Sunday 15th July

At Kuvansi with Jyrki and his family, and Anne and her family!
Antti-Jussi and Ville-Veikko on the trampoline!
George and Mikko.
Lunch on the verandah.
Down by the lake at our cottage for the week.
The lakeside sauna.
And looking back to the house.
Swimming late in evening- after 10pm!
We set off from our cottage in Parikkala at 9am, heading for Kuvansi, via Savonlinna where we met Jyrki, Mari and their boys at 11am. It was a beautiful drive through Savonlinna and close to where we stayed last year, through Rantasalmi, and to Kuvansi. There, Jyrki led us to Anne's house, where we were having lunch with Anne, her husband Kari and their son Sami, along with the Ikonens.

It was a fantastic lunch, so many many thanks to Anne and her family! This was the place where we came to with my P7 children in February 2011, and spent a day eating reindeer soup, and sledging and snowmobiling on the frozen lake! Today, in the summer, it looked so different in the sun, and with the waterlilies on the lake.

While we ate and laughed together, the children all played together well, which was really great to watch! Sandy and Olivia had a quick dip in the lake there before we set off for the rest of our drive to here close to Jyväskylä. We arrived at about 5.30pm, later than I had planned to- and what a sight! The lake, Palvajärvi, is about 15kms east of Jyväskylä and it is really stunning. Although the house is quite small, it is probably the nicest cottage we have rented in Finland over the years, as it's really lovingly decorated and thought out. Sandy and Olivia both proclaimed that it's the nicest they have seen, and Anna and I both agree too! So, that's a great start. Unfortunately, the weather forecast doesn't seem too good for the week ahead, but let's see- it may not turn out that bad!

So, as usual, we heated the sauna after having dinner and had a late swim this evening, finishing after 10pm, before the children collapsed into bed!