When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
After work, I took the girls for a swim. The hot weather is about to turn, so felt like the thing to do.
While getting ready, Kiara fussed about her swimsuit, her hair and her swimming bag. She wanted to look cool in case she saw her friends.
When we got to Oittaa, she spotted the Angry Birds playground. Luckily, at that moment, the playground and splashing in the water still felt “cool” enough.
I wish I would convince her that there is plenty of time to be big yet.
I came across a strech of shore today with dozens of old rowing boats in various stages of disrepair.
I am have a hard time fathoming how places like this come into being. Who decides that this is the perfect spot to bring an old boat and let it rest for all eternity?
Sure, after the fifth boat, the place is probably known, at least locally. The first one may be pure coincidence.
But the second boat.
Where did that come from?
I admire children’s dermination to have fun once they decide they are going to have fun.
I took Kiara and Alanna to a nearby sports-focused amusement park today. The temperature climbed above 30°C and the park had practically no shade. Even so, we stayed for more than 7h and tested every climbing, jumping, pedalling, lifting, shooting, running and balancing activity available. Considering the park has more than 30 different jumping castles alone, that was no small feat.
Most of the other kids gave up, and by late afternoon only a handful of the hardiest ones were still around.
At the endof the day, we popped into a nearby supermarket, bought swimming costumes to all three of us and went for a swim. Lake water has rarely felt so good!
Finland has fantastic museums for kids. In fact, almost all museums here have something specifically for children to do.
Helsinki City Museum is a good example with a whole section of historical play areas. And the theater section has a puppet stage.
Great stories were born this day!
We are still not beach people. But Matinkylä Beach is exactly the right distance for a family bike ride on a hot day.
The kids spent about 15 min in the sea. Even though they love swimming, the salty water seems to take away half of the fun. But they did spend the next 2h climbing, running and playing.
The best thing about cycling to the beach is that 90% of the sand falls off on the way home.
The only thing fire drills really teach us is to finish our lunch and pack our bags before evacuating.
Alanna and Kiara are at their most creative when it comes to inventing reasons to postpone bedtime. More often than not, giving in to one extra thing helps to move things along.
One of the favourite distractions is listening to “just one last song” before brushing their teeth. It’s a great and joyful idea – if you can actually stop at one.
Walking meetings are the best kind of meetings. You end up having very different 1:1s while walking around the neighborhood than you do sitting in front of your laptop.
Every time I do one, I decide to do them more often.
Then I don’t.
The girls stayed at the summer cottage with ukki and mummi for extra two days while Stuart and I headed home to tackle their rooms.
Years ago, I realized I can only declutter the girls’ rooms when they are away. It is virtually impossible to throw anything out – not even old socks – when they are “helping”. I never imagined how many uses an old sock could have: a sleeping bag for a doll, a cover for a toy phone, a Barbie shopping bag…
As much as I applaud their creativity and commitment to sustainably, regular de-hoarding is necessary if we want girls to still fit in.
After 10 hours of sorting through tiny doll accessories and random drawings, a short bike to the beach felt absolutely amazing!
Several years ago, my dad decided to get a quad bike for the summer cottage. He said it was to help with work around the yard, but none of us siblings believed him. We were convinced it is just his latest toy.
But admittedly, it has turned out to be really useful thing to have around. The yard is big, and there is a never-ending list of things to do.
The girls think it is the best toy ever. They especially love the adventure rides they take with ukki along the nearby dirt roads.
Blue Moment 