Ship Ahoy

Now that life has shifted to the fast lane again, it is nice to look at vacation pictures and try to capture a bit of that relaxed feeling. In between of browsing fashion stuff from the New York Fashion Week, I've been going back to the photos I took on our trip to Finland. Here's a collection of photos titled "Girls on Ship", taken on a cruise above Silja Serenade from Helsinki to Stockholm. Something I hadn't done since the mid-90's. My daughters loved it and there was lots of activity for the kids on the ship. I enjoyed watching the sea and the scenery, especially the beautiful archipelago outside of Stockholm. We will definitely do this again on a future vacation.

Summer Cottage

My parents started going to this summer cottage when I was 3-years old, so I don't really remember a time without it. It's a special place and has had its ups and downs. Recently it's a bit more overgrown, and the garden a bit less tended, but still beautiful in a more natural state.

Aulanko

We went to see a summer theater production for Kids at Aulanko's Graniittilinna. The play was Ella and Kadonnut Karttakeppi and it was quite fun and funny. We also had a nice lunch at the Aulanko Rantasipi hotel and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Tammerkosken Sillalla

Play Ground - Pikkukakkosen Puisto

I've got a ton of pictures from Finland, and the next few posts will be all about our summer vacation there. I love going to Finland in the summer because the weather is usually much fresher there than in  New York, but this time not so much. Finland was HOT! And most places don't have air-conditioning, so some nights it got pretty sweaty, but all in all we had a wonderful time, and squeezed in a lot of fun into a short time. It was great for me to get away and completely disengage from all the work related stuff. I even left my blackberry home in New York (gasp!). We were so busy on our vacation that we only got to go to Pikkukakkosen Puisto once, even though grandma's house is right by the park, and it has been nicely renovated since our last visit.