Lapland 2012 Day 1

We have just returned from the most amazing holiday to Lapland for 5 days / 4 nights where we stayed in the hotel Levitunturi in Levi. Lapland is ridiculously expensive but we made a decision a long time ago that it is a once in a lifetime holiday which we both really wanted to do with the boys. Also you have to consider that you have a very limited window to make a trip like this as you need the children to be old enough to enjoy and remember the holiday, but not so old that the bubble has already been burst and they no longer believe in Santa. I think we absolutely nailed the timing and it couldn't have been more perfect for Joshua and Brandon and instilling their belief in Santa and Christmas.

 

The alarm clock was set for 3am to set off on a journey which meant Joshua and Brandon were left in their sleep suits to travel to the airport in hope they would get some more sleep in the car. This was a major fail as they were way too excited about the trip.

 



Brandon in his pyjamas taking the lazy option to get around the airport.


The airport had a sleigh in the entrance to get the kids into the Christmas spirit.

 

Cosmos did an absolutely outstanding job with the package holiday and really make every effort to get you into the festive spirit from the moment you arrive at the airport. You are greeted by the life size "Rudi" and "Huskie" characters and the kiddies are all given a Lapland goodie back with toys, sweets, books, cards etc. to keep them entertained during the 4 hour flight (the longest that both boys had ever done).

 

Family photo with Rudi and Huskie at Gatwick airport.

The plane was exciting for the boys. Brandon was hilarious as he kept asking me "Have we blasted off yet Dad?", "Dad when are we going to blast off?".

Brandon picking his in flight food and drinks.

Joshua chose the window seat on the way out, then the plan was Brandon to have it on the way home.

Joshua tucking into his on flight lunch.

Brandon being his usual picky self but he still tucked into his plane food.

The boys were very well behaved during the 4 hour flight. The in flight movie was Ice Age 4 but surprisingly the boys were not too interested in this. Anyway we arrived in a very cold, snowy Kittila airport where the temperature was around -10 Deg C.

Tina helping Little B off of the plan into the snowy -10 Deg C airfield.

Once in the terminal the Cosmos team were there waiting to meet and greet and were singing Christmas carols along with Huskie and Rudi,

When have you ever seen a baggage reclaim area decorated with a Xmas tree..........

......or even Santa and his sleigh.

Little B waiting for his luggage to come through.

 

Once we had our luggage the next job was to collect the all important ski suits and boots which are absolutely essential gear given the environment and climate which you have in Northern Finland. We then got onto our coach and took the 15 min trip to the hotel. During the trip the rep explained 3 things to the children to get them started in the search for Santa.

 

1. When ever you see a lantern they had to shout "Ho, ho, ho".
2. When ever they saw magic dust (snow) they had to shout "Sparkle, sparkle".
3. Then when ever they saw and Elf running through he trees they had to shout "Elfalert".

 

At first Joshua asked me if the rep was tricking him every time he shouter "Elfalert on the left". But soon Joshua was spotting Elves and shouting it out himself. They even arranged for Santa to be roadside en route to the hotel so he gave us all a big wave as we went past.

We finally arrived at our log cabin hotel room in block 2.

The boys had a bunk bed for the first time and Joshua quickly volunteered for the top bunk.

Next job was to try on the ski suits and boots for size and make sure they all fit.

You've got to love Brandon's little Santa ear warmers.

Once the boys were kitted up there was no more restraining them and they were desperate to get out in the snow to make some snow angels and to throw snowballs at their Dad. So given that it was too early for dinner we headed out to explore. By now it was already pretty much dark as they only get around 2 hours daylight this time of the year.

Joshua's attempt at a snow angel.

Brandon knee high in snow.

The scenery around the hotel resort was stunning and would not look at of place on a post card.

The lights in the background illuminate the ski slope down the mountain said as they do not get much daylight.

How pretty,,,,

These are not real reindeer's (although we do see real ones later in the holiday), but I still like this picture.

And how cute is Little B in that ski suit?

Next on the agenda was to grab a couple of sledges and head over to the bottom of the ski slopes for some tobogganing. They had a very good designated sledging area at the bottom which dropped down on a frozen pond. This was the boys first experience of proper sledging as I dragged them up the side of the mountain and then let them hurtle down. They both had a couple of wipe outs, but they bounced back up smiling and wanted more and more. This was pretty tough going on me as I had to keep dragging them up and down the side of the mountain slopes!

 



Dragging Brandon back up the mountain slope for another run.

Brandon all smiles at the end of one of his runs.

At one point the conditions were getting pretty extreme with some heavy snow. But it didn't stop the boys from wanting to carry on sledging.

After our sledging we headed back to the hotel for a nice dinner in the restaurant and then back to the room for some sleep. It turned out to be quite a late night but this worked out in our favour in order to get the boys adjusted to the 2 hour time difference.

Brandon sound asleep after a long day.

Red faced Joshua snoring away like a good one. How Brandon slept through his snoring is beyond me!

 

Read more tomorrow on a amazing Day 2 were we got to experience a Huskie ride, a Reindeer ride and a Snowmobile ride all in one day.