A winter walk

I love Christmas season. Even though the days are usually grey, cold and short, the streets and houses are decorated with beautiful and colourful lights. There are Christmas trees everywhere and we have a little more time to spend with our loved ones. Especially if we take a few days off work, and it's always great around Christmas - New Year's.

Today, we decided to take our kids for a walk. We wanted to go out when it's dark already to fully enjoy the beauty of the decorated streets. We left early, it was still bright. And we hit the beach first. Sounds strange at the end of December in Europe (rather northern than southern), but that's what we did. It was peaceful, no wind, no snow. And we have a playground on the main city beach. It was full of kids today, even though it was cold.

Then we went to enjoy some lights next to our Music Theatre. It was still rather bright, but they were already on. You could see them much better in reality than in the pictures.

From there, we continued to Kosciuszko Square to see the fountain. It's working every summer season with water, while in winter it is decorated with lights.

It finally started getting darker. It was time for coffee. And cake. Of course, in our favourite tiny cafe. We made it in time for the last pieces of cakes (even more delicious than ever, or was it the time from the last visit...) plus delicious coffee for us and milk with chocolate syrup for the kids.

When we finished our treats, it was already all dark. We went to Kaszubski Square, where there's a ceiling made of lights above the fountain. The fountain isn't working in winter, but the colourful lights sure are. Plus the ceiling and a Christmas tree. There's nothing more you could want. Or could you?

Our kids did. Artur had to go to the library on the way home to borrow a book. Paulinka decided to become the member of the library, too. She left the building proudly holding two books we will be reading. And she definitely wants to come back for more, soon.

Winter fun!

For the past few years, we've had crappy winters. And by crappy, I really mean crappy. Grey, cold, wet, dark, long, with hardly any snow. And if there was any snow, it was here usually for two-three days before melting completely. Not really what winters should look like. Though it had some positive sides, too. Fewer problems during everyday commute to start with. But the child in me misses snow. Winter should be white. Period.

Ten years ago today our Finnish adventure started. We met a lot of amazing people, had the most snowy winter, got to see St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, got to visit Santa's village on the Arctic Circle and many more. It was a wonderful time. And so many things have happened since then. I'm not even going to try and name them. Too many.

Las weekend was a long weekend here in Poland. First one this year. And white! It was snowing whole Thursday. So Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all about snow. We spent a lot of time outside, seizing the opportunity to play in the snow to the maximum.

It was still snowing on Friday. But we started the day with a walk to the nearby forest, where we have hills perfect for sledging. We also had a snow fight, of course. Cause what's a winter without a good snow fight. In the afternoon, it was time to hit the garden again (again, cause the kids spent Thursday afternoon in the garden as well). The kids and K. tried to make a snowman, but the snow wasn't sticky enough. They got back home with red cheeks, all covered with snow and happy.

On Saturday morning, we ate a quick (yet big) breakfast, packed the car and an hour later we were on the ski slope. Yes, we went skiing. Even though we live on the coast, there are a few ski slopes in Kashubia region. They're far from big, but enough for us (and many others).

It was the first skiing adventure for Paulinka. And for me as well. Those who know me can assure you that it was huge. Artur didn't forget a thing (or forgot little, me being the one to judge) from his last year's skiing classes. After some time, me and Paulinka went to the bar for some hot chocolate/tea and fries, while the guys continued skiing for some time longer. Us, girls, loved the bar part of the day, too, might I add. It was a fun, yet very cold, half of day. We spent the rest of it at home.

Sunday was all about snow fun again. It was cold, but sunny this time. We went sledging, we were rolling in the snow. We definitely had fun.

The whole weekend was all about fun. Snow fun. Making memories. For me, snow fun is connected with hot chocoloate or hot cocoa once I get back home. And slices of bread baked with cheese. As simple as that. I want my kids to have memories with snow, too. They don't have to be the same as mine. As long as they are good. And hot chocolate/cocoa just has to be in the picture.

How was your winter weekend? Already waiting for the next one? We sure are. (My beloved camera is still dead. It's been too long. So all pictures were taken with mobiles. Which I hate).

On the fourth day of Christmas... we got snow ;)

Winter season has officially started. Yesterday, somewhere between 2 and 4 am, a white blanket of snow covered Gdynia.

When Artur woke up in the morning, he couldn't believe that winter is finally here. Just a day before, on Saturday, when we were coming back home from my in-laws, we were talking about skiing, sleigh rides and snow fights that he has been waiting for for so long. And he was complaining that it can't be winter yet cause there's no snow. So you can probably imagine his excitement yesterday morning when he discovered that the world is hiding under a white cover.

Paulinka, on the other hand, doesn't remember snow. She's seen some last winter, but she was still so tiny, that for her it was something totally new. She got to the window, looked outside and said "wow!". We got dressed and went outside. At first, she didn't know if she could step on it. But as everybody else was, she decided to give it a try. Then she wanted to touch it. Yet, at the same time, she seemed like she didn't know if she should do it. She doesn't want to wear gloves (not a chance to convince her to wear them), so after some encouragement on my part, she finally stuck her finger into a pile of snow. She looked at me all confused, showed me the finger (that's the way for her to communicate that she wants me to clean her finger of the stuff that's sticking to it) and graciously allowed me to put her gloves on (for a minute. Then she took them off).

After her nap, when Arturek was back home (he wasn't home when we went out with Paulinka), we all decided to go to the nearby forest for a traditional winter walk. With sleighs, obviously. Do I even have to start describing all the excitement, the laughter and the deliberate "bams"? (Paulinka says "bam" every time she falls down. Deliberately or not. She's usually not crying cause of falling down. She says "bam", gets up and continues running around).

A perfect first day of snow :)

Nadszedł sezon zimowy. Wczoraj, gdzieś pomiędzy 2 a 4 rano, Gdynia pokryła się białą pierzynką.

Kiedy Arturek się rano obudził, nie mógł uwierzyć, że w końcu mamy zimę. Nie dalej jak dzień wcześniej, w sobotę, gdy wracaliśmy od moich teściów, rozmawialiśmy o nartach, sankach i bitwach śnieżnych, na które tak długo czekał. I marudził, że jak możemy mieć zimę, skoro nie ma śniegu. Więc zapewne możecie sobie wyobrazić jego wielką radość wczoraj rano, gdy odkrył, że świat schował się pod białą kołderką.

Paulinka zaś nie pamiętała, czym jest śnieg. Widziała go zeszłej zimy, ale była wtedy jeszcze bardzo malutka i dla niej była to w tym roku nowość. Podeszła do okna, wyjrzała na zewnątrz i powiedziała "łał!". Ubraliśmy się i poszliśmy na dwór. Najpierw nie wiedziała, czy może na śniegu stanąć. Ale skoro inni to robili, to ona też spróbowała. Potem chciała go dotknąć. Chciała, ale jakby się bała. Mała nie chce nosić rękawiczek (nie masz szans, żeby ją przekonać), więc po chwili namawiania, wsadziła paluszek w śnieg. Spojrzała na mnie cała zmieszana, pokazała mi paluszek (w taki sposób komunikuje, żeby jej ściągnąć z paluszka to coś, co się do niego przykleiło) i łaskawie pozwoliła mi wsunąć na jej dłonie rękawiczki (na minutę. Potem je zdjęła). 

Po jej drzemce, kiedy Arturek był już w domu (gdy wychodziliśmy na dwór z Paulinką, Arturka nie było), postanowiliśmy iść do okolicznego lasu na tradycyjny zimowy spacer. Z sankami, oczywiście. Czy w ogóle muszę opisywać tę eksplozję radości, śmiechy i celowe "bam"? (Paulinka mówi "bam" za każdym razem, gdy się przewróci. Czy to celowo czy nie. Mówi "bam", wstaje i biega dalej). 

Idealny pierwszy dzień zimy :)

That was the sharpest of the pictures taken by Krzysiek / To najostrzejsze ze zdjęć zrobionych przez Krzyśka