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Towards the end of the hot hot day, we went on an excursion to Rautkunara Rouskunhiekka in Rautavaara, where there would be several wonderful sandy beaches for children to test. We brought sausage frying utensils with us and on the way we also picked up aftermarket supplies from the Varpaisjärvi store; bananas and dark chocolate to put on the grill. The drive from Wanha school to Rouskunhiekka car park took approx. 45 minutes. You should put “Joutenlahdentie 570, Rautavaara” as your address in the navigator. The destination was so impressive that that trip was indeed worth the effort. Right next to the parking lot was a beautiful natural sandy beach, where the sun had been shining all day and when we arrived, the evening sun was already warming the sandy beach just right. 
Naturally, the children immediately jumped into the lake. The shallow sandy bottom continued far, but suddenly it came as a surprise, which is good to take into account when swimming with small children. There were a few others attracted to the hot day and one tent had been set up to feel the sandy beach. A barbecue place, pre-chopped logs and a wooden toilet were also found on the beach, so camping on site would be easy and comfortable too. Behind the beach, very close, there was also another beach, where the evening sun shone nicely. There was also just the right barbecue area on that beach, which we decided to come to as long as we were touring a 3km long nature trail around the lake lagoon. However, it was only a small section of the beautiful forest path that could be reached when a new sandy beach came up again and you also had to go swimming there. At the same time, Jani found mushrooms in the forest; a small plastic bag full of mushrooms and cloth mushrooms. 
The adults were used to moving around in the woods barefoot, and this time in a hurry when we left school at Wanha we forgot to bring our children with us. Because of this, progress was pretty slow and we soon realized that a tour around the lake would be too ambitious this time around. The barefoot 3-year-old regretted the tingling of cones and conifers understandably, so we decided to turn back soon and spend the rest of the evening on a warm hot evening sunset at the campfire we found. This was our first actual outing this summer and with this crew, so there was room for improvement in the equipment. In addition to the children’s shoes, the lack of ketchup on top of the sausage was a small place of crisis, but it was overcome and most of the evening was spent in the lake and the children also wandering in the sand. You definitely have to come here again with your shoes to hit the terrain around you. There were a couple of longer sandy beaches on the opposite shore; there is certainly more to be found on a day trip in this area.
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