Rai is 148 Months Old!

 Now that Rai is 12, those pre-teen hormones seem to be kicking in and his appearance seems to change almost daily...

Rauda Forest Trails

 Always in search of some new destinations and trails, a little research led us to the Rauda Forest, just north of Tukums this weekend. After getting slightly lost, we found the two trails we were searching for: the Buck Trail (leading up to the top of Goat Hill) and the nearby Werewolf Trail. Outside of the more famous Pokaini Forest, this area is recognized as having very strong geomantic energy. Unique to the Rauda Forest, the Buck Trail is of high positive energy whilst the Werewolf Trail is of high negative energy. It was quite the experience to walk one followed by the other. Adding to the fun, the Werewolf Trail was set to follow the shape of a wolf's head. Very spooky!

Kotaru is 130 Months Old!

 

Another Cat?

 Imagine our surprise when we returned from our summer holiday to find another cat in our yard!  
Linda and Franceska, inspired by our cat acquisition last Fall, got a cat of their own. It took but 5 minutes for Lauki and Lily to introduce themselves. Now, they are best friends. Fast friends.

Summer around the Baltic - southern Sweden

 After an important family meeting, our return ferry from Stockholm to Latvia was booked and we knew that we had just 4 days to go. The boys were excited, tired from a long trip, and ready to get home. Now, although our list of places to visit in southern Sweden was short, Sweden is much, much, much bigger than Denmark so these few stops had great distances between them. In just four days, we would have to travel about 950 kilometers. It would be a long few days in the car to wrap up this voyage.  The stops, however, gave us a better perspective on southern Sweden, a region that we haven't had a chance to explore yet. We visited the historic university town of Lund, then the busy, historic port of Ystad. The following day, we took a detour through the Glasriket, the Glass Kingdom, Sweden's historic glass blowing region. After that, it was grand Kalmar, access town to the long, rustic, windmill-covered (there are more than 400 of them) island of Oland. Following that, it was back to familiar Stockholm for our favorite vegan buffet at Hermann's and some ice cream before heading to the ferry at Nynashamn. And, so ended our 7500 kilometer journey around the Baltic Sea. Back to work soon...