Who needs a sauna....
When all I have to do is strip nekkid in my sister's back yard.
Seriously, the entire time we've been in TX the temperatures haven't gone below 30. There was a moment, and literally a hot second, where temperatures were 25 but it was very short lived. Not only are Dallas and San Antonio hot, they're outrageously humid, well not as humid as Houston or Galveston which are absolutely disgusting. It's funny because I've noticed the changes in my skin since I've come home. And to be honest it looks nearly exactly the same as when I come out of the sauna. My skin is just as bright and dewy as the day I was born and while my skin and hair love the humidity, I can't say the same for my lungs because it's quite unbearable at times. Anyways....
So our last few days in TX were spent mostly relaxing, minus the few trips to the store to pick some essentials which I later forgot back home to bring back to Finland.
Eero and I spent our last weekend at Sixflags where we spent nearly 6 hours in the 106F (43C) degree heat. By the end of the day, I was sapped of any energy, and poor Eero was probably so heat stroked and dehydrated, despite our continuous drinking of water and other drinks that he could barely say who or where he was. I guess he finally reached his limit. All those times of saying the TX heat and humidity was nice bit him in the ass ;)
For my friends who aren't US residents, Sixflags is definitely something that should be taken into consideration when planing your trip to the States (or Canada or Mexico). It's expensive and the lines are outrageously long (depending on the time of day you're going) but as Eero put it, "it's sooo worth it in the end."
I remember my trip to Särkänniemi my first summer in Finland, and just remember thinking it can't hold a candle to Sixflags. I did appreciate the aquarium and the planetarium, but the actual rollercoasters, which is why one goes to an amusement park in the first place, were heavily lacking, except for one.
Anyways, we both enjoyed ourselves, even if we didn't get to ride many rides and lost about 2kgs worth of water through sweat that day.
Later on that evening, which cooled down to only about 85F (30C) degrees, I thought it would be nice to take a family picture, with Eero included. It's unfortunate that the last picture we have as a family was my youngest sister, Arielle's, high school graduation ceremony in 2007, but my parents split up that year, so I guess it's understandable. This time, I absolutely had to take advantage of the fact the whole family was together since then.
I thought it would be nice to take the picture inside my sisters' place on the couch, but as the lighting isn't so good at the end of the day, Arielle suggested we take the picture outside in the "front porch" so to speak. It was a bit difficult to get the lighting just right, so the picture with Eero turned out a bit bright.I tried to adjust the gamma and brightness, but I've probably ruined the picture. We also had to use the self timer so forgive me for the not so nice quality of the shot. Also, be sure to double check when someone else takes a picture of you, as I later found out that most of the pictures taken didn't come out up to par and are quite blurry. it's a shame since they would have been nice pictures.
Heading back across the pond was actually easier than I thought. Around week five, I realized that I'm now refreshed, I've visited home, and I started to remember why I don't live at home in the first place. It's funny how family will do that to you. Too bad our flight back to Finland wasn't so nice. We had 2 layovers, a screaming baby and freezing cold airplane cabins, it wasn't nice at all. But it was very nice to be back in Finland, until I had my first meal and took a look at the price for it.
Man, my skin really hasn't looked better. That last picture isn't edited at all. And my hair was sooo fluffy and healthy looking. I might not admit it, but I'll definitely miss my own public sauna, so to speak. Well, my skin will readjust and I think it looks alright in the winter time (since I'm smart enough to drink a lot of water during that time).