G2's First Talk

G2 was promoted out of nursery a couple of months ago when the only other nursery child moved out of the ward.  So she has been attending primary since then and, because our primary is very small, it was inevitable that she would be asked to give a talk at some point.

Well that day was today!

The topic was 'families.'  G2 told me what to write down and, aside from vetoing the part about red-tailed puppies, this was what she came up with:

She asked me to come up with her to the front of the room when it was time to give her talk and she did an awesome job.  And I had her say it again after church so I could video her:

Living in a World Cup City

The months and weeks leading up to the World Cup was a gradual building of excitement.  I mean, the first time we went to Red Square, they already had a count down clock going: 

By May, our favorite grocery store had an entire section of World Cup items: mugs, hats, balls, bags, and pretty much anything you could think of.  All food items suddenly had soccer balls on their packaging and all stores had flags hanging from their doors.  And believe me when I say, the pictures below don't show a fraction of the mania.

The World Cup started before school was out, but you can bet that Kiddo was watching as much as he could whenever he was home, keeping track of games and scores in his notebook.

Initially we only bought tickets to one game and thought we could easily get more from friends who had extras.  And that's true, but to get them transferred into our names was difficult, almost impossible.  Plus, after seeing one game--well, we were hooked.  So Brandon developed a new hobby during World Cup season: trying to buy more tickets.  Or, more accurately, checking availability for games and then trying to convince me that they were worth the time and money to purchase.

Brandon and I went downtown for a date one night during the early part of the World Cup, in search of some good tacos.  Of course the restaurant was on the same walking street that the fans had taken over as their own.  It was crazy, but it was so fun!  To hear so many languages and people from different countries wandering the streets, showing their pride.  This video depicts it best: Moscow Times World Cup Fever.  And we had totally caught it as well.  We were watching the games whenever we could, staying up until midnight (or later, if it went to penalty kicks), and rooting for our adopted teams.  It really was an awesome time to live in Moscow!

Ironically, we missed the final game because we were playing around in Finland.  But don't you worry!  Kiddo watched the final in its entirety when we got back.  

And already I'm trying to convince Brandon that it's worth the trip to France next year for the Women's World Cup.  And the 2022 Cup in Qatar.  And the 2026 Cup in North America....

Finland: Helsinki

On our way to Helsinki we stopped to walk around the temple.  It wasn't open that day, but it was nice to just be there since we don't get the opportunity to see a temple that often.

We parked in Helsinki just as crowds of people were lining the street to see one or both presidential motorcades.  As Americans who live in Russia, we had absolutely no interest in seeing either one of them.  Mostly we were irritated that they were ruining our vacation plans by meeting downtown where all the touristy sites are located.  Ugh.

(we passed this sign in a store window)

So instead we went to some out of the way places away from all the fuss.  First was a quick stop at the Kamppi Church...

...and then headed to the Temppeliaukion Church--a really cool chapel made out of rocks (Finland is a very rocky country).  The acoustics were really good in there and we happened to catch a piano performance.

Isn't the ceiling cool?

View from the balcony

Our last stop for the day was Sibelius Park to get some ice cream, see the art, and let the kids play.

The next day we were full-blown tourists.  First up? Suomenlinna!  It's an island off the coast of Helsinki that was part fortress/part prison.  With trails and tunnels to explore, it was the kids' favorite part of the trip!

  

After taking the ferry back and a quick lunch (moose meatballs!), we walked to the Uspenski Cathedral and then the Helsinki Cathedral.  Brandon remembered visiting the Helsinki Cathedral 16ish years ago when he had to visit Helsinki to renew his visa while living in Russia on a mission.

Brandon also remembered the natural history museum because of the moose statue sitting in front of the building.  Although we saw many animals and dinosaur bones, the picture below was the real reason we went:

You just can't pass up the chance to see a stuffed two-headed cow!

Finally, on my list of places to go to was the Magnum Cafe where you can make your own Magnum bar.  BG even got gold dust on hers.  I mean, come on!

It was a really great trip, full of fun activities and really great food (Thai! Tacos!)  We loved it!

They left me video message while we were at the natural history museum

Finland: Turku

Our friends Olga and Daniel invited us to visit them in Finland, but because they live more than 4 hours north of Helsinki, we met them in Turku.

Brandon told them that I wanted to do something outdoors, so we went to Naantali and walked a short way to some pretty cliffs.  Brandon and the older kids climbed down the rocks to the water, but I opted to keep G2 up top with me.

Apparently that's the president's summer house across the way 

Then we walked around the old Finnish village and the harbor, having lunch by the boats.  It was beautiful!

The next morning we walked over to the Turku Cathedral...

...and then headed to Turku Castle.  We had intended to go inside, but it happened to be the World Jousting Tournament Finals right outside!  And we couldn't pass that up!

We took the Turku ferry back and forth a couple of times until it was time to get ready for church.  The river was small, the ferry was free (thanks tax-paying Finns!), and the kids loved it.

Then it was time to say good-bye to our friends and head to Helsinki!