Swimming

This morning we went to the swimming hall over the road. We timed it so that Tryfan was just falling asleep for his morning nap while we walked over there, and he slept the entire time while we ladies played in the warm water. It was a huge success and I think Rhiannon is a lot more comfortable with water now after seeing Eva jump in and splash around. Here they are playing "Ring around the Rosies"After our swimming trip, we had to say goodbye. It was quite sad, but I am sure we will see each other again -- hopefully with less than a 9 year gap this time!

Downtown by train

Today we went on a train adventure into downtown Oslo. It was such a gorgeous sunny day but the wind was biting along the waterfront where this cool play structure is. Eva and Rhiannon were not as impressed with it as we thought they would be. I guess the crow's nest and other perches are a bit too high for them still
That didn't stop the Minx trying to climb up the rope ladderYep, two peas in a pod :-)

More with Eva

Rhiannon and Eva have really hit it off. We went for a long walk yesterday with these two in the double stroller. When we put them in, Eva cried a little bit (she was tired) and Rhiannon reached for her hand and said "Nefo" ('neh-voh', which means roughly "it's okay, there we are" in Welsh and is said in a comforting voice). So Eva fell asleep holding Rhiannon's hand and eventually an hour later Rhiannon fell asleep as well.During bathtime, Eva taught Rhiannon how to be brave and enjoy having water poured on her head.

Cute video of Tryfan

Look at this little guy! So cute.

Old and new friends

This week my long lost friend Lorna and her daughter Eva are visiting from Scotland! Rhiannon and Eva became fast friends, pictured here sharing toast while being treated to morning cartoonsPlaying in the kitchen quickly became a favorite activity
Playing outside in the rain
Then having bathtime together
I met Lorna on a bus in New Zealand in 1996 and we have kept in touch over the years. The last time I saw her was at our wedding reception in 1999!

Traveling back

We traveled back to Norway on Wednesday Feb 20. It was a long day -- up early, 1.5 hr drive to the airport, lots of time to hang out and wait, flight was ~ 1 hour delayed in leaving, and then a certain difficult, ornery 2-year-old did not sleep on the plane like she was supposed to...
...but as soon as we got our bags in Oslo and made our way through Customs to the train departure section, Rhiannon was asleep in Tryfan's carseat in the stroller!
She woke up (much happier) when we got to Asker and then we ended up taking a big van/ bus taxi to the house which was quite exciting. Its always such a good feeling to come home :-)

Last days in Wales

We had a wonderful last few days in north Wales, although we (okay, I) went a little crazy with the shopping. There is just so much more selection here than in Norway! I couldn't resist this flat cap for Tryfan, even if it is a bit big.We spent a lot of time outside, and the main activity was harassing the cat. Poor Thomas didn't get too much time to himself during our stay! If he was sleeping upstairs, Rhiannon would recruit someone to go with her up to visit him. And if he was hiding outside, sure enough someone would be recruited to go hunting for him!
Nain Beryl was so patient with Rhiannon, and Rhiannon really loved being with her Nain.
The whole family (except me) spoke Welsh to Rhiannon while we were there and by the time we left, she could string together 3-4 word sentences. She also really enjoys translating things from one language to another. If I say to her (in English), "Go tell Daddy that Tryfan is awake", she goes to Daddy and tells him in Welsh that Tryfan is awake. But when she is playing alone, she still sings Norwegian songs.

To the mountains

We drove through the mountains of Snowdonia National Park today and stopped for a walk when we got to Tryfan's namesake! Here he is with 'his' mountain behind him!We walked down a little path and were greeted with this gorgeous vista
The mandatory self-take of the family! Turned out pretty good, I think, since everyone is actually looking. We were standing right in front of Tryfan (the mountain) here but it didn't make the photo
Its been absolutely wonderful weather since we arrived -- freezing cold temperatures (below freezing at night) and clear sunny skies. Perfect!

Living the good life

We have been really living large here in north Wales, especially taking advantage of the available babysitters Nain and Taid (Grandma and Grandpa in Welsh)! Rhiannon has been going on long walks everyday with Taid Trefor down the road and over the style into the nearby meadow where lots of mama and baby sheep live. Here they are walking down the road -- Rhiannon is the light colored speck and Taid is camouflaged by his brown jacket.We have been able to meet up with more family and friends, such as Auntie Eirlys (holding Tryfan below)And Auntie Mary, who drove all the way up from Aberwystwyth in mid-Wales with her husband Harvey just to see us for the day!We also squeezed in some time at the pub in Betws-y-Coed where we enjoyed a late lunch after shopping. Rhiannon ate lots of rice, cucumbers, red peppers and chips and had a grand time climbing around the booth we sat in.
We also visited with our friends Bleddyn and Geri and their two sons, Ceiro and Meilir. Ceiro is 3 years old and was being very sweet by pushing Rhiannon around on his tractor.
Then they did very fast laps around the kitchen table on little animal wheeliesAfter the kids are in bed, Rhodri and I have been able to sneak out alone! We have been out to dinner, out to see a movie ("Juno"), and out to visit friends. Too bad we only have 1 full day left!

Reuniting

We were so happy to see the Lewis' on Thursday when we arrived! Rhodri's sister Nia and her son Gabriel (18 months old) came up from Cardiff to Llandudno so that we could see them too. Here is Nain Beryl and Auntie Nia meeting Tryfan for the first time. He was all smiles for them!Nain and little Tryfs in the Conservatory room of the house
Auntie Nia reading a Welsh book to Gabriel and Rhiannon
Rhiannon and Gabriel ("Gabbie") throwing refridgerator magnets out the catflap in the kitchen verrrrry early in the morning!
We went for a walk on Friday in search of sheep and horses. Here are Rhiannon and Gabriel laughing at Auntie Nia as she made loud sheep noises next to a field full of mama and baby sheep.
We found horses too, and only a short walk from the Lewis house. I bet we will be making this walk again in coming days because there was a lot of excitement about the horses!Tryfan slept in the Ergo for the entire expedition and it was a gorgeous day, though the wind was very cold
Meeting Auntie Jane from across the street. Tryfan really liked her scarf
Gabriel on Taid Trefor's lap, Tryfan on Auntie Nia's lap, Nain Beryl, and Rhodri with Rhiannon

Made it to Wales!

Hurray! We made it to the Lewis homeland on Thursday afternoon. The taxi came at 6am, we got on the train to the airport and had a good flight to Manchester without too much drama in our row of seats.
Here is the Minx being VERY minxie at the airport in Oslo. I had packed her ladybug backpack full of surprises and she was so eager to sit and open it before we got on the plane.Very exciting to be the first ones to board the plane in Oslo
Row 21 DEF
After we reunited with our baggage, we hired a car and drove to north Wales, arriving at ~12:30pm. The kids fell asleep just as we were nearing the end of the 1+ hour drive (of course).
There was a bit of drama NEXT to row 21 though! A man was walking towards the toilet at the back and he collapsed right next to us with his head hitting the floor in a very loud THUNK. Rhodri immediately jumped in to help -- eventually the guy came around (turned out to be an ear infection and low blood pressure) but the paramedics met the plane as soon as we landed. Anyway, Rhodri's help earned the family a free meal courtesy of SAS Airlines!

Baggy baggy

We are off tomorrow to go see Nain and Taid Lewis in north Wales! Yippiee! We have been looking so forward to this day. Before we go, though, I thought I would post this photo of Rhiannon and Sofie jumping in Rhiannon's crib last Sunday. For some reason, Rhiannon calls this jumping-in-the-crib business "baggy baggy". Weird.

Cycling to France

The other day, Tryfan was rolling around on his Winnie-the-Pooh blanket and Rhiannon laid down to join the fun. Tryfs likes to wiggle his legs in the air and then move them like he is on a bicycle. Nain Beryl (Rhodri's mother) calls it "cycling to France" so we call it that too :-)
Here are the two cyclists caught mid-cycle:

Demonic lamb song

Here is a demonic version of Rhiannon singing "Baa Baa Lille Lam" (Baa Baa Little Lamb)

Usually, this is such a sweet little song! Its a different tune and different words than "Baa Baa Black Sheep". This is the one Norwegian song that I know, having learned it from my friend Elin. The translated words are:
Baa baa little lamb
Have you any wool?
Yes, yes dear child
My whole body is full
Sunday's best for mother and
Sunday's best for father and
Two pairs of tights
For little tiny brother

Double trouble

You know a day is going to be good when it starts out with music by the Great One! Jimmy Buffett is the best for Saturday morning "let's get dressed and GO" tunes. We decided to go to Sandvika first thing after breakfast for some shopping and then a walk on the icy fjord beach with Bentley. Success! It turned out to be a gorgeous day for doing this and Bentley had a grand time racing across the icy flats and then skid-sliding to a stop. Both kids took naps and then we walked to a cafe for lunch before heading home.
In the afternoon, Rhodri went into Oslo to watch more of the Six Nations Rugby while we stayed home. My friend Candice and her twin 3-year-olds, Sophia and Shaun, came over to enjoy the afternoon. They are from Trinidad and live here in Asker and the father, Chris, works with us. Rhiannon did a good job of sharing her toys and being mostly sweet. Here they are eating rice cakes with cream cheese and kicking the toy chest:

Our little roller

He bidged! He bodged! He boodged! Today is the day!
(forgive me if you don't get the reference to the Winnie-the-Pooh record that I used to listen to describing the day when Pooh gets unstuck from Rabbit's House)
Anyway, our little Tryfan is now a roller! He rolled over from his back to his front on Sunday night when I was putting Rhiannon to bed and Rhodri was hanging out with Tryfs in the bathroom.

It sounds weird to hang out in the bathroom, but its one of our favorite places to be because it is quite a small cozy room where we can all squeeze in (usually with at least one of us in the bathtub) and most importantly, it has warm heated floor tiles! So quite often Tryfan finds himself laying on a towel on the warm bathroom floor looking up at the side of the bathtub, underneath the sink and next to the toilet.

I wasn't there when it happened, but Rhodri said that he was so pleased ("chuffed" was the actual word that he used) with himself that he let out a little giggle as he was able to get his rolled-on arm out from under him and prop himself up on his tummy. Since then, he wants to practice rolling all the time.
Here he is in action:

Equal opportunities

One of our Norwegian colleagues who has older children gave us a bunch of clothes, shoes and books recently. One of the books is called "My first thousand words" (in Norwegian), and Rhiannon loves studying it. It's a really big book that has different scenes on each two-page spread..."the kitchen", "the grocery store", "the doctor", etc. I was quite amused to see that in "the kitchen", the Daddy is one doing the dishes while shouting over his shoulder for one of the kids to clean up the spilled milk and let the cat go outside. Then in "the living room", it is the Daddy that is hoovering while the Mama is nowhere to be seen. Best of all, I like "the grocery store" scene where the Daddy is carrying a baby in a front-carry pack and directing the other two small children to pick out some onions for the shopping cart! I thought that for sure it would be written by a female, but actually it is by one female and one male - good job promoting equal opportunities!

Hoovering

Rhiannon has a new favorite thing to do! Rhodri calls it hoovering rather than vacuuming, and hoovering is much more fun to say (and therefore do)! She looks so angelic in this footage with the overexposed light reflecting off her white doggie shirt...

The rest of us

Today was the first rugby match of the "Six Nations Rugby Cup" and Wales were playing England. This meant that Rhodri planned on going into downtown Oslo to watch the match inside a pub, and the rest of us needed to fend for ourselves. He left at 1:45pm and wasn't expected home before 9pm. At first I felt sorry for myself, but it was a gorgeous afternoon so I pulled myself out of the slump and mobilized the troops. We went outside and stomped around the fresh snow for the last hour of daylight. Here is Tryfan looking up at me from the Ergo baby carrier.We threw snowballs for Bentley to jump up and catch even though Rhiannon refused to wear her mittens.
Then when we came back inside, Rhiannon and I played with silk scarves and danced to the Hokey Pokey and other favorites.
We also listened to the album "Free to be...you and me", which is a compilation of songs, stories and poems by 1970's era musicians and celebrities. I listened to that record so much when I was growing up that I still remember exactly where the record skipped or got stuck when we listened to the CD yesterday. Some of the hits include Parents are people, Brothers and sisters, When we grow up and so many other great pieces. As I was holding Rhiannon and dancing around singing and waving scarves, tears came to my eyes because I am so grateful to be a Mama (and not just because I get to dance, sing and wave scarves)

PS. Wales ended up beating England, 25-19!

Little red devil

Today was the Carneval celebration at Rhiannon's barnehage so everyone came dressed in a costume. Rhiannon came as a little red devil, her costume complete with a cape and a tail but no pitchfork. She didn't want to take it off when it was bedtime tonight!
Here are some of her little buddies - there were lots of princesses and tigers but only one little red devil
Here is our Friday night pizza dinner scene. I asked Rhiannon to hold up the cucumber she was eating and she actually did it!