea to bring rain jackets, warm sweaters and layer up.

Inland is a lot warmer and sunnier than the coast. The beach often gets a stiff breeze and it's not uncommon to see people walking along the ocean with their kids, dogs or significant other dressed in winter jackets and hats. Of course, that could just be because we're all weather wimps out here . . . hmmm.

Guess you'll just have to come and see for yourself!