Cuckoo's nest

I showed you this one already and as you know, we started our trip off by missing the ferry. I was a tiny bit bummed out, just because we were so close to making it, but me and T grabbed a couple of ice cold beers (the boys couldn’t because H was driving and D said something about a bro-code) and our mini-holiday could begin regardless. We made the 19:00 ferry in stead so after only an hour and a half long wait, we were back on track!

We had a bite to eat, stayed out on the sun deck and tackled two overtired little ladies. When we disembarked, it was time to drive to Kärdla for food shopping! I had written a shopping list beforehand so getting everything we needed was a walk in the park. The boys made it very clear that our shopping techniques were very different – the boys like to pick everything up systematically, we like to run around and go back and forth if we need to. A very nice lady passed us when the guys were making fun of us and advised them to let it go if they didn’t want to go hungry (all kinds of hungry)…  :D We filled our shopping carts with delicious food, beer and soft drinks (me and T decided we didn’t want wine this time) and headed towards our little house.
When our van (that we borrowed from our incredibly helpful and generous neighbors) finally reached destination and we could let the pooch out, guess who was the happiest dog in the world? I think she went for a swim at the beach pretty much straight away…

When we got home, the house was pretty chilly and damp so I needed to light the fireplace before we made the little ones’ beds and unpacked all our stuff. The chimney wouldn’t draw properly so we had the entire house full of smoke until we finally managed to get the chimney warmed up and the draft fixed. Since it was a really warm evening, the daddies and little ladies just hung out on the terrace until the mommies worked on resolving the issue.
All unpacked

The kids were really exhausted from a long day of adventures so they passed out pretty much instantly when their little heads hit the pillows. We stayed up until 4 a.m. –  barbecued some chicken, drank beers, discussed existential topics and enjoyed good company. We had a well-deserved break from our everyday lives in a busy city and went someplace that’s peaceful and quiet beyond anything you could ever imagine. All you could hear was the fire in the grill crackling, the waves of the sea hitting the shore and occasionally the dog barking at wild animals lurking in the woods.
The kids scattered all their toys across the floor so it would feel like home. Auntie T adores sheep so that’s what she needed to feel welcome. I was just happy to finally have a real stove to cook on.

We got up at around 9 a.m. Saturday morning, had coffee, oatmeal and sandwiches for breakfast and really just had one of those lazy day. We hung out on the terrace, played with the dog, chased the toddlers and when it was time for the kids’ afternoon naps, I started making lunch –  borsch (the Ukranian gift to mankind – the most delicious beetroot soup). “Mom! I smell soup! Hand over the soup!” 

Somewhere around two or three in the afternoon we started preparing ourselves for a little road trip around the island. We went to Kärdla for some mo re shopping and were hoping to possibly have a decent cup of coffee at a café. That was not going to happen, we were too late and everything closes at around 3 p.m. We got everything we needed and decided to go to the Kõpu lighthouse – when we arrived, our ladybug had fallen asleep in the car so as far as she’s concerned, we never went there at all. We’re truly a lazy group of people – in stead of climbing atop the lighthouse, we had lots of delicious cake and coffee at the cafeteria. In our defense, though – climbing up those claustrophobic little stairs carrying a toddler would probably not have been the easiest of challenges. And our family has been there once already!

We bought cute little refrigerator magnets (as a little token of appreciation for the people who lent us the van) from the souvenir-shop and decided to go see Kalana port next – there’s a little seaside holiday village, a camping lot, a café and a stranded fishing vessel that you can climb onto and explore.
Then auntie T remembered she had once visited some old military catacombs (read more about them in Estonian {HERE}) on the island and since we were nearby, we decided to drive by and see if we could find any of them. It was cold and the kids were asleep so we decided we would come back someday with proper clothing and equipment (flashlights etc.) for that sort of adventure. We’ll look it all up on a map and it will be awesome! Gee, excited much, baby sis’? Nah, I actually made her do jumping shots for me

Last summer we had the fence surrounding the house rebuilt by a really nice and talented local man, who also happened to grow rabbits at his really awesome estate. I asked H to call him this time, too, and ask him if he maybe had any delicious smoked rabbit to sell us. He didn’t, but got us one from a friend of his. We went to pick it up and asked if we could show our guests his incredible estate and really cool accommodations – he didn’t mind at all. He also told us that this year, in addition to his two dogs, the cat and the (baby) bunnies, he also has hens, roosters, tiny little chicks, quails and (baby) ducks. He said right away that seeing the rabbits wouldn’t be a good idea because they sometimes have a nasty habit of eating their kits’ paws when they’re stressed. For some reason, he changed his mind (probably to make the kids happy) and invited us to see all his animals, including the tiniest little bunnies – he lifted those out together with the little box they were in to avoid mama-rabbit getting pissed. Our kids were absolutely ecstatic and from the minute she saw her first rabbit, little ladybug knew the word and couldn’t stop saying it: “JÄJIIIIII” is derived from the actual word “jänes”, meaning rabbit…
Those are his really cool little thatched accommodations built almost entirely from straw. I really wish I had brought the camera when we visited that magical place… The top picture of the little houses is borrowed from their home page {HERE}.
The tiny little 13-day old bunny is an opal (slate blue at base of hair, then gold, then blue tip) rabbit and his fur is very desired and expensive. The ones in the middle are meat rabbits.

I strongly believe that knowing where your food comes from and accepting it is really-really important. I have no problem telling my daughter that the adorable bunnies she went to see are going to be food on somebody’s table. I love the way those rabbits are treated, taken care of and loved so I have a much clearer conscience buying a rabbit from him than getting meat from the supermarket.

We headed back home to start cooking dinner and put the little rugrats in bed – it had been a long day and the littlest troopers were exhausted. For some reason, we didn’t take pictures of our barbecue dinner, I guess we were just that hungry… We grilled meat skewers, corn, filled mushrooms and had two salads to go with it (coleslaw and tomato-cucumber-sour cream). We stayed up until way-too-late-o’clock again, drank beer and had a nice chat out on the terrace until we ‘just couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.
There can’t be a perfect Sunday without a glorious pancake breakfast (presented by me and D, who helped out with the frying). After we had filled our tummies with delicious Nutella-pancakes and coffee and rested a bit, we finally got our opportunity to spend the day at the beach – the weather was amazing. We grabbed towels, drinks, toys and tanning oil and headed to the beach. After a 15   s e c o n d  walk, we were almost there and joking about going back because the beach was too far away.  That’s how close the house is to our little “private beach”.
The kids loved it – the sand, the water and unlimited freedom. And since it’s such a private place, you don’t have to worry about anything other than the actual sea. 
It looks a lot like we really were enjoying ourselves, doesn’t it? It surely was one of the best days in a looong while!
Our sweet-sweet friends, one for each. Me and T are good friends and match really well, D and H are like long-lost brothers and each other’s copies and the little ones play really nicely together as well.  :)
The pooch, the littlest ones, my baby sis’ and the boys all went for a swim. I grabbed the camera and made sure there was documentation (I have video proof of the guys really diving in!) . And then I may or may not have splashed others wet because I had camera-immunity. Mwahaha!

When we left the beach, we had three hours to have lunch, clean up the house and hit the road in time to make the 20:30 ferry. Everyone helped out and together, we finished packing, cooking, eating and thoroughly cleaning the house sooner than we had expected and could really take it easy and be on our way in time. There’s nothing better than proper team work
Yay, we’re done cleaning! Might as well take loads of pictures before we go!

We had a lovely dinner on the ferry, took the kids to play in the toy corner and went to the sun deck to wave goodbye to our paradise island. We’ll be back soon!