Last day at the pool

Not many people there at the start of the session. And it never did get very crowded.

 After swimming we bought popsicles from the ice-cream truck that is always there at closing time.

It was a bit of a messy proposition, but it was our last chance.

Just nine more months until we can come back.

Fair parade

Mimmu and Anja took the kids to see the fair parade.

There were horses, old cars, Shriners, Indians, princesses, and candy.

Lots and lots of candy. They sorted it, shared some with friends, and still we were left with bags and bags of it.

Swim lessons

This year Nora, Henry, and Helena had lessons for the last two-week session at the city pool.

 Everyone had a good time and improved their skills.

Penny spent the time digging in the sandpit or playing in the wading pool once it opened.

Nora and Henry also had one week of lessons just before the pool closed for the year. Henry was in a class of all boys and Nora was the only one at her skill level, so she got one-on-one instruction.

Husking corn

is a perfect summer job for little people.

Grilled pizza

Iso got a pizza stone for his grill and we helped him try it out. Delicious.

And we made some lettuja!

Pool time

We spent a couple fun afternoons at the pool. Swimming, lounging, eating snacks, jumping off the diving board (Nora), going down the water slides.

The kids are clearly more comfortable in the water after all their time in the lake.

Penny loves wearing the goggles.

Blueberry picking

We were the very last customers of the summer at this blueberry farm. I called to ask about coming to pick blueberries and she said that they were closing at noon today. We hustled out of the door and hit the road.

The kids did a great job this year, both Nora and Henry picked a lot of berries. Helena had a respectable amount and Penny spent most of her time eating them I think.

Finland : Helsinki

Our flight leaves tomorrow morning early so we are spending the night at the airport hotel in Helsinki. We left this morning so that we could spend the day in the city. Liisa and Dad came with us.

We took the bus from Lahti to the airport. They let us check most of our bags, so that's one thing we won't have to do in the morning. We left our carry-on luggage at the hotel before we headed into town to do some shopping. We are still under our luggage weight limit. We walked down the Esplanadi popping in to different favorite stores (Marimekko, Aarikka) on our way to the market.

We looked at souvenirs for sale and bought peas to snack on. We ate them while listening to some young girls playing violins.

 We had coffee at the Karl Fazer Cafe, sharing different fancy desserts.

We had dinner at the same restaurant on the top floor of Stockmann's that we did last time, but it wasn't as good as I remembered.

High chair design is still great.

We went back to the hotel to try to get a little sleep before our long day.

Finland : Last day

I hate leaving. There is the practical difficulty of gathering things that we've spent the last three weeks scattering around, packing and finding room for all the new things we've purchased, and the sadness that comes with leaving the place and people I love. 

We took the boat out. 

There was a final sausage roast and sauna. Penny loves ketchup and at some point will usually start eating it more as a main dish rather than condiment. Here she's collected a few extra plates and is going to town.

Group photo. 

Henry drew a picture of the Moomin house in the cabin guestbook.

And lettuja.

Finland : Winding down

The end of our visit is coming. Which lends a bit of melancholy to everything. But we're still here, so let's do our best to enjoy it!
There are ripe wild strawberries. My mom taught the kids to string them on grass.

Baby in the luggage is a gag that does not get old.

We had grilled chicken and potatoes for dinner, with cauliflower gratin.

The yard here is just beautiful. They have done an incredible amount of work.

When they serve ice cream here they chop the whole liter into cubes rather than scooping out of the carton.

We spent some time in the evening looking at family mementos. My grandfather was part of a car touring club in the 50s and 60s. These are some of his grill badges and medallions from their events.

Finland : Taking it easy

Another al fresco breakfast.

The weather was perfect again.

There was swimming, boating, magazine reading, hanging out in hammocks.

Penny browsing Kiplinger's.

We ate home-smoked trout and Greek salad for lunch. Ice cream for dessert.

 

Almost all of us having coffee.

We stacked some wood inside their new shed. The builder had made a framework along two walls where firewood could be stored. The kids helped load wood into boxes from the outside stacks, ferry empty boxes, and handed off pieces of wood.

See that level? This is serious business.

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.