Vacation in Estonia. 2015

I believe, the best memories from this summer were made in Estonia. Our family took a month-long vacation to visit my side of the family. Saara and Andrew had never been to my homeland in summer. They had no idea the fun awaiting for them. These are just a few things the children had a chance to experience:

Nights are not dark here. This picture was taken after 9 pm. We were still suffering from jet-lag, and, instead of going to bed, decided a short walk in the woods was in order. The sun was still up high.

After reading "The Wheel on the School", I promised Saara she will see real storks in Estonia. And she did! Lots and lots of them everywhere.

The children picked their own wild strawberries in the woods.

Andrew and Saara saw that the ant hills in Estonia are very different from the ones in Texas - they are big and built from pine needles.

A lot of places we went to had traditional Estonian swings. It took the kids and Dad a while to learn how to swing on them.

This was one of the children's favorite things to do: just run wild in the forests. The pine trees here are tall and there's not much to obstruct one's view. We even heard a cuckoo bird on one of our outings.

When the weather warmed up, the children were able to play on the beach. They saw that the most popular sports among Estonians in volleyball. There are nets up everywhere, and people use them all the time, rain or shine.

The water was too cold to swim in at first, but it was still a lot of fun to look for shells by the lake.

On our first walk in the woods, I warned the children about the stinging nettle. Saara was first to stumble into one by accident. Thankfully, the damage the nettle causes is mild and disappears fast.

The cranes.

Thanks to their relatives, the children's 'main' diet was strawberries.

Finally, Saara got her very own first daisy chain wreath.

Lots of wild blueberries for the kids to pick and eat!

In one of the forest, we saw lots of old WWII trenches. These were dug by the Nazis.

One big part of our touring was to let the children see their roots. We visited the farm that used to belong to their great-grandfather. The buildings he built are still there.

Driving by fields with grains, we stopped to let the kids see where their food comes from. This one was an oat field.

There is an abundance of lakes in Estonia. Wherever you turn, there's a lake, and a swimming spot. While the weather was nice, the kids swam in one lake during the day and in another in the evening.

Saara helping Grandma put labels on freshly made strawberry jams. 

I was surprised how many people from outside Estonia we met. A lot of them from the States. The children made friends easily with children who spoke English and who did not.