Finland : Jet Lag

Millie woke at midnight and had a banana and some milk and played until 1.30 or so when she seemed tired and went back to bed. The kids were a little more restless in the night and everyone felt the effects of jet lag a bit, now that we weren't quite so exhausted. Helena and Penny were up at 6 and then Penny went back to bed but Helena and Nora spent some time coloring pictures while everyone else slept. We had breakfast inside since it was a little windy and then went to Vaaksy to see the canal and locks.

A boat came just after we arrived and we saw the lock fill up and then got to see it empty as a boat came from the other direction as well. We walked down to where the canal meets the lake and the kids got to throw rocks into the water. When we walked back to the car we stopped at a playground for a bit and Anja and I went to the little gift shop there.

We headed home for lunch and then almost everyone had a least a short nap.

Baby with rye bread. We brought this seat over for Nora in 2005.

Penny fell asleep before lunch in an armchair. After lunch we made some calls to try to track down our suitcases. It was frustrating since everyone we talked to had a slightly different take on the situation and no one seemed to know exactly where the bags were and when we might get them. Mark took the kids to the lake for swimming and splashing. We had coffee late at the house and then Anja and I went for a swim before we moved some logs from a tree that had been chopped down. 

Nora came over with the good news that our bags might be on their way.
Lulu made smoked fish for dinner that everyone liked except Penny who didn't try any. We had our second round of ice cream cones (toffee, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate). The kids got to bed around 9 and Anja and I swam again at about 10pm. The lake was beautiful and still and the sun was shining.

Finland : We're here!

We borrowed t-shirts for sleeping in and got everyone settled in their beds. After a few hours of sleep Millie thought it was time to start the day. She and I stayed in the sun room and tried to keep quiet so the others could sleep. She went back to bed around 7.30 and slept late into the afternoon. All the other kids except Helena woke up around 6 and had some yogurt and cereal as an early breakfast. I had a spare set of clothing for everyone is our carry-on luggage. We had to wake Helena up. We had bread and cheese and tomatoes and cucumbers and coffee all together at about 10 .

Then we spent some time trying to figure out internet access and inquiring after our luggage. It was possibly on our way to us that evening. Midsummer is a national holiday and the stores would close at noon that day and not be open the next day so Anja and I went with Raija to the local market and picked up some fun food to supplement what they had. You know, essentials like candy, chocolate, and ice cream.

While we were gone the kids went to the summer cabin to start collecting wood for the bonfire and they cleaned reeds off the lake shore.

I have been coming here since I was younger than Nora is now.

We had potatoes, and chicken, broccoli and onion herring for lunch at the house.
Anja, Nora, and Helena went out to pick wildflowers to decorate our front porch. It's a family tradition to pick flowers for Midsummer.

After lunch we went back over to the cabin and the big kids went swimming with Anja and I while Penny had a nap.

Then we had our afternoon coffee outside complete with ice cream cones we bought that morning. We had a variety of flavors (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pear, and black licorice) to try in our quest for favorites.

We put these girls to work washing the coffee dishes.

The kids went back to splash in the lake while the sauna was warming up. Everyone had a chance to get washed up and Millie had a great time splashing all the water out of the yellow basin she was sitting in.
We cooked three different kinds of sausages and Evert is the current favorite.

We lit our midsummer bonfire early since people were pretty tired.

Millie fell asleep at about 8.30 and was carried to bed and everyone else followed soon after. According to the airline our luggage was still in Amsterdam.

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.

Tall ships: Take two

We went back to the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain while they were still docked in town so that Penny and I could see them too. There were fewer people there than on the weekend.The crew dresses in period clothing.

 The kids got to try moving the windlass.

 There is a lot of rope on board. The ship has about three miles of rigging.

Henry next to the canon.

The Lady Washington is longer overall than the Mayflower. I can not imagine crossing the ocean on a vessel that size.

Sleeping baby

Wearing the onsie that Aunt Maryann bought for Nora that every kid has used.

Penny turns three!

She opened presents.

And we had pizza for dinner.

 And cake for dessert.

We put her candles in her slice since she had been sick recently and she blew them out before we had a chance to start singing so we lit them again.

We love our 'Nelope.

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Maryann

We cooked dinner outside in our fire pit.

Mark helped Millie eat her toasted marshmallow.

Some of us took a day trip to visit the tall ships and Fort Walla Walla. (Others stayed home with sick or small children.)

 

The kids were very impressed with the brick of tea that one "settler" had as well as some old hard tack.

We were glad they could come see our new house and spend some time with us.