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.
Alanna often lives in a world of her own making. She sees something, hears something, and you can watch how her imagination take flight. She tells wonderful stories and can become completely absorbed in developing the latest idea that has taken hold of her mind.
Occassionally, this habit can try my patience – especially when we are in a hurry to get something done. But at the same time I hope she never fully recovers from it.
It has been the first summer that Alanna and Kiara haven’t spent in kindergarten. Despite a few camps and some time at the summer cottage, six weeks of holiday while Stuart and I are still working is a long time to kill.
The girls aren’t, strictly speaking, home alone. Stuart and I have both been working remotely. But they are in charge of their own snacks, lunch and – most importantly – their entertainment. And many of their frieds are out of town.
So whenever we can, we go somewhere. Even if it’s just a dinner and a short walk in Inkoo.
Our electric bicycles are among the best investments Stuart and I have ever made.
We’ve done fantastic tours with the kids sitting in the back and one of us towing our luggage in a trailer. In addition to shorter trips, such as weekend in Porvoo, we’ve toured the Finnish archipelago, Åland, and Sweden – our longest tour yet. We planned it for 450km, but ended up doing 600km instead.
Now that Alanna and Kiara are riding their own bicycles, the distances are shorter and we are prioritising trips closer to home. Even so, after a long day in front of the laptop, a quick 20-25km ride still feels amazing
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!
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.
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.
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.
Finns are always surprised when the weather is good at Midsummer. Although, I could be a spoilsport and note that every single one of the five Midsummers since we moved bach has been beautiful.
Then again, I still remember the years of +9°C and rain, so I mostly let people enjoy their weather debates.
Anyway, it is hard to capture the essence of Midsummer in single picture. I cheated and made a collage. Good food, good drinks, the midnight sun, summer…
Blue Moment 