Rainy days

Ronja's been in Lappeenranta with her grandparents for the last two weeks.

They're bringing her home tomorrow.

Mirja was in Porvoo with my parents for over two weeks.

She had a great time with My, her cousin.

Mirja and I went to see "Animals United" in 3D.

It tells the story of what happens on the savanna in Africa

when the animals start to wonder why the water doesn't arrive

as usual and some of them set out to find water to drink.

We both enjoyed it a lot.

Today Mirja, her friend Matilda and I went to Huimala.

Adventure labyrinths, trampolines and lots of other activities.

I got tired just watching them run around!

Some of my favorite authors have published new books.

I've had a ball reading these:

C.E. Murphy: Spirit Dances

Spirit Dances is book six of the Walker Papers. Detective Joanna Walker 

is getting better at mastering her shamanic powers. She takes her boss to a 

dance performance that ends with the lead dancer dead. In addition 

homeless people are disappearing, the  full moon is approaching and 

it looks like the killer is a creature that can't possibly exist.

Charlaine Harris: Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning is the 11th book about Sookie Stackhouse. 

She witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. 

Sookie and Sam work together to find out who's behind the attack. 

Eric and Pam are plotting something and once again Sookie is 

drawn into the vampire politics.

Anne Bishop: Twilight's Dawn

 Twilight's Dawn is a collection of stories in the Black Jewels series.

A mix of magic and romance with great characters.

Laurell K. Hamilton: Hit List

U.S. Marshals Anita Blake and Ted Forrester are hunting serial killers. 

Not just ordinary killers but monsters. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen 

among the vampires for a long time. The Harlequin serve the Mother of All 

Darkness, the first vampire. Her body has been destroyed, now she needs 

a new one and she wants Anita's. It looks like she's using the serial killings 

to get what she wants.

Happy Midsummer!

I've been on vacation this week.

We were visiting my parents in Porvoo for a couple of days.

Ronja had her last football practices and games 

before the official summer break.

Mostly we've done as little as possible -

and enjoyed it very much!

For the first time in many years we will be

celebrating Midsummer at home just the four of us.

Enjoying food & drink, playing games,

being together.

Happy Midsummer everyone!

Here are some of the books I've read:

Moon Called vol. 1 

I don't usually read graphic novels, but I had to pick up

Moon Called simply because I love the Mercy Thompson

novels by Patricia Briggs so much. The next volume

should be out in October. I can't wait!

P.N. Elrod: The Vampire Files vol. 3

The Vampire Files volume 3 by P.N. Elrod includes

books 7 and 8 in her series about vampire P.I. Jack Fleming.

Good mysteries set in Chicago in 1937

with gangsters, girls, jazz and lots of action.

Full Moon City

Full Moon City is a short story collection of modern

werewolf tales.

Danger lurks in the heart of the city...

but not always where you expect it. 

The Gift of Love

The Gift of Love is a collection of romantic short

stories celebrating the love of family and how it impacts our lives.

Dragon's Lure

Dragon's Lure is a short story collection answering

everything you ever wanted to know about

dragons, but no one has survived to ask...

This was my favorite of the collections.

I enjoyed the stories very much.

Life, BBC 2009

I've also watched almost 10 hours worth

of amazing nature documentaries.

Perfect for rainy days.

Happy Easter!

The girls didn't have school yesterday and we decided to do something fun.

We found out that hubby had double booked the dentist and time to apply

for a passport for Ronja. Our fun day started with waiting for three hours 

at the police station. It wasn't fun, but at least she'll get her passport.

She's going to Greece with her grandparents in May.

The girls wanted to go to the movies. After buying our tickets we enjoyed

sandwiches and muffins. We went to see Rio (in 3D). The girls loved it!

After the movie we walked around in the Botanic Garden for a while.

The day ended much better than it started! 

Happy Easter!

Still amazingly cold

It's still terribly cold. We don't usually have this cold for this long in the South of Finland. I'm so happy we don't live in Kuusamo - the new record for this winter was made this morning: -37,1 C! The coldest ever in Finland was in 1999 in Kittilä when it was -51,5 C.

On Tuesday we went out to dinner to a Greek restaurant. We had an assortment of traditional starters and grilled lamb. We had baklava and handmade vanilla ice-cream for dessert. After dinner we went to the movies. I haven't been to the movies either for over ten years. We saw "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. I didn't have high expectations, but it was actually very funny.

On Wednesday we got another darbuka / tabla lesson. It was a lot of fun and we got homework too. Christer had been fishing in Nuuksio National Park. After the lesson we got fried perch. It was incredibly delicious!

I've only read a couple books, "Second Skin" by Caitlin Kittredge and "Redemption Alley" by Lilith Saintcrow. I seem to have some kind of dark / paranormal fantasy thing going at the moment.