We heart United Kingdom

What do you mean we're crazy about this place?

Ok, we're obsessed.

But honestly, our home is not FULL of our love for the UK.  We have other stuff, too.  ;-)

Football tournament

Alex and his team participated in their first-ever football tournament over the weekend.  They had a great experience and had lots of fun.  This was a friendly tournament and no semi-finals or finals were played.  Alex's team played five matches; they lost three, tied one and won one.  All and all they improved so much as a team and played really well.  They had a wonderful team spirit and enjoyed their tournament a lot.  Alex got to play many positions.  He loves being a goalie but this time his best moment was scoring a goal as a striker!  Go Alex!!!

The tournament was well-organized and there were 96 teams participating in different age groups.  People brought their camping chairs and picnics and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine while supporting their teams.  There were many other things going on, too, to make the tournament even more fun.  Many food stalls made sure no-one went home hungry, and a bar kept everyone well-hydrated.  ;-)  Children could get a face-painting and teams could have their team pictures taken by a professional photographer, too.

Our goalie... <3

Our family is looking forward to many more events like this.  We are so proud of Alex and his team!

Watching other teams play while having a snack in between matches...

Alex watching the bigger boys play... look at the beautiful surroundings of where the tournament was held... :-)

Alexilla oli viikonloppuna elamansa eka jalkapalloturnaus.  Sita oli odotettu ja odotettu ja poika oli kovin innoissaan kun turnauspaiva vihdoin koitti.  Turnaus oli todella hienosti jarjestetty ja kaikki toimi mahtavasti.  Turnaukseen osallistui 96 joukkuetta ja ikaluokkia taisi olla viisi.  Alexin joukkueella oli viisi pelia; he havisivat kolme, pelasivat yhden tasapelin ja voittivat yhden otteluista.  Pojat pelasivat todella hienosti ja oli upeaa huomata miten paljon heidan yhteispelinsa kehittyi turnauksen aikana.  Heilla oli myos mahtava yhteishenki ja he todella nauttivat turnauksesta.  Alex sai pelata eri positioissa (miten tama sanotaan suomeksi?).  Han tykkaa todella paljon olla maalivahtina ja on tosi hyva siina, mutta talla kertaa parasta oli olla striker (en jaksanut tarkistaa mika tama on suomenkielella) silla Alex teki todella upean maalin!  Hyva Alex!

And he scores...!!!

Turnauksessa oli paljon toimintaa jalkapallon lisaksi.  Oli ruoka- ja juomatelttoja, kasvomaalausta, valokuvausta jne.  Ihmiset toivat mukanaan piknikit ja kaikki viihtyivat upeassa auringonpaisteessa.

Odotamme innolla tulevia peleja ja turnauksia, niin kivaa meilla oli.  Alex, olet superstar!

Poikien vaatteista

Nyt kun meidan perheen pojat eivat ole enaa ihan taaperoikaisia heilla on alkanut olla mielipiteita tiettyjen asioiden suhteen.  Naita ovat mm. heidan huoneidensa sisustus seka heidan oma pukeutumisensa.  Olen jo kauan aikaa sitten saanut ruveta suvaitsemaan heidan julisteseiniaan, joissa eri futaajat komeilevat varikkaissa peliasuissaan.  Itse asiassa ihan hienoa, etta he ovat alkaneet ilmaista itseaan juuri tallaisten juttujen kautta.  Toinen asia on se pukeutuminen.  Taalla Englannissa kouluissa on koulupuvut, joten pojat viettavat suuren osan ajasta ne paalla.  Nyt kun pojat ovat jalkapalloilijoita he haluaisivat pitaa vain ja ainoastaan erilaisia peliasuja paallaan vapaa-ajalla.  Hoh.  Peliasut ovat kylla aika hienoja, mutta ei niissa tarvitse koko ajan kulkea.  Onneksi he sentaan tajuavat, ettei esim. kavereiden synttareille menna ManUn paita paalla (ellei ole kyseessa fudissynttarit joita muuten kaikki nykyaan haluavat), mutta muista tilanteista ja tilaisuuksista neuvotellaan ja vaitellaan sitten senkin edesta.  Huoh.

Taidankin tasta suunnata lastenvaatekaupoille, taalla kun niita riittaa ja pojillekin on tosi kivoja vaatteita.  En kylla anna periksi, joku raja saa olla fudiksenkin suhteen... ;-)

Now that our boys are no longer toddlers they have started to have opinions about certain things such as their room decor and their clothes.  Right now they are very decisive about their clothes.  They spend a lot of time in their school uniforms and then the rest of the time they would just want to wear different kinds of football kits.  Oh dear.  I do think the kits are nice but I don't want to see them wearing only them.  Luckily they get that in certain situations like friends' birthday parties they need to wear "neat clothes" (unless it's a football party which everyone nowadays seems to want for their birthday) but for events other than that we have debates over what they should have on them.  Gone are the days when I got to decide what they look like.  Sighs...

Hmm, I think I will head to the children's clothing stores now, we have loads of fantastic shops for kids' stuff here.  I shall not give up on this clothes matter, life is not just football... ;-)

Wow!

I'm no gardener but look at these beauties which I managed to help into their bloom in our garden!  Way to go me!

Onnistun yleensa tappamaan kaikki kasvini ja kukkani seka ulkona etta sisalla, mutta nyt on jokin pahasti pielessa silla meidan puutarhassa kukkii tallaisia kaunottaria!  Hyva mina!

Coolio

Liam loves his red motorbike.  He brings it school when we drop the other boys off and parks it where school children park their bicycles for the day.  After the school run he takes his motorbike and off we go!  He drives his motorbike and I run after him.  ;-)

This time he brought his "Biker Mice" helmet.  It was heavy and Lee could barely see when wearing it but that didn't stop him... he had a great time!

Liam on hulluna punaiseen motskariinsa.  Han ajaa sen aamulla koululle ja parkkeeraa sen samaan paikkaan minne koululaiset jattavat polkupyoransa.  Kun isoveljet on saatettu kouluun Lee hyppaa motskarinsa satulaan ja sitten mennaan!  Han ajaa kamalaa vauhtia ja mina juoksen perassa.  ;-)

Talla kertaa Liam otti varusteeksi Pratkahiiri-kyparansa.  Se oli vahan painava ja sen alta ei oikein nahnyt minne ajaa, mutta ei se menoa haitannut... pojalla oli tosi kivaa!

The tube

Whenever we are in the city our main form of transportation is walking.  London is great because the city is so easy to walk in.  Besides having proper sidewalks everywhere there are also signposts that guide you to wherever you want to go.  London is also full of parks of various sizes where you can easily stop to have a break and sit on a bench enjoying watching people passing by you.

After Dubai it's great to live in a city with an extensive public transport system.  We haven't really learned to take the bus in the city yet but the tube comes in handy every now and then.  While I sometimes find the tube to be way too stressful, it's also pretty cool.  So many different kinds of people going to so many different kinds of places... pretty neat!

Meidan perheen mielesta paras tapa liikkua Lontoossa on jalkaisin.  Lontoossa on mahtavat jalkakaytavat ja kavelykadut, ja siella taalla on puistoja joissa voi istahtaa penkille lepaamaan ja ihmisia katselemaan.  Taalla on myos hyvat tienviitat joiden avulla liikkuminen tassa suurkaupungissa on helppoa.

Dubain jalkeen on hienoa asua paikassa jossa on hyva, toimiva julkinen liikenne.  Me emme ole viela tottuneita bussin kayttajia, mutta metrolla liikkuminen on katevaa.  Joskus tuubilla ajelu voi olla tosi stressaavaa, mutta siina on myos jotakin jannaa.  Metrossa jos jossain voi todellakin nahda paljon erilaisia ihmisia matkalla mita erinakoisiin paikkoihin.  Se on mielenkiintoista!

Uusia tuttavuuksia

Meilla on viela monta asiaa opittavana tassa maassa, ja kriketti on ehdottomasti yksi niista.  Tassa eraana paivana pysahdyimme Colinin kanssa katsomaan meidan kylalla pelattavaa krikettiottelua.  Sita oli kivaa ja mielenkiintoista katsoa, ja siis nautimme matsista... siita kuitenkaan mitaan ymmartamatta.  Tai no Colin kylla ymmartaa, silla pelaa krikettia koulussa, mutta mina sain vain hymyilla ja nayttaa silta kuin olisin jutussa mukana.  ;-)

Paivittainen elama kiemuroineen sujuu jo hyvin taalla Englannissa, olemmehan olleet taalla nyt 1.5 vuotta.  Onneksi tarkeimmat asiat kuten poikien koulu ja meidan asuminen ovat jarjestyksessa.  Haaveissa on tietysti oman kodin ostaminen, mutta toistaiseksi ollaan vuokralla.  Meilla on kaynyt niin hyva tuuri, etta asumme aivan koulun vieressa keskella mita upeinta luontoa, taloyhtiossa on pojille kavereita yllin kyllin, ja kaupat ja juna-asema ovat kivenheiton paassa.  Siksi tassa vuokratalossa asuminen tuntuu juuri nyt tosi hyvalta.

Pikkuhiljaa paasemme syvemmalle ja syvemmalle elamaan Iso-Britanniassa.  Viela on kuitenkin paljon mielenkiintoisia juttuja, joita emme ole tehneet tai kokeneet.  Vaikka tama paikka on koti, saamme edelleenkin kokea jannia asioita ja oppia uutta.  Sen kuitenkin jo tiedamme, etta taalla on mahtavaa asua.  :-)

We still have lots of things to learn in this country, and cricket is definitely one of them.  The other day Colin and I stopped by to watch a local cricket match.  We had fun and it was interesting to watch cricket but we really didn't understand much.  Well, maybe Colin did as he plays cricket at school but for me it was enjoying the game without any understanding as to what's going on.  ;-)

The daily life here works well for us now.  We've been here for 1.5 years now and are super happy that the most important things such as the boys' school and our housing are in order.  We are dreaming about buying a home here but for now renting feels good.  We have been so lucky to have found the house we live in.  The boys' school is right next to our house, we live in the middle of this amazing nature, our street has fantastic friends for our boys, and shops and the train station are close by.  Renting this house works so well for us for now.

Little by little we are getting deeper into this culture and life in the UK.  We still have a lot to learn and it feels exciting.  One thing is for sure, though: it's fantastic to live here!  :-)