Back to her roots

Here is our little 'gangsta' getting back to her homie roots! She has been enjoying putting hats on and then taking them off for awhile now, but the Burts Bees diaper ointment cigar was a new one! At barnehage this week, she has had loads of fun on the playground since the sun has been shining all week. Her favorite place to play is the tunnel where she can walk back and forth hiding from her teachers. But when rowdy boys come to play there also, she is quick to leave!

We have also been greatly enjoying having the Grandparents here, although this week has involved more time at work (for Rhodri and I) than we had hoped for. However, we are taking today (Friday) off and heading out of town for the weekend...

Spring already

Spring arrived on Saturday! It snowed on Friday but quickly melted, then Saturday morning was clear and sunny and actually a little bit warm (50 deg F). We played in the backyard right after breakfast. Then we went to Kalvoya island for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon and played on the fjord beach -- Rhodri fished, Bentley chased sticks in the water and Rhiannon ate rocks (tried to anyway).
We spent the rest of the weekend getting ready for the Grandparents to arrive Sunday afternoon!

Bluntness

I got a haircut yesterday at the hairdressers which is across the road from us under the grocery store. No, I am not going to post a picture of my haircut yet! Instead here is another photo from the archives when Minxie was a mere 5 months old.Anyway, I was writing about the haircut because I found the Hairdresser's bluntness so refreshing. None of this "What would you like to do with your hair today?" that I used to experience in the US. No. This lady said "You have very strange hair - curly in the back and straight on top. I don't like this [grabs a chunk of hair that had grown quite long]. It makes your face do this [pulls her own cheeks down and makes a sour expression]. You need to not have this [grabs chunk of hair again]. I want to cut it all the way around this much [shows me several inches in midair]. Then I will see what your hair does. I think it has its own mind so I want to see the big cut reaction first."

And so she chopped my hair. It looked okay when I was leaving (hair still wet) but now its a different story. Oh well.

Its been a quiet week...

The Minx has had a nasty cough and a fever all week and so we have spent a lot of time at home...3 full days and 2 half days this past work week. One of the days we went out to the little playground behind the house and she got to dig in the snow and dirt. She definitely enjoyed shoveling snow into the bulldozer.
For the most part, she has been acting her normal cheeky self but occasionally she has been in 'burrowing mode', when she just wants to snuggle up and make cooing noises against Rhodri's or my shoulder. Let's hope this week is better - it must be since her Californian grandparents are coming to visit next weekend!

Ladybug boots

Rhiannon got these Ladybug boots for Christmas from her Auntie Sioned and she hasn't been able to wear them because they aren't lined for winter temperatures. However, she gets to wear them around the house! She still needs a little bit of help to get them all the way on but she loves trying to get them on her feet by herself.

Bentley the Musher - part 2

Here is some footage of us skiing in the final stretch at Solli. Rhodri is pulling Rhiannon in front of Bentley and I. Note how slow Bentley is going! I think we "unbounced" him..

Back to Solli

We couldn't resist going back to ski at Solli, so we left the house at 9am this morning (Saturday) -- quite ambitious for us! We ended up doing a big loop out to Sandungen Lake and back a different route. Here is a timer shot of our group:[l to r] Phil, Emily, Rhodri, Henry, Jack (Henry's 9 year old son), Bentley, me and Rhiannon (in the pulk).We stopped for some yummy carrot soup (which Emily had made) and other snacks at a little hut that was slightly heated inside. Here is our little family (Bentley was sniffing around for crumbs on the floor).
This outing was a grand success, although everyone wiped out at least one time except Bentley and Rhiannon. There were quite a few ups and downs, and other skiiers out there coming fast in the opposite direction! We were kind of a chaotic group out on the mountain and managed to "clothesline" 2 other skiiers with Bentley and Jack in the middle of it. Nobody got seriously hurt but we were all completely exhausted by the time we finished -- we ended up skiing about 10 km (6.6 miles)!

High and Nigh

These are Rhiannon's new favorite words!
She says "Hi !" all the time and that word comes in all sorts of different intonations. Sometimes she sort of chirps it and other times it comes in a sing-song voice, but my favorite "Hi" is this really soft and gentle "Hi" that sounds like she is genuinely happy to see someone. She just sounds so sweet and cuddly :-)

But then there is the flip side. The "Nigh" side. Actually it is spelled "Nei" and this is the Norwegian word for "No". She only says "Nei" one way and this is usually accompanied by flailing arms and a sour face... she says "NEI NEI NEI NEI!!!!" really fast and in kind of a gravelly LOUD voice. Needless to say, she must have learned this at barnehage.

Solli skiing adventure

Today we went x-country skiing up at Solli with a group of our friends. Solli is a horse farm/ riding center that also is known for having really good ski trails. Back in August when Rhiannon and I were here visiting with Aunt Kim, we had a company-arranged dinner at Solli but I hadn't been back since. Since Solli is only about 20 minutes drive from our house, I think we will be back soon! We borrowed a "fjellpulken" ("pulk" as it is commonly known) from our neighbors and Rhodri towed Rhiannon in that while Bentley pulled me with his harness. This arrangement actually worked really well! Here we are all saddled up...
Rhiannon has gotten quite used to sleeping in the fresh Norwegian winter air, so she fell asleep as soon as we had her bundled up in the pulk.
It was quite a production getting out the door for this outing, but once we were underway it was really great. I think we may buy this pulk off our neighbor and start going on more outings like this. When we were done skiing, we gathered at the Solli cafe house to have some warm food and beverages in front of the fireplace.
From the far left in the back and going around to the right, we have Emily, me holding Rhiannon, Emily's sister Eifa, Emily's other sister Rebecca, Phil, Leendert, Thomas, Abi, Annike, and Jessica. [Rhodri is taking the photo]