Playing with the big girls -- Jayden (below) and Hannah (standing)
Rhiannon loves playing on the art table and sharing crayons with Hannah. As I was making breakfast yesterday, I looked over and the girls were both happily eating crayons.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Reno! (part 1)
We made it to Reno! Somehow the travel from Santa Barbara through San Francisco to Reno -- each flight only 1 hour or less -- was WAAAAY more painful than our entire trip from Oslo to Santa Barbara, but we made it eventually. We are staying at our old next door neighbor Leann's house and her three girls. Lots of estrogen in this household, as you might guess from the pink princess bathroom. Here is Alyssa (12), Leann, Hannah (2), Rhiannon, me and Jayden at bathtime on Sunday night.
Playing with the big girls -- Jayden (below) and Hannah (standing)
Rhiannon loves playing on the art table and sharing crayons with Hannah. As I was making breakfast yesterday, I looked over and the girls were both happily eating crayons.
Playing with the big girls -- Jayden (below) and Hannah (standing)Rhiannon loves playing on the art table and sharing crayons with Hannah. As I was making breakfast yesterday, I looked over and the girls were both happily eating crayons.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Friends at the beach
We had a great day yesterday (Saturday) and a lot of it was spent at the beach with friends. Having all of us get a full night's sleep was a good start! In the morning, Rhiannon and I had breakfast at the Brown Pelican with my longtime friend Polly. Afterwards we walked on the beach to the doggie part of the beach so that Rhiannon could get her fix of petting and trying to chase dogs.
After a leisurely midday and early afternoon, we had a family picnic at Goleta Beach along with some friends and more family. Rhiannon loved going down the big slide with Grandpa Carl to catch her.
Wade Kirkelie is 6 days younger than Rhiannon but he is bigger. They practiced sharing their favorite possessions -- Wade shared his baby with her and Rhiannon shared bits of broccoli and sprouts with him.
But she kept trying to climb up to the fruit bowl on the table. Here Butch (Wade's Grandpa) is helping Rhiannon dig into the berries while Grandma Debi comes to help.
After a leisurely midday and early afternoon, we had a family picnic at Goleta Beach along with some friends and more family. Rhiannon loved going down the big slide with Grandpa Carl to catch her.
Wade Kirkelie is 6 days younger than Rhiannon but he is bigger. They practiced sharing their favorite possessions -- Wade shared his baby with her and Rhiannon shared bits of broccoli and sprouts with him.
But she kept trying to climb up to the fruit bowl on the table. Here Butch (Wade's Grandpa) is helping Rhiannon dig into the berries while Grandma Debi comes to help.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
A little tyrant
We did some fun things yesterday (Friday), but the Minx had a stormy temperment for most of the day. I guess we all have days like this sometimes. It was a little bit funny but we tried not to laugh. First we visited my longtime friend Denise and her two kids Ava (3) and Liam (19 months). Look at that scowl on the Minx's face!
Ava really wanted to play with Rhiannon's hair and Rhiannon kept shouting, hitting and glaring at her when she tried. Those were the times we tried not to laugh...
Then after a nap that got cut short by Grandpa Carl's car alarm, we took the Minx for a ride at Ellwood Shores in the new Burley bike trailer we bought! Now we don't need to borrow our neighbor's one anymore. Rhiannon refused to take off her ladybug backpack even though it must have been a little uncomfortable to sit against inside the trailer.
Rhodri, the new Burley with Rhiannon inside, and Grandpa Carl after a long ride on bumpy trails.
Ava really wanted to play with Rhiannon's hair and Rhiannon kept shouting, hitting and glaring at her when she tried. Those were the times we tried not to laugh...
Then after a nap that got cut short by Grandpa Carl's car alarm, we took the Minx for a ride at Ellwood Shores in the new Burley bike trailer we bought! Now we don't need to borrow our neighbor's one anymore. Rhiannon refused to take off her ladybug backpack even though it must have been a little uncomfortable to sit against inside the trailer.
Rhodri, the new Burley with Rhiannon inside, and Grandpa Carl after a long ride on bumpy trails.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Made it!
Hurray! We finally made it to Santa Barbara! Rhodri and I were both quite worried about the flight over but it turned out to be a really great trip. Paying the extra money for Rhiannon to have her own seat and then all 3 of us being upgraded from Economy Plus to Business class made all the difference in the world. Here we are in Oslo boarding the flight to London.
At London Heathrow airport, we were able to get into the British Airways lounge and there was a children's play area which was empty for most of our time there. I had packed Rhiannon's ladybug backpack full of little wrapped surprises, and then at Heathrow I bought another couple of activity books. The most popular one (of course) was the "Bob the Builder" book with finger puppet pencil toy. I thought I had gone overboard with all the little toys and snacks I packed for her, but it turned out to be just enough .
2 of our 3 seats faced opposite each other with a collapsible window between them. Each seat turned into a bed and had all the audio and video gadgets to play with, as well as little drawers and pockets to hide things in! We had a couple of doting flight attendents who received big smiles from the Minx whenever they showed up to deliver food, beverages or toys. It was about 11.5 hours from London to LAX (10.5 in the air, with the rest waiting around on the ground before and after the flight with seatbelts still on), and it was about as good as it possibly could have been. Rhiannon slept for nearly 4 hours (with the help of some doctor-prescribed "knock out juice") and so Rhodri and I got to sleep also. Highly recommended! During the waking time, the Minx loved to climb back and forth from Mama's seat to Daddy's seat over the collapsible window.
After our happy reunion with Grandpa Carl and Grandma Debi, we drove up through Malibu along the coast to Santa Barbara. We had a very relaxing day today and we went out to both lunch and dinner at our favorite venue near to Grandpa and Grandma's house -- Glen Annie Golf Club's Frog Bar and Grill. All of the bougainvillea were in bloom (of course) and the Minx was in heaven chasing after birds and playing in the gazebo.
We did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and Rhiannon really liked this baseball helmet. Here she is all smiles before we had to take it off her and then quickly leave the store. She really did NOT want to take it off.
At London Heathrow airport, we were able to get into the British Airways lounge and there was a children's play area which was empty for most of our time there. I had packed Rhiannon's ladybug backpack full of little wrapped surprises, and then at Heathrow I bought another couple of activity books. The most popular one (of course) was the "Bob the Builder" book with finger puppet pencil toy. I thought I had gone overboard with all the little toys and snacks I packed for her, but it turned out to be just enough .
2 of our 3 seats faced opposite each other with a collapsible window between them. Each seat turned into a bed and had all the audio and video gadgets to play with, as well as little drawers and pockets to hide things in! We had a couple of doting flight attendents who received big smiles from the Minx whenever they showed up to deliver food, beverages or toys. It was about 11.5 hours from London to LAX (10.5 in the air, with the rest waiting around on the ground before and after the flight with seatbelts still on), and it was about as good as it possibly could have been. Rhiannon slept for nearly 4 hours (with the help of some doctor-prescribed "knock out juice") and so Rhodri and I got to sleep also. Highly recommended! During the waking time, the Minx loved to climb back and forth from Mama's seat to Daddy's seat over the collapsible window.
After our happy reunion with Grandpa Carl and Grandma Debi, we drove up through Malibu along the coast to Santa Barbara. We had a very relaxing day today and we went out to both lunch and dinner at our favorite venue near to Grandpa and Grandma's house -- Glen Annie Golf Club's Frog Bar and Grill. All of the bougainvillea were in bloom (of course) and the Minx was in heaven chasing after birds and playing in the gazebo.
We did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and Rhiannon really liked this baseball helmet. Here she is all smiles before we had to take it off her and then quickly leave the store. She really did NOT want to take it off.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Dinner with neighbors
This weekend we had dinner over at our neighbors' (Beate, Ole, Carina and Max) house along with our landlords (Håvard, Pia, Ådne, and Marthe) who were in town one last time before heading back to Dubai. Rhiannon especially liked chasing Max's soccerball around the house while yelling "weeeeeeee!". Max is the tall one on the left and Ådne is behind in the striped shirt.
(l to r): Beate, Carina, Håvard, Ådne, Rhiannon (being restrained), Rhodri, Ole and Pia around the dining table. Marthe and Max are missing. Bentley and Nikita (Beate and Ole's dog) were under the table licking up fallen scraps. 
Waving "har det" (bye-bye) to all the kids as we walk back to our house for a late bedtime.
We are counting down the hours until we leave for California! Right now we have only 60 hours until we get to the Oslo airport ready to fly. Woo hoo!
(l to r): Beate, Carina, Håvard, Ådne, Rhiannon (being restrained), Rhodri, Ole and Pia around the dining table. Marthe and Max are missing. Bentley and Nikita (Beate and Ole's dog) were under the table licking up fallen scraps. 
Waving "har det" (bye-bye) to all the kids as we walk back to our house for a late bedtime.
We are counting down the hours until we leave for California! Right now we have only 60 hours until we get to the Oslo airport ready to fly. Woo hoo!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
29 weeks
Monday, July 23, 2007
Fjord Tour adventure
Since Huw was visiting us, we decided to go on one of these arranged fjord tours. The most common one is called "Norway in a Nutshell" and we went on a variant of that called "The Royal Fjord Tour". Here is the website for it. Basically, we got up super early on Saturday morning, took the train from Oslo to Myrdal, then took the famous Flåm railway from Myrdal to Flåm, then a boat from Flåm to Bergen on the west coast of Norway. Here we are in Myrdal waiting for the Flåm train. We had gorgeous weather! Sunny and warm with a cool breeze -- perfect.
Midway down the Flåm line, we stopped for a few minutes at this waterfall. There was some cheesy music piped into the viewing area and 2 dancers emerged from the rocks at different times to dance and then mysteriously disappear again. We have had a lot of rain, so the waterfall was really impressive.
View of the steep valley from the Flåm train.
In Flåm, getting some wiggles out on the grass while waiting for the boat to Bergen
On the boat to Bergen, which took 5 hours! Spectacular scenery of course and it reminded me of Lake Chelan, WA.
The Minx was pretty good even though she didn't sleep at all. Fortunately the boat was fairly empty so she could run around and play with buckles.
Finally we got to Bergen around 9pm
Sunday was another beautiful day and we played in the park before getting on the train back to Oslo at 4pm. Here the Minx is trying to hop the fence to chase birds down to the water.
Midway down the Flåm line, we stopped for a few minutes at this waterfall. There was some cheesy music piped into the viewing area and 2 dancers emerged from the rocks at different times to dance and then mysteriously disappear again. We have had a lot of rain, so the waterfall was really impressive.
View of the steep valley from the Flåm train.
In Flåm, getting some wiggles out on the grass while waiting for the boat to Bergen
On the boat to Bergen, which took 5 hours! Spectacular scenery of course and it reminded me of Lake Chelan, WA.
The Minx was pretty good even though she didn't sleep at all. Fortunately the boat was fairly empty so she could run around and play with buckles.
Finally we got to Bergen around 9pm
Sunday was another beautiful day and we played in the park before getting on the train back to Oslo at 4pm. Here the Minx is trying to hop the fence to chase birds down to the water.
Friday, July 20, 2007
A brighter day
The Minx is feeling a lot better today. We took the SS Meerkat (our canoe) out for a spin on the fjord with Huw and it was a gorgeous day. The Minx fell asleep towards the end of the ride after a few hours of exploring around the island of Nesoya and having a little picnic lunch on a small island. She was even snoring as we glided through the calm waters.
A gaudy but kind of cool house with loads of statues and a pirate ship!
A fancy artistic photo taken by Huw of our first lunching spot
After the journey we had a late snack at the Holmen Fjord Hotel -- one of our favorite places to dine!
Looking a little ragged, but she was very much back to her normal self today.
She also learned a new word recently: "bird". Since we saw quite a few birds on our canoe outing, she got to practice a lot. The way she says it is so cute.
A gaudy but kind of cool house with loads of statues and a pirate ship!
A fancy artistic photo taken by Huw of our first lunching spot
After the journey we had a late snack at the Holmen Fjord Hotel -- one of our favorite places to dine!
Looking a little ragged, but she was very much back to her normal self today.
She also learned a new word recently: "bird". Since we saw quite a few birds on our canoe outing, she got to practice a lot. The way she says it is so cute.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Grocery store fun
We love going grocery shopping at Ultra because they have great shopping carts for the Minx. Ultra is a bit more expensive and not quite walking distance from our house, so we don't go as often but we sure have fun when we do! 
All of the shopping carts cost 10 Kroners to use (~$1.85) but then you get the money back when you are finished shopping. Such a good idea because you don't see shopping carts in random places around town.
Lots happening this week -- our friend Huw is visiting from Wales and Rhiannon's nursery school is closed (this week and next) so we have not had our normal routine. Our plan was to take turns working -- Rhodri work the morning and me in the afternoon or vice versa -- but this only happened on Monday. Poor Minxie has been not herself this week because she has been feeling under the weather. In fact, most of the past 2 days and nights she has spent curled up on my chest.
All of the shopping carts cost 10 Kroners to use (~$1.85) but then you get the money back when you are finished shopping. Such a good idea because you don't see shopping carts in random places around town. Lots happening this week -- our friend Huw is visiting from Wales and Rhiannon's nursery school is closed (this week and next) so we have not had our normal routine. Our plan was to take turns working -- Rhodri work the morning and me in the afternoon or vice versa -- but this only happened on Monday. Poor Minxie has been not herself this week because she has been feeling under the weather. In fact, most of the past 2 days and nights she has spent curled up on my chest.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Quite a day
Today was a glorious sunny and breezy day, and we sure made the most of it. First, I got up with Rhiannon at 6:30am and we made banana bread while Rhodri slept in (usually I get to sleep in). I know Rhiannon 'helps' with cooking at barnehage, but I haven't really experienced it for myself until today. I also didn't realize that she knows the Norwegian word for cook, which sounds like "kooka". So she was saying "me kooka, Mama kooka" over and over again. She even dug out my apron from the kitchen drawer and wanted help putting it on. 
Then after a hearty breakfast, our friends Fiona and Karl John with their twin boys Magnus and Finn came over to play. The boys are 2 months younger than Rhiannon and not quite as confident on their feet as she, but they all had a good time playing on the slide, in the sandbox and on the see-saw.
We then ventured out to go pick raspberries, which sounds a lot more fun than it was. By the time we got there, Rhiannon was ready for a nap and the boys were content to hang in the stroller. So Karl John and I picked raspberries while Rhodri and Fiona listened to the farm owner's life story. This guy was 78 years old, spoke excellent English and was very concerned that we pick the raspberries correctly. He gave us several demonstrations of how and how not to pick, including doing a sommersault right in front of us! The sommersault (aka "commando roll") was to explain why we were to start picking at the bottom of the hill and work our way up rather than the reverse. Quite a character.
By the time we had picked enough berries, the kids were restless and ready to leave. Here is Rhiannon, Finn (in the red hair) and Magnus.
Rhiannon is communicating that she is "all done" being at this place in the photo below.
Then after a hearty breakfast, our friends Fiona and Karl John with their twin boys Magnus and Finn came over to play. The boys are 2 months younger than Rhiannon and not quite as confident on their feet as she, but they all had a good time playing on the slide, in the sandbox and on the see-saw.
We then ventured out to go pick raspberries, which sounds a lot more fun than it was. By the time we got there, Rhiannon was ready for a nap and the boys were content to hang in the stroller. So Karl John and I picked raspberries while Rhodri and Fiona listened to the farm owner's life story. This guy was 78 years old, spoke excellent English and was very concerned that we pick the raspberries correctly. He gave us several demonstrations of how and how not to pick, including doing a sommersault right in front of us! The sommersault (aka "commando roll") was to explain why we were to start picking at the bottom of the hill and work our way up rather than the reverse. Quite a character.
By the time we had picked enough berries, the kids were restless and ready to leave. Here is Rhiannon, Finn (in the red hair) and Magnus.
Rhiannon is communicating that she is "all done" being at this place in the photo below. 
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Another biking adventure
Its been a long and rainy week. Rhodri was gone Tuesday morning until late Thursday night and we really missed him. Today he took Rhiannon out for another biking adventure but this time invited our friend and colleague Michael and his 2 kids. Here is Rhiannon with Victoria (age 3) settling in for their 2 hour ride.
Ready to ride
After the ride, eating cookies on the small couch and sharing toys
Showing off her new umbrella!
Ready to ride
After the ride, eating cookies on the small couch and sharing toys
Showing off her new umbrella!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Berry patches
Anyone that really knows me knows that I absolutely love picking berries. In this regard, I am not alone in this country of avid berry-pickers! So imagine my delight when I discovered not one but TWO wild berry patches over the past 4 days. The first one on Friday when I was doing an experiment outside behind my office and quite literally stumbled on tiny wild strawberries. Needless to say, my experiment got a bit delayed but not too much since the berries were along the ground and bending over to pick them with my big belly in the way wasn't a whole lot of fun. This made my second berry patch discovery all the better....
I found this glorious raspberry patch after breakfast today when I took Bentley out to our communal soccer pitch/ playground for his morning constitutional. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I blinked in disbelief at the perfectly ripe, easy to reach, delicious raspberries at waist height! The only down side is the occasional stinging nettle plant interspersed with the berry branches, but a handy pair of garden gloves (which I ran back for) relieved this irritation. So how could our neighbors-in-the-know let all these little juicies survive this long? Ha, ha! You see, right now most of Norway is on vacation so our neighborhood is like a ghost town. Raspberries all to myself... I mean "ourselves". I found that the best strategy for harvesting is to go pick berries after meals when I am not too hungry. Rhodri and Rhiannon thank me for this!
I found this glorious raspberry patch after breakfast today when I took Bentley out to our communal soccer pitch/ playground for his morning constitutional. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I blinked in disbelief at the perfectly ripe, easy to reach, delicious raspberries at waist height! The only down side is the occasional stinging nettle plant interspersed with the berry branches, but a handy pair of garden gloves (which I ran back for) relieved this irritation. So how could our neighbors-in-the-know let all these little juicies survive this long? Ha, ha! You see, right now most of Norway is on vacation so our neighborhood is like a ghost town. Raspberries all to myself... I mean "ourselves". I found that the best strategy for harvesting is to go pick berries after meals when I am not too hungry. Rhodri and Rhiannon thank me for this!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Bobby
Rhiannon practices being a bossy older sister to Bentley. Rhodri and I think it is hilarious the way she says "Bobby" when she is calling Bentley.
Buckles and bicycles
This week it rained a lot but today the weather has been fine. We borrowed this bike trailer from our neighbors and Rhodri took Rhiannon in it this afternoon. 
Passengers are supposed to wear bike helmets and Rhiannon really loves hers, but we figured it would make for awkward sleeping so we put pillows in next to her. 
When she woke up, she only wanted to play with the buckles next to her and didn't care one bit about the lovely scenery they were passing or the horses they saw or anything. She just worked on clicking the buckles together, which was near impossible with all the jostling that was going on during the ride. But apparently she didn't get frustrated, she just kept working on it.
Passengers are supposed to wear bike helmets and Rhiannon really loves hers, but we figured it would make for awkward sleeping so we put pillows in next to her. 
When she woke up, she only wanted to play with the buckles next to her and didn't care one bit about the lovely scenery they were passing or the horses they saw or anything. She just worked on clicking the buckles together, which was near impossible with all the jostling that was going on during the ride. But apparently she didn't get frustrated, she just kept working on it.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
U-pick strawberries!
We found out that the local strawberry farm has ripe berries now, so we came down for an hour and picked 12 pounds of them, eating along the way (of course). Here is the view of the farm - it was a popular place on this lovely warm Sunday afternoon. Oslofjord is in the background behind the trees.
The Minx quickly learned that it was a lot easier to eat straight from the basket rather than looking under leaves. In spite of our diversionary tactics, she managed to scoff a whole lot of berries while we were there.
Rhodri took the Minx on a walk down to the other end of the field while I did some focused harvesting. Here is one of his creative self-takes.
The Minx quickly learned that it was a lot easier to eat straight from the basket rather than looking under leaves. In spite of our diversionary tactics, she managed to scoff a whole lot of berries while we were there.
Rhodri took the Minx on a walk down to the other end of the field while I did some focused harvesting. Here is one of his creative self-takes.
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