Jacked Up

Finland doesn't celebrate Halloween.

Well, Finland never used to celebrate Halloween. But over the last few years, it has been gaining in popularity, except there is a bit of a problem. Halloween is at the end of October and by then it is incredibly dark, cold and pretty horrid. Also, not much grows. So it seems that instead of waiting, they will make hay while the sun shines and celebrate six weeks early.

Finns celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December, so their impatience is well documented.

But all of this is beside the point, as it was a nice evening out at a farm that usually is known for its strawberries, but also has a corn field. As the harvest for corn is now over, they cut a labyrinth into the stalks and set up a very lame treasure hunt kind of deal, to look for clues.

Smallsteps thought it was the best thing ever!

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Her friend and the parents were with us too, and while they have visited this place many times as family lives close by, they didn't know that they have been doing this at the close of the season. They also had a good time, though it got pretty chilly dropping to 5C, which is normal for this time of year, but with an unusually warm autumn, it seemed colder.

However before we ventured into the maze, we had some sausage and some fresh corn from the grill. The corn was awesome. Fresh corn on the cob is rare to get here, as most places don't grow it and it is barely imported. Most of the corn we get to grill is precooked and vacuum packed and while it is fine in a pinch, it isn't great. For everyone other than me tonight, this was the first time they had ever tasted proper corn on the cob.

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We have knocked around this farm for the first time in the summer, so you might recognize the bunny from a previous article. He seems to be enjoying corn season too. Unfortunately, they weren't selling any anymore, so we will have to go back earlier in the next year to get some for our eating pleasure at home.

Grilled corn is one of Smallsteps' favorite things in the summer and she was impressed by what was on offer tonight. This place also has a café that has a lot of gluten-free cakes, so she was super happy with the fare.

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It was nice to hang out with the other family also, with us driving the friend and the mother there, and then the father meeting us as he was coming from the other direction. It was a late notice thing as we only found out about it last night and invited them today, but they were glad we did and ended up having some laughs together. We haven't really hung out with "the parents" of friends, but I think we should do it more, especially since they will likely be in our lives for some time to come.

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Smallsteps found an autumn beanie.

Her head seems to grow so fast.

Hopefully it is brains developing in there.

I like this shot of the moon, because of the layers it has. I didn't have time to set up the shot as we were just walking along and I feel a bit weird with the camera when there are "strangers" around and I don't want to slow them down, but it is okay. Because I didn't have time, it is a bit grainy as I had to bump the speed up too high, but better than no shot I figure.

They were also selling pumpkins, which I assume were grown on the farm, but not sure. I haven't seen local pumpkins in the supermarket here, nor have I seen local corn, so I guess they are only selling these things from the farm itself. This was taken when we arrived, but a couple hours later all the pumpkins were gone, so it seems that there will be some decent soup, or lanterns made.

I have never made a lantern, but perhaps this year we can make an event of it as a family and give it a whirl. How hard can it be? And I think it will be a bit of fun.

We got home quite late (for Smallsteps) tonight, but before she fell asleep, she thanked my wife for organizing the day. She is pretty good at recognizing when we have done something "special", even though it wasn't really that much at all. She got to spend time playing with a friend she doesn't see often, eating food she enjoys, and seeing things she hasn't seen before.

One of the parents said "this is better than the amusement park".

At least it was far cheaper and I think that the kids will remember it for some time to come.

Taraz
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