Too Hot for These Scandinavians

We were so excited to go back to the Scandinavian festival this summer after it had been cancelled the past two years due to Covid. We put the date on our calendar well in advance, and I sent a message out to my sisters to see if they would like to come, too.

But this year it didn't quite feel like we were visiting Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland--at least not in the way we usually think about these icy cold countries. With temperatures around 33 degrees C, and no shade in sight, we were just roasting!

Janae started off in a Finnish costume, but after an hour or so she traded the thick wool skirt/vest and long-sleeved blouse for shorts and a T-shirt. Before that, though, when she and Eric (in his Finland hat) went to tour the portable sauna on site, someone started speaking Finnish to them, assuming they knew the language. Unfortunately, my kids could only return blank stares, since they know only one or two words of Finnish. However, Eric did sign up for information about language lessons :)

Eric and I visited the Viking Village, but there was no battling in the arena because it was too hot!

He was still able to join the candy raid, though :)

After Eric got his passport stamped in all five Scandinavian countries, he cooled off with some waffles,

and then we waited in a long, hot, slow line for well over an hour to get this little Finnish flag painted on his cheek (more about that later).

We also ran into Auntie Sheri, just in time to make some crowns and see the midsummer pole raised.

As you can see by everyone's faces, Sheri tolerates the heat a lot better than we do!

Eric wanted to stay for the hobby horse race, but nobody else could endure another minute in the hot sun, so we left for a nice, air-conditioned ride home.

But at least I got my Finnish T-shirt this time, as well as our usual Maryanne's chocolate-filled mints!

The following morning Eric woke up with a rash and swelling on his cheek that was so severe his eye was almost shut! We weren't sure if it was a reaction to the face paint or to the make-up remover wipe we'd used to take it off, but luckily Reactine took care of it within a few hours.

So, even though we enjoyed the experience, we're hoping for better luck next year!