mökki: summer cottages-part one

It has been a long standing tradition in Finland that families spend a decent part of the summer (several weeks) in a mökki or summer cottage outside of the city. Some of the summer cottages have been in the families for generations and some are just rented for the summer. Seeing as how Finland is the land of 1,000 lakes, many of these mökki are located along the shores of either a lake or the Baltic sea.

This summer my family and I had the great pleasure of spending the week of Jouhannus together with our extended family in a lovely summer cottage in Kahiluoto.

Kahiluoto is roughly an hour drive out into the archipelagos surrounding the city of Turku.

This is such a wonder experience for children because their is no internet and very limited access to television. It does however have lots of bugs and a "huussi" or outhouse. Our days were filled with fishing, hiking through the Finnish forest, saunas, and swimming in the frigid sea water.

Below are some pictures of the cottage when we first arrived. Along with a map of just were it was located. Still to come are some of the joyous memories that I would like to share with everyone!