Day 2: Shopping in Vaajakoski and Jyväskylä ...

It's a bittersweet experience, having to "enjoy" the weather we've had since we arrived yesterday, with heavy rain and cool temperatures, something that we have avoided almost every time we have come here. When I went to bed last night,  the latest forecast was suggesting it would (unbelievably) be like this for at least the next seven days! Holy Moly! That's simply not in the script for a summer holiday here in Finland. One advantage I suppose was the fact that as it's cooler than usual, we all had very sound sleeps last night!

Keith relaxing this morning.

Today, as it's still raining, we took the chance to do some food shopping that will hopefully last the nine of us for the whole week, as well as spending the afternoon in Jyväskylä where Anna's folks eagerly hunted for bargains.

Looking across to the newly painted lakeside sauna.

Once we were back home, with the rain still hammering down, I decided that it was time to heat the indoor sauna for the first time since we first came here 5 years ago. I also heated up the lakeside sauna too, as Olivia and Sandy were determined to swim, no matter what! In fact, we all swam, and it was pretty refreshing! The water temperature is 20C, even though the air temperature was only hitting 13C during all the rain today. I'm pleased to report that the forecast has improved for later this week, with near to normal July temperatures (and sunshine!) expected on Thursday and beyond. That's certainly a relief... Tomorrow however, it might end up being the third straight day of rain, which is as wet as it's been for the last 30 years here!

 Climbing onto the platform.

Backflip from Olivia into the lake!

Tomorrow, we'll also try something completely different, with a trip to a savosauna, or smoke sauna. Normally these are very expensive to visit or to rent, and they are considered to be the best of all saunas to experience, but for one day only tomorrow, it'll be 10€ only per person to enjoy this. Looking forward to it!