Rhodri and I took turns x-c skiing today - I had the early shift 9-10:30am and he had the afternoon shift 1-3pm. Sometimes it's more fun to just ski fast and work hard rather than going at a 2 or a 4 year old's pace! Then our friend Michel came over this afternoon and we had fresh cinnamon rolls for afternoon tea.
The kids each got a balloon to take home, too, which they were very proud of. I had to explain to Rhiannon about helium atoms and oxygen atoms this morning when her balloon wasn't floating up to the ceiling anymore. She wasn't too impressed.
We set out from the Semsvannet cafe area and crossed the frozen Sem lake, went up towards Gupu and then Furuholmen stuas (cabins out in the wilderness which are open on the weekends to sell warm drinks and food), then around towards Tveiter Farm and back across the lake. I guess it was about 10 km in total, with the perfect amounts of uphill, downhill, and flat bits. And with all the fresh soft snow, we both felt quite confident on our skis! Here is Fiona:
And me in the middle of the trail just before a pack of 10 huskies came mushing around the corner pulling a very smug looking guy who must have thought he was just so cool.
This is taken from the middle of Sem lake looking up at Skaugum cliff in the background and the dog peninsula by the little (red) house in the middle of the photo. Its always so cool to see places from a different perspective.
Despite living just a few minutes drive from this area, I hardly ever go here to ski. I should go more often though, because it is so beautiful.
I've discovered that I can buy a "local ticket" (as opposed to a "normal ticket") on the bus for 30 kroners (on my way to barnehage) and also use it to come home with all the kids! Bargain! I don't know if I am supposed to be able to do this or if the busdrivers just feel sorry for me traveling with 3 small ones - probably not the latter, actually, since there isn't much sympathy going on in Norway. Anyway, it's been a little chaotic but mostly fun having Sofia stay with us.
Rhiannon is already quite good! She just goes for it, and when she falls down she gets back up without help! Tryfan struggled to keep his feet/ skis going in a straight line, but with big bags of sweets in my jacket pocket as incentive, he held my hand and kept trying.
Here he is with some chocolate in his mouth on Sunday. He had more success on this day after I convinced him to pretend he was a train and he should stay on the traintracks. We were careful not to spend too much time skiing though - both days we quit while everyone was still in good spirits!
And so we had a fun dinner with Haran and Sjur (who is about 17 years old) -- they are great conversationalists and have had very interesting lives. Rhiannon loves talking to boys/men and so she spent most of the evening asking Sjur questions, showing him her favorite books and toys, and otherwise charming him. I guess it is normal, right? The barnehage system here in Norway tries to have at least 20% male staff members and so Rhiannon is used to being around male childcarers. There isn't a phobia here about inappropriate behaviour between men and children the way there is in other countries and I am so grateful for that because I see how great it is for small kids to have male role models who are not their fathers. Anyway, I am babbling now. Here is a photo of the kids right before bedtime (very wound up as you can see!) with Haran and Rhodri.
Otherwise we've had a quiet week with not much to report. At least temperatures have warmed up to the point where the kids can play outside again everyday (-10 C is about the limit) and Tryfan can sleep outside again during the day. Everyone is happy about that! It's hard being inside all the time when one is used to playing outside for several hours everyday.
But with these temperatures, his paws do get frozen after not too long outside and he has to lay down in the snow and lick them (which probably doesn't help one single bit). Hopefully it will warm up just a few degrees so we can all play outside for longer.
This week I managed to wear the same exact thing for 7 days in a row (except for undergarments, of course). I call it my new uniform: a big black down jacket, green Finnish hunting trousers, and my trusty Scarpa hiking boots. Choice! I don't know which article I love the most. My hunting trousers are lined on the inside (so I dont need long johns) and soft water-resistent material on the outside with velcro cuffs so I can wrap them around the top of my boots and walk right through knee-deep snow without getting wet or cold, even when it is literally -20 C outside in the sunshine. And I can wear just a t-shirt beneath my jacket and be perfectly toasty. So maybe I don't look very trendy, but I'm not a big one for fashion anyway so at least its nothing new. Here is me with Bentley the wonderdog
This week is Rhiannon's week to go to the skogen (forest), but yesterday, today and probably tomorrow it is too cold for even them to go. Our barnehage draws the line at -15 C if there is no wind, and the thermometer has not spent much time warmer than -15 since Tuesday. So that is sad. They still get dressed and packed for spending the day outside every morning anyway, and if the temperature gets above -15 C, they head out to a nearby campsite (though not their regular site in the big forest). Here is Rhiannon (in red) and her 'utegruppa' (outside group) walking back to the barnehage because it is too cold for them even at the campsite.
And what does she wear to keep warm, you ask? Two complete layers of wool (thin wool long sleeve top and leggings and thin wool socks + thick Merino wool sweater and leggings with thick wool socks) underneath an insulated snow suit (or jacket and trousers, in Rhiannon's case). Then of course good quality snow mittens, insulated hat, a fleece scarf and winter boots. Yes, there are days when she complains about putting these on, but she does like to be warm and toasty. Here she is in her woolies standing in front of the outerwear dress area at barnehage. Each child has their own hook and space on a shelf, but this time of year it is pretty crowded and chaotic in this area!
At least the snow is not melting and promises to be here for awhile, but it would be nice if the temperature raised just a little bit ... -8 C would be perfect ... so that we could play outside more!
We've never actually been to one of these events until this year, mostly because you have to commit to coming back in mid-December when the first full week of Jan seems very far away, and I've never managed to remember to sign us up. But it also just feels wrong and weird to have Christmas parties so long after New Year. It's always been a mystery as to WHY people put on these parties well after Christmas, but this year I found out: it is a Scandinavian tradition to celebrate the end of Christmas, the taking down of the tree, and to eat all the leftover bits of gingerbread, cake and chocolate. Here in Norway, this event also involves a lot of singing, holding hands and dancing around the Christmas tree. Here is Rhiannon in action...
Tryfan didn't want to dance or sing or hold hands around the tree, but he was interested in the chocolate that was in his goodie bag! Here he is with Rhodri talking to Anne, one of his favorite teachers.
Tryfan took this photo of Rhiannon and me.
So NOW Christmas can finally be over! Phew.
This wasn't our gingerbread house - it belonged to our neighbors and new friends Catherine, Per and Tristan. We have been doing a lot of sledding outside their house and they invited us over for pizza and playing on Saturday night.
It's been a great holiday and I think we are all well rested now, ready for action, and now it is time for everyone to get back to their normal routines. I personally am looking very much forward to some quality x-c skiing time with Bentley in the mornings once everyone is at work and barnehage!
