Family Camping and other activities

It's been a busy end of the summer for Morgan and he's participated in many activities. The outdoor swimming pools were open until the end of September so that was a favorite activity until the bitter end. We have also had time to particpate in lots of other fun activities, like going to a baseball game (Ok, Morgan mostly enjoyed the food, but so did 80% of the others there), going to the Yellow Daisy festival and of course camping.

This time the camping was a bit different to our previous experiences as it didn't include hours of hiking and no amenities. Instead it was a family style camping on a proper camping ground with running water, toilets and even electricity. It was very much fun though and all the 5 families (yes, we were a whole company)  enjoyed it a lot. Some a bit too much even... While most families had large all-inclusive tents mummy and daddy brought their light-weight wind & water proof hiking tent that barely fits 2 adults.... it looked pretty small on the allotted spot :)

In any case here are some pictures of the camping and some other activities Morgy's been up to, enjoy!

Plenty of time was spent at the pool. Picking up girls starts early, Taylor gets to taste the Morgy-charm.



Watching baseball was a lot of fun (for mummy and daddy at least). Morgan was very happy with the food though!

At the Yellow Daisy festival Morgan got a tiger face-painting. He would have liked to keep it all week....

When the leaves started falling Morgan was eager to help daddy with the broom! Such a good boy!

The camping started with daylight and warm weather (at least daddy thought it was warm)

It soon got darker and colder and Morgan had to comfort Taylor...

..but when the party-hats came out all the children had a blast!

Morgan was very intrigued by the fire...

...but very happy to grill his first marshmallow!

When the children went to bed the mums had fun at the fireplace!

And the dads had .... well at least they drank a lot (one dad is even missing from the picture...)

After a very short night (for the adults) some were ready to go and watch American Football..

...and others went to the beach (and some just went home for a nap)

While the exhausted mums were relaxing on the beach...

...the children were having a blast in the water!

Felix even started a civil engineering project (that Morgy tried to destroy)...

...but Morgan soon realised that the best part of the beach is swimming!

Mummy, mummy come and swim with me!

Eventually the wet t-shirt was removed from Morgan...

...and Morgan persuaded Mummy and daddy (and Felix) to go swimming. A great day of "camping" indeed!

Morgans 2nd birthday!

Yes folks, Morgan turned 2 a week ago! Times goes incredibly fast and Morgan is already a big boy! At the same time it has been a year since the whole family moved into the house which just emphasized the need to celebrate. So in order to celebrate both of these great events a party was held on Saturday. Luckily enough the weather was perfect for the party and most of the partying was outdoors including an inflatable castle that all children (and some adults) enjoyed. The party continued on late into the night even though the object of the celebration (that's Morgan) had to excuse himself somewhat earlier.

The following morning (Morgan's actual birthday) the present count was so impressive that the opening had to be done in two sessions (and some presents were sent to Santa Claus in preparation for Christmas). Morgan got lots of presents he really enjoys though so it was a very happy event. The biggest problem is getting Morgan to stop playing with his presents, both at night before bedtime and in the morning when going to daycare...

A very successful birthday indeed! Thanks to everyone who came or sent birthday wishes or just thought of Morgan!! Here are a few pics:

In order to prepare the party a lot of shopping needs to be done. Morgy is trying to get a sneak-peak of the cake but mummy skillfully keeps the cake from Morgy.

On the backyard, Morgan helps daddy put up the inflatable castle

Everything is starting to be ready!

The first guest to arrive is.... Phil the dog. Morgan is happy! 

Morgan immediately takes out the new bubble-making machine for Phil. 

Eventually some human guests arrive as well and the sandbox is put to use

The inflatable castle quickly becomes the favorite of all the kids!

Then it's time for the birthday-cake!!

It is an impressive cake indeed and with a TRAIN on it!!!!

With the help of Anna and Addie the candle is finally blown out

And the cake can finally be eaten

Morgan also enjoys a piece of the cake... or is it a chip???

Morgan gets a nice new book!

Then it's time for goodbyes. Taylor get's a hug and a kiss. 

Morgan sleeps holding his balloon and still has it the following morning for breakfast...

Then we attack the mountain of presents!

Morgan get's a new hat and a new train and lots of other things!

Morgan gets a nice t-shirt with Ida the dog on it!

And some very nice birthday cards from France

Another favorite is the airplane

But the coolest present is the train. However it needs to be built first.

Morgan "helps" daddy build the train table

Hmmm, not sure if that's how the table should be used Morgan....

Eventually (a few days later) the train table is completely built and Morgan can start playing with it (and he still hasn't stopped). All in all a very nice birthday!

Summer Vacation in Europe: Finland

It's finally here. The blog post about our trip to Europe. Because of the length of the trip (and the amount of footage) we decided to split it into two posts, the first one is about the stay in Finland. The trip lasted a whole month for Morgan and daddy so it was quite long. Mummy joined 2 weeks later after some business trips.

The first stop on our trip was actually Paris where daddy had a business meeting while Morgan got to spend some quality time with Mamie Annie and Papy Jeannot. The week passed very quickly and then Morgan and daddy flew to Finland where Morgan met his Finnish family and friends.

The first week in Finland was spent without mummy and included lots of excitement. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of pictures from this week, for example Morgan spent 2 fun days at farfar Bengt's and we have no evidence...

When mummy arrived Morgan got to do lots of fun things with mummy and daddy, including a trip to the zoo, visiting Sveaborg with cousins Vincent and Vendela. Then followed a few days in the Finnish archipelago with Felix and meeting lots of relatives and friends.... All in all a lot of fun and adventures.

Here are some pictures and stay tuned for the rest of the trip:

Morgan gets his own seat on the way to Paris with his own screen. Peppa the Pig and Babar are watched quite a few times before Morgan falls asleep...

After a week in Paris we're back in the air. This time Morgan gets to watch the nice clouds!

When we finally arrive in Finland it's 1am and we have to wait for faster Anna to pick us up...

The following day we have a nice stroll in the Helsinki harbour. Morgan shows farfar which boat he likes

Morgan leads the way before faster Anna, farfar, faster Emma and Susan 

Then we're off to see gammel-mormor and gammel-morfar in their new  home (and Milla the dog and Mimi the cat of course)

 At farmor's place Morgan gets lots of good food. Here some traditional herring and potatoes!

 He also gets to go outside a lot with farmor and play with the neighbours children

When mummy finally gets there Morgan gets to go to the zoo!

Camels and the bears are Morgans favorites. There was even a swimming bear!!! 

At the zoo we meet Viktor and Morgan gets to have a lot of fun with him.  

We also meet the rest of the Vahtolas and we all have a nice lunch 

The following day we take the train to meet cousins Vincent and Vendela at the ferry from Sweden (and Nicklas and Marie)

Vincent and Morgan found a very funny statue in the park. They really tried to reach the birds on his head... 

Then we take the boat to Sveaborg! It's a bit windy on the boat... 

 Nicklas shows how Mether boys are handled :)

After a long day running in Sveaborg, Morgan couldn't quite stay awake for the goodbyes...

Then gammel-mormor and gammel-morfar come to visit at farmor's and some champagne and "skål" is in order!  (despite being half-French Morgy did not have champagne...)

Morgan gets to show his favourite train-book to gammel-mormor..

...and gammel-morfar read him another book. Such luxury!

 He even gets a bowl of blueberries (half of which are smeared around his mouth). A very good visit indeed!

One day at the shopping mall Morgan meets a new friend (friends for life?).

 Then we're off to the archipelago. Another boat-ride! Morgan loves it!

 At Felix' summer cottage you can play in the forest...

...or in the 16C (61F) water.

You can also ride a moped on the grass.... 

 ...even though mummy gets in the way all the time!

 It's also fun to play with the trucks and the flowers...

 ...but nothing beats the sea!

After a few days it's time to head home (by boat again!!)

 Morgan shows Felix which boat he would like to buy (looks expensive to daddy, not quite this birthday)

Back in the city Morgan gets to play with Viktor again while the mums are jogging (and the dads are drinking a beer or two) 

Then it's time to say goodbye at gammel-mormor's and gammel-morfar's. Cousin Amy also joins in the fun!