Children – Blue Moment

Day 185: A Ghost Story and A Fairytale

August 24, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Alanna, Architecture, Europe, Kiara, Outdoors, TravellingTagged 365 Project, Alanna, Architecture, Children, History, Holidays, Kiara, Outdoors, Scenery, TravelLeave a comment

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.

Day 181: Fountain

August 17, 2026August 17, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Alanna, Europe, Kiara, Travelling, WaterTagged 365 Project, Alanna, Children, Kiara, Summer, TravelLeave a comment

We told the kids they can get a little wet.

They got soaked to the bone.

Best thing ever.

Day 180: Blue Fox called Katri Helena

August 16, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Architecture, Europe, Kiara, Outdoors, Stuart, Travelling, WaterTagged 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Architecture, Children, Holidays, Kiara, Outdoors, Stuart, Summer, TravelLeave a comment

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.

Day 176: Washing Rugs

August 12, 2026August 12, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Asikkala, Kiara, Outdoors, Traditions, WaterTagged 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Children, Finland, History, Kiara, Learning, Summer CottageLeave a comment

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.

Day 175: Little Big Adventure

August 11, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Asikkala, Family, Kiara, Outdoors, Sport, WaterTagged 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Children, Holidays, Kiara, Learning, Outdoors, Sport, Summer CottageLeave a comment

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.

Day 166: The Art of a Holiday

August 2, 2026August 2, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Alanna, Asikkala, KiaraTagged 365 Project, Alanna, Children, Holidays, Kiara, Summer CottageLeave a comment

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.

Day 149: Beliefs

July 15, 2026July 15, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Alanna, Espoo, KiaraTagged 365 Project, Children, LearningLeave a comment

There is a fine line between creating a magical childhood and ensuring your children know what is real.

For example, how do you explain that dinosaurs were real, but dragons are not? That blue whales and giraffes exist, but unicorns are imaginary? That bats are real, but vampires are not.

We have spent time explaining that bears can sleep the whole winter, that caterpillars can dissolve into soup and emerge as butterflies, that geese can navigate across continents, and that some lizards can grow back their tails.

But humans can’t learn to fly.

Day 145: Big and Small

July 11, 2026July 11, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Espoo, Kiara, Outdoors, SportTagged 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Children, Espoo, Kiara, Outdoors, Sport, SummerLeave a comment

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.

Day 143: Tenacity

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Espoo, Kiara, Outdoors, SportTagged 365 Project, Activities, Alanna, Children, Espoo, Holidays, Kiara, Outdoors, Sport, SummerLeave a comment

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!