Weekend sans children

My younger sister’s and our families have a mutually beneficial agreement that the boys spend one night every other month with their cousins. This month it was Aapo’s and Niilo’s turn to go to Järvenpää, to meet Onni, Eino, and the rest of the family there. I drove them to Järvenpää yesterday after lunch, and Sanna picked them up today, again after lunch.

For me and Sanna, this was a hassle-free weekend. We spent it by going from shop to shop in Helsinki downtown. Stockmann was having crazy days, so we ended up buying some stuff there, and then generally just store-hopped. Nobody got tired or cranky, and there was enough time to browse through the whole selection, and not just some parts before rushing to hush someone.

We paid a visit to an excellent sushi restaurant (Umeshu) in Töölö, and spent the night watching 2001 A Space Odyssey from DVD. This morning we could wake up whenever we felt so, and read the morning newspaper without interruptions. I could even code a little while Sanna was driving to and fro.

The weekend was nice, but it was also pleasant to spend time with the children. While Sanna and Aapo were watching movies — Up — I and Niilo cooked a magnificent dinner: duck, potatoes sauteed in duck grease, carrots cooked in butter, and peppermint chocolate fondant. It was surprisingly easy to cook while Niilo was toying around the kitchen. Although besides cooking I had to build a Brio train track, and help Niilo out countless times with the trains that didn’t stay on the tracks.

And being able to update Nomadig.com was sort of icing on the cake… If money would buy more of these weekends, I would not hesitate to spend it.