Carter's-boring-Steam-Fair

20 MAY 2017

Where have two years gone?! I thought I'd lost all the pictures and video clips in the hassle of the move but I hung on to my memory of the day and the hope that they'd resurface someday. And here they are! Not quite as good as my memory images (they never are) but a solid way to remember the day.

The UK has a few steam fairs that travel the country each fair season, a remnant of years gone by. The rides are still powered by steam or by hand and just as charming as can be. I waited for the fair to come to some part of London accessible on the underground during a weekend we were in town (few and far between for those two to collide!) and finally there it was! Our weekend! My aunt Sarah was visiting and she is always up for an adventure, especially a nostalgic one. I'm sad I didn't get her in any pictures, so focused on the children per the usual. But she knows and I know she was there. ;)

The best part of the morning was when Eddy was so upset to leave the house and wouldn't be persuaded into thinking it would be a fun day out. He was incredibly grumpy the whole way, mumbling, "I don't want to go to Carter's-boring-Steam-Fair!" Then look who enjoyed it the most, particularly the candy floss (=cotton candy). I'm trying to not say "I told you so" but I'm failing.

Thank you, Carter's-boring-Steam-Fair, the fabulous day out full of utterly non-boring fun!

Hello from the Lambournes, Around the World (part one)

Oh, how I've planned for this one for years now. It turned out both not quite and yet better than I envisioned. Each place we visited we came prepared with a flag and the phrase for 'Hello' in an effort to help the kids feel a little more brave to enter the country. We took a few minutes to film in each place as well--sometimes with more cooperation than others. Ha! All the clips were set aside immediately during organization and I have loved looking back and seeing for the first time what we got on camera. I could do a whole show of bloopers and outtakes though I tried to keep the best ones in. (I did remove one where Collin and I lost our patient voices and forgot that it was supposed to be fun.) I hope in years to come the kids do remember some of our travels with fondness and begin to realize how lucky they are. I also hope this is only the first installment with more 'Hello' videos to come in future years.

Scandinavia Video

Finland (One, Yksi)

My mom lived in Finland for a year and half on a church mission.  Her stories of her mission, along with the exotic language of Finnish, made me curious to see a little of the country.  We were just a flight away, so we hopped over for a day and a half to eat pulla and attend church in Helsinki.  It wasn't at all snowy, like most of the stories I remember my mom telling, and I was not complaining.  It was perfectly comfortable and pleasant.

Saturday we found a few treasures at a flea market (including a vintage Marimeko shirt for me!), ate ourselves sick with several different varieties of gussied-up pulla (braided cardamom bread), went to a fantastic free children's museum.

Sunday we found the LDS church right next door to our airbnb--likely the most convenient location we've ever had while traveling.  The testimonies were half in Finnish, half in English.  We sang in Finnish.  I love singing hymns all over the world.  Except for Greek (so far!) we've been able to follow along one syllable at a time.  Then we played hide and seek in the beech grove to let off some steam.

Temppeliaukio (the rock church) in Helsinki has amazing architecture.  I loved it in there, all the rugged rock and the shiny bronze ceiling.

Last stop before back to the airplane and home was the Mormon temple.  We enjoyed one last grocery store loaf of pulla as a picnic.  The flowers on the temple grounds were blooming and the windows reflected the beech trees.  It was a beautiful, peaceful place to complete the whirl-wind week in Scandinavia and Finland.

Sweden Stockholm (Two, Tva)

A city day in Stockholm was bookended with pastries.  We soon found our favorites, then went back for seconds.  My most favorite was a kardammabullar with vanilla custard in the middle of those flaky wraps.  It was a divine pastry.

I so wanted a Dala horse as a special souvenir but they were far out of our price range.  We selected a small ornament and we were very happy with that memento by which to remember Sweden.  Then on our way down a quiet side street we came across a second hand store and I popped in, as I am wont to do given the chance.  There were loads of treasures in there (furniture I could not possible bring back!) and a Dala horse on a shelf just waiting for us.  I was delighted to spend a fraction of the cost and have it "broken in" for us.  No worries about any nicks or bumps so it could be an actual play thing in a children's house.  It was certainly fought over on our trip, though since then it has sat mostly on a shelf still waiting for a person to play.  I smile every time I see it, though.

Ketchup and mustard houses.  Ha!  So warm and friendly.  Every bit well designed and decorated.  No corner left lonely and unloved.

The candy aisle was a fan favorite, obviously.  It was a little risky, not knowing what some of the sweets were but we mostly got winners.

Our last day in Sweden I had planned to drive into the country a ways to visit the home of artist Carl Larsson.  It would have us on a tight schedule to be back in time for our flight to Finland but I was sure we could make it happen . . . until we hit a road block ten minutes in.  Traffic slowed down and then came to a complete stop for no apparent reason.  After five minutes or so people in cars in front of us got out of their vehicles and started to poke their heads around.  A few more minutes later still nothing, no movement.  So Collin and the kids went and danced in the freeway.  Finally we heard a siren behind us and we got back in the car.  Slowly everyone moved aside for the emergency vehicle and minutes after that traffic began to inch forward.  (The incident was a large truck on fire.)  We'd been at a stand still for more than half an hour and I knew another long drive and stress of not getting to the plane was not worth it.  So we turned around and went back into Stockholm to Skansen park.  It was a good choice for our remaining time.  A great place for the kids to wander and explore.  There's a zoo of native Swedish animals, playgrounds, historical interpreters ready to answer questions and let the visitors have a go at whatever they are doing.  We liked helping recycle wool, carding previously made sweaters and scarves down for another use.  There was also a giant Dala horse to ride.  Ended on a good note and on to the next thing.

Sweden (Ett, One)

Our main goal in Sweden was to have a mini-holiday and experience a bit of the countryside.  I loved London and many of the European city centers, but living in the city made me wild for the country given the chance.  I really wanted to see the red houses and fields that make up the scenery for the stories.  We read Pippi Longstocking before we went--the kids loved her!  While driving we listened to Children of Noisy Village many times over.  I didn't have my American Girl Kirsten books until we got back to America but Eliza and I have been reading those this school year.  I know on our trips we keep mostly to ourselves but I hope that through the language of books we can all understand each other a little better.

We found this cute little cottage on Airbnb.  The host was a very nice lady with a mini-farm.  She let us use the big lawn for lots of football/soccer and see the animals.  She had baby goats, chickens, a peacock, and several beautiful horses her daughter trains.  The cottage we stayed in was the old home for the property--one of the oldest standing in the town.  It was definitely more rustic and I can see why the people of our generation would build a newer, bigger home.  The cosy cottage was just right for a couple novelty nights, however!

It was idyllic.  The weather was so nice for us.  Out of our very own fairy tale, the wanderings around the lakes and meadows.  We even happened upon this funny little retired runway with vintage airplanes parked out among the dandelions.  We had a picnic lunch on the table provided and relished the feeling of discovering something on no guide book but just right for us at that time.

We frolicked and played.  Lots of hide and seek, somersaults, races, cartwheels.  It was a perfect afternoon.