It took us a while to actually get up and out - but as we did, my friend, Janeli, gave us a call and wanted to do something. We invited her to come along. She insisted it was too cold to get in the water, but agreed to come along with us and enjoy the sand and water fully dressed.
When we met up with Janeli, Spencer and I were both in our swimming attire and Janeli was in a full-on sweat outfit. It was awesome! What was even greater was that it started to rain not long after. Needless to say, it was a little bit cold for a beach day - but we played around on the toys anyway.
This swing was a blast - especially when Spencer and Janeli joined me in it.I didn't get a picture of all three of us, but here's one when Spencer decided to get out and give us a push.
We then went to lunch with Janeli and just happened to run into the missionaries at the same place. We joined in on their lunch and had a great time!
After going home and getting ourselves little more presentable, we headed off to the little church building for English classes. Sister Nelly Osula was so excited to see us there, and she was very adamant that we get a picture taken together. She had even called me earlier that day to make sure that I didn't forget my camera because she could not handle the idea of not getting a picture with us.
We were pretty beat after English class, so we headed home with some food to get some rest for the night.
The next day, we were able to make some fun rounds to visit some of my favorite people. We started off the day with Sister Linda Hamburg. This lady is one of the most kind and patient ladies I've ever met. She is SO optimistic that it's hard to have a sad or foreboding thought in your head when she's around. It really is incredible to be in such an amazing person's presence. Spencer was an absolutely wonderful too because he didn't hardly understand a word of what we talked about, but he nodded and smiled and waited patiently while Sister Hamburg and I talked our hearts out.
Spencer, me and Sister Hamburg - the camera timer was a wonderful invention!
From Sister Hamburg's apartment we went straight to catch the bus to Ülle Tilk's. We missed the bus we should have gotten on, so we had to wait another hour for the next one. I hate it when that happens! But since we were lucky enough to find her on Monday when my parents were still there with the car, I was able to call her and make sure we could still get over there with the next bus. I was so excited to see her again and talk to her about her life and everything that's been going on. Again, Spencer didn't hardly understand any of our conversation - but I am grateful that he was so willing to sit through these wonderful visits.
Once we got back into town, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed off to Sister Pruel's house again, where Janeli surprised us by joining in the fun and eating the most delicious chocolate cake ever! While here, the rain started to absolutely pour and the power went out! Spencer and I had fully been planning on walking home, but apparently we didn't end up doing that and had to catch the bus home.
While at Sister Pruel's, Janeli invited us to go to her family's home in a small town called Kabli that is situated right on the Baltic, almost to the border of Latvia and Estonia, which is about an hour bus ride out of Pärnu. I had the opportunity to go there once as a missionary and was so excited to go again with Spencer.
The bus didn't leave the next morning until almost noon, so while we killed time that next morning I took Spencer to the Pärnu market to see if we could find any cool things to buy. We had a great time looking at all the fresh veggies and mostly enjoying the interactions of all the old Estonian ladies selling their stuff. Spencer especially enjoyed watching this old lady on the right, in the red.
We didn't find anything we really wanted, so off we went to the bus station. After all our experiences in the Ghanaian buses this summer, we had mixed emotions about getting on another bus. We were not too excited to be on a bus period - but absolutely thrilled that we had soft seats and smooth roads to travel on.
Once in Kabli, Janeli took us straight to the Baltic to show us the beautiful and scenic route along the beach. I don't know how well you can see the sea, but it's there and it was gorgeous.
We then stopped by the store to pick up some sausages for lunch and headed right to Janeli's to do some old fashioned, Estonian grilling. This picture is of Janeli's grandpa, Spencer and Janeli on the right holding our bowl full of goods for the cucumber, tomato and sour cream salad (an Estonian classic) :).
After Janeli's grandpa started up the grill and about burned his hand off with syrup-like lighter fluid, Spencer was put in charge of the grilling. Boy were those sausages good!
The whole crew around the table. Janeli's cousins were visiting from Germany for the month, so we were so excited that they could join us in the feast.
Janeli's friend (whose name I don't remember), Janeli, cousin, aunt, grandma, me and grandpa.
Although the visit was short and sweet, I am so glad that Spencer got to see more of the Estonian countryside and have a chance to interact with more Estonians in their native environment. They absolutely LOVE the country and believe the land and all the nature to be very sacred. When you go to the country you can tell how well they take care of it and they take great pride in making it as beautiful as possible.
Spencer and Janeli on the ride back.
This Thursday in Kabli was our last day in Pärnu :( We left Friday at 1:00pm to head back to Tartu. Sister Osula was so sad to see us go and hurried to the bus stop to see us off. It about broke my heart AND Spencer's to see her sitting right outside or window waving and following the bus as it took off. 
I will definitely miss the people here and all the wonderful times we had. Hopefully someday we'll get to go back and show our children how wonderful all of it is.
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