Finland, Finland, Finland

Midsummer was spent at my parents' summer cottage in south eastern Finland.
Sunset at my parents' summer place around midsummer.
Good old Finnish sauna. Gentle warmth.
I made some roses out of egg cartons. These just need to be dipped in melted parafin and then can be used to light a fire.
New potatoes with dill, yummy. This was what we had longed for in Costa Rica. And liver casserole.
Gravad salmon. Just makes my mouth water. These with new potatoes and dill, dill, dill.
A Finnish butterfly.
The mouse game the boys loved to play.

My mother-in-law turned 70.

We spent one week in central Finland visiting DH's aunt.
Tuomas riding Gloi so fast that it made his Great Aunt almost scream with fear. He was a natural on the horse!
DH's birthday was celebrated in advance. Aunty made a cake with strawberries and I candied pansies.
An old door with an old key.
A small forest lake in central Finland around 10 PM. Only the bears watched us swimming naked.
Another scene from the lake.
There were a few ripe cloudberries near the forest lake. This one is still a bit raw. The ripe ones are golden orange.
We picked some wild strawberries and bilberries.

Yay, one of the fish Jaakko caught. It was big enough for the neighbor's cat.
Tuomas caught some, too.
Risto played golf while we were fishing.

DH turned 40.
For his 40th birthday DH got to go flying above Helsinki and Espoo. He was joined by Tuomas and Risto. Jaakko and I were very happy to stay on solid ground.
Helsinki City seen from the air.

One of the few pictures of me taken at DH's birthday party.
Art above the streets in Helsinki.

Finnish summers have never been so warm and gentle as this summer. But after five weeks it was time to say good-bye and head back home to Costa Rica.

This time we flew back to Costa Rica via Newark and slept one night there. It was a good choice, getting over the jet-lag a bit.
My trio in Newark, waiting for the ride to New York.
New York seen from New Jersey.
New York looked spooky.
Risto said he didn't sleep while we went for a quick spin on Manhattan. I tried to shake them awake, they opened their eyes, but registered nothing.

Perfect weekend

Ascencion Day weekend took us to Saviaho, DH's aunt. Four days in heaven for me and the boys, too. Total relaxation in excellent company in the country side. The boys took the dogs for walks. On a field about 300 m from the house was a huge boulder. The first night we headed there.Jaakko with Aino-Inkeri.Tuomas with Hex.Risto with Alli Manninen.And how do I know that the distance was about 300m? Because DH has a range-finder, and Risto measured it. 274m as the crow flies, so approximately 300 for the boys. We had a lovely evening sitting on the patio sipping bubbly watching the boys run around with Alli. Tuomas decided to run to the boulder and back three times. A nice 1800 m run to end the day.The itsy-bitsy spider also thought that it was a perfect time for an evening walk and took a stroll on the birch. The black speck about half way up is the spider.
There is plenty of space for the boys to run around. They're old enough that I can trust them not to fall face down into the pond or get run over by the occasional car. They love going to the ghost forest for walks on their own.
Then there was fire! Aunty P's husband burned the dry grass on the surrounding fields and the boys could join in. Well, it was fun for me, too.It wasn't easy to drag the boys to bed from the burning field.
It is only in Saviaho that I go riding. 2 hours in the forest on a horse, that's what I call therapy. The boys want to ride, too, but they're too inexperienced to go riding in the forest. And these horses hadn't been ridden for quite a while, so they were full of energy.After the ride in the forest the boys could have their turn on the field.
It's a lot of excercise for me: "Mom, run faster!!!"
Tuomas' turn. I let him go by himself. I was too tired to run in the +23C weather. And Risto. By this time Gloui was so tired (i.e. fed up) that every time Risto turned him towards the stables he started to tölt (Icelandic pony trot) faster and it was difficult for Risto to stop him. I was getting anxious.
DH doesn't want to try. He says because he's allergic, but I think he's just a big sissy. He was surprised to see me ride, tölt and gallop and to have the horse in control. What did he think I had been doing in the forest with the horse?