Sweden!

We had a mostly good trip to Gothenburg, Sweden earlier this week. It was very exciting and fun to be on a road trip and the kids were pretty good in the car looking for Christmas trees, reindeer hiding in the woods and fields that we passed, and tractors. We left at 9:15am and got to Gothenburg ~1:30pm with only one pit stop along the way. We [stupidly] drove right into the city center and found a place to park, then walked around downtown for a bit before going to check in at the hotel. We stayed at Gothia Towers because it was adjacent to the Liseberg Park where there was a grand Christmas celebration with lots of lights, market stalls, etc. Normally I avoid places like this because it is all "CANDY CANDY! HYPER LIGHTS LOTS OF PEOPLE!" but we figured we would give it a try since Rhiannon's friend Sofia and her Mama are Gothenburg natives and wanted to meet us here. So anyway, we went there for a couple of hours on Monday night and it was a bit hellish but then it was over. Sofia and Rhiannon were happy to see each other and run around. Here is the scene..
Once into our hotel room, we made a nest on the floor for Rhiannon and Tryfan to sleep toes-to-toes. We were on the 14th floor and so had a lovely view over the Liseberg Park we had just been to. Here is Rhodri telling a bedtime story to the troops.
Once the kids were quiet, Rhodri and I went upstairs to the restaurant on the top floor and had such a delicious meal sans kids! We had the monitor with us so we could hear if they made any peeps (which they didn't). Hurray for us!

Tuesday morning we watched cartoons while all of us lounged in bed, then went downstairs to a great buffet breakfast. The troops were very eager to ride on a tram so after much hassle involving checking out, finding another place to leave the car, finding correct Swedish coinage to pay for parking, we hopped on a tram and went to the Universeum (Science center/ aquarium/ indoor rainforest). Here they are on the tram. Note that Rhiannon is *still* wearing the elf hat. She wakes up each morning, puts it on right away and then doesn't take it off until bedtime.
It was a pretty good Science Center and we spent about 3 hours there before starting the drive home. Here is Rhiannon walking on a rope bridge over a pool of fish and rays and other sealife.
So it was a good place to spend the morning and get some wiggles out before driving home. The kids slept in the car on the way home and we stopped at a shopping center to stock up on food and beverages (Sweden is quite a bit cheaper than Norway for this stuff). We got home about 8pm last night. A good trip, definitely worth the effort. And now we are happy to stay put for a little bit here in Asker for the holidays.

Finally, a Christmas tree

Today we finally got our Christmas tree! Most people in Norway seem to wait until around this time to get their tree, so we were not the last ones. There are plenty of gas stations with trees for sale in their parking lots, but we wanted to get ours from a local farm (as we did last year). Fortunately there is a farm just across the road from where we live!
Rhiannon's best friend Sofie and Tryfan's best friend Johanne came over to our house with their Daddy first, and then after some inside playing we walked over to the farm. We pulled the little kids in sleds. Here are Tryfan and Johanne sharing a pulk as we were getting ready to go.
They are so cute together since they have matching snowsuits! Here they are in front of a tractor at the farm.
The afternoon turned a bit chaotic after this photo was taken... the little ones were ready for naps, the big kids wanted to go for a ride in the sleigh pulled by a horse but there were many people waiting in line before we could go, we all forgot to bring money, and it was cold and snowing! So I ended up walking home with Tryfan and Johanne and putting them to sleep in Tryfan's bed while the Daddies rode on a horse-drawn sleigh to find Christmas trees in the forest. Anyway, we got a lovely tree in the end and eventually the day finished. Some days are a struggle. But tomorrow... we are going to Sweden! We are really excited because none of us have ever been there so we are staying at a hotel downtown Gothenburg for one night. Yay!

Making pepperkaker

We went to our friends Henry, Elianne, Jack and Felix's house today and we all sat down to make gingerbread (aka pepperkaker) at their dining table. So lovely! Felix and Tryfan were mostly focused on just eating as much dough as possible, but the rest of us made nice cookies.
They kindly invited us to stay for dinner and we accepted! Rhiannon took this photo of all of us (except Jack who had already left to visit his friends nearby). It was a really great afternoon and evening.

Kjekstedmarka tur

Today was really cold again, though slightly warmer than the past couple of days. It got down to -16 C at our house yesterday but today it was a balmy -10 C. We went on a family outing to some nearby woods (called Kjekstedmarka) that I had never been to before.
Tryfan got to ride inside the pulk and [eventually] sleep while Rhiannon sat on top and held on tight! Normally we ski when we pull the pulk behind us, but there are no groomed ski trails yet and the snow isn't too deep so we just walked.
The ground was very pockmarked with deep footprints in the snow which had been frozen and then re-snowed upon, so it was a bumpy and at times exciting ride for the troops. Here is a little video showing part of our expedition.

The fog had frozen to the leafless branches of all the deciduous trees. I just love it when this happens - the trees are completely transformed.

Nissefest

Today was the annual Nissefest (Elf Party) at barnehage! Everyone dressed in their elf outfits and they were so cute.

Celebrating sunrise

Today Bentley and I went on our daily scamper to the Asker golf course (after taking the kids to barnehage) and were treated to a gorgeous sunrise around 9:20am. Here is the view from the 9th fairway (also a favorite spot for sledding although the hill isn't visible from this picture).
Bentley, sooo happy to be free to sprint, pounce and nuzzle in the snow.
Further up the 9th fairway watching the first rays come up on the side of Vardaasen hill. I love looking at the evergreen forest standing proud and imposing behind the delicate deciduous trees.
It is so wonderful to take the time to appreciate such things as sunrises. I am very grateful for this day.

Meeting Santa at a farm

On Sunday we went to the Company Children's Christmas Party which was on a farm north of Oslo. "Julenissen" (aka Santa Claus) made an appearance and so we lined up to meet him. Here they are, next in line to go shake Santa's hand! Tryfan was skeptical but really excited and Rhiannon was just plain excited.
Santa gave big bags of candy to each child - we are rationing them in our house now, a couple of pieces everyday after barnehage if they use good manners to ask for them.
Rhiannon also got to ride a horse by herself, which she was extremely proud of! There was a long line so she and I stood in it until we got to the front and then she got scared and didn't want to go, but got on anyway and held tight for a walk around the corral (led by the lady below).
Here is a close-up of her face from the previous photo. I love how visible her pride is here.
The whole afternoon (3-5pm) was great though cold and without much snow. We saw lots of familiar faces and friends here but didn't get too much time to chat as all the kids wanted to go their own way and weren't keen on just sitting by the fire socializing.

On the drive there and back, and in fact anytime we are in the car these days, Tryfan is on the lookout for Christmas trees (with lights on them, as they are the only kind visible on these dark days). He gets really excited when he sees one, and it doesn't matter if we see 50 of them over a matter of minutes, the 51st Christmas tree is just as exciting as the 1st. I love this undulled enthusiasm, although it is hard to maintain equally enthusiastic replies to him without getting the urge to be sarcastic. No WAY! A Christmas tree? With lights on it?! On your side of the car?! Wow!

Rhiannon's birthday party

Today we celebrated Rhiannon's birthday by having 9 of her friends (mostly from barnehage) come over. After eating some cheese quesadillas (totally non-traditional Norwegian food for a birthday party, but I am SO sick of hot dogs!), we played "Musical Statues". Here are the kids dancing to Mamma Mia...
After playing a couple of games and then just letting the kids run wild for awhile, we opened presents. Everyone sat in a circle with their gift and Rhiannon spun a bottle in the middle to see who would give their gift next. A couple of the parents stayed for the whole party which turned out to be great since they could help with the language translations!
After another session of running wild (jumping off the chair and couch, racing cars down the hallway, pretending to be babies in Rhiannon's bed, so on and so on..), we all sat around the table one more time for some cake. I made a birthday train out of Jello and we had some gingerbread cookies that Rhiannon and I had decorated earlier in the day.
Here is a close up of the birthday Jello train. I used empty milk and juice cartons as forms and did a mix of packet 'Gele' and plain gelatin sweetened with grape juice. We had vanilla sauce on top of the Jello and it was all very yummy (if i do say so myself!).
For the birthday finale, we had each of the kids shout down their hellos and say their names for the troll that was hiding downstairs. The troll would shout back that he was only a very nice troll and they could have a goodie bag as thank you for coming. Well, the troll meant to say this but as he was improvising in pidgeon-norsk and trying to talk in a very gruff but nice voice, I don't know if he was completely understood! We had a basket tied onto the end of a rope in the middle of the stairwell that the kids pulled up from the downstairs troll to receive their goodie bag. And that was the two hours gone! I think everyone had a good time but we were happy when it was finished. Phew!

St. Lucia day

Today was the annual Santa Lucia day at the barnehage. In previous years they have celebrated it at 7:30am and thankfully they switched to 3:30pm celebration. I got there early to help kids get into their outfits. Here is the staging area - the kids got to watch Mickey Mouse cartoons while waiting for everyone to get dressed.
Tryfan dressed like an angel but not looking very convincing!
All the lights were off and the 'big' kids (3-5 years) paraded twice around the whole barnehage singing the Santa Lucia song and holding [fake] candles.
Tryfan and I watched the parade from Tryfan's classroom and then we found Rhiannon afterwards.
My two angels :-)
We feasted on St. Lucia Day traditional sweet breadrolls and gingerbread and drank warm glogg with raisins and nuts, then Rhiannon and her class performed a little play about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Rhiannon was in the choir and they sang 4 or 5 different songs accompanied by one of the teachers playing guitar while shepherds, wise men, angels and Mary, Joseph and Jesus did their thing! It was short but quite entertaining. I didn't take any photos though - I was too busy holding Tryfan and trying to get him to be quiet.

4 years old!

Today Rhiannon turned 4 years old.
She has been acting a bit like a moody teenager in recent weeks -- I don't know if it is just a phase she is going through or if there is something bothering her. But it's not all bad; she is clearly happy to be back home with Daddy and back at barnehage snakke på norsk with her friends.
We baked things together to celebrate her birthday today. First we baked a "Wacky Cake" from our family cookbook to serve all the kids in her class at the barnehage during her bursdagsamling (birthday gathering). Tryfan helped too, of course. Then tonight we made pizza together. I made the dough and then she put all the toppings and sauces on. She chose to put on a mixture of tomato and pesto sauce as a base, then sliced sausages, cheese, red peppers, and tortilla chips on top. We had the world famous Chocolate Applesauce Cake for her real birthday cake. Our neighbors Kristoffer and Monica came over just as she was about to open her presents, so she invited them in to watch. She was very excited to open the Welsh books, the 25-pack of glitter glue, the necklace beads, the Matilda DVD, the finger puppets, the polka dot slippers, the tea set, the new jammies, the embroidered overcoat and the sparkly blue dress that she got as presents! I think that she really thinks she is a princess when she is wearing this dress, though :-( She kept calling me "Prince" and telling me to stand in a particular part of the kitchen so that I could watch her dance. Oh dear.
And so, at 4 full years of age, Rhiannon:

• often knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it
• is usually cheerful and chatty, especially with parents of her classmates
• loves playing with and sort of mothering smaller kids, especially those in Tryfan's class who are 1-2 years old. She goes around giving them each a big hug and lifting them off the ground, or holding their hands and showing them pictures on the walls of the room
• takes good care of her 'pink baby' and has an elaborate stroller setup with loads of blankets, pillows, and change of clothes which she wheels around from one sleeping spot to another, often asking if I want to peek in on her baby and check if she is still sleeping
  
• can recognize which cars belong to which teachers/ parents at barnehage and can differentiate between New Holland, Massey-Fergie, John Deere, Ford and Caterpillar tractors
  
• is good at coloring in pictures (staying within the lines), and tends to favor orange, red and pink in her work
• told me that her favorite color is blue
  
• has been really into building tall towers with Legos lately
  
• is proud that she can write her name and especially loves writing the letter 'N'. Fortunately she has 3 in her name
• is very good at tidying up after she has played with something. I know she didn't learn this from me!
• still loves the number 8
• often prefers savory food to sweets, although she has a soft spot for white chocolate and also for ice cream
  
• has learned how to say 'thank you' when she receives a compliment
• loves dancing, jumping, and (now that we have snow on the ground) sledding
• is generally good at playing and sharing toys with Tryfan

We are happy to have her in our lives, even if she sometimes acts moody!

Weekend with Auntie Sions

We had a really great weekend while Auntie Sioned was visiting. On Saturday we went shopping at Trekanten in Asker. They had a free kids craft table so the troops decorated little paper trees with Auntie Sions while Rhodri and I ran errands.
There were ballet and hip-hop dancers stationed on all three levels of the mall, each holding a sign that had written "Touch my hand to see me dance" (in Norwegian of course). We got to see a lot of dancing because Rhiannon kept touching their hands. It was pretty funny to watch and it was actually free with no asking for donations. Here are the troops with one of the hip-hop dancers.
In the evening, Rhodri and I went to the annual Oslo Welsh Society Christmas Dinner. Poor Auntie Sioned spent most of the evening trying to get the kids back to sleep. We still haven't adjusted to this time zone :-(
On Sunday everyone slept in and we had a quiet day spent mostly inside. Before it got pitch dark (~4pm), we ventured outside for a family outing on the icy slushy roads. It was pretty miserable, really, but nice to get fresh air. We ended up in the backyard with the kids playing in the playhouse, which is a lot safer than being pulled in a plastic sled on slippery roads.
After dinner we indulged with After Eight mints on the couch while watching "Barne TV".
I love Barne TV - it is 40 minutes of varied programming for kids on from 6-6:40pm every night. Sometimes they show a few episodes of different cartoons; sometimes they have a science show where people write in with their questions ("why are farts so smelly?" was a recent one) and then experiments and demonstrations to answer the question; sometimes they have sort of a family documentary type show featuring an idyllic Norwegian mountain farm with Grandfather and Granddaughter cross-country skiing and ice fishing together. Each night's Barne TV is different, and by 6:40pm it is finished and time for our kids to start getting ready for bed.

But the problem has been that the troops have been waking up around 10pm and not able to get back to sleep for at least an hour. Hopefully now that it is Monday and we are back into the barnehage/ work routine, they will adjust.

Snow day with Auntie Sions

Today we had such a fun day! We woke up to big chicken feather snowflakes falling and so we were quick to get dressed and get outside. The snow was perfect for building a snowman (aka "Dyn Eira" in Welsh)!
After a spot of early lunch, we went to barnehage to say hi to everyone and distribute birthday invitations for Rhiannon's birthday party next weekend. Rhodri dropped us off during his lunch break and then we took the bus back home. Here is a self-take at the bus stop.
Auntie Sioned and Rhiannon on the bus -- all the trees and white rooftops were so pretty to look at as we drove past them.
We got home and feasted on gingerbread and hot chocolate, then got to work making paper snowflakes and decorating with glitter glue.
After the troops were done with snowflakes, we all migrated to the couch and watched the movie "Elf". I *LOVE* this movie and fortunately Auntie Sions does too. We laughed and laughed and kept making paper snowflakes, managing to get little tiny bits of paper all over the living room. We had frozen pizza (again) for dinner when Rhodri got home... I feel like I am still on vacation and haven't gotten back into the cooking thing just quite yet.

Our long journey back to Norway

Yay! We made it back home to Asker safely! It was a long journey, but not as brutally long and painful as the way over to California. First we took a bus from Santa Barbara to LAX airport. We all took naps - here is Rhiannon missing the coastal scenery.
We had over 3 hours to hang out at LAX before our flight started boarding (that is a LONG time to kill in this crappy airport), but fortunately my Aunt Kim (who lives close by) called in to hang out with us. It was SO great to be with her, even if just for an hour or so.
During our hang out time in the airport, Rhiannon became friends with Alan (5) and Elisa (2). It turns out that they were traveling with their mother to Italy and had 3 of the 4 seats in the row 2 behind our row. Once we got on the airplane, their mother and I strategized on who we could get to exchange seats so that at least Alan and Rhiannon could sit next to each other, and what might happen if we couldn't get them together (the possibility of crawling under seats, squeezing past people, reuniting in the aisles for some happy scampering for everyone to hear..). I highly recommend this strategy for any families traveling with small kids!! I think our neighbors got so scared of the thought of being anywhere close to our two families that they begged the flight attendants to move them... and voila!... each of our families ended up with a whole row to ourselves and they were adjacent rows too!
We had an 11 hour flight to Zurich, and since it was an overnight flight, I was really expecting both kids to sleep... and they did. Tryfan slept for about 6 hours and Rhiannon for about 5. I slept a bit too, which was a nice bonus. Alan and Rhiannon were really sweet together - they colored and watched cartoons, exchanged snacks and even read some stories together. We said goodbye in Zurich and Alan gave both Rhiannon and Tryfan a big hug and a kiss. So sweet :-) Here they are holding hands in Zurich.
We had a short connection in Zurich and got straight onto the 2 hour flight to Oslo. Once there, we hurried to get our bags and reunite with Rhodri, who had met us at the airport so that we could all go together by train to Asker. Rhiannon was especially happy to see him; I think she really missed him while we were in California and this might possibly have been the underlying factor in her recent misbehaviour.
We finally went to sleep about 10:30pm and slept until about 10:30am. When we woke, we saw our backyard covered in fresh snow!
This afternoon, Auntie Sioned arrived! I had forgotten that she was coming but it was SUCH a great thing to remember about! We were all really happy to see her. Here she is reading a bedtime story to the troops.
So now we just need to adjust to this time zone and temperature, and we will be all set!

Last days in California

We've had a busy final few days in Santa Barbara, with lots of visiting to do. We reunited with my old friend Karen from UCSB (who I had completely lost touch with for 10 years), and was delighted to learn that she has twins who are just a few weeks younger than Rhiannon! We went to their house and had a great time with them. Here we are with Olivia, Karen and Charlie.
We also drove up to Buellton where my Grandpa Don was camping with his wife Sonia. We saw them at Thanksgiving but didn't get enough time with them so we had a good visit in their RV.
I realized that we didn't have any photos of Rhiannon and Tryfan alone with their Grandma and Grandpa, so we had to arrange that before our departure.
This morning my friend Denise and her little boy Liam came over to give us some hand-me-downs and play outside. Liam brought three trucks so everyone got to play with them on top of the ping pong table.
It is so wonderful to reunite with some of my lifelong friends like Denise :-)
Now we are doing last minute preparations for our long journey back to Asker... bus from Goleta to LAX, then fly from LA to Zurich, then Zurich to Oslo and hopefully Rhodri will meet us at the airport there! Wish us luck (and me patience)....