finland

 I heard talk of going to Finland around a year ago. My mom grew up there and her whole family still lives there- 2 brothers and a sister. My mom and brother were planning to go and I told them I was coming with. Nice that I invited myself? I've been a few times before- when I was 3 months, 5 years, 12 years and then Linds and I spent a summer there when I was 14. But Adam had never been and I was excited to show him. So talk came again that it was this summer, and we decided to do it! I really wanted to go when my mom was going.

And it was heaven. 

It was so nostalgic for me and Adam even loved it. And even though we had talked about just us going, or just taking Linc... we ended up taking all the boys. They loved it and I was glad they all came.

I thought the woodpiles we saw everywhere were so pretty. They use the wood for their saunas, although some are electric and don't require wood. And in Finland, they pronounce it SOW-na, not SAW-na. Everyone has one in their house and summer cabin.  

Here are a few more photos of my favorite things about Finland, but you know there are a lot more coming right? It was just too amazing- I couldn't put the camera down!

It doesn't get dark in Finland during the summer, so this is what is looked like at 11:30 at night. So cool. The sun would set around 10:30-11:00 and then would rise again around 3 AM. It got as dark as dusk. Man- it was crazy for our senses.

 

 The vegetation was AMAZING. Green, flowery and forest-y. 

In the sauna. We will have one someday.

 Following Uncle Seppo (at high speeds) through the forest at sunset.

E & O got to go fishing pretty much every day. They went in row boats and motor boats to check the nets and down to the river to see if anything was in the trap. So fun for them.

Uncle Seppo's yard... where my Mom grew up.

 We stayed in Vaalimaa for 5 days and then onto a few other places, including Helsinki. Vaalimaa is 3 miles from the Russian border and Pietari is St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Ahhh- the lakes and the sunsets and the lakes! 

 Did you know Finland is Sweden's neighbor to the East and Russia's to the West? 

 She: obsessive OVER packer

He: obsessive UNDER packer (we're talking two pairs of pants and one short for two weeks!)

Next time maybe he should pack all the boys too?

breakfast

The food was to die for. And they fed us four times a day. I know. 

P.S. That's my open-faced rice bread sandwich on the right with a bite taken out of it. I was sure to eat it at every meal if possible. And I even brought a bag of the bread home. Rice stuffed inside a rye bread crust topped with Finnish cheese (you can get it at Costco!), ham and veggies. MMmmm.

my step sis- Jackie, Elliott, Ollie, Sini, Linc, Adam, sis Linds, Will, sil Tagen, bro Eric, bro Ari, & cousins Jaakko, Maija, Marketta, Selma, Venla and 

 And it was so great seeing aunts, uncles and cousins along with their little families. We've only been back and forth to visit a little bit, so it's nice keeping in touch on blogs and facebook now too. 

The whole clan off center- add in Jaakko's gf, Satu, Aunt Marketta, Uncle Kalevi, Leena (my mom) cousin-in-law Jaarkka, and the back of little Samuel.