Tallinn....again in '08!

Hi All,
Easter break was great. We rode on a ship, perused a dog show and reviewed some ancient coins.
First off, we sailed on the SS Romantika to Tallinn, Estonia.


This is Rowan enthralled with the ship. There was dancing and lots of play for the kids.

Saniya is watching a clown show.

When in Tallinn we just cruised around. We went to a great cafe that Jessica and I found. It feels like you are in a hobbit hole when there. Here is Rowan thinking he is grand by this grand door.

Saniya ran up the steps to this church and asked me to take a pic of her. Asking for us to take pictures of her? There is a turn of events. This is the Russian Orthodox church up on the hill.

Note the name of the street? "Laboratooriumi" meaning I assume, "Laboratory" street. Science geek that Rob is, he was loving this.

Saniya and I along the wall around the old town area.

Another picture Saniya staged for herself. She is really into taking pictures herself with the camera and staging the ones we take of her.

Rob and Rowan cruising. Our umbrella stroller died while there. We kind of felt like it was a passing of time where Rowan is almost out of a stroller and those days are numbered. So, the death of the stroller and the need to not replace it felt very symbolic.

While on the ship returning to Stockholm, there was a funny game of bingo in the "Starlight Lounge". Also, there was dancing later on, and a really funny hair and beauty fair. Classic!

Saniya and Rowan peering out as we are going through the archipelago into Stockholm.

Saniya on the top deck of the ship. It snowed overnight and was fun to be playing in the snow while sailing. We were able to go sledding by our house after we got in so that was fun too.

The rest of the weekend. We relaxed. One day we went to the International Dog Show! There were about 4000 dogs. Saniya is really into chiwawas. I feel the days are coming when we will get a dog. I do not think Rob and I are so excited for this, but it feels inevitable. The dog show was hilarious. What a subculture. I did not realize what a big deal it is.

Another day we went to the Coin Museum or the Royal MyntKabinet, as they call it here. It is next to the palace in Gamla Stan (Old Town) and is a nice walk from our house. As we walked, there was a light falling of snow that gave us a beautiful Stockholm feel. We saw the Nobel prize emblems and some great medieval coins. There are a cool play area for the kids. The was part of a ship that they made seem like a sunken pirate ship. So, that was engaging as I am sure you can imagine. Also, there is this set of characters here called "Lilla Spoket", or Little Ghost, that Saniya is obsessed with. The movie theatre in the Coin Museum, had that movie showing for the kids for the Easter break. So, that was a nice tangent and kind of made the journey worthwhile for Saniya and Rowan.

Ok, I hope everyone else is good and feeling the effects of Spring. We have our time change this weekend. We are really looking forward to it. It will be dark at 7:30 when this happens. Yeah!

Yasmiene