Celebrating Midsummer (AKA Another Reason I LOVE Astoria)

What's a girl to do when she is hungry for some Nordic pastries?

Well, if it's the weekend closest to the summer solstice,

she heads to Astoria of course:)

 

And this time she headed there with her blue-eyed Farmer Boy

and her green eyed, blonde flower loving youngest granddaughter!

 

 

After a wrong turn,

a bit of a walk

and a trip over a pedestrian bridge suitably decorated for a Scandinavian festival,

we arrived in time for a quick peek at the flag raising taking place outdoors.

 

 

LOVE the traditional costumes...

 

 

Inside it is a Nordic-lover's shopping paradise,

but with a wee one in tow I never ventured there...

my Farmer Boy could save a LOT of money if we always had a wee one along:)

 

 

No matter---I have many Scandinavian hand crafted items already,

AND I did take time to grab the ESSENTIAL Norwegian krumkake and a Finnish pinwheel (tart).

YUM!!

Sadly the line for aebleskiver was too long and so I just may have to make

myself some later this week

(they're actually quite easy to make).

 

 

The festival is held in a pretty setting at the county fairgrounds.

This is in the Midsummer Pole area --

for those that may not know,

that is a large pole with a cross piece that has been decorated with flowers and greenery.

Oh--and topped with a tiny rooster:)

It is quite fun to watch them raising the pole and all the dancing that follows it!

 

 

Sorry we missed that this year...

it would have been fun to see our little one dance around it,

but after a little coaxing from me,

she did do some dancing to the awesome live music of

                                                    Harold Haugaard and Helene Blum,

as did other children there!

If you'd like to hear some of what we heard follow this link to the Festival website...

http://www.astoriascanfest.com/

 

After the pastries and some music it was on to the Barnefest...

where our wee one played a lot of games...

 

 

and won some Viking treasure:)

 

 

And then it was time for some fun in the sun at the beach...

but since this is already SO long,

that will have to wait till another time.

Wishing you a Monday filled with many blessings,

Aimee

 

Information:

You will find a link above should you want more information on this wonderful celebration

of Astoria's Scandinavian heritage.