Vaalimaa

Our first stop was Vaalimaa, where my mom grew up. Although, my Uncle Seppo has added on and revamped the house like crazy- it's a lot bigger now. I love this house and it's winding staircases. First things first- a little snack and juice and then a nap. It was so hard waking up!

Ollie and Adam shared the bed on the right and I shared with Elliott and Ollie. Seppo, Maarit, Essi and Jaakko were so kind to make a spot for us in their house! 

Will looks like a Finnish baby and had lots of Finnish ladies talk to him- what a heartthrob. 

the bottom of Seppo's yard

My Mom, Linc, Seppo, Ari, Ollie & Adam checking out the pond.

We loved discovering the yard and all the stuff. I want to call it a farm, but there are no farm animals. Just an apple orchard, a forest and a few sheds and garages. There's a stream and pond too.

Since my grandpa lived here when he was a young married guy (and built it I think?), there are lots of old things. Uncle Seppo has started his own little museum for the coolest relics...

An old sled my mom rode.

The moped my grandma rode to herd the cows... what I wouldn't give for a picture!

Some old thingamajig dated from 1783

 My grandpa's cross country skis. He was super fast on them and even beat an olympian in a race once!

Satu and Jaakko

Aunt Maarit, Essi and Aunt Marketta showing their aprons, plates and towels Linds and I brought them.

I was there too! (Tired, but there.)

Linc discovering the old guest house.

airport and planes

 Flying is super cool and all, but it kind of loses it's potential after you've spent all day and all night with kids cramped in a plane. We were at the airport by 5 AM (3:45 wake up call!!) Then we had a 2 1/2 hour flight to Chicago and then a 3 hour layover- enough for lunch and a few back massages from the little kiosk in the airport (Adam and my Mom- lucky ducks).

P.S. Chicago O'hare has automatic seat covers on their toilets... just wave your hand over the back and a new one slips on. So weird and cool.

 waiting in Chicago

 sleeping Baby Will

 It's hard for me to imagine what it's like for a 6'4" Adam to sit on a plane for so long. Here he is stretching out before the big 9 hour flight. 

I sat with Ollie and Linc in front of my Mom, E and Adam. Linds, Will and Jackie behind them.

 These guys were troopers. 9 hours with a baby on her lap!

 Linc and Ollie did great too! Linc didn't love his seatbelt, but other than that stayed calm and busy. Elliott was the one we were worried about since he had since proclaimed he wasn't coming with us because he was scared of the plane. I sort of bribed him to come anyway. He was so worried when we started to take off, but a minute later I told him he did it! And we were up in the air and to look out the windows. He was instantly relieved and fine.

 Thank goodness for the movie player we bought last second at the Chicago airport! We were planning on bringing ours, but the night before (1:00 AM) when we checked it we realized it would only work when plugged in! We weren't sure if they would have individual tv's for each seat which would have been fine for the boys, so we bought it. They didn't...and it saved our lives. 

 Little Will crawling the isles.

sleeping Linc

Leena, Ollie, Ari, Marketta, Adam, Jaakko, Jackie, Seppo, Linds, Eero, Linc & Will

We finally arrived in Finland at 9 AM, which was midnight Utah time. We had 10 people arriving, since my bro Ari met us there (he flew in 2 days before.)

My Uncles Seppo and Eero, Aunt Marketta and cousin Jaakko were there to meet us! We had so much luggage that they all had to come with 4 separate cars to haul us to Vaalimaa- 2 1/2 hours away. 

Finland, here we come!

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.

father's day

These guys are lucky to have Adam for their Dad. 

And they (of course) ADORE him. 

I asked the boys what we should get him for his big day. 

Ollie said, "A record or somethin'. Or a guitar." 

And then they both drew records and record players on their cards for him. 

They know their Daddy.

It's a funny thing, raising the boys with this guy. We laugh so much. Sometimes we can't even believe it. Three boys, and we're in charge. Do we even know what we're doing???