Of course he is always the first guinea pig to taste her creations (which consist mainly of wooden vegetables and water from the bathroom sink). Rhiannon talks mostly in Norwegian to him.
He clearly thinks that everything Rhiannon does is hilarious because he always crows with laughter when she does anything.
On Saturday we walked into downtown Asker and there was some kind of performance that was just about to start. Lots and lots of teenagers were wearing fish hats and fish costumes. They were taking their performances very seriously, so there wasn't a lot of giggling or saying "oh don't you look funny with that fish on your head!". No. They were milling around, wringing their hands, looking for the Queen Crawfish (or perhaps she was supposed to be a lobster?) to give them the signal to start. We watched the first 5 minutes or so and then we had to walk home so we could make it to Phil and Emily's housewarming party, where it was only slightly more civilized of a scene.
We didn't attempt to see much of the city. Sometimes just walking a few blocks into unfamiliar terrain and having a picnic with fresh baked goods on soft green grass is enough to bring complete enjoyment. We ended the day with ice cream cones down on the Aker Brygge waterfront. Right before I took this photo of Rhiannon, she had just said to me - completely out of the blue - "Mama I am so happy right now". Just like that. In perfect English and with a sweet ice cream coated smile.
Another sweet thing she said today was just before we left the house to go into the city. I had put her and Tryfan into the car and Flo was sitting with them while I ran back to the house to gather stuff. When I finally got into the car and started driving, Rhiannon said "I am happy to see you, Mama". How cute is that?!
Here are Flo, Tryfan and Bentley at our picnicking spot by a calm little bay. Bentley got to play in the water a little bit, but not as much as he would have liked! And it was a bit too chilly for us to be tempted to play in the water.
It is so wonderful to spend the days having long talks and walks, catching up on everything that has been going on in each other's lives in the 4 years since we last reunited.
Here they are waiting patiently (though not happily!) for their turn on the trampoline while some big kids jump.
Bentley likes to do big jumps sometimes, and yesterday was one of those times (photo by Geir). I was thinking today about the people that I didn't get a chance to really talk with yesterday and feeling a little bit sad about this fact. I guess that's how it is sometimes, especially when a certain 8 month old baby is clinging like a little monkey to one's shoulder.
It was a lovely day, though a bit windy and only borderline warm. Our guests included (left around the table to the right): Phil H., Geir, Cindy, Phil G., Wendy G., my cousin Herb and his wife Christine, Christine's sister in law, Christine's brother Roy, Roy's sons B.J. and Roy Jr.
Its complicated to explain all the people connections here, but basically it was a whole herd of friends and relations that all ended up being in Oslo at the same time! Fortunately my friend Flo was able to help do a lot of the preparation and cleaning, and my friend Emily helped keep the young ones out of trouble.
Here is a timer shot of the whole herd of us (l to r): Cindy, Herb, Christine, Phil G., Wendy G., Rhiannon, Rhodri, Tryfan, Lisl, Geir, BJ, Roy Jr., Roy's wife, Roy, and Florence. (Phil H and Emily had left by this time.)
Our housing association recently solicited donations to buy a new trampoline and we gladly participated. The long-awaited unit finally arrived a few days ago and now Rhiannon wants to go jump at every opportunity, but she calls it the "jumpoline". This is a much better name I think!
While I wait for a Tryfan video to upload, I thought I would post this photo of a boxed wine that I bought the other day. "Boxed wine?", you say, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but it's called 'Liesel Nahe Riesling' so I thought it was worth a try. ('Liesel' is another spelling variation of my name, in case you didn't work that one out). Some boxed wines here have had very good reviews, and with our Solstice party coming up this weekend....it just might come in handy!
They sang two songs altogether (the first one was "Hei på deg" - the video in my previous post), then re-enacted the famous tale about 3 billy goats and a troll under a bridge, and then the small kids (1 and 2 yr olds) were finished and ran into the crowd to reunite with their parents. The rest of the performance featured quite a few more skits and songs, and then a graduation ceremony for the 5 (some 6) year olds. Meanwhile, the toddlers scampered and frolicked around the playground. Here are Sofie and Rhiannon up to their usual tricks.
The fun thing to do was to go down the slide backwards - here are Sofie, Kaja Elise and Rhiannon.
We were impressed with the graduation ceremony - each child was called up and presented with a big colorful handmade album containing artwork, photos, notes and their cumulated development chart from their whole time at the barnehage. Then there were awards and gifts for the teachers followed by a couple of speeches, and finally it was time to eat!
Tryfan wasn't too happy about anything today and he definitely didn't want to be pushed in the stroller, so I carried him in my trusty sling and pushed the empty stroller with balloons and flags tied to it. I was happy to see my former midwife Anette and meet some of the other mothers who gave birth here. We made a pretty quick getaway though so that we wouldn't be late for Rhiannon's big "Sommerfest" party at barnehage!
There is so much construction going on around Asker and actually all over Oslo these days. Today I took Tryfan on an early afternoon walk into downtown Asker to get him to sleep in the stroller, and we saw a funny sight: there was a big JCB digger with a few guys wearing orange safety vests and doing construction-like activities, and they had Kenny G blasting from their truck radio. What kind of construction dudes are these to be listening to elevator music while out on the worksite? Geez, Louise. I laughed, though.
Tryfan perked up a bit tonight in the bath and was back to his 'old self', laughing at whatever Rhiannon was doing and chasing floatie things in the water. But I am keeping him "on upward wing" in my thoughts and prayers. I don't even know if I really understand what that phrase is supposed to mean, but I envision being tucked up the place that is at the top (but underneath) of a big fluffy bird's wing...I guess that's the bird's armpit? Great, so I guess that means my idea of God's protection is inside a big fluffy bird's armpit? Nice, Lisl.
Here we are enjoying the sunshine and the cool breeze with our picnic on the shore of a little lake
Everything was fine until the 57 km drive home in the very late afternoon (actually early evening). Tryfan was really unhappy and had a bit of a fever. This carried on through the night and all day today. Poor little guy - this is the first time he has had a fever or has been really unhappy since we met him! We reckon its his teeth (or rather, soon to be teeth) bothering him, but time will tell.
We all sat in the shallow water and played with buckets and shovels for awhile.
As the afternoon wore on, more and more people came in straight from work and we saw a bunch of other familiar faces here!
Rhiannon and Sofie played in the water and under the jetty, making cakes and so forth.
Tryfan is wearing a cute swimsuit that I got him which has a picture of a crab on the bum and the claws stick out to the sides. Johanne seemed to like looking at it!
Coming over to share some cake with Tryfan and I
I don't think any of us got sunburned, but it was our first day really OUT in the sun, so we took lots of refuge in the shade. Anyway, it was a great way to spend the afternoon. We shall have to do it again sometime soon.
Solveig, Rhiannon and I walked around the little bay and Tryfan was pushed in a stroller along a very stroller-unfriendly path through rocky outcrop and rooty forest. The idea was that Tryfan could sleep in the stroller, but it didn't work out that way! Here is our picnicking spot with the canoe launch site on the Konglungen peninsula in the background.
At first I was grumbling because I realized that I probably wouldn't have a chance to go in the canoe this time and I also hadn't brought any books or magazines to read. But it turned out that there was so much to see from our perch...people swimming in the fjord, water-skiers, other picnickers trying to grill hot dogs in a very windy place, sailboats darting back and forth, and of course our own party in the canoe! So Tryfan and I just hung out on the blanket and watched it all go by. Then the troops joined us for a few nibbles. Happy June!
Yesterday was the first day that felt like summer. I reckon that the only thing better than the first day of summer is a 5-day forecast for more of the same! Here is the Minx when I picked her up from barnehage. Rhodri had a late meeting so Tryfan and I walked all the way from home to barnehage (uphill!) and to get her, then we all walked back down the hill a few hundred meters to pick up the car at work. Then we came home and played in the kiddie pool in our backyard. Woohoo for summer!
I have been going around whistling the theme tune from Pippi Longstocking recently. Once that song is stuck in your head, watch out! It sticks around. We have been borrowing the DVDs from the library and I have been happily transported back to memories from my youth. Indeed, some of the songs are still part of my daily life...I sing this one all the time to Rhiannon:
Tryfan was by far the smiliest and also fastest crawler of the bunch
I like the idea of the barselgruppe, but its usually a frustrating experience for me because everyone talks in Norwegian (although they periodically offer to switch to English). I try desperately to follow along because I want to snakker norsk, but its hard work!
He is very ticklish on his feet, his tummy, under his arms, his legs, his chin, and his bum. Changing his clothes and diapers is often a funny experience since he is giggling throughout the episode. He is very quick to smile and laugh at people, so he is a delight to be with out in public. He has deep, thoughtful eyes and strong hands. He loves being in the bath - he lays on his back in a couple of inches of water and happily kicks his legs, making lots of splashes. Rhiannon is less of a bath-lover and she doesn't like being in at the same time as Tryfan because of this kicking and splashing. Older sister torture looks like it is starting early in this family! As for the sleeping...lately he has been inconsistent. Some nights he sleeps 9 hours at a stretch and other nights he wakes up every 3 hours. And after 10 days of crawling, he has become a very fast little Tryfs. He can cross the living room floor in less than 30 seconds if he has his eye on something. Hurrah for our little 7 month old!
When our neighborhood parade went past the house at 1:30pm, Rhiannon and I hurriedly changed out of our jammies and went out to heckle. (Okay, we didn't really heckle but it was a short trip outside.)
View from our window of the neighborhood parade going past the swimming hall to the local school. Last year we joined the parade and went along but this year we just couldn't be asked.
We did, however, join our little housing estate for the annual party which started at 6pm. By this time, the snow and rain had gone and it was just cold but brilliant sunshine.
Rhiannon happily plowed into the cake and the candy, then befriended one of the older kids and played with him until a very late bedtime of 8pm.
Marching (and not singing along). The kids are supposed to wear nice clothes so Rhiannon is wearing a supercute dress but she wanted to wear her playsuit over it. Oh well.
Halfway through the parade route, Tryfan decided he didn't want to ride in the stroller anymore and Rhiannon decided she wanted to take his place, so they swapped. Tryfan was getting a little heavy to carry while also pushing the stroller, and I didn't have my Ergo or sling with me, so one of the teachers came to our rescue and carried him for a bit. Of course, tomorrow is the real big day. Last year we went downtown Oslo but this year we can't be asked going to all that effort! The forecast is for rain anyway, so we will lay low at home...
Our friends Jamie (Scottish) and Solveig (Norwegian) were the ones getting married. They had a mercifully short ceremony, mostly in English, that was in a lovely church in the village where Solveig grew up. It was really hard work keeping the two kids quiet for the ceremony, but they did it! Tryfan chewed on my necklace while Rhiannon kept waiting for the Minister to start telling a story about horses that Rhodri told her was going to happen.
The happy couple!
Outside enjoying the sunshine at the Reception, which was at a Cultural Center / Agricultural College.
The wedding was at 2pm and the reception went on until 1am, but we didn't stay the whole time. We left around 8pm. Rhiannon was bouncing off the walls - she had befriended Solveig's father and he was giving her little candies every time she came over to visit the head table. Then she caught on and started just asking random wedding guests for candy and most of them happily obliged because she was so cute and cheeky and asked for them in Norwegian. Anyway, we all slept well this night! Here are the troops on Sunday morning. They let me sleep in while they all played on the floor in the living/ kitchen room.
