Finland : 4th of July

All the Americans except for our little family went to spend the day in Tallin. We took the rowboat out.

The kids splashed in the lake. The baby scooted in too.

And then our ducks came to visit.

We celebrated the independence of the US with a red, white, and blue fruit tart for our coffee.

We did a little shore clean up. Raija mowed.

Mark removed a few stumps with some help from Milla.

Finland : Markkinat

Breakfast on the patio.

The first Wednesday of the month is the big outdoor market day in Lahti. It's pretty busy, so it was nice to have more adults than kids. The only trick was making sure that no kid got lost trading the company of one adult for another.

 Mark treated the kids to a sampler bag of liquorice. It was hard to choose what flavors to buy.

We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot after walking around. Passers-by enjoyed the sight of all the kids in the back of Raija's Honda.

We visited the family plot at the cemetery.

Then we split up and Anja, Liisa, and I went thrift shopping while the others headed back home or to buy bread. We went swimming when we got back.

After we roasted some sausages, some people played mölkky while we ate lettuja.

Finland : All together

Helena showing off her breakfast sandwich.

This is the path we take from the house to the cabin.

We did a little work on our electrical trench. The kids are having a great time digging. I like that this dirt play is actually useful.

Coffee outside. The weather has been so pleasant.

The kids have a good thing going here with all of the aunts around.

That evening we picked up Liisa and Steve at the bus station. No one else had any trouble making their connection in Amsterdam. Now, everyone has arrived.
What's the first thing you do after getting in to town? Stop at the store for ice cream! It's traditional.

2013

Same parking lot in 2009 after picking Liisa up at the bus station.

Finland : Shopping

Globalization means that you can buy the same sort of thing all over the world. However, there are still things in Finland that you can't find elsewhere. Anja and I and Dad went into downtown Lahti to do some shopping. I bought some Aarikka earrings and a bracelet.

I don't know what kind of burgers they have in the US, but here you can get one on a rye bread bun.

Anja bought egg cups at Marimekko and I found some fabric with a giant pear in the bargain bin. Just looking at what is available is fun. Over the course of our visit I acquired quite a few striped shirts and pajamas for the kids and myself.

The lake was very calm tonight.

Finland : Living the good life

Most of us ate breakfast inside, but Helena and Iso showed the right spirit and ate on the patio.

Henry was picking strawberries in the yard when he spotted a frog and tried to catch it. He chased the frog to the wall of the house where he captured it in a flowerpot. After everyone admired him, the frog was released.

Helena helped mix up some cake batter.

In the afternoon Mimmu took the kids to the city museum. They had coffee (and juice boxes!) there and were given free chocolates because the museum was going to be closed for a while.
Sauna and sausage roast that evening.

Finland : Relaxing

The next day we breakfasted at the cabin.

A typical breakfast is a selection of breads and deli meats, cheese, tomato and cucumber slices, served with coffee.

Everyone makes their own open-faced sandwich. Helena likes tomato and cheese on rye, Henry's favorite is tomato on rye.

After breakfast the kids swam and we took the boat out to drop the pump for the sauna in the lake.

That afternoon Anja and I and Dad went to the new shopping mall that is near the old house. We had coffee to fortify ourselves at Sinuhe and then went shopping.

We picked up some groceries while we were there and I found my favorite stripey summer dress. Here's Anja checking out the rye bread display.

An evening lettu party and mölkky game finished off the day.

Finland : Muumimaailma

We dithered a little on whether or not to take the kids to Muumimaailma, a theme park about the Moomins, but I am so glad we did. It was a long, fun, day. We left my parents to get some rest and help take care of the baby and Mark, Anja, the four bigger kids, and I piled into Quatchi and hit the road. Helena felt queasy again on the winding highway and did get sick this time, even though we tried all the tricks we could think of. It's almost three hours to get to Naantali. We parked and boarded the shuttle that dropped us off close to the bridge that leads to the island that houses Moomin World. The first attraction is the theater where we watched part of a little play while eating our packed lunch.

The park is filled with places and characters from the books by Tove Jansson. It is really low-key, but charming and perfect for kids. We wandered around their house, posed for pictures with the Moomins, and the kids went swimming.

Stinky is one of our favorite characters.

Penny loved giving them hugs.

The day started out a little cool, but ended up being quite pleasant. We left the park about closing time and picked up some food at the grocery store near our car. After a little food we headed back home.