Random...

Tonight will mark four weeks living in Estonia!  We absolutely love it even with the chilly and seemingly endless amounts of rain we receive.  There are periods of sunshine nearly everyday, and ironically it seems to always come out at bedtime for the kids.  

Anyway, what do you do when it is still cool and rainy outside in June...well, you put some water in the deep bathtub and put the kids in swimsuits!  They had a blast and Clara determined she could sit up on the side and slide in.  Our bathroom is like a giant shower stall with a drain in the middle of the floor so I'm way more relaxed about water on the floor here.  Seriously.  Our shower water drains that way.  

The kids and I rode in to work with Charlie one morning to start our tick-borne encephalitis vaccines.  Since we were already in town, we walked over to Old Town to explore a little before taking the bus back home.  It wasn't raining and was quite festive.  This is outside Goodwin's steakhouse.  Zach later gave this guy a big hug.  He was quite taken.  

 I'm looking forward to eating at Old Hansa one day.  If anyone visits we will definitely do this.  To see why, click here.

 As you can see, there are lots of people out promoting museums, shops, and restaurants.  The hooded characters below gave me a brochure.  As we walked away I flipped it over and saw that they were promoting the Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments.  While I'm intrigued, I'll catch it when I do not have the kids.  As a disclaimer, I wouldn't check out the picks in the link I provided if there are wee ones around.  They might ask questions.  Well, after I read the brochure I had to snap a pic of them.

 Of course, after shots, I had to offer the kids a treat.  McDonald's!  They enjoyed their happy meals.  Just as a bit of interesting information, you buy your condiments here in Tallinn and they do not offer all you can drink self-serve soda.  

 Clara's birthday was a fairly nice day.  We rode the bus into town to meet up with Charlie.  We went to   Rocca al Mare mall and let the kids explore all the toy stores.  It was fun, but we found nothing really for Clara.  She did find some Polly Pocket stuff but when I looked at the prices I told her I knew it was a bummer, but we could order on Amazon and our money would go much further.  Reluctantly, she agreed.  We then ate at Mack's BBQ there in the mall.  I ordered the catfish and the kids did too.  We really enjoyed our meals.  Chuck ordered a combo platter and I don't think he enjoyed his very much.  It was nice to try it out though.  After eating, we stopped at Prisma grocery store to let Clara pick out a birthday cake.  I've not discovered a place to order a traditional birthday cake, nor are my household goods here so I didn't make her a cake.  Anyway, we let her pick out what she wanted and tried to help but this one called to her.  (I apologize the pics are in reverse order below.)  We took the cake home and let her blow out the candles.

Our advanced shipment arrived last week, so the kids now have their bikes.  Clothes from our dressers also were in the shipment.  I'm not sure what happened to Zach's bin, but hopefully it is in with the household goods when that shipment arrives.

This past Saturday was the first day where the family had zero obligations since we arrived here.  While the kids and I have been exploring quite a bit, Charlie has mainly been occupied with work.  I asked him what he would like to do and he responded with, "I'd like to go visit Old Town."  I admit I can be a bit focused, but I also rarely let things get in my way.  Like rain.  It turns out that Charlie had not looked outside when he made that statement.  I assumed he was game.  So, we grab rain coats and buy an umbrella on the way.  It was POURING.  And windy too.  I'll not go into great depth, but we managed to find a pricey Italian place to eat in Old Town.  It was ok.  Definitely not worth the price though.  Anyway, after eating, and me battling to hold on to the umbrella, we decided to call it a day and go home.  As we were walking, Clara keep making comments like, "My feet are freezing!"  "I can't feel my feet!"  I was laughing as it was the Hollowell version of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  If you've seen it, remember Audry became frozen and couldn't see the tree?  Well, I'll forever remember that day as National Lampoon's Tallinn Vacation.  Luckily we made it home, got into dry clothes, and enjoyed the rest of our evening.  It wasn't really THAT cold though.  I know Charlie thought I was insane for dragging us out, but we are only here for a short period of time.  I've got to enjoy every day!

It looks like we are in for another day of rain though.  I start my seventh class today too.  If I do not take any more breaks I think I should be finished with the degree a couple days before Christmas!

I apologize for the compete randomness of this post.