Lo 'n Anna - Family Travel Adventures: The North Pole

The North Pole - Lapland, Finland

The girls were in for a big surprise when the Elves (Elfie and Elfa) delivered a letter from Santa requesting them to come visit at the North Pole.

We headed out bright and early for a 6 am flight. The flight up to Finland was like one we had never experienced, complete with Elves, Christmas music, fun and games like "pass the parcel" where were were handing a gift up and down the aisles and when the music stopped, the person holding the parcel got to unwrap a layer of paper. They had balloon races up and down the plane and even let the kids take turns singing Christmas songs over the loud speaker. The girls kept saying... why can't we do this on all the flights... Which is a great question, because everyone on board was very happy and it made the 3 hour flight fly by!

Lo wasn't quite awake and ready for the Elves shenanigans!!! Annelyse was screaming... Look what they did to the toilet paper!?!? I think it was all a bit too much at that hour of the morning for Loralye!

Lo was slightly preoccupied with her chocolate treat from the elves.

Me: What does the letter say? Hold on, where's Lo?
Lo: I'm in the bathroom... putting on my socks.
Me: Can you come out here please and see what this letter says.
Lo: In a minute, I need to put these socks on...
Me: Can you put the socks on out here.
Lo: No, I am doing it in here!

Annelyse keeps reading and Lo misses the details of the letter.

"Santa has arranged a plane to fly a few special children who have been especially good to the North Pole!" I think the jaw drop says it all!

Although it's hard to see, the boarding sign at the gate does in fact say the destination is "NORTH POLE"

My sweet little elves!

These flashing sweaters made getting a decent picture nearly impossible. Every time Russ turned his on, the girls would look away and try to get theirs to flash...

Better I guess... Besides the wad of something sugar-filled Lo has in her mouth :)

Looks pretty cold out there!! The skies were pink with the sun coming up!

Pass the Parcel!

Balloon Toss/Race

Love this picture of them!

The crisp air took our breath away after we stepped off the plane!

After landing they shuttled us over to get outfitted in our winter gear... after suiting up to prepared us for the elements, we headed off the the Christmas Wonderland. The day was filled with snowmobile rides, dogsled rides and even a nighttime ride through the little forest in sleds pulled by reindeer.

On our way to get all the "appropriate clothing"

Reindeer outside Santa's Official Airport!

It was nearly noon and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon.

They loved the snow... and were so excited to know we would be able to play in it again the following week when we headed back to the states for Christmas. I was slightly concerned that we were even going to make it home, given the storms that the Midwest was experiencing! So we tried to explain, that while it is beautiful and tons of fun, it also can cause disruption!

All bundled up and ready to head out for the day!

The reindeer were a huge hit! They looked like stuffed animals. The bummer about there being no sunlight was that the pictures slowly started getting darker as the day ran on so I was thrilled to get a pic with these guys before the sun completely set!

So soft

Our ride in the sleigh was really cool as well! It was pitch black and they had some candles set up in the woods. The sky was full of stars and it was nearly silent (except for us of course!) Such a peaceful ride!

One of the favorite things was the sledding hill. They went up and down multiple times and were bummed when we pulled them off to do other things. The only promise that seemed to keep everyone's spirits up was the fact that we were heading to Michigan the following weekend and they had gotten tons of snow! We make it all the way to the North Pole and the highlight of the trip was sledding... more on that later!

Another highlight of the day was a dog sled ride! The huskies were all fired up and ready to pull! These guys were waiting their turn with us... They were going crazy... either they were freezing or ready to join the group and get to running! They calmed right down when you went over to pet them, but every time the sled came around, they started
bouncing all over!

This is why I am never in pictures... so nice of her to offer, but this is what we get... blurry picture with no dogs.

Russ's favorite was the snowmobile ride! The kids were all pulled in sleighs and Russ drove ours (and I even lived to tell about it!) One neat thing, was the ride was on a frozen river. The girls couldn't get over the fact we were driving on a river. One of the elves even took the time to push the snow away from an area so they could see the ice underneath. Truly an awesome experience for everyone!

Annelyse's head wouldn't fit in a child-sized helmet. That noggin hasn't stopped growing (or giving me fits) since the day she entered the world! I had a grand plan to get the best pictures and hopefully a video during the ride, however these two sabotaged my plan by insisting to get into the sled with the blanket, rather than the one directly in front of the snowmobile I sent Russ to hop on. Were were two rows over and way behind them during the trip. Hope that blanket made their ride spectacularly better, because this is the only picture I got!

My view :)

I lied, this is the one I got... as a result of their seating choice.

And last but not least, a visit with "the" Santa Clause! His beard was incredible!

By the end of the day everyone was beat and ready to warm up and get to bed! But not before frolicking in the snow and reeking havoc on the North Pole!

This picture has a funny (yet slightly embarrassing caption). I can't recall now what Russ ate, but it was likely from the legume family. All day long ... he, well you know... and whenever it happens, Lo is beside herself. I somehow managed to capture the moment when lunch got the best of him yet again along with Loralye's priceless reaction! Afterward Russ told her she should just be glad she doesn't have the same problem while having on a fully-contained body suit. A full tutorial on the definition of a dutch-oven followed. Uncontrollable laughter followed.

Making snow angels in the middle of a path. I tried to explain that it wouldn't work because the snow had been cleared, but she insisted and then , once finished, pointed out that I was wrong... because you could see her marks. Touche Loralye, you CAN see that little angle laying behind you... I suspect you might need a few more of the guardian variety in this lifetime, my feisty little soul!

A cozy tee-pee to warm up in!

The moon... at 2pm

Cozy and warm back on the bus! Smiles all around after a "glorious" day!

Santa's Hotel

The next day we headed to Santa's Village for some more sledding and even got to visit the Arctic Circle. We learned that after you cross the arctic circle, during the shortest days of the winter months, the sun never rises...

It was funny to be outside at 11 am with the moon being the only light around. It did sort of make the days a bit confusing... Loralye pretty much always thought it was about time to go to bed and never seemed to know which meal was coming next.

Santa even has a playground! A slippery one at that!

Equipped with a slide slicked with ice. They were flying down and off this thing... laughing hysterically the entire time. Guess all the extra padding from the snowsuit made the landing on the bum less painful, given they went down this thing about 1,345,642 times.

Daddy standing by just in case!

Santa and his Elves!!!

The Arctic Circle Marker

The thermometer said -12 C... which I thought must have been -55 F... however, we learned that once it gets that low, there isn't a much of a difference between the Fahrenheit and Celsius. Funny thing, is was that we didn't think it felt that cold. I guess Michigan and the Arctic Circle aren't that different!

A better family picture!

Me: "Hey... here is a board with a lesson about the Arctic Circle."
Girls: "Ugh, Mom... we already know... Santa lives here and there is no sun.
Me: Agree, it's cold... we can learn the rest in a book... I am sure it will stick with you just the same... yeah right.

The line ran inside too (thankfully... a nice warm up at this latitude!)

Funny trying to explain these numbers... definitely a lesson that will need to be revisited!

This place was so far off the map, a sign like this was necessary!

The biggest snowman EVER!!!

They LOVED the snowmobiles... wanted to go for another ride, but we didn't have time. Good thing we live in MI... I see one of these in our future... hint, hint Daddy!

Ah... All great things must come to and end... The girls with the Elf on the way out of Santa Land!

Some random pictures from the trip...

The girls couldn't get enough of the snow... until of course it went down their neck into the front of their snow suit. I wish I had a picture from the s&%$ show that followed this snowball fight. Ugly crying.

This kid... her expressions are priceless. I have no idea what warranted this!

My first and only pic on Facebook! Those sneaky elves!

Funny how the elf jumps in when I moved out :)

And to complete our Social Media exposure...Lo's SnapChat. complete with a fox face in Rovanemi... creepy that it knows where we are.

More Winter FUN!!
A village up the street from us put in an ice-skating rink for the holidays and the girls were geeked to go. Back in Kzoo they had taken ice skating lessons and we were eager to see if ice skating was the same as riding a bike... needless to say, two seconds in, we found the balance associated with ice skating wasn't exactly the same as riding a bike! Nonetheless, we had a BLAST. I appreciated the ice being wrecked because I was able to remain upright!

Getting her "ice-legs"

They had these little bears which I loved... Not only was it support, but you could push a kid! I believe Annelyse shared my sentiments!

Happy to be upright... pushing no one... because, well... we are all "way to heavy"... thanks Lo!

CHRISTMAS PLAY!

For weeks, Loralye has been practicing for her Christmas play. She was an Innkeeper and her line was "There is no room here, try next door"

Our little Innkeeper... bottom row, 4th from the left. Such a sweet play... for being 4-6 they were incredible! They all owned their lines and helped one another when ever necessary.

Our Little Innkeeper! She was so proud of herself! So sweet to see!

The Elves Came Early...

Because they knew the gift Lo wanted most would be tough to take back on the airplane! Those sneaky Elves!

CHRISTMAS BREAK - TRIP BACK HOME

We flew home on December 17, which meant that unfortunately Annelyse missed her Christmas program. While we were all a bit bummed, the excitement associated with going home made up for the missed activities!

We decided to fly into Chicago to avoid having to connect somewhere on the east coast. This also gave us the chance to see John and Colleen in the Windy City and also give the girls our present, a trip to the American Girl Doll Store.

Lucky for us, the girls were burnt out after the long flight, so we didn't do too much damage there.

Getting her hair done and ears pierced!

Spoiled with stuff for their dolls before we went to the store! Thanks Uncle John and Aunt Colleen!

Hard to tell who is more excited to be there :)

The rest of the trip was great, with lots of time spent with family and friends. We were always on the go and true to from crammed a lot into a very short time. The girls were indulged with all kinds of attention and gifts. Very lucky girls to be loved by so many.

Cookie Decorating at Aunt Diane's!

Lots of sprinkles were used here... each cookie weighed nearly a pound!

Banging on tin cans with wooden spoons... not sure who thought this was a good idea.

Trying to get little Miss Aubrey to take a picture was like wrestling a wiggly mouse. She was getting quite a kick out of the girls trying to hold her and I think they thought her little game was quite entertaining as well!

Christmas Eve Morning we spent with Great Grandpa Klein and Grandma Klein

The next stop was Grandpa and Carol's for Christmas Eve dinner! Annelyse loved reading to these two... by the looks of their faces, they enjoyed the story as well.