Stormy trip to Mother's Day Island

Thunder above, paddleboards below — and exciting memories in the making

Christmas island, Easter island… did you know there’s an island called Mother’s Day island? I guess you didn’t, because it’s not on the map, just our family’s thing!

Last Mothers day we made a day trip to an island front of our summer cottage. We rowed there in a boat — my better half did the rowing — and we docked to a nice rocky shore. Then we explored the island and assembled a cake using a ready-made cake base, whipped cream from a can, banana and blueberries. The cake turned out surprisingly good, and I think that was the best Mother’s Day ever.

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Today my better half went to buy some groceries and I decided to go paddleboarding with the children. My 8-year-old is already a very good paddleboarder, so it was easy for him to take the 5-year-old to his board, and I took 3-year-old with mine.

Maybe not the easiest way to handle three wild children alone, but I don't really know how to take the easy route anyway. I always seem to choose the path where the fence is tallest — but that's where the best views are.

Just about when we were launching the boards, I heard thunder from behind us. I checked the weather forecast and made a fast decision: we had enough time before the thunderstorm, and if it starts while we are on island, we could manage that time on the island. Maybe not the smartest decision — once again — but… well, that’s me.

So, we left anyway. The weather was sunny, but thunder rumbled the whole time.

We arrived to the back side of the island and landed in a nice small, rocky bay. We met some biting ants and I regretted that we didn’t take shoes with us. Only the 8-year-old had brought his sneakers with him and was able to walk fast.

The kids started to play geologists and they splitted rocks. I recorded a short video of them playing. I love watching them get so curious and absorbed in nature — turning pebbles, examining shapes, and pretending to discover something ancient. Their imagination always finds something magical beneath the moss or hidden in a crack.

Then we ate our snacks. This time not so healthy, because we only had cookies, hot chocolate and little bit of chips on our cottage. That’s pretty much the reason my better half went to buy groceries. After several sunny summer days full of swimming, sauna and grilling, we had run out of everything.

We listened the thunder. It kept rumbling all the time. There were not long pauses, just an endless roar around us. The sky was still clear. The atmosphere was tense but joyful. The youngest one said a couple of times that she was scared, but that’s it. It was amazing. It was dry, warm, and humid, yet still we had a stormy vibe. There is a short video where you can hear what it sounded like.

Then it was time to return. I checked weather forecast once again, and there was a little bit of time to paddle back over the open water. The sky looked quite clear even though the thunder was still rumbling. But then — the wind got stronger! And then we saw a flash of lighting above the water. We backed off, returned to the island’s shore and waited until the sky settled down.

Then I decided it was safe to go. We paddled against the wind, and the 8-year-old handled it well. Everyone was in a good mood.

Then we got back to the cottage. The storm was gone. It went around us but made our trip exciting with stormy sounds. We didn’t even get wet.

Just before we landed, a hole tore open in the sky and the sun peeked through. We pulled the SUP-boards onto the shore, and I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down watching the kids fishing from the dock. (How do they have that energy?!)

When dad came from the store, the kids had a lot to tell!

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