Last week we went to the Moomin valley with Dag!
There are certain things you need to do with your kids as a parent and earlier I thought of some with horror . We took Eddi's older boys to Legoland in 2011 and I was a bit stressed at the thought of thousands of over-enthusiastic and screaming and whinging kids all around., plus endless amounts of holes to pour your money in. But it wasn't all that bad though, rather fun actually, although the thought of one day having to go there again as I would want my own children to experience it too did come with a sigh. But now, as a parent myself I was very much looking forward to our first little summer trip with Dag to go see the Moomins! Dag is such a huge fan and I knew he would be thrilled to go!
And he was thrilled indeed! So much to the extent he was overwhelmed and got extremely shy, almost horrified, to meet his favourite characters in person.
The Moomin valley, or The Moomin World as it is called, is in the little town of Naantali in the southwest of Finland, which is a mere hour and a half away from our farm.
Dag was trying to bathe everywhere and get undressed; we've had a heat wave here for some time and the temperature was around +30C; I don't think I've sweated that much outdoors in ages!
Luckily the place is on an island and there is a beach to head out to. The water has become really warm too so even I went in for a swim!
In the style of Moomin-mama I had packed a picnic with us, with home-made cherry cake. There has been so much cherries this year! I had made ice tea the night before with dried apple and fresh mint that I'd put in the freezer over night. It served as a cooler in the basket until our picnic.
Dag was totally digging the character's show, getting to hear the moomin song live.
(I have a student from Naantali and she told me almost every one has worked at the Moomins at some point of their late teens. On days like this I felt sorry for all of them in their thick suits... )
Most of all Dag wanted to go see Mårran (The Groke) though. Or, to be said like this: *gasping for air* -Mårran! So we scared him for life by actually visiting her. The first time he ran out from the cave screaming, but after some time he wanted to go again. This time safely in the lap of his father but it was apparently a very terrifying experience nonetheless, which he the following days proudly remembered.
Afterwards we took a walk around the town of Naantali. I haven't been there before and had no idea it was such a pretty place.
We had dinner at a restaurant by the sea.
Dag was happy with his new characters, as always organising them in very neat rows in different order, just before he fell asleep, exhausted and happy. He wanted to wear his entrance bracelet for the rest of the entire week.
(Nothing in this post has been sponsored or paid for.)
