Sankthansaften

As you may be able to tell from the title, we have now arrived in Norway. The girls and I arrived just in time for the midsummer night or as we call it Sankthansaften .

Sankthansaften is celebrated on June 23.

A little history: The celebration of Midsummer's Eve was from ancient times linked to the summer solstice. People believed that mid-summer plants, especially Marigold had miraculous healing powers and they therefore picked them on this night.

Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southwards again. In later years, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other evil powerful beings, though this is not the case today.

The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and in the river.

Horse shoe competition

As well as a nature quiz, before the bonfire, where our family came in on 2nd place.

The fire is finally burning and we are all pulling away from the heat..

A volleyball net was put up, where the ball ended up in the tree quite a few times.

My niece came from Oslo for the week to visit.