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.
Kiara and Bailey have been best friends since they started school. Now Bailey is moving to Sweden and Kiara is heartbroken.
Luckily, we’ve known for a while, so there has been time to get used to the idea. Plans for video calls and visits are already in place.
The only possible upside is that Kiara might accidentally become a little more focused in class.
The first ice cream of the summer!
Well, of course,we have had ice cream in the past months. Actually, in the past week. But not from an ice cream kiosk. (At least, not most of them. A mall kiosk does not quite count.) And we had not eaten any outside. (Almost none) And nothing in our T-shirts, with the sun shining.
Hard to explain why, but this was definitely the first ice cream of the summer. And it was great.
Every spring, the circus school Alanna and Kiara go to puts together a final performance. The performers vary in age from 3 to 20+, and in skill from total beginners to the performing group, but the energy and enthusiasm are always there.
Unfortunately, the lighting looked great live but was less kind to photography. Any presentable picture required at least a fraction of a second of stillness, and there wasn’t much of that.
Alanna is still recovering from her cold. And I am still working long hours.
Luckily this time of the year means the sun is still high when I end my day. Good time for a gentle walk to the seashore.
Stuart flew to Kenya for business today and, to no-one’s surprise, Alanna is now sick.
Luckily, she is already pretty independent. But even when I shorten my workday and work from home, she still ends up entertaining herself for most of the day.
A boring day for my little one!
Georgian is one of my favourite cuisines. And khinkali might be the best thing it has given the world.
The girls agree. When Alanna was maybe four, we took them to a Chinese restaurant. She promptly burst into tears after discovering that the dumplings had no “soup” inside. She still asks every time.
So, for Stuart’s early birthday – Georgian it was.
With a long weekend of Vappu celebrations and sun behind us, no one plans a trip to amusement park on the Sunday when the forecast promises rain.
Except us.
And it came together perfectly: the weather stayed clear, the rides were practically empty and, best of all, the girls had finally passed the next height limit, which opened up a whole host of new rides.
To use girls’ own words: ” Everything was the best!”.
We have a huge glass terrace at the back our our house. During summer, it is the most-used “room” we have. It is our dining room, living room and outside patio – all wrapped into one. In fact, it was one of the main reasons we bought the house to start with.
The glass roof is fairly flat and keeping it clean(ish) of leaves, pine needles, pollen and dust is no small task. Not that I am too pedantic about it… And a good thing too. About five minutes after completing my task, a gust of wind brought down a fresh rain of rubbish.
Oh well.
You probably noticed I am cheating a bit in my 365 challenge here. This picture was taken by Kiara, not me. I guess the ones below should be my official entries, but who cares.
As said before, escape rooms are a thing in my family. The idea of going to Tallinn for an “escape trip” started off as a joke. But turning jokes into reality is also a thing in my family (e.g., annual the-most-useless-useful-Christmas-present competition).
One weekend, four rooms. Three of the rooms were actually hard, one was… an experience… We escaped three of the rooms, but are now trapped to a haunted orphanage for all eternity.
Luckily there was drinks after.
Tallinn is just a 2 hour ferry ride from Helsinki, which makes it a perfect weekend get-away with Stuart, my brother, sister, and brother-in-law.
Tallinn is an old Hansa city and the old town is just beautiful. As a tourist, one rarely wonders outside of the old town. However, one purpose for the trip was to solve a number of escape rooms – none of which are in the old town.
One down, three to go. And we got to see some of the modern Tallinn too.
