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)....

Sunday outing downtown

This morning Heidi and I took the kids downtown to walk along State Street and do a bit of shopping. Rhiannon was true to her current form of being pesky and difficult. I had to keep reminding her that she promised to have good manners. Here we are on the State Street Shuttle bus.
Aunt Heidi reading stories on the floor of Borders Bookstore
Heidi and I went to water aerobics with our Mom in the afternoon and left Tryfan sleeping and Rhiannon having her nails painted orange by her Grandpa! By all reports she spent a lot of energy instructing him exactly how to paint her nails and in which order, ensuring that every bit of nail had polish coverage. We had the traditional delicious Sunday night dinner at Grandma Bucky's house with assorted family members still in town. Libby made some playdough and brought a box of playdough tools for the kids to play with before dinner. Here are Molly and Rhiannon busy making pizza.
Tryfan did a lot of playdough eating, even though he knew that "playdough is for playing and dinner is for eating". Judging by how much water he drank, I think he ate a fair amount of the stuff but he seemed none the worse.
We are leaving on Tuesday afternoon and so tomorrow is our last day! It's hard to already be saying goodbye to friends and family :-(
I didn't mention Saturday because I forgot to take photos... but we had a great day. We kicked it off old school with a premiere viewing of the movie Annie (the musical). Heidi, Eric, Kristin, the kids and I had a great time remembering all the songs and introducing the kids to this movie. Then we went to Phil and Libby's house for brunch and had a leisurely day otherwise.

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.