Weekend highlights

We had a nice weekend, a good end to the month of August. On Friday afternoon, we savored the warm sunshine in the late afternoon with our neighbor Gaius (Gaius is 3 months older than Tryfan). Rhiannon is always leaning over the fence and calling out to Gaius, asking him and his Mama and Papa if they want to come over. Gaius and Tryfan seem to enjoy being together - maybe because they are both nearly bald with big ears!
On Saturday we went on another family bike ride, although Bentley didn't come this time (his paw is still sore). The kids slept in the Burley while we pedaled all around Asker. It was another lovely day - perfect for riding bikes.
We ended up downtown Asker and had a picnic in the square, playing in the water fountain and generally basking in the sun. It was a great day - Rhodri got to play tennis and we came to watch, and then we had a BBQ with some friends after the kids went to sleep.
Today we had a very full day with not such lovely weather. First we met my barselgruppe (the group of Mamas and babies that live in the same neighborhood and had babies around the same time) at Semsvannet and went for a walk. This meeting was different because all the Daddies came too, as well as siblings and dogs. It was especially arranged for today because around now is the time when the "Papa-permission" starts for all of our families. "Papa-permission" is a specially set-aside 6 week period for Daddies to stay home with Baby while Mama goes back to work. Rhodri is taking 2 weeks now since he used up the other 4 weeks while we were in the USA. Anyway, it was great for Rhodri to get to know the other Daddies. Maybe this week he will get to meet for coffee and some grocery shopping downtown with one of his new buddies!We went straight from Semsvannet to an Annual Fall Picnic at a petting farm in Baerum. There were, as promised, many animals to get close to and some others to terrorize...oops, I mean "pet"! This poor guinea pig -- I guess they're not called guinea pigs for nothing! -- was in a cage that was totally accessible to 2-year-olds! Rhiannon kept gravitating back to the cage, opening it, taking out the animal's house and trying to pick the poor guy up. He was pretty cute though.
Tryfan liked having the pigs snuff their big snouts on his fingers.
There was also an old Ferguson tractor to climb on and it had levers and pedals that moved. Rhiannon was very impressed.

Rocking the horse

This is one of Tryfan's favorite things to do right now...

Double double trouble trouble

Today Rhiannon stayed home from barnehage so that we could visit with our friends before things change around here! First my friend Fiona and her twin boys Finn & Magnus (~ the same age as Rhiannon) came over for the morning and midday, and then this afternoon my friend Candice came over with her twins Shawn & Sophia (~1 year older than Rhii). Here are Rhiannon and Magnus on the tire swing in the rain this morning -- they didn't seem to mind the weather!
And here is Fiona with everyone in the sand pit. This was Tryfan's first outing in rain gear and he did pretty well. Yes, he managed to sneak in loads of dirt, leaves and small rocks but its probably not the last time this happens. He loved to watch the big kids play, too.
By ~3pm, it was warm and sunny enough outside to bust out the wading pool (which had already been tucked away for the winter) and don swimsuits. Sophia & Shawn joined the action as well, although they were not as excited about the cold water as Tryfan & Rhiannon were! Tryfan was really funny because he kept leaning into the pool and slapping the water, then laughing (cawing) crazily.
Meanwhile, poor Bentley had to go to the vet yesterday because he has some owies on two of his paws. Now he has to wear this awful cone for a few days so that he won't be able to lick his wounds. Poor guy refused to lay down with this thing on his head last night so he spent ALL NIGHT sitting or standing up (and whining off and on all night as well). Finally today he figured out how to get comfortable in a laying position so he spent most of the day catching up with sleep. I think he thought he was being punished for something because he has been acting so sad and stressed with this thing on. But we have been giving him extra cuddles today and I think now he realizes he is not in trouble.

Neighborhood posse

This morning when we finally got out of our jammies and outside into the sunshine, we found some of our favorite neighbors sitting right outside enjoying the day! Yasmin was there pushing her baby stroller around, so of course Rhiannon ran back inside to get hers. Yasmin's Mama Beate and her dog Nikita were there, and so were our next door neighbors Laila, Steinar and Gaius. What a happy scene! Rhiannon and Yasmin decided to push their babies up to the playground at the end of the road so they took off running with their baby strollers while Tryfan sat and laughed.
I wish I had a photo of all of us sitting on the porch because it was just a perfect late Sunday morning scene. Rhodri wasn't there though -- he was taking the opportunity to thoroughly clean the upstairs while we were all outside. Thanks, Rhods! You always do such a great job of cleaning :-)

Trying something new

There is always one long moment while we are in the thick of mobilizing to get out the door when it feels like we are about to make a huge mistake and the whole attempt is going to be an absolute disaster. Yesterday morning was definitely one of those times as we attempted something new: our whole family (including Bentley) went on a bike ride. The long moment yesterday was Rhodri trying to fit the dog harness holster to my bike while Bentley was chasing after some passersby and I was trying to stop him, Tryfan was loudly protesting about being buckled into the Burley, and Rhiannon was whining about her baby doll needed some room to sit also. Fortunately, we had dried fruit and nuts nearby to keep the troops at bay for a few more minutes before we left. Once we were on the road, everyone was happy and we pedaled (Bentley trotted) along the bike path on our adventure!We cycled a roundabout way and ended up downtown Asker, where there was a gymnastics show going on. We bought some lunch at the grocery store and set up camp in the corner of the pavilion. Tryfan immediately took off crawling after some red balls that he saw, and Rhiannon was eager to run back and forth across the gymnasts' practice area. She was very intrigued by all the somersaults and flips that the kids were doing and so she started practicing somersaults as soon as we were home.
After a bit of lunch and so forth, we headed for home and the kids fell asleep on the way -- Rhiannon and Tryfan's arms were interlocked and her head was resting on (smothering) Tryfan's shoulder. So cute! We dropped Bentley off at home and continued our ride on this gorgeous afternoon, looping down to Konglungen peninsula and back past Blakstad and Vettre. The kids had just woken up when we got to our turnaround point at the Blakstad marina, so we all ran around for a little bit.
We made it back home sometime around 3pm (after having left at 11am), and immediately pronounced the entire effort to be a huge success. The first of many family bike outings, I hope!

Change in the air

We have had some lovely sunny days this week, warm enough for sleeveless tops and skirts (not for the boys though), and yet it is definitely not summer anymore. With the end of summer comes the old feelings of going back to school, back to work, and the end of long warm days and bare feet. I have been feeling wistful this week because I will be rejoining the work force on Sept 1st - just one week to go. I've had a pretty good run -- "Tusen takk", Norwegian government! -- but its sad to think that Tryfan is coming to the end of his first year.The photo above was taken by my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Rebecca, when we were visiting Lake Chelan this summer. Even though this was taken a month ago, I feel like it captures my mood right now.
Tryfan will start at the barnehage on Sept 15, so Rhodri will use his remaining 2 weeks of "Papa-permision" and look after Tryfs Sept 1-14. Stay tuned...

10 months old

I realized today that Tryfan is acting less like a baby and more like a toddler. He is not walking yet, but he is not far off! He crawls really fast and is totally adept at cruising (holding onto stuff while walking). He is starting to clearly enjoy harassing Rhiannon...he has been caught trying to sabotage the puzzle she was working on, pinching the book she was reading, pulling the blanket that was covering her while she was taking a nap on the couch, stealing her cookie and her cup of tea -- each time laughing crazily when she gets upset and/or tries to pile-drive him into the rug. All this at 10 months!

Tryfan now weighs 8.45 kg (18.5 lbs) and is 73 cm (29 inches) long. He also has 2 teeth that are barely visible on his lower gum! He is still nursing, but only if there is nothing more interesting going on around him. But Tryfan is just so sweet and he is so quick to smile at people, especially people he has never seen before...I just want to squeeze him and kiss his soft skin all the time! Right now his favorite toy is a yellow spatula from Rhiannon's kitchen and his favorite game (besides harassing his sister) is exchanging raspberries (the lip kind, not the eating kind) in the back seat of the car with Rhiannon.

Full house, full weekend

Nia, Cris and Gabriel came back from their trip on Saturday afternoon and by then we had acquired another visitor -- our friend Jim from San Diego! We had a gorgeous sunny Saturday evening so all of us stayed outside until bedtime -- the kids riding in the wheelbarrow, the adults drinking fine wine and all of us enjoying the live guitar music provided by Jim. Here are Gaby and Rhiannon thoroughly enjoying their ride in the wheelbarrow.
Uncle Cris pushing them around the yard
Jim playing guitar and not singingAfter the kids were in bed, our friend Solveig came over for dinner and games. Here she and Jim are showing off their blueberry & red wine teeth
Sunday morning we had a pancake breakfast for everybody (except Solveig, who had gone home to sleep). Tryfan ate 5 blueberry pancakes all by himself! Blueberries are ripe in Scandinavia right now, so the shops have plenty of fresh Norwegian berries to make yummy concoctions with.
After breakfast, we all headed into Vollen and took our canoe - the SS Meerkat - out for several paddle outings in the fjord. Everyone got to go in the canoe at least once (except Tryfan). It was a very calm Sunday but by ~2:30pm the wind picked up and we headed for home. Here are Rhodri, Solveig, Rhiannon, Jim, Cris and Gabriel getting ready for the first outing.
Tomorrow is our last full day with the Lewis-Marcico family :-(

Tryfan talking

Tryfan has been trying out some different sounds lately...

Language overload

We have been having a grand time with the Lewis-Marcico family, although its been a tad confusing keeping track of all the languages...here is what we have going on:
Nia and Cris speak Spanish to each other but sometimes they speak English.
Nia and Gabriel speak Welsh together, but Cris and Gabriel speak Spanish together.
Nia and Rhodri speak Welsh to each other, and Rhodri also speaks Welsh with Rhiannon and Tryfan.
Rhiannon speaks Norwegian to Tryfan but Welsh to Gabriel.
Rhodri and Cris speak English together but Rhodri tries to speak his own blend of Spanish/Italian/ Greek with Cris.
I speak English with everyone except Gabriel, who I have been speaking Welsh to because I know he understands what I am saying. And when the 4 of us adults are talking together, we speak in English (fortunately).
Good thing that Nia, Cris and Gabriel have gone on tour around western Norway for a couple of days - all these languages are doing my head in! Here is this morning's pancake breakfast scene:
Crazy cousins jumping on the bed in their jammies

Crazy cousin visiting

Rhodri's sister Nia and her husband Cristian and their son Gabriel have arrived and it has been one crazy household since they got here! They arrived last night and so today was our first day altogether. Rhiannon stayed home from barnehage and we spent the morning out on the trampoline and at the playground. Gabriel was a bit hesitant at first on the trampoline but he soon was jumping happily with Rhiannon and Tryfan. Tryfan loves to crawl around while his big sister bounces around him (and occasionally lands on him).
Rhiannon really likes Uncle Cris - must be his Argentinian accent! Here she was telling him how to pat the sand down with the shovel in just the right way.Later this afternoon, we all went to Semsvannet for a picnic BBQ dinner. It was gorgeous warm weather and we had this little beach to ourselves.
Cousins chasing and splashing in the lake
Successful self-take of us and our picnicking spot

Resting conditions and "the slide of death"

Its been a nice quiet weekend - cool weather, rain and Olympics on the telly. Perfect conditions for resting and preparing minds and bodies for Monday morning when its back to work and barnehage time! Here are Rhodri and Tryfan in their British flat caps - good for keeping the head warm and rain out of the face (although it was just misting when I took this photo).

We went for a walk today in the rain with our friends Henry and Elianne, along with their boys Jack (8) and Felix (3). We encountered this playground and Rhiannon scampered up the ladder to go down the slide, but...oh no!...either kids are not supposed to go down this or else it is the steepest slide -- dubbed "the slide of death" -- that we have ever seen.
We are also getting ready for Rhodri's sister Nia, her husband Cristian and their son Gabriel to visit us starting tomorrow evening! Woohoo!

"Lille bukke bruse"

Here is Rhiannon singing her favorite song while we were in Stehekin:

This is a song about the story of the 3 billy goats that cross a bridge with a troll underneath. Whenever Rhiannon (or any of her homies from barnehage) sees a bench or rock or something to stand/ walk on, she bursts into song.

Adjusting

Tryfan is 9.5 months old now, and he is finally getting his first tooth! Poor little guy has been waking up in pain, pulling on his ears and jamming his fist in his mouth, for the past few nights. This new tooth hasn't helped the 9-hour time zone adjustment very much but it could be a lot worse. For the most part, he and Rhiannon have adjusted really quickly...we thank the "knock-out juice" for this!

In fact, Tryfan has been noticeably delighted to be back home in a familiar place with familiar cupboards to open and chairs to climb up against. He is starting to try to play with Rhiannon and he copies whatever she does. Of course, Rhiannon thrives on this and so she finds things to do on Tryfan's level so that he will copy her. At the moment, their favorite game is to bang on the trashcan like its a drum (it's only a small bin - just the right height for a wee one to hang onto as he practices standing).

Good journey home

We made it from Goleta to Asker in 23.5 hours (door to door) and for the most part, it was a pretty good journey! No tears, no tantrums, no lost luggage, and even a bit of sleep on the plane rides. Here are the troops this morning (Wed am) before we left my family's house, happily clapping and sitting nicely on small chairs.
First we took the Santa Barbara AirBus from Goleta to LAX and it was actually very enjoyable! We learned some historical facts of the Oxnard - Malibu stretch of coastline and had various celebrities' houses pointed out to us as well. It was a fairly empty bus so we spread out and took over the back of the bus. Here is the scene looking out the window as we drove through Malibu with the kids on Rhodri's lap. It was fun to not have to be constrained in a car seat (or even wear seat belts!) and to be able to climb around as we wanted to. We also liked being way up high and looking out the window at the Pacific coast.
From LAX we flew to London, had a couple of hours in the BA Lounge there, then a 2 hour flight to Oslo, then the 49-minute train ride to Asker and finally a huge taxi back home. Phew! We coughed up a lot of dinero for the Business Class tickets, but it was totally worth it because we sailed through check-in, took the Fast Track through the security lines, enjoyed our waiting times in the Lounges, and most of all we got to have 3 flat beds on the LAX-London flight. Tryfan even slept in the bassinett so I got to stretch out in a seat (bed) all to myself for most of the flight! We were so happy to get home and see Bentley tonight, although the house looked strange when we came in...I guess because I actually cleaned it before leaving!

Last days in California

After returning to my family's home in Goleta on Sunday morning, we were able to relax and enjoy our last few days here before we fly back to Norway. Grandma Linda was housesitting while we were in Washington, so we got to be with her a little bit on Sunday. Here are the troops playing "Pat-a-cake".
We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo on Monday and the kids found a dinosaur egg to play in.
We went on a train ride around the perimeter of the zoo which was very exciting. It was a gorgeous day as well - not too hot and not too cold.
We played on the deck in the water quite a bit over the past few days. Tryfan absolutely loves the water! He wouldn't let go of the hose and he kept putting his fingers inside the nozzle.
Now today we are off on our long journey back to Asker. Wish us luck!

Milestones and memories

We had a lot of quality time with "The Fam" while we were in Stehekin. Here are a few pics...
Rhiannon really liked Skylyr. In this photo, we were all riding in the back of Bruce on our way up to the end of the road (a mere 12.5 miles up valley... although it should go 23 miles up valley if we can just convince the authorities to fix the part that washed out in the 500 year flood from 2003) to fish and pick huckleberries.
Rhiannon also really liked Mark, who was working at the house on building a platform for the new yurt to be built upon. He brought his digger and let her sit on it and move the digger arm up and down!
Tryfan was very excited to have a chicken bone to chew on when we went out to dinner at one of the two dining locales in Stehekin.On our last night in Stehekin, we went out to dinner at the other dining locale (Stehekin Valley Ranch) and enjoyed a classic Courtney Ranch dinner. Tryfan and Rhiannon were very good eaters and also very well behaved this night! In this photo, Tryfan is taking advantage of me looking away so he can steal my steak.
On our short drive from Grandma Bucky's house to the Landing (~3 miles) to catch the boat downlake on our way home, Tryfan reached a milestone: he learned how to wave! This photo here captured the third or fourth wave of his life. He was so proud of himself! He also learned how to clap his hands on this trip, although that happened on our first day in Reno (July 21).
Here is my beautiful sister Heidi holding Tryfan. He clung to her like a little monkey while we got ready to get on the boat.
The back of Bruce in front of the Bakery with Grandma Bucky, Annabel and her family, and Rhodri and Rhiannon. The Bakery is more than just a shop that makes and sells delicious baked goods - it is the hangout for locals and tourists alike.
Another big -- no, make that HUGE -- milestone that we just experienced on our travels is Rhiannon being potty trained! Yippiee! It started on July 25th, the morning that we left Reno to fly up to Seattle and continue on up to Stehekin. She had been going #1 on the toilet for awhile, but had yet to go #2 until this morning. While we were in Stehekin with my 2 brothers, my sister, my future sister-in-law, my parents and my Grandma, as well as with Annabel and her family, Rhiannon had a big enthusiastic support team cheering on her potty victories. I think this was a huge factor in contributing towards her very fast transition out of diapers. Thank you, everyone!

Stehekin bliss

We just got back today from our glorious trip to Stehekin! This is a place where phones and even internet are not readily available - hence the 10 day break from the Blog. Stehekin is located at the head of 55-mile long Lake Chelan and you can only get here by boat, small plane or on foot, so its a big effort to get here. Anyway, my whole family and my best friend Annabel, along with her family, reunited with us up here for the better part of the week. Here is one view that I never get tired of - from Stehekin looking back downlake towards Chelan.
And the view looking from the Stehekin Landing (where the boats dock) up valley to the North Cascades National Park. Buckner Mountain (named for my great-great-great Uncle Henry Freeland Buckner) is the peak furthest to the right in the far distance.
Although no roads lead here, there is a single road that starts at the Landing and goes up the valley a few miles (see my note at end of this post) so the residents of Stehekin all have cars to drive up and down the one road. My Grandma Bucky grew up here and lives here half the year so she drives "Bruce", the 1988 Ford Ranger pickup that Rhodri and I sold to her for $1 a few years ago. Bruce is enjoying his retirement years up here carrying herds of people and gear in his bed. There are no rules about seatbelts or passenger capacity or even vehicle registration in Stehekin!
Here is the gang (l to r): Eric, Carl, Bucky, Skylyr, Heidi, Debi, Rhiannon, Chris, Kyrstyn, Annabel, Rhodri, Lisl, Tryfan, Will and Rebecca. The "Lady of the Lake" passenger ferry leaves Stehekin and starts the 4 hour journey back downlake to the town of Chelan.
There are loads more photos to post and stories to tell of our wonderful week in Stehekin, but for now I will just put on this one of my parents with Rhiannon.
Note on the Stehekin Road....
The link I inserted above goes to a petition to re-open the Upper Stehekin Valley Road so that people can once again access the stunning wildness of the North Cascades National Park. The link to a bunch of newspaper articles about this awful situation is HERE!

Last full day in Reno

Today we had such a full day! Here we are in the late afternoon enjoying some ice cream on the bank of the Truckee River downtown. There were loads of people swimming in the river and it looked so inviting, but we stayed mostly dry in the shade.
"I have PINK ice cream", says Rhiannon
This last day was a special one because our friend Wes took Leann and I up in his Cessna for an early morning tour of the skies above Reno! It was a bit smoky from the fires in northern California, but it was still a great way to start the day. Thanks Wes!
Tomorrow we are off to Washington State where we will journey to Lake Chelan to meet my family and then continue the pilgrimage up to Stehekin at the head of Lake Chelan