On Sunday afternoon (6 Mar), we drove from Asker to Beitostolen where we met our friends Fiona and Karl-John and their twin boys Finn and Magnus. We stayed in KJ's company's hytte (cabin) for the period 6-10 March, driving back to Asker on Thurs 10 March. Here is our one-and-only group photo with all 8 of us in it...
There was mega excitement when we reunited with them at the cabin. Lots of jumping around, running and happily shouting. All 4 kids got to sleep in the same room which had 2 sets of bunkbeds, and there was a lot of activity as the troops figured out how to remove the wooden supports from the top bunks and be able to jump down from the top. Here they are industriously relocating the wooden slats from the top bunk.
There is only so much activity one can have, followed by a scrumptious pasta dinner, before these little people are ready to watch some 'Barna TV' before getting ready for bed.
Monday morning was partly cloudy and windy, but none of that mattered because we were all going for a dual family cross-country ski expedition! here are Magnus, Tryfan and Rhiannon ready to get out the door.
We skiied up a long and in parts steep hill until we got to this rock which overlooked a big lake.
We decided to make this our lunching stop, and of course we had packed a delicious picnic of pita bread filled with stuff to be heated over our bonfire in the snow. Here is KJ manning the fire and cooking the lunch. The snow was really deep and it was a challenge to get the fire going, but we got there in the end!
Here is Magnus and Rhiannon after lunch, ready to ski back down the hill to the cabin. Beautiful frozen lake in the background.
And this is more or less what we looked like as we were out skiing - Rhiannon, Finn and Magnus all took turns fighting to be in the lead and almost always Tryfan was in the back (wearing red in this photo) with either Rhodri or me.
Action shot of Tryfan - really concentrating in this picture as you can see from his tongue sticking out!
After a full day outside in the snow, everyone was ready to do puzzles, draw pictures and read stories inside while waiting for dinner to be ready.
Storytime in the kids room - each one of us took a turn reading the bedtime story to all the troops.
Sunrise on the mountains in the distance - the view from our kitchen window!
On Tuesday we went on another dual family ski expedition, this time we went the opposite direction and found a delightful place to stop for lunch. There were already couches built into the snow, and this little spot faced directly into the sunshine hidden from the wind. Perfect!
Back at the cabin, there was a GIANT mountain of snow that had been plowed into a big pile. I think all winter, the children who were coming through this neighborhood had been building and maintaining this snow fort which was hard packed by hands and knees. Kid-sized tunnels ran through this whole mountain, and it was so much fun to play on!
Here is Tryfan peeking through one of the tunnels
Here is "Daddy Troll" chasing and scaring the other trolls on the mountain
One of the huge advantages of going on holiday with Fiona and Karl-John is that we could take turns looking after the tribe of kids and have our own time to play in the snow. Rhodri and I went on a great little 1.5 hour ski tour up past the rock we stopped at the first day and looped back around. The dominant peak of Bitihorn is the local landmark - I love looking at the shape of it and under different light.
And then on our last morning, Fiona and I went for a early morning ski tour which was wonderful as well! As soon as we came back, Rhodri and Karl-John went out and we started packing the house and looking after the kids playing on the snow fort.
As we did the final tidying up and cleaning of the cabin, Rhodri told stories to all the kids in order to keep them quiet and out of mischief. He is truly gifted at making up stories which kids are happy to sit and listen to.
Once the cabin was clean, we piled into our respective cars and drove back to the Oslo area for our last night and day.
There was mega excitement when we reunited with them at the cabin. Lots of jumping around, running and happily shouting. All 4 kids got to sleep in the same room which had 2 sets of bunkbeds, and there was a lot of activity as the troops figured out how to remove the wooden supports from the top bunks and be able to jump down from the top. Here they are industriously relocating the wooden slats from the top bunk.
There is only so much activity one can have, followed by a scrumptious pasta dinner, before these little people are ready to watch some 'Barna TV' before getting ready for bed.
Monday morning was partly cloudy and windy, but none of that mattered because we were all going for a dual family cross-country ski expedition! here are Magnus, Tryfan and Rhiannon ready to get out the door.
We skiied up a long and in parts steep hill until we got to this rock which overlooked a big lake.
We decided to make this our lunching stop, and of course we had packed a delicious picnic of pita bread filled with stuff to be heated over our bonfire in the snow. Here is KJ manning the fire and cooking the lunch. The snow was really deep and it was a challenge to get the fire going, but we got there in the end!
Here is Magnus and Rhiannon after lunch, ready to ski back down the hill to the cabin. Beautiful frozen lake in the background.
And this is more or less what we looked like as we were out skiing - Rhiannon, Finn and Magnus all took turns fighting to be in the lead and almost always Tryfan was in the back (wearing red in this photo) with either Rhodri or me.
Action shot of Tryfan - really concentrating in this picture as you can see from his tongue sticking out!
After a full day outside in the snow, everyone was ready to do puzzles, draw pictures and read stories inside while waiting for dinner to be ready.
Storytime in the kids room - each one of us took a turn reading the bedtime story to all the troops.
Sunrise on the mountains in the distance - the view from our kitchen window!
On Tuesday we went on another dual family ski expedition, this time we went the opposite direction and found a delightful place to stop for lunch. There were already couches built into the snow, and this little spot faced directly into the sunshine hidden from the wind. Perfect!
Back at the cabin, there was a GIANT mountain of snow that had been plowed into a big pile. I think all winter, the children who were coming through this neighborhood had been building and maintaining this snow fort which was hard packed by hands and knees. Kid-sized tunnels ran through this whole mountain, and it was so much fun to play on!
Here is Tryfan peeking through one of the tunnels
Here is "Daddy Troll" chasing and scaring the other trolls on the mountain
One of the huge advantages of going on holiday with Fiona and Karl-John is that we could take turns looking after the tribe of kids and have our own time to play in the snow. Rhodri and I went on a great little 1.5 hour ski tour up past the rock we stopped at the first day and looped back around. The dominant peak of Bitihorn is the local landmark - I love looking at the shape of it and under different light.
And then on our last morning, Fiona and I went for a early morning ski tour which was wonderful as well! As soon as we came back, Rhodri and Karl-John went out and we started packing the house and looking after the kids playing on the snow fort.
As we did the final tidying up and cleaning of the cabin, Rhodri told stories to all the kids in order to keep them quiet and out of mischief. He is truly gifted at making up stories which kids are happy to sit and listen to.
Once the cabin was clean, we piled into our respective cars and drove back to the Oslo area for our last night and day.
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