Our Summer in Pictures

It's so great to write again!

My intention was to write the latest news every month, but I didn't find time for that. So here is a summary of our summer!

We spent the summer in Helsinki and went out to eat a lot, both with family and with friends. Out of all of the places, Thai Orchid Villa in Kamppi has to be mentioned because it was a new discovery for the summer. They have great food and a good couch on the terrace where Jordan liked to play so the parents could eat in peace.

We spent Midsummer with my family in Pihlajasaari and Löyly.

We went to two weddings and the other one was in Jyväskylä and my sister and nephew came with us to help take care of Jordan while we're at the wedding.
The next day we decided that we wouldn't go back home. So we packed our things and headed to a spa in Tampere for the next night. We had so much fun that after Tampere we went home but the next day we all headed to Långvik spa.
We stayed there with Eerikki for one extra night after my sister and her son left. This Tampere-Kirkkonummi extempore trip was amazing, the best thing was to do it without much planning. We bought swimsuits from a mall in Tampere, and they'll remind us of a great trip.

We did all the typical Helsinki activities you'd do in the summer; we went to the amusement park Linnanmäki with our friends, we went to Korkeasaari Zoo and to a lot of beaches and parks. I also visited Kumpula's outdoor swimming area for the first time in 15 years. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, so it was awesomely nostalgic to go there after such a long time and somehow really special to return there with my own child.

I've been wanting to attend a paint and wine night for a long time and now I finally got to do it! Such an event was organized in Teereenpeli, and one evening we went there with Jordan's godparents to paint Norppas. It's very possible that these paintings won't end up on the wall though 😀

At the beginning of August, we had a Helsinki tourist day with our friends. We took a tourist bus tour and visited some attractions, such as the Helsinki Sky Wheel. We did come to the conclusion that the trip requires part 2, there's so much more that we still want to do and see.

We went on a wedding anniversary trip to France in mid-August. I'll make a separate post about the trip, we went to both Paris and Epernay (where champagne is made). Here's a very touristy photo as proof... 😄

At the end of the month, I had promised to speak at The Shift event in Turku, so we made a one-night trip there before our annual summer cabin trip at our friends' cabin.

Eerikki's birthday is at the end of August. We have a tradition that we always (if possible) take time off from work on each other's birthdays and organize the best possible day for the birthday girl/boy. Jordan and I made Eerikki breakfast and a carrot cake, which was a bit raw... Then I sent Eerikki out for a massage and in the evening I had (as a surprise) invited eight of his friends to Gr8ii to play and compete with us and one of them came to our place afterwards for pizza and wine.

August is always super busy for us and once again I'm happy that we had a great summer, but also really excited that it's fall and normal life begins again.