Pictures from Norway, Part 4, Tranby

 We drove out to visit my cousin Bodil and her samme bo Gaute, who is an excellent cook, and their adorable daughter Edda.

 There's a little playground in front of their house.

Pictures from Norway, Part 3, (more Sandane)

 There were a few inuksuit by the path.  I was only able to get the boys to pose by this inuksuk by having them say something like, "Ninja!"  Coordinating so that they were all doing it at the same time was beyond my skills.

 This is the view from my cousin's veranda. 

 The day we arrived in Sandane we went to the beach.

The kids played together very well.  Drawing, playing DS, jumping on the trampoline, throwing paper airplanes.

Pictures from Norway, Part 2 (Sandane)

 We flew out to stunning Sandane, where my cousin Marit and her family live.  We took a hike in the mountains.

 We hiked to this lake and then had a picnic lunch and hiked back again.

Pictures from Norway, part 1

 We had a hotel room in Oslo, and often went down to Frogner Park to play on what we like to think of as the world's largest playground.  In this picture, I decided we needed to splurge on some ice cream cones, too.

 Part of Frogner Park is a section called Vigeland Park, full of statues that represent the phases of life.  We like to act out ones that are appropriate for our life stage.  Well, my parents and Joe and I like to do that.  The kids are not particularly cooperative.  We thought this one would be perfect for Erik and Adin, but it was too much to coordinate.  So, you see Joe acting it out and probably the boys are wrestling, but I like to pretend they are hugging. 

 Erik worked on a loose tooth the whole time we were there and finally pulled it out on our last full day! 

We were able to make one trip out to see Bestemor.  She was in fine form, making us waffles and setting the table with all kinds of yummy things to eat.

Good thinking, Adin

I checked out some chapter books to bring with us to Norway.  Two were Mary Poppins (not the first volume, but the second and fourth, I believe) and two were Moomin.  We ended up reading, "Moomin Midsummer Madness."  It was a very trippy book.  Maybe if we had read the first Moomin book we would have understood better, but it was very odd.  Joe and I frequently commented on how strange the story was, and after a few days Adin said, "Well, it is called Madness". 

Today we test drove a couple cars.  First we drove a lovely pastel green Sequoia, then a very dull colored Camry.  Unrelated to the wisdom of the two car choices, Joe and I agreed that the Camry we were driving was very boring, based on color.  Adin piped up from the backseat, "Maybe you could paint it a more beautiful color."  I told him that was some excellent problem solving.

National Night Out 2012

Last night was National Night Out, when neighborhoods are encouraged to hold block parties.  The last three years I've been the one to file the form with the city requesting cones to block off the street for the evening.  Erik and the neighbor boys wrote out about 12 invitations before Erik got sick and the neighbor boys went camping.  So some neighbors received handwritten invites and some got computer printed ones.  They boys helped me deliver the invites last week.

A fire engine with two firefighters came by and the kids got to look around the engine and ask any questions of the firefighters.  McGruff the Crime Dog came by with a police officer and three 'explorers'.  [I guess explorers are high school students who are interested in becoming officers.  They participate in this sort of community event.  Probably don't go along on 911 calls, I'm guessing!]  My kids are deeply ambivalent about McGruff, but Erik was willing to give him a high five.  A police officer on a bicycle came by later.  His job is to bike around alleys after dark, looking for people breaking into cars.  That was quite interesting to hear about.  He said his goal is not to be seen.  When he sees something suspicious, he'll radio in to the patrol cars, who will park on either end of the alley.  Then he bikes up to the suspect.  He said he can often get within a couple feet before the person even knows he's there.  If the suspect tries to run, the patrol cars are right there to stop him.  Erik wore his police jacket last night, so the officers thought that was pretty cool. 

I had some paper airplanes for the older kids to fold and fly, and some cardboard ones for the younger ones.  I also put out bubbles and sidewalk chalk.  The kids decorated the front sidewalk and it's fun to look out the window and see the designs.  At one point yesterday afternoon, Erik and Adin were outside and had been quiet for long enough that I was a little concerned they were up to some mischief.  I peeked around the side of the house, thinking I might catch them with the hose, but they were innocently drawing on the sidewalk! 

It was fun to see neighbors last night.  We often don't run into them other times during the year and it's always nice to re-connect.

When was that?

At bedtime tonight, I asked Adin if Joe had given him Melatonin at bedtime.  We call it 'sleepy medicine', and it made him start thinking about medicine.  The kids and I were knocked out by a virus last week.  We had fevers and there was a lot of ibuprofen going down.  Adin asked if he needed any 'purple medicine'.  I told him that was just for when he had a fever and he didn't have one anymore.  He thought for a while and told me, "Papa gave it to me yesterday, and the day after yesterday, and the day before the day after yesterday."  That made me laugh out loud!

The kids have enjoyed watching a little Olympics now and then.  This morning Erik had the idea to have a Kids Olympics.  Our ten year old neighbor came over and participated, and before he had to leave we had a Medal Ceremony.  I awarded Adin a gold medal in the U(nder) 6 Division, Erik a medal for the U10 Division and the neighbor a medal for the U16 division.  We played the National Anthem on the computer.  Afterward, Adin told me, "You're the best Mama in the U40 Division."  He doesn't realize how good that makes me feel!  Then he said Joe is the best Papa in the U40 Division.