Friday pm

We had a wonderful weekend.. Friday afternoon we took a spontaneous and short-lived trip to Haskell's beach. It was high tide with lots of rocks and no sand, but it was a lovely visit. Dad, Eric, Kristin, Heidi & Strider, the kids and I went.
Here is Eric keeping Rhiannon out of the waves with Heidi in the background.
For dinner we went out to a restaurant downtown. Here are Rhiannon, me, Eric, Grandma Bucky, Heidi, Dad, Kristin, Mom and Tryfan.
It is not often that we go to restaurants so we were able to get some practice. It helps a lot when the waitstaff bring the kids' food as soon as possible and the kids themselves are hungry. Tryfan was really good during dinner and he liked sitting next to Grandma.
Rhiannon was.. not quite as good. She is going through a Very Difficult period just now -- whining, shouting, sticking her tongue out at people, being just generally stubborn and ornery. Fortunately Grandpa volunteered to sit next to her at dinner and help keep her in line!

Friends over on Friday

We had a lovely visit from some old (and new) friends on Friday -- here are Ila, Ashlee, Heidi, Nicole and me with Sofia and Rhiannon and Strider the foster dog.
Ashlee, Heidi, Nicole and I all went to high school together and Sofia & Rhiannon are only 1 day apart in age. It was great to just hang out in the glorious sunshine and chat. Sofia and Rhiannon were wary of each other for the first 10 minutes or so, then they were chasing each other around the place laughing. Here they are playing with stickers.
We nicknamed Ila the "Baby Whisperer" because she was instantly the one that both kids wanted to climb on and chase.
My sweet sister and I :-)

Thanksgiving Day

We had a long but wonderful Thanksgiving Day today! First we tried something new: taking Rhiannon and Tryfan to church!
Rhiannon was a little superstar and she practiced writing her name and coloring the letters during the service. Tryfan played in the nursery room with Grandma for most of the service but came in to listen to audience members stand up to share what they are grateful for. Thank goodness for lollipops is what I say (although I didn't at the time)!
Anyway, we came back to the house and skyped with brother Will and Rebecca and Aunt Carol and Jackie who were dining in Washington DC. It was pretty fun to laugh together from two different places. Here are Grandma Linda, Mom, Rhiannon, Ted, Eric, Dad and Kristin.
It was another gorgeous perfect warm sunny day and we feasted outside on the deck. Since we were 21 people feasting, we pretty much filled up the deck! I don't have a good photo (yet) of the entire scene because I was trapped on the bench seating with Tryfan on my lap. But here I am with Grandma Bucky.
And here is Dad, Sonia and Grandpa Don and Grandma Bucky.
Four generations - mother and son, mother and son
After feasting we went for a walk. Of course it didn't take long before the kids were asking to be carried. Here is Eric with Rhiannon and me with Tryfan.
After the walk, we reunited back at Grandma Bucky's house across the street from my parents house to have some dessert. Here is Tryfan sitting on his Aunt Kristin's lap
Heidi and I with our Grandma Linda
So that was the day! And it was so lovely to be with so much of my family.

Great excitement

We stopped by the local fire station today and, since there was nothing much going on, a firefighter came outside to let us climb into the truck and show us the key features of the fire truck. He even posed for a photo with us and gave the kids each a helmet and a sticker badge! Here we are with "Troy".
Tryfan was beside himself with excitement. He kept wiggling his arms excitedly and smiling as big as he could smile. So cute. Here he is giving the thumbs up just like the real Fireman Sam does.

Saying goodbye

Lisa and Isabella left this morning and it took us some time to adjust to their absence. Tryfan kept asking where she was and Rhiannon kept talking about things they did together. We are just grateful that they made the journey up from San Diego to be with us :-)
The gingko tree in the front yard has gorgeous leaves for throwing.
After our friends left, we went downtown to have lunch with Grandpa and walk around a little bit. We ate lots of warm tortilla chips and fresh guacomole. YUM. YAY for excellent and abundant Mexican food! Rhiannon took full advantage of Grandpa's soft spot for her and did plenty of climbing and hugging.
Around 2pm we headed over to Phil and Libby's house to hang out with Ruby and Molly. It is so great to have so much family around. I am SO happy to be here right now -- we really miss Rhodri though. Well, one week left.

Thumbs up!

Tryfan has just learned how to do a "thumbs up" and he is so proud!
His favorite book, a paperback Fireman Sam story which is in Norwegian, shows Fireman Sam on the front cover doing a thumbs up and Tryfan has been trying to imitate him for many days now. For a long time he would stick up his index finger tall and proud, but after many days of practicing, he has mastered his thumb control. We've had some pretty funny situations where Tryfan has given a thumbs up to something that wouldn't normally warrant such a gesture (like when Rhiannon spat out her cucumber because there was salad dressing on it).

Superb day in the sunshine

We had the best day ever today with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-70s! After a morning of breakfast, getting dressed, and playing with Pablo the cat, we headed into downtown Santa Barbara. First we had a picnic at Alice Keck Park Memorial Park. The kids played tag and hide-n-seek in between snack breaks.
We saw lots of turtles, koi and ducks at this park. Fortunately no animals got hurt or even really chased by us!
After our picnic, we walked along State Street and found some comfort and familiarity (and shade!) in the children's section of Borders Bookshop. After spending about an hour in here sitting on the floor reading books aloud, we headed to get cold drinks and snacks at Starbucks. Isabella and Rhiannon looked so cute walking along the sidewalk holding hands and talking to each other.
We drove home in time to go swimming at our next door neighbors salt water pool! We mostly stayed in the jacuzzi because it was reaaaaally nice. Hooray for wonderful neighbors who don't mind when we ask to use their pool!
We went back to the house and played until dinner time. Again Rhiannon was not quite her normal self and just wanted to lay on the couch, so Isabella and Tryfan played with the cars on the wood floor. They had a really good time together. Tryfan is such a giggler and he was SO excited when the cars went really fast - listening to him giggling brought smiles and laughter to everyone around. Here is a car going under the purple chair tunnel.
Another nice dinner with all of us at the table
Everyone was pretty tuckered out by the time dinner was over, so the kids went straight to sleep (after storytime, of course) and Lisa and I sneaked off to have adult beverages at Hollister Brewing Company a few miles away! Hooray for grandparents who can babysit while we laydeez sneak away!

Reunion with friends

Sunday morning came far too early, but we were excited for the arrival of our friends Lisa and Isabella who were driving up from San Diego to stay with us for a couple of days. We spent the morning walking to and from the neighborhood playground (about 0.5 miles each way). It was a long walk for the little people, but we took our time and just enjoyed the day. Here are the troops on the home stretch back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Finally Lisa and Isabella arrived and we spent the afternoon getting reacquainted with each other. Here are Rhiannon and Isabella building a deluxe rail network in the living room.
We all went over for the traditional Sunday dinner at Grandma Bucky's house! Grandma Bucky cooked a delicious dinner (as always) and the kids ran a little wild and it was a typical Sunday night. But Rhiannon and Isabella both had their own issues that they were dealing with ... Rhiannon just wanted to lay on the couch and rest her eyes, and Isabella was at the end of a very long day and surrounded by people she didn't know. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Anyway, by the time we were getting ready to leave, all the kids were jumping and rolling and laughing together except for Rhiannon who was still on the couch.
Here are (around the table from left): Rhiannon, cousin Molly, Grandma Bucky, Uncle Phil, Aunt Libby, Dad, Uncle Eric, cousin Ruby, Mom, Lisa and Isabella.
Life is good when you are in your cozy jammies holding your baby dolls and listening to a bedtime story :-)

Hey laydeez

Saturday was a fine day and a fun night. My Mom and the kids and I met Dad, Grandma Bucky, and friends Butch and Dorothy at the golf course for a late breakfast. Rhiannon thought it was great fun to ride in the golf cart... here she is with her Grandpa and Butch.
After breakfast, we headed downtown because I needed something to wear this night for a girls night out. It was a clear, warm (~70 deg F) gorgeous day in Santa Barbara and I was SO happy to be right here, right now. Eventually I found something to wear and we came home for naps and a quiet afternoon before I headed out at 7pm. I met up with 3 of my dear friends and had a great night out. Here I am with my wonderful friend Polly, who lived next door to me growing up. There is just nothing quite like being in the company of a friend who has known you nearly your whole life :-)
I stayed out far too late, but I figured it was a once-in-a-decade sort of outing. It was very hard to wake up the next morning at 5:30am, but at the same time I was excited because our friends Lisa and Isabella were coming to visit us for a few days starting this day...

School visit

On Friday we visited my Mom's classroom at the grade school that I grew up going to. It was pretty fun to visit a class of 3rd graders -- fun for Tryfan and Rhiannon to be with a bunch of 8 year-olds and fun for the class to be with little people. We sang the song "God morgen alle sammen" for everyone and all the kids introduced themselves, saying their names for us. Here is Tryfan running through the class.
After our visit, my Mom took us to the Book Fair that was going on at the school library and bought us several books. We got to meet lots of other teachers and tour around for a little bit before heading home for naptime.
All the kids wanted to give Tryfan and Rhiannon "high-5's" ... Tryfan got pretty into it!

Happy Birthday to me

For the first time ever, I got to celebrate my birthday with both my parents and my children, along with other wonderful family members! Too bad that Rhodri wasn't there too - we missed him. Anyway, we were invited to dinner at Uncle Phil and Libby's house, and here we all are (l to r): Uncle Phil, cousin Ruby, me, Dad, Tryfan, Mom, Rhiannon, cousin Molly, Grandma Bucky and [Aunt] Libby. Cousin Wheeler was there too but he left before this photo was taken.
Libby cooked up a wonderful dinner and Grandma Bucky made some Chocolate Applesauce Cake (always a treat!) for the occasion. Tryfan was delighted to discover the two kittys that live at their house. Here he is with "Chief".
Grandpa Carl is very happy to have the kids sit on his lap, and the kids were happy too although this photo doesn't capture it too well.
We are still adjusting to the 9 hour time zone difference, but it hasn't been as painful as we have experienced in previous visits. The kids woke up the first night at 2:30am hungry and ready to party, and last night they tried to do the same but I made everyone stay in bed and go back to sleep.

The very very very long trip to Santa Barbara

Yay! We finally made it to Santa Barbara, but as Rhiannon kept reminding me during our travel, it took a very very very long time to get there. First we woke at 6am local time in Norway, ate breakfast and dressed to catch the 6:58am train to the airport. The troops were already into their backpacks full of surprises by the time we got to Sandvika station (the next station along from Asker) and it was still pitch black outside. We checked in our bags fine, went through security fine, and then bought some chocolate milk and apple juice to kick things off. In this photo, we were having a picnic in the play area next to our gate.
Finally they started boarding the Swiss Air flight to Zurich and we were nearly the first to get on. Rhiannon took off running and so Tryfan followed.
We had a good flight to Zurich and less than an hour to connect to Los Angeles-bound flight. It was trickier than I thought to get through the airport - lots of escalators up and down, queues to wait in, train to get to the other side of the airport, a chaotic security zone to get through and so forth. But anyway, we made it in time.
Our seats were in the middle of the plane, and for most of the 12.5 hour flight, the 4th person in our row was a 6 year old boy named Mateo. He was traveling with his little sister and Dad from Barcelona back to LA where they live. Mateo was trying to play his Gameboy in peace, but Rhiannon wouldn't let him, kept bugging him with persistent questions about who he was, where he lived, how old his sister was... and they soon were playing together. First they did some coloring with Rhiannon's new colored pencils and geometric patterns book, then they ran laps around the plane.. down the aisle, to the back of the aircraft through the galley and around the other side of the plane, back through the galley in First Class Cabin. I averted my eyes during this scene - I don't think they were really bugging anybody, but a responsible parent probably isn't supposed to let their kid scamper through the aisles giggling. Then I let them borrow my iPod and they shared the headphones and rocked out to "I like to move it move it" by will.i.am, and I mean really rocked out. They were dancing in their seats and Mateo was singing rather loudly along, and people were turning their heads to see what was going on. Again, nobody seemed too upset by it so I turned a blind eye.
But it was a loooong flight. 12.5 hours is just a very very long time to be relatively quiet and well behaved and mostly sitting in one place. All the seats had TV screens on the back and so each passenger could choose their own entertainment, so that was great. But they didn't have very many options for small kids. And it turns out that Tryfan doesn't like having things (eg headphones) in his ears so he was not really into watching cartoons and stuff. Tryfan did some running around too, and we made several family trips to the toilet (one for all and all for one, or something like that). After about 8 hours, Tryfan fell asleep on my lap and then for the final hour or 2 Rhiannon was asleep on the floor, which is better than nothing.
We finally landed in LA and made record time going through Immigration and Customs, and then Rhiannon spotted both of our bags on the belt first so we ran to get those and then we excitedly looked for Grandpa as we entered the Arrivals area! So great! We had a happy reunion and made it out to the car, then got settled in for our 2+ hour drive up to Santa Barbara. Both kids slept in the car but poor Tryfan puked when we were in the middle of LA traffic so we couldn't stop to change his clothes at that time. By the time we were able to do so, he was asleep again so we just left him sleep in chocolate-scented puke for the rest of the drive :-( Anyway, we are really really happy to be here!

The weekend, quickly gone

Well, we've had a string of quiet(ish) days. We stayed home from barnehage on Friday and ventured out to get some fresh air in late morning. Our default outing is to put the kids in the Burley trailer, Bentley on the Springer, and one of us on our bike and go "the long way" to Rimi (our nearest grocery store). We can do a loop that goes about 15-20 minutes up and down a bit of a hill past a lake and through the forest, and then stop at Rimi and then go along the other side of the lake back home. Tryfan is always begging to go to Rimi - he loves it there because I often let him and Rhiannon choose a few 'sweets' from the pick-a-mix candy bins to eat on the way home. Here we are saddled up on Friday morning.
Friday night we had dinner with our neighbors Monica, Helge, Kristoffer, and baby Joakim. Monica taught me how to make a really easy and fast (and yummy) pizza dough, so we take turns having Friday night pizza at each other's houses. We don't do this every Friday, but more often than not we do and it is turning into such a nice tradition! Kristoffer goes to a different barnehage than Rhiannon and Tryfan, and so they are almost always happy to see each other and play. It started snowing just before dinner and carried on through the night.

On Saturday we woke to a generous covering of snow - our first this year! - SO exciting. We played outside building a snowman (which got abandoned about 1/3 of the way into the build) and then helped Daddy plow the driveway. By this time (~10:30am) it had already warmed up to about 40 F and was raining. Yuck! So the snow quickly left us. Here are the troops on the snow shovel.
In the afternoon our friends Henry, Elianne, Jack (10) and Felix (4) came over. We had a really relaxing afternoon with us adults enjoying cups of tea and biscuits in the kitchen while Tryfan slept and Jack tolerated Felix and Rhiannon's attempts to play with him. It's hard and boring being a big kid when everyone else is little - I felt bad for him, but he is a really good sport. Here are (l to r): Felix, Rhiannon and Jack building necklaces in the living room.
So now it is Sunday night and almost all the snow has melted, the rain has come and gone again, and we are ready for our last 2 days before we get on the airplane to fly to California!!! Woohoo!

Sliding

We've had a few days lately where we just stayed home instead of going to barnehage. It's fun to be together, especially since I don't have to be at work these days! And these kids are still coughing a lot, so I want them to do more resting than rambunctious playing. But after a few hours of cozily reading stories, doing art projects, playing with cars and building things with Duplo, it is time to get the winter suits on and go outside.
Here the troops were sliding in the backyard, both wearing purple hats.
And some video footage of the action...

My dog is a plumber...

My dog is a plumber - he must be a boy
Although I must tell you his favorite toy
Is a little play stove with pans and with pots
Which he really must like, 'cause he plays with it lots.
So perhaps he's a girl, which kind of makes sense -
Since he can't throw a ball, and can't climb a fence.
But neither can Dad, and I know he's a man.
And Mom is a woman, and... she drives a van!
So maybe the problem is in trying to tell
Just what someone is by what they do well?

Rhiannon and Tryfan are home today from barnehage and we were just listening to the CD "Free to Be You and Me" which I listened to so much when I was young! I love it still. Now I get to make my own kids listen to it -- ha ha ha ha!

Counting down the days...

...until we fly to California! We are so excited but we still have 10 days to go. Here are the troops wearing the hats they got at the Asker Fire Station Open Day. Rhiannon likes having her hair in one braid that pokes out through the hole in the back of the hat. Tryfan always turns his around backwards. Geez, look how pale they are and it's not even winter yet!

Rhiannon came to the gym with me today and went to her own class which was for 4-7 year olds. And even though she is not 4 for another month yet, she is really good at listening and following instructions so she was allowed to join in. At one point I peeked in to the studio she was in and could see her smiling and running around.
Tryfan is good at smiling and running around, too, especially when it is bedtime and Daddy turns his back for a second...

Fire nearby!

Today when I took the kids to barnehage ~9:30am, the head teacher asked me if I could work at all this day because many of the teachers were home sick. Of course, just now we have a lot more rules about who must stay home when because of H1N1 and all that, so it's not too surprising that they were short-staffed and resorted to inviting me to work again! I was happy to do it, and in fact I will work there for the next couple of days as well.

But anyway, in the afternoon ~2pm I was outside playing in the rain with all the 3-5 year olds (except those whose week it is to be in the forest), and I spotted smoke coming from a house very close (~50 meters) to the barnehage! Another teacher spotted it immediately after me and ran in to call the Fire Dept. Then one of the mothers (who was there to pick up her daughter) left her infant with me while she ran over to the house and two of the teachers jumped over the fence to run over as well and try to get any residents out. I stayed with a herd of kids (including Rhiannon and the girl whose mother had run off) and we hugged altogether with me trying my best to explain in Norwegian that the firefighters were coming soon, and that the adults who went over were trying to help the people who live in that house. It was quite a scary scene though because the fire got big very quickly and soon the flames were coming out the windows and we could hear and see bits of the house falling off. Rhiannon was really upset and scared, as were many of the other kids.

Once the Fire Dept arrived (less than 5 minutes after the call), we started easing the children inside, but for the rest of the afternoon the barnehage was a chaotic scene. The evacuees were escorted into the main room of the barnehage for warmth and shelter (it was about 40 deg F and raining steadily at the time). Various emergency people and several other neighborhood residents took refuge here as well. The children were all accounted for and then calmly (and with an air of excitement rather than fear) sat down in their respective classrooms to cuddle and talk about what was happening.

I wasn't directly part of this because I was looking after the infant whose mother (who is a doctor) was helping the victims and I was also trying to sort out the pile of raingear mixed with sand that was in a great heap by the door. But I was very impressed with the manner in which the staff handled the situation. They covered the windows and darkened the rooms so the kids couldn't peek out, and lit candles for an ambience of calm. They immediately called all the parents to inform that everyone was okay, but that they should probably come pick up their kids as soon as possible since the barnehage was turning into more of a staging area for evacuees and emergency workers. I was very grateful to have been there already and to have witnessed the entire thing rather than being told about it on the phone! I was asked to take my kids and go home ~3:15pm and that's what I gratefully did. Tryfan, by the way, for all of his obsession with firefighters, was completely oblivious (as were all the small kids under 3 years old) until we were on our way to the car. Then he didn't want to go to the car, he wanted to watch the fire trucks and firefighters working. But Rhiannon helped me to lure him away and into the car so we could go home and tell Daddy all about it. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit less exciting at the barnehage!

Jammy days

Since our party on Saturday night, we have been a low-laying household. On Monday Rhodri really wasn't feeling well, and the kids slept in and then asked to stay home, so that's what we did. We were all in our jammies for a good part of the day. Here Tryfan was riding around in the dolly stroller and Rhiannon was pretending that he was her baby.
Things were going just fine until Tryfan got out to do something else and Rhiannon put another baby in his place. So when he went to climb back into 'his' stroller, he was not welcome. After enough of this sort of scene, we bundled up and drove into Asker to visit the library and buy some groceries. The kids were really good and held hands when we walked, sat together in the shopping cart, and chose books and DVD's to borrow from the library. A great way to start the week!