We were back at Loksa for the afternoon and evening for the closing festival of music camp (Evelyn joined the band for the concert). While everyone was at practise, Tim and the kids went to the beach, where Peter had a blast diging. Like all pictures on the blog, click on it to see a larger image. 

Elizabeth was the adveturous one, going into the chilly waters of the Gulf of Finland. She enjoys diging up the little bits of marble-like rock that are on the bottom near the shore. 

With Chris away, Peter and Elizabeth have become closer friends. They played together quite a bit in the sand. 

A wider view of the two pals on the beach. 

On the grounds of the camp, there are a wide variety of berries growing, and many of them are ripe this time of year. Quite a few are ones that we have never tried before. Here is Peter with some of the yummy yellow rasberries we picked. 

Elizabeth took this picture of Peter looking like he wanted to get into trouble while the band played behind him. 

The Biggest Loser

http://www.the-biggest-loser.com/category/season-1/

Counting Sheep

It's off to dreamland with the playful pattern of Counting Sheep. Your little one will delight in the whimsical sheep grazing against a grass-colored background.

On Tuesday afternoon we spent a few hours at the Tallinn Zoo with Liina, a friend from the corps. The kids really enjoyed seeing all of the animals, and we had a good time getting to know another of the attractions in Tallinn.

They had some beautiful open habitats for some of the animals, but it was an interesting contrast to see the large apartment buildings of Tallinn poking up above the scenes.

Elizabeth enjoyed seeing the polar bears. 

It was a warm day when we visited, and this poor guy couldn't even move from his pool of water. We felt bad for him, because he had only a small space to move around in. I'm sure he will feel more at home during the Estonian winter. 

Even in Estonia you can't get away from the Coke polar bears! 

They had some interesting signs near the tiger cage. 

Evelyn wanted Tim to pose next to this sign. I'm not sure why.
(Sign says: "Please do not disturb the animal. It is very old!")

They also had some funny warnings at the entrance to the crocodile house, like not putting your hand into the crocodile's mouth or feeding your child to the crocodile. 

But when you see this guy, I guess you can understand the warning. 

Elizabeth has no fear of snakes. 

Peter loves monkeys, and makes very good monkey noises, so it was a thrill for him to see some up close. 

At the end of the day, Peter and Elizabeth snuggled together on the couch before bed time. 

Here are some recent pictures that we took at Junior Soldier camp. We had the campers do a camp cleanup and they found two swings still in packages, which they assembled and put up for Peter to use. He loved it when you would give him a good push ... 

... getting excited as he guilds up steam ... 

... smiling as he gets closer ... 

... and all the way up! 

This is Peter giving me his "why are your bothering me with this camera" look. It was taken during the last meeting of Junior Soldier camp, when he was feeling a bit restless. 

minu kodulinn

Greater Portland Landmarks

Love Thy Neighbor

Portland Press Herald staff photo by Gregory Rec

Evelyn Barnes of Raymond joins about 150 people at the rally against discrimination.

quick quiz

Without doing any research whatsoever, can you name all seven of the 7 Dwarves?

We could only think of six until we looked it up.

Extra Credit! Can you name them in Estonian? :-)

Evelyn

On Saturday, it was a gorgeous day and we decided to take a walk and explore the area in which we live. We live in the Kadriorg section of town, which has many beautiful old wooden houses. It is also the home of the presidential palace (only about seven minutes from our house). We explored the outside, including the lush, well-kept gardens in the back. Here are Peter and Elizabeth at the front of the palace. 

A close-up of Peter and Elizabeth outside the palace. It stands on the edge of Kadriorg Park, which is a huge park with lots of open space, trees, some playgrounds and ponds. It is wonderful to be just over five minutes from a place like that.