Mid-week holiday

Hurray for mid-week public holidays! Today was Norwegian Labor Day so we were all off work and school and everything was closed. Since today was Tuesday, that meant that most people took Monday off and at least part of last Friday as well in order to make a long weekend out of this holiday.
We didn't, but we did play hookey yesterday (Monday) morning...we got up as usual and got ready for the day, took Rhiannon to barnehage and then raced off to play golf at the Asker Golf Club! Yesterday was a stunning day with clear views over the Asker valley and down to the fjord, sunny and warm but with a crisp breeze that reminded us we are in Norway. It was a perfect morning for skiving off work and sneaking in 18 holes. I hadn't played golf in about a year so it took me a few holes to get going. And of course, there are no golf carts in these here parts so it ended up being a lot more walking than I am used to (sad to say!). We finished in time to get half a day of work in at the office (which is a mere 2 km from the golf course!) and then we had all day today as a real holiday. Nice!

So today we hung around the house and then went exploring to a nearby lake that we had never been to called Damtjerne. We hiked through the woods up onto the top of a cliff and then around the lake. Sun-heated fir needles laying on damp earth smell the same here that they do in the North Cascades, I am happy to report. It was so lovely to smell warm forest smells.

Daily life images

Here are some recent pictures from just around the house in our daily life.
Rhiannon LOVES the vacuum cleaner! She pushes it around holding her hands and head over the vent so that it blows her hair straight up as pictured below.
Occasionally I try to put a hair clip in Rhiannon's hair. As long as she doesn't notice me putting it in, the clip will stay there for awhile. But on this day she noticed herself in the mirror and then she noticed the clip in her hair - of course she pulled it straight out.
As we are getting the final bits and pieces ready for nursery school and work in the morning, Rhiannon usually pesters Bentley.

A day at the beach

Saturday was forecast to be sunny and warm so we planned an all-day-at-the-beach day and invited 3 other families to join us: Phil & Emily, Henry& Elianne and kids, and Richard & Elaine and kids. Of course we brought the SS Meerkat, our trusty canoe! When we arrived at about 10am, it was cloudy and windy and cold. We made a little nest in the tent for refuge, but the Minx was way more interested in playing with sand, rocks, shells and the rest. Eventually the sun came out and it did warm up and we basked. Here is our camp with the Hvalstrand diving platform in the background.
Rhodri, Phil and Richard went fishing for a long time and then came back and let Richard's son Alex climb in for the photo below. The "three oafs in a boat" situation led to some reportedly sketchy moments when they encountered speedboat wakes and the SS Meerkat got excitingly tippy.
Rhiannon really wanted to go in the canoe as well, so we took her out for her first ride! She was so entranced by the water flowing past the boat that she forgot all about her cookie until we were back on land. Sadly, we don't have a photo of this outing but there will be others. Rhiannon wanted to keep the life jacket on until we had to leave for the day!
And she kept climbing into the canoe as we were getting the car packed up. I think she is hooked!
But the BEST part of the day was that she was fast asleep for the night by 6:30pm and slept all the way until 9:30am Sunday morning! I think we will be having more days at the beach...

Language barriers

The Minx has been talking more and more, but we usually don't understand what she is saying. We were thinking that it was just normal baby talk babble, but then found out that she was actually saying "Look!" when she said "[blah blah]...... SAAAAW!" Its just that she is saying it in Norwegian. So she may be saying other things now too but we just don't understand.
Here she is post-bath in her Welsh dragon bathrobe - not quite settled down for sleepytime just yet!Last week I was away on business (to the Canary Islands, so dont feel too sorry for me!) so Rhodri was holding down the fort all week. When I came back, I found out that the Minx is very obedient when one speaks in Welsh to her -- she sits down, holds out her hands to be cleaned, and other tricks which I am only just learning about! Although I always speak in English to her, I realize that this dose is just a small fraction of what she is hearing the rest of her waking hours. However, at the moment when I need her hands to be cleaned, I have been asking her in Welsh to hold them out (after saying it in English gets me no where)!

Definitely Spring

Now it is really spring!
Last weekend (April 14-15) was warm and sunny, with sunrise about 6am and sunset around 9pm! We spent the weekend mostly around the house. All of our neighbors were outside playing, riding bikes, wanting to borrow Bentley to go on walks, jumping on the trampoline that was set up for the summer season, and just sitting around soaking up the sunshine. Here are 2 of Bentley's admirers who come by everyday to brush him after they get home from school.Here is the Minx talking to herself and playing in the sandbox up at the playground behind the house.

Auntie Sioned's visit and some canoeing!

The big news this week was that Auntie Sioned (Rhodri's younger sister) came to visit! She arrived on Monday night and left Friday afternoon. We had a really great time with her and fortunately the weather was gorgeous the whole week -- after the snow melted on Tuesday morning.Rhodri was able to take some time off and explore Oslo with his little sister. We enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine in our backyard with tea and biscuits (cookies)
Rhodri and Sioned took the canoe (called the 'SS Meerkat') out on the fjord Friday morning while I was at work :-(
We also took the SS Meerkat out today (Sunday) although Sions was already back at home. Our friend Emily came with us and we took turns hanging out with Rhiannon and paddling in the canoe. We actually have lifejackets for all 4 of us to go but naptime took precedence. Here we are loading the canoe back onto the car while Rhiannon eats some gravel.
Here was the naptime hangout spot with the launching dock in the background. This great beach is about 5 min drive (30 min walk) from our house and today it was packed with families BBQ'ing and playing in the sand.

Crashing

Rhiannon has been really into crashing her wagon lately...

Goodbyes and a false alarm

This weekend (Thursday) we said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma Gans who had to go back to California. We had a great time with them and we already miss them :-(
On Wednesday night before they left, we went out for an early dinner with Phil and Emily which was a grand success. The Minx prowled around the restaurant saying hello to whoever would smile her direction and kept the entire place entertained while we dined.
Then after enjoying nearly 2 weeks of warm temps and lovely sunshine, we had a surprise on Easter Sunday -- it snowed nearly a foot during the afternoon. Maybe Spring is not quite here? Rhodri had only just arrived back home on Easter morning so we all got to enjoy this snowfall together. We had Phil and Emily over for a 'proper' Easter dinner and it was so lovely to enjoy good food, good company and beautiful falling snow.

Crackers

While Rhodri was gone last week, I started a new technique to squeeze a few more minutes of bedtime in after Rhiannon woke up but before we went downstairs for breakfast: feeding her crackers in our bed. Yes, this technique produces a LOT of crumbs on the sheets, but it's worth it. Here she is bathed in early morning light...

More from the weekend

The Minx wasn't actually as thoroughly bored as she looks here! She was completely transfixed by a little boy who was sitting at the table next to us at breakfast on our last morning at Engo Gard.On our first afternoon here, we went fishing in the fjord and Rhodri caught a sea trout! Of course, Rhiannon was not in the pack once the fishing started...she and I played in the sand and rocks nearby.
Here is the glass-enclosed bath house where we swam one day with Rhodri, Rhiannon and Grandma Debi in the foreground. Rhiannon would have been into the swimming except that the pool was a little too cold for her and the jacuzzi was a little too warm. So she and Rhodri walked around and around the perimeter of the pool holding hands while the rest of us enjoyed the water. On Saturday we had a cycling adventure. We drove to nearby Hvasser and rented bikes but they didn't have a baby seat so Rhodri had to carry her in the pack. We rode up to Lilleskagen beach and then down to the other end of the island to have a picnic on some smooth rocks at another beach.Here is the smooth rock picnic spot. It was a litte bit windy but we all had jackets and the Minx had her 'parkdress' to keep her toasty (windproof breathable coveralls that she plays in at barnehage now that the winter is over).Then we rode bikes back to Hvasser and drove back to Engo Gard in time for Afternoon Tea! Here is the port of Hvasser (its not too big!) with us looking windswept and interesting except the Minx was hiding from the camera.

Pure luxury for the weekend

This weekend we ventured south from Asker only 1.5 hours drive to a place called Engø Gård
http://www.engo.no/english/, which turned out to be such an amazing place to stay! We took a squillion pictures so here in the first installment...
Some of the flowers were in bloom and Rhiannon loved touching them, smelling them, and trying to chase insects around that were crawling inside them.This place is on an island (that you can drive to) and is an old farm that has been converted into luxury accommodation with outstanding meals. It is one of two places in all of Norway that made the ranking for "Relais & Chateaux" (some luxury guidebook thingy). Needless to say, we had a really good time and got very well fed. We also went swimming in the glass enclosed bathhouse, fishing in the fjord (and Rhodri actually caught a sea trout!), went on several lovely walks and had a cycling adventure. Here is our car 'Max' in front of the house that Rhodri, Rhiannon and I stayed in.
We were served a fancy Afternoon Tea
and enjoyed fine dining in the evening
Rhiannon absolutely loved playing in the bedet
She ended up sleeping in this bathroom actually because the toilet was in another small room. This arrangement worked really well and she slept like a log from 7:15pm to 7:15am both nights we stayed here! She did NOT like the huge jacuzzi bath, however.

Back to her roots

Here is our little 'gangsta' getting back to her homie roots! She has been enjoying putting hats on and then taking them off for awhile now, but the Burts Bees diaper ointment cigar was a new one! At barnehage this week, she has had loads of fun on the playground since the sun has been shining all week. Her favorite place to play is the tunnel where she can walk back and forth hiding from her teachers. But when rowdy boys come to play there also, she is quick to leave!

We have also been greatly enjoying having the Grandparents here, although this week has involved more time at work (for Rhodri and I) than we had hoped for. However, we are taking today (Friday) off and heading out of town for the weekend...

Spring already

Spring arrived on Saturday! It snowed on Friday but quickly melted, then Saturday morning was clear and sunny and actually a little bit warm (50 deg F). We played in the backyard right after breakfast. Then we went to Kalvoya island for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon and played on the fjord beach -- Rhodri fished, Bentley chased sticks in the water and Rhiannon ate rocks (tried to anyway).
We spent the rest of the weekend getting ready for the Grandparents to arrive Sunday afternoon!

Bluntness

I got a haircut yesterday at the hairdressers which is across the road from us under the grocery store. No, I am not going to post a picture of my haircut yet! Instead here is another photo from the archives when Minxie was a mere 5 months old.Anyway, I was writing about the haircut because I found the Hairdresser's bluntness so refreshing. None of this "What would you like to do with your hair today?" that I used to experience in the US. No. This lady said "You have very strange hair - curly in the back and straight on top. I don't like this [grabs a chunk of hair that had grown quite long]. It makes your face do this [pulls her own cheeks down and makes a sour expression]. You need to not have this [grabs chunk of hair again]. I want to cut it all the way around this much [shows me several inches in midair]. Then I will see what your hair does. I think it has its own mind so I want to see the big cut reaction first."

And so she chopped my hair. It looked okay when I was leaving (hair still wet) but now its a different story. Oh well.

Its been a quiet week...

The Minx has had a nasty cough and a fever all week and so we have spent a lot of time at home...3 full days and 2 half days this past work week. One of the days we went out to the little playground behind the house and she got to dig in the snow and dirt. She definitely enjoyed shoveling snow into the bulldozer.
For the most part, she has been acting her normal cheeky self but occasionally she has been in 'burrowing mode', when she just wants to snuggle up and make cooing noises against Rhodri's or my shoulder. Let's hope this week is better - it must be since her Californian grandparents are coming to visit next weekend!

Ladybug boots

Rhiannon got these Ladybug boots for Christmas from her Auntie Sioned and she hasn't been able to wear them because they aren't lined for winter temperatures. However, she gets to wear them around the house! She still needs a little bit of help to get them all the way on but she loves trying to get them on her feet by herself.

Bentley the Musher - part 2

Here is some footage of us skiing in the final stretch at Solli. Rhodri is pulling Rhiannon in front of Bentley and I. Note how slow Bentley is going! I think we "unbounced" him..

Back to Solli

We couldn't resist going back to ski at Solli, so we left the house at 9am this morning (Saturday) -- quite ambitious for us! We ended up doing a big loop out to Sandungen Lake and back a different route. Here is a timer shot of our group:[l to r] Phil, Emily, Rhodri, Henry, Jack (Henry's 9 year old son), Bentley, me and Rhiannon (in the pulk).We stopped for some yummy carrot soup (which Emily had made) and other snacks at a little hut that was slightly heated inside. Here is our little family (Bentley was sniffing around for crumbs on the floor).
This outing was a grand success, although everyone wiped out at least one time except Bentley and Rhiannon. There were quite a few ups and downs, and other skiiers out there coming fast in the opposite direction! We were kind of a chaotic group out on the mountain and managed to "clothesline" 2 other skiiers with Bentley and Jack in the middle of it. Nobody got seriously hurt but we were all completely exhausted by the time we finished -- we ended up skiing about 10 km (6.6 miles)!

High and Nigh

These are Rhiannon's new favorite words!
She says "Hi !" all the time and that word comes in all sorts of different intonations. Sometimes she sort of chirps it and other times it comes in a sing-song voice, but my favorite "Hi" is this really soft and gentle "Hi" that sounds like she is genuinely happy to see someone. She just sounds so sweet and cuddly :-)

But then there is the flip side. The "Nigh" side. Actually it is spelled "Nei" and this is the Norwegian word for "No". She only says "Nei" one way and this is usually accompanied by flailing arms and a sour face... she says "NEI NEI NEI NEI!!!!" really fast and in kind of a gravelly LOUD voice. Needless to say, she must have learned this at barnehage.

Solli skiing adventure

Today we went x-country skiing up at Solli with a group of our friends. Solli is a horse farm/ riding center that also is known for having really good ski trails. Back in August when Rhiannon and I were here visiting with Aunt Kim, we had a company-arranged dinner at Solli but I hadn't been back since. Since Solli is only about 20 minutes drive from our house, I think we will be back soon! We borrowed a "fjellpulken" ("pulk" as it is commonly known) from our neighbors and Rhodri towed Rhiannon in that while Bentley pulled me with his harness. This arrangement actually worked really well! Here we are all saddled up...
Rhiannon has gotten quite used to sleeping in the fresh Norwegian winter air, so she fell asleep as soon as we had her bundled up in the pulk.
It was quite a production getting out the door for this outing, but once we were underway it was really great. I think we may buy this pulk off our neighbor and start going on more outings like this. When we were done skiing, we gathered at the Solli cafe house to have some warm food and beverages in front of the fireplace.
From the far left in the back and going around to the right, we have Emily, me holding Rhiannon, Emily's sister Eifa, Emily's other sister Rebecca, Phil, Leendert, Thomas, Abi, Annike, and Jessica. [Rhodri is taking the photo]