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 : 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.

Finland : Road trip to Iittala

Is it optimistic to think we might be over the jet lag? Millie woke up about midnight, but didn't seem happy so I put her back in bed and she fussed herself to sleep. The others slept reasonably well and woke around 7. We had breakfast and then packed a lunch to take on our day trip. After loading up the cars we were only about 45 minutes behind schedule. Really impressive considering how difficult it is to get going here. We drove to Iittala and Helena felt a little sick on the ride over. We pulled over to change where she was sitting and Anja magically produced child-sized Sea-Bands from her purse.

We had our picnic in a shady spot near the parking lot. Afterward, we went to see the glass blowing and the guys there let everyone take one of the imperfect glass birds as a souvenir. Then he asked if we wanted to try glass blowing. Yes. Yes, we did.

Anja went first, then Helena, Nora, Henry, and me.

It was so fun. The guys are training to be glass blowing masters and they were so nice to all of us. Then we went to the outlet to shop for dishes and silverware while the kids played in a little park.
It was warm so we stopped at the grocery store for ice cream cones and water.

The baby loves ice cream cones.

Then Lulu and Raija took Millie back home and the rest of us went to Hämeenlinna to see the castle. Is there a name for the strange feeling that comes from replicating trips you took as a kid with your own children?

We got home about six and the kids played in the water before and after dinner. Anja and I saunaed. The weather started to change. It was calm and warm when we started our sauna and windy and cooler when we were done.

Finland : travel day

We had the morning to get last minute tasks taken care of. The bags to be checked were packed the day before so I vacuumed the car and made food and packed snacks to take with us. We left home just before noon and had a pleasant drive to Seattle. There was a little traffic once we were close to the airport but we had built in extra time. Mark dropped off the kids, luggage, and me and went to park the car. Getting four large suitcases along with our carry-ons and a baby in a stroller to check-in was a little slow, but we did it. Anja met us there and we let her use some of our luggage allowance. I had tried to pack lightly so we had two suitcases more that we could check. She decided at the last minute to check one of her carry-on bags.

All the kids were great at following instructions and moving bags. We had to check in at special services because of the infant in lap we had with us. The security lines were very long but moved quickly. We made it to our gate and had Helena and Mark board early with the carry-ons while the rest of us enjoyed a few more minutes of unrestricted movement and filled up water bottles. Having Anja along as was a huge help and fun for everyone.
Once on board we ate some flatbread, cheese, and vegetables that we brought with us. We were all seated in the same row with one stranger in a window seat.

The flight was uneventful. There were individual screens in the back of each seat so the kids watched some movies and slept a little. Our flight was a few minutes late coming in and even though we ran as fast as we could we missed our connection by a few minutes. KLM re-booked us on a flight later that evening. Then we looked up the schedule and asked for a slightly earlier flight on a different airline. After insisting that this was not possible the agent was able to get us on the flight. Some of us took short naps and we ate some of the snacks we had packed.

We arrived in Helsinki about 6 hours later than originally planned to find that our bags were not there. We filed a claim with the airline and caught the bus out of town.

Lulu and Raija picked us up at a roadside stop not far from their home. We got to the house around 1 AM local time, about 27 hours after leaving home.

Oregon Zoo

 While in Portland we visited the Oregon Zoo with Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Maryann.

 The weather was perfect, a little cool in the morning but pleasant for walking around. 

We checked our wingspans.

The zoo has a lot of fun animal sculptures around.

Riding the zoo train was a highlight for everyone. It was a nice chance to sit down and rest tired feet.

Penny was a trooper and walked cheerfully almost the whole five hours.

She did get carried occasionally by Grandpa or her dad.

Nora's and Henry's favorite animal was the giraffe, Helena preferred the alligator.

Oregon Coast

We had a great vacation in Cannon Beach.

Most days we made morning and afternoon excursions to the beach. The kids played in the sand and water and had a fantastic time.

The house we rented with friends was very close to Haystack Rock. The beach was just a short walk and a long flight of stairs away.

We made the traditional trip to Tillamook. We love cheese!

For lunch most of us had grilled cheese sandwiches and they were excellent. Nora and Henry had chocolate ice cream, just like they did four years ago. Helena chose blackberry. What flavor would you pick?

Nora found a tiny perfect sand dollar.

The big kids and I walked toward town one afternoon while the little girls napped.

 We tried to visit the history center but it was closed. The cannon they are standing next to is a replica of the cannon that washed ashore from the Shark and inspired the city's name.