The cousins play together again

 The weekend was an example of perfect September weather: sunny with bold clouds trotting downwind, warm sun, smell of moss and leaves and the last cuttings of grass. No better way to start the day than bike to town and thoroughly explore the abundance of loose candy for candy day! 

Later, Kai and I decided to go looking for lingonberries, since he now had found out that he really likes the jam. We went to look at the nearest little forest patch, and it was amazing. Lingonberries and blueberries, side by side, bushes full, like holiday ornaments, lingonberries as large as cranberries, dark red and grinning at the sun. We picked and picked and picked, and even after we tried to leave we picked some more. We have a whole potful of the lingonberries, waiting now to be cooked into jam. And a lingering desire to go back and make some juice with the next batch. Kai and Petra went back the next day on their own to pick more blueberries! 

Daddy read bedtime stories over the iPad. It's not as good as being there in person, but it's pretty good. 







On Sunday we drove to Helsinki in the afternoon to say hello to cousin Isla and see their new house that they just moved into this week! It's a nice detached house with a lovely back yard in a green neighborhood near the river. Petra and Isla disappeared immediately into play involving lots of hair clips and costume changes. Kai explored Markus' collection of Transformers toys, and at the end, they discovered a trampoline out back which was super fun and I have videos of both kids doing flips. 





Monday morning was a misty mystery of a morning, and after riding bikes to school with Kai, I went to the river to admire the interactions of sun and mist in the river valley. 

A few more cultural pictures: this is what cleaning day looks like when you have a balcony. Otherwise, you'll have to pile your rugs onto a carpet rack. 






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