Visitors from up the road

We have visitors! Nain and Taid drove down from north Wales to spend a week with us. Yay! They got here on Sunday afternoon and will leave next weekend sometime. Actually Auntie Nia was here for one night and one night only earlier this week (Wednesday, I think) but I forgot to take any photos :-(
It is a very good week for us to have family visiting - this week 2 of the 3 nursery/ daycare places that the kids go to are closed for Half Term holidays and so one of us would otherwise need to stay home from work. Anyway, we have had a relaxing couple of days - life in the English countryside the way it ought to be (or something).... Today we had a picnic at a park in Forest Row (the nearest town to us).
And then after some quiet time this afternoon, we walked down to the nearest pub, The Coach and Horses, which turns out to be such a great country pub! It is a very narrow and winding road between our house and the pub (with no sidewalk either), so we put the kids in the Burley and pushed it there and back. Here we are setting off...
It wasn't a glorious summer day or anything, but it was warm and dry enough to happily sit outside in the kids part of the beer garden where there is a swingset, slide, sandpit and a field of horses adjacent.
And so we had a leisurely beverage and then walked back home (..except actually I ran back home ahead of everyone else so that I could get a head start on dinner..)
The bluebells are in full bloom as well. The Ashdown Forest (which is literally across the road from our house) is apparently famous for the vast blankets of bluebells in spring.
I have been going for walks or runs here almost every day - sometimes just an evening amble at the time of fading dusk up to the top of the gorse covered hill so that I can see the end of the day over the South Downs in the distance, and sometimes for a real exploratory run where I need to tuck a map into my back pocket. It is so wonderful to live so near this big forest.

Update for the week

We still don't have internet at the house, so I haven't been able to do a good job of updating this blog! Sorry. We have had continued chaos but in an increasingly good way (if that makes any sense). Last weekend we all went to a party at Tracy and Caroline's house. Sarah and Patrick and family came too, as did a mutual friend Jeff.
Here are (clockwise from left): Jeff, Tracy, Caroline, Sarah, Patrick, Joe, Rhodri, Tryfan, Hattie, Rhiannon and Charlie.
Here is Rhiannon pouring over an Argos catalog
The garden and playground at the "Trading Boundaries" courtyard shops a couple of miles from here.
Watching airplanes fly overhead while eating breakfast in the backyard on a Sunday morning. Tryfan gets so excited each and every time an airplane is going past. Since we live fairly close to Gatwick airport (30 min drive), planes go by every minute or two! Thats a lot of excitement for a little guy...
We spend a lot of time with Sarah and Patrick's family, especially since they live just around the corner from us - a 5 minute walk at kid speed. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, all 5 kids are together for at least some of the day at the local primary school and so we all pile into Sarah's green van to cart them around. And while both Rhodri and Patrick have been away on business this week, Sarah and I have found that it is just easier and more fun to have dinner altogether, taking turns at each other's house. Of course now that summer seems to be in full swing, the sun isn't going down until 9 something at night and it is so fun to just let the kids run wild in the backyard while we ladies kick back with adult beverages and talk about life!

But the funniest (sort of) thing about this week has been the new local accent which Rhiannon and Tryfan have both already adopted! It drives Rhodri and I crazy because it sounds very broad and snobby in a southern England sort of way, but we reckon it is just our kids' highly adaptive instincts which are controlling their vocal chords in a way that allows them to be understood and accepted by their new peers. Interesting, but annoying and kind of funny. I'll have to record them saying something this week and post that video once we get internet!

Starting at Nursery

Rhiannon and Tryfan started at nursery school yesterday. Sort of. We have a confusing arrangement for nursery school right now but its probably gonna stay this way for awhile. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Rhiannon will go with 'the big girls' Hattie and Charlie (the two heads in the back right of this photo) to the local primary school and be in the Nursery section all day. Tryfan and Joe (head in the back left by Rhiannon's head) will go to the Village Hall for nursery school in the morning and then Tryfan will join Rhiannon at her place in the afternoon.
Anyway, here was the view looking in through the back of Sarah's van at the 5 kids and 2 dogs (dogs curled up on the laps of the girls and Joe)!
Just coming through the front gate at the Primary School/ Nursery where Charlie, Hattie and Rhiannon are going.
Rhiannon and Tryfan in front of the Nursery section. Its a really cute local school - very small population and all the parents know each other. Sarah has been introducing me to all the other parents, so she has made it really easy for me to feel welcome!
On Mon, Wed and Fri the kids will go to a different nursery which is more of a daycare and it is close to work. They started here today but just for a couple of hours. Its all very confusing and tiring but the kids are adapting really well.

The Move

Although these photos were taken nearly a week ago now, I wanted to post them! This photo was taken in the midst of mayhem -- Tryfan was crying and we were racing to get to the train station in time to make our train to the airport. Michel was carrying the 2 carseats and pulling the big duffel bag, and the top carseat kept falling off.
Train approaching Platform 3 at Asker Station
On the train, calmer now that Kitty and Blanket were snuggled with him
Saying goodbye to Michel at the airport. I honestly don't think we would have made it onto our flight without his help! He took the train from Oslo (where he lives) out to Asker, helped us move out of the flat and get onto the train, then rode the train with us from Asker through Oslo to the airport on the other side of Oslo, then took the train back to Asker so that he could go to work finally!
On the airplane with snacks and magazines
In our new back yard... oh, I mean back garden
The view of the back garden from upstairs bedroom. There have been some busy moles in recent months but the house comes with a gardener so we don't have to worry about keeping it looking nice. The back garden extends past the trees and bushes through to the tall dark trees in the background! There is a picnic table, a fire pit, a rope swing and a garden shed tucked behind what is visible here.
We went on a short walk into the forest which is literally across the road from us. There are lots of horses that get ridden on these tracks and so the kids were finding horseshoe tracks in this photo.
So, we are settling in. We still have lots to sort out, including the childcare/ nursery school solutions for the kids but we are getting there. Thank goodness we have such lovely neighbors Sarah and Patrick who have helped us unpack, look after the kids, carpool to work and use their internet while we wait another 2 weeks for ours to be activated!

We've moved!

Just a quick note to say that we have moved from Norway to England!
I got a message on Tuesday afternoon May 4th saying that our visas were ready and so we quickly frantically rearranged our schedule and social engagements and left Norway on Thursday 6 May. That sounds like a lot of time to play with, but in fact it wasn't and we were so busy without even enough time to say goodbye to everyone we wanted to.
Now we are at our new home in the south of England in the village of Chelwood Gate and we don't have a telephone or internet yet but our neighbors do! More updates soon and the full story of course ...

Monday at the flat

Our first day without barnehage. We filled it with fun stuff though! Had a quiet morning of coloring and doing puzzles, then met my friend Cristina for lunch. After naptime, we went down to the town square to play by the fountain. Tryfan fell in after about 20 minutes of threatening to (running and jumping between the slabs of stone in the middle of the water), so we had to just go up to our flat and call it a day.
You can't really tell in this photo, but Tryfan is absolutely soaking wet and shivering cold. Good thing it was only a 2 minute walk up to where we are living!

The kids really miss barnehage though. They kept asking what their friends are doing at various moments throughout the day, and later begging to drive past the barnehage. It's so sad that they miss it this much.

With the twins

We spent today with twins Finn and Magnus and their parents Fiona and Karl John. For most of the day we were at their house having lunch and playing in their backyard, but towards the middle of the afternoon we went to the beach near Hoevik. Here are Rhiannon, Finn, Magnus and Tryfan.
Spring hasn't completely sprung here yet but it is so exciting to see some bushes and trees that have sprouted buds and new leaves!
Rhiannon and Magnus stomping and balancing on a rock
Tryfan and Magnus throwing rocks into the fjord. The ski slope in Asker is visible in the distant background.
Karl John and Fiona
It was so wonderful to just spend the day with this family, though it was sad to say goodbye at the end of it. I'm sure we will reunite someday again...

In the arms of friends

Rhodri left early this morning to fly over to the UK and get ready to meet the moving truck after the weekend. The rest of us decided to spend all day with our dear friends across the street. It was pretty cold and a little bit wet, but that didn't deter us. Rhiannon kept asking if she could hold baby Joakim (8 months old)
She and Kristoffer played outside while Tryfan took a nap
They also rescued and subsequently released all the pretend ducks in the pond outside Kristoffer's house.
We had a lot of really good quiet inside time with puzzles, cars and reading stories as well. It felt so good to just be in the presence and good care of our close friends.
I was especially feeling drained and a bit numb somehow after the emotional previous day. I spent plenty of time today just sitting on the couch and holding Joakim so that his mama Monica could have both arms to herself. It was a wonderful slow and lovely day.