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.
Somewhat by accident Alanna, Kiara and I ended up in Design Week’s kids’ workshop.
The girls got to design fashionable outfits, new houses and a – best of all – a mascot that they could then program to make sounds, flash lights, or show images.
An accident to repeat.
With the start of school, homework is back. The girls have been complaining about how much more there is this year. There can be homework from TWO subjects! The same day!
It’ll be a long road to graduation.
I love some of the new libraries in Finland. They are a far cry from the stereotypical dusty, dark rooms with a librarian angrily shushing every sound.
The library in Lippulaiva, the nearby shopping mall, is full of color, sounds and running children. There is a playground with a slide and a real car, a pool table, a few 3D printers, and a loom. There are soft armchairs, cushions on the floor, and several soft nooks tucked away in corners. And there are books that people (kids especially) actually want to read.
I sympathize with people who feel it is too much; that libraries should be quiet and calm, with a focus on education.
But I think reading should be fun.
First day in the second grade.
New backpacks, pencil cases, and sweaters.
I wonder how many years we are still allowed to walk the girls to school on their first day.
On the drive to Haapsalu, we drove past a gorgeous ruin – I forced Stuart to turn around (in traffic) and go back. If there are ghosts, they would definitely live here! But we didn’t meet any. And we looked.
The girls, on the other hand, found their sense of whimsy in a museum/craft and playhouse based on illustrations by Ilon Wikland. I, especially, loved all the joyful images from Astrid Lindgren’s books. They took me straight back to my childhood. With rain pouring down, there was no-one else.
The magic uninterrupted.
We told the kids they can get a little wet.
They got soaked to the bone.
Best thing ever.
Lotte is not a character I was familiar with. So we approached Lottemaa with some trepidation, especially as we knew everything would be in Estonian.
But children have an amazing ability to throw themselves into the parts of the story they understand – and just ignore the rest. The park had sufficient things to do, even beyond the story itself, especially as (totally out of character) I actually looked at the website beforehand and knew about the hidden adventure trail…
And everyone told us about the Finn in the village, the blue fox called Katri Helena.
The “quick stop” to cool ourselves off in Pärnu beach took a lot longer than expected. Mostly because even the girls had to walk about 100m in to the sea before the water reached their belly buttons. The shallow water felt above 30°C, though, so I didn’t mind a bit of splashing.
Washing rugs on the summer cottage pier was fun as a child. Mum would throw buckets of water on my feet as I scrubbed as hard as I could. I still love the smell of Mäntysuopa (pine soap).
As we cleaned the wendy house today, the girls tried the traditional method of cleaning a rug.
Their comment was a dry, “Clearly kids in the old days had a different way of having fun”. Apparently, it was hard work.
The best purchase of the summer – if you ask the girls – has been the massive, almost 5m-long swimming mattress Ukki ordered.
It easily holds both girls standing up, so, wearing a life jackets, Alanna and Kiara have been allowed to push it almost to the middle of the lake by themselves. This is, of course, infinitely cooler than doing it with an adult. Ukki even towed the girls and the mattress all the way to the other side of the strait.
In the deep, the mattress becomes a platform for jumping, diving, kicking, pushing and generally messing around in the water. The best game, naturally, is trying to stay standing when the waves from a passing boat rock the mattress.
Great fun and a great way to build even more confidence in the water.
Now we just need to figure out where an earth to store a thick, 5m mattress for the winter.
As an adult, it takes me several days to settle into a holiday. The girls have been in a holiday for over five weeks and have no problem being incredibly busy doing absolutely nothing.
Blue Moment 