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.
The last day of first grade: report cards received, flowers given to teachers. We all even survived singing Suvivirsi (you need to be a Finn to understand that).
Done.
Ten weeks of summer holiday deserve a celebratory pastry.
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!”.
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.
Long time ago, I preferred red wine. However, white wine has always been a summer drink. After I moved to South Africa and then Singapore, I lived in a long summer (comparatively) for several years. As a result, I only really drink white. Intellectually, I know reds are better and more complex wines. White just tastes better.
Stuart doesn’t care about temperature. He drinks red.
Stuart relaxes by lounging on the couch, reading a book or browsing his tablet. Often, one of the girls ends up curled next to him.
Occassionally – probably too often in Stuart’s mind – the girls start a game of “daddy playground”. The rules seem varied and complex, but involve a lot of climbing, swinging, tickling and shrieking.
Highly relaxing!
Last Father’s Day, girls and I got Stuart a small wooden model car as a present. He really enjoyed putting it together. It’ fiddly, but you see the progress immediately…
Now he is building a train. Much more fiddly, apparently.
Blue Moment 