We enjoyed a yummy breakfast at our hotel and then headed to the Santa Claus Village.
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| This looked like Santa's car to us. |
We did a bit of souvenir shopping. (Where were you in Norway??? Not that there was nothing, but options were very limited.)
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| Stuffed animals including lots of huskies |
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| Santa's wanted magnet |
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| Santa Matthew and Reindeer Megan |
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| Santa Me and Reindeer U |
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| Christmas everywhere! |
A few pictures at the Arctic Circle.
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| Matthew, Me, Megan |
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| Megan, Me, Matthew, U |
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| Matthew, U, Megan |
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| Megan, Matthew and U |
We visited Santa's Pets where we got to see lots of animals: sheep, goats, chickens, funny looking ducks....
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| The Ankat ducks named Donald and Daisy |
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| Reindeer |
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| Matthew enjoyed digging in the dirt. |
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| Matthew walking on stilts. |
Couple pictures of U, Matthew and Megan swinging
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| Weeeee! Matthew and Megan swinging. |
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| Matthew spinning round and round. |
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| Some bunnies including a really big one! |
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| Megan on the alpaca. |
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| This peacock was showing off his colors. The peahens were mostly ignoring him. |
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| Megan and Matthew with reindeer food. We really enjoyed feeding the reindeer. And the reindeer really enjoyed us feeding them. |
Lots of pictures of feeding the reindeer...
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| Matthew |
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| Megan |
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| Me |
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| Megan and U |
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| U |
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| Megan and U |
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| Matthew |
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| Me |
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| Me, Matthew and U galloping away on our horses. |
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| Matthew and Me |
After visiting Santa's Pets, we explored the Santa Claus Village and ate lunch.
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| Megan with sign showing distances to places all over the world. |
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| LEGO Santa |
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| Megan, Santa, U, Matthew |
We visited Santa at Christmas House.
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| Megan, U, Santa, Me, Matthew |
We then went to the Arktikum Museum in Rovaniemi. It was a cool museum that had history, culture, science and nature. It was interesting to read about different groups that live above the Arctic Circle in various countries and to learn about the 8 seasons in Finland (4 traditional seasons plus transitional seasons like winter/spring).
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| Me on a photographer's set |
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| Megan and U as Arctic explorers with polar bear Matthew making an appearance. |
One of the coolest things was a northern light exhibit where we could create northern lights with our hands by drawing on a screen. Different heights/altitudes meant different colors.
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| Matthew taking a picture of his northern lights. |
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| Megan sticking her head through an igloo. |
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| Matthew took apart the igloo and then rebuilt it. |
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| Matthew in the completed igloo. |
In the main atrium of the Arktikum. This would be an amazing place to watch the northern lights!
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| Traditional dress |
There was an art exhibit made with ties and scarves.
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| Me and Matthew |
U and Me hiked up to the Ounasvaara overlook and observation tower.
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| Nice view from the top. |
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| Heart clearing in the rocks below the observation deck. |
We went to sauna as a family and sang songs like Kumbaya and There's a Hole in the Bucket. Many of us played solitaire while again staying up to see the midnight sun....
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| More midnight clouds :) |
U Step Count: 14,664
