Finland Day 4

Day 4...began with breakfast in the hotel.  Then Rauno came to meet us and we drove about 50 minutes north to Konginkangas.  We drove to my Great Grandmother's church, and met up with Kaarina and her daughter Paivi.  Paivi is a little bit younger than me, and speaks some English, enough that we were able to communicate pretty well.  Kaarina doesn't speak any English, but she was able to keep up with Rauno and Paivi translating for her.  Anyway, we arrived about an hour before church services began, and wandered this lovely little cemetery and visited relatives that had passed.  Aili walked around looking for headstones that said "Aili" on them.  Slightly morbid, but she doesn't see her name very often back home.  (On a side note, earlier when we were at a gas station they had these little flags with names on them, and she was upset to find "Alex" but not "Aili".)  We then went inside the church and enjoyed the service.  It was all in Finnish, but we were able to follow along with the hymnal, and recognize the Lord's Prayer and Apostle's Creed.  We then went to a buffet lunch at this cute little cafe, where Aden proceeded to eat only watermelon.  Kaarina and Paivi had prepared a beautiful strawberry cake for us that was really delicious.

After lunch we went back to Kaarina's house and visited for several hours.  The adults sat inside and looked through antique photos to see if they could identify any of the people in them.  Other than a baby picture of Rauno, they were not able to identify any of the photos my mom brought, but my mom helped them with a couple of their photos.  Out in the yard there is a fabulous play house that Paivi's father built for her when she was younger.  The kids spent the hours playing soccer, baseball, and hiding in the playhouse from the rain.  We then ate fresh strawberries from the garden, and said our goodbyes.  Before we left Rauno taught Alex how they play Finnish Baseball or Pesapallo.  The pitcher stands on the other side of the plate from the batter and throws the ball straight up in the air.  When the batter hits it, he runs the bases.  1st is where 3rd base should be, 2nd is where 1st usually is, and 3rd is sort of in left field.  So basically they zig zag across the playing field.  I watched a short YouTube video, and it was very interesting.  Alex, of course, has decided he could totally rock at Pesapallo.  It took a few pitches from Rauno, but then he hit one all the way across Kaarina's yard (with a nerf ball).  We then drove back to Jyvaskyla, and have been hanging in the hotel.

Tomorrow we'll pick up Marikka, and head 8 hours north to Rovaniemi where we'll do some sightseeing and visit Santa and his Reindeer!!  Tonight was the first night Aden asked to go home.  When I reminded him we haven't visited Santa yet, he decided we could stay longer.  :)

Church in Konginkangas

Inside of Church

My mom, Kaarina & Paivi sorting through old photos

Paivi's Playhouse

Inside the Playhouse