A dream come true

Waaaaay way back, like forever ago (okay, maybe a month ago), we packed up the family and headed to Naantali to visit Moomin World.

For the record- Naantali- awesome, Moomin World- awesome, staying in a fabulous, cozy converted apartment in an old wooden house- awesome.  A fantastic, fantastic holiday all around.

One of my favorite memories was Benjy chatting up the little girl who lived in the wooden house full time.  ”Yeah, we’re living in a hotel.  We went to Moomin World.”  So casual, so suave.  I also laugh at remembering Henry’s total terror at seeing the Moomin characters up close.  Benjy was brave enough to hug them, but Henry wanted NOTHING to do with them.

But my absolute ABSOLUTE favorite memory was our last morning spent at a farm.  We randomly selected a farm from the Naantali tourist brochure, made sure they accepted random visitors, served lunch, and had animals that we could pet or feed or in some way entertain ourselves, and ventured out.

You guys.  BEST. FARM. EVER.

The farm has a great play area for kids filled with random awesomeness- tractor trucks, giant sand diggers, a trampoline, soccer balls, a slide, a wooden pole swing thing- seriously fantastic.

And then there was the lunch- lovely farm food in a lovely farm setting.  And after eating, I taught Benjy to play Dominoes.

And, of course, the whole FARM part of the farm was great.

In addition to the typical sheep you could pet between the wires of the fence, there was a wandering horse that one could approach, pet, and feed grass at will.  Spectacularly entertaining for both boys.

Early on in our visit, Olli noticed a sign that said, “Watch out for your bags.  Otto might have a nibble.”  We assumed Otto was the farm dog.

But NO!  And this is why this was the best farm ever.  Because, you guys, OTTO WAS A PIG!   A pig!!!  A pet farm pig allowed to roam the farm at will and get into all sorts of trouble.  In other words, my lifelong dream come true!!

Just in case you don’t know, I’m in love with the idea of owning a pig.  In fact, just two months ago, I turned to Olli and said, “I think I want to own a pig before I own another dog.”  And I’m 80% serious.  I want a pet pig.  Desperately.

So, to see Otto in all his pet pig glory- to witness his shenanigans (he got yelled at because he was digging up the flowers, he was scolded for hanging out in the restaurant with us, and shunned by the sheep when he went to visit them in their pen), to touch his snout, and run after him with my camera- DREAM COME TRUE.

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