Leap Day 2016

Happy Leap Day!
I've really enjoyed this day and we have tried to make the most of it. On Radio 4 they have been talking about people who made some kind of "leap" in their lives on the last Leap Day in 2012, and I have been really enjoying hearing these inspirational stories. There was one about a man who had been suffering for years of depression and panic attacks (just like Bob in "What about Bob?"), and on the last Leap Day he made the brave move to take a bus ride. Its amazing the things that seem small to one person are such a big deal to another.

Anyway, this Leap Day we all wrote letters to our future selves which we then sealed up and put into safe keeping until Feb 29th, 2020. I found it very difficult and strange to write to my future self, and i kept messing up the tenses between 1st and 2nd person. But it is so interesting to imagine what life will be like 4 years from now.

Lewis girls go to Lewes

This morning I had a hair cutting appointment in Lewes at 9:30am, so Rhiannon came with me and we made a bit of a day of it! I got my hair cut, then we walked down the high street going into loads of charity shops (thrift stores). Rhiannon got a really great jacket and I got a couple of shirts, and it was really nice to just be out in the world with my beautiful girl. We had lunch at the Riverside Marketplace, which I've always wanted to go into but its normally so busy I've stayed away.

But today we had a perfect table right by the window in the back corner, and we ordered yummy food and enjoyed our time together.
Later this evening, we had Lauren coming round to babysit so that Rhodri and I could ride bikes to a dinner party down the road. Good times!

Rhodri's adventure

We came back to England to go back to school and work, but Rhodri stayed in Norway with Petter, Geir, and Darren and helped lead another course of arctic expedition skills.

There was a film crew out with them on a couple of days, and then this little video clip was on NRK television channel in Norway earlier today

http://www.nrk.no/trondelag/ekstremturister-trener-i-trondelag-1.12819925

PS. My little sister has a birthday today and we have been thinking of her all day, knowing she is having a fabulous time in Hawaii with her family!

Old friends reunited

Today we had kind of a girls reunion over at the Scotland house. Leigh and her family invited Rhiannon and I over for a walk and lunch, and it was so lovely.

The dogs got really wet and muddy, and we had a great time walking and talking. By the time we got back to the house, lunch was ready and it was a delicious roast lamb meal. 

Pony Morning

After getting home on Wed night, we took it real easy on Thurs, especially since Rhiannon wasn't quite 100% yet. We had signed her up for "Pony Mornings" at Tremaines Riding Stables nearby, but we had to cancel for Thursday. Fortunately the rest did her well and she was good to go today.

The Pony Morning lasted from 9:45 - 12:30, and each person got assigned a pony to groom, then ride, then feed. I think Rhiannon was in heaven when she got to spend all morning with her favorite horse Della.

Next week is back to school, and these Pony Mornings only happen during the school holidays, but now we know about it, we'll sign her up again.

Sweden to Sussex

This morning was windy and Rhiannon felt poorly. In fact, she woke up several times in the night to throw up in the toilet. Poor thing! Tryfan wasn't all that great either, but he was feeling better than last night. It was sad to say goodbye to Rhodri and Geir, but we needed to give ourselves plenty of time to drive down to Trondheim, return the car, and check in for our flight at 3pm. 

It was all going fairly well except that Rhiannon felt really dodgy the whole day. On the flight from Trondheim to Oslo, she threw up before we could get the sick bag out of the pocket and ended up getting her whole outfit covered. Poor thing! So as soon as we landed in Oslo, we went in search of new clothes for her. Although Tryfan was sitting right next to us, he was totally oblivious that his sister had just puked all over herself. Typical! 

So anyway, we managed to find some new clothes for our girl and hung out in Oslo until our flight to Gatwick. My friend (and former manager) Lyndsey was on the same flight as us so it was nice to see her. The only bummer was that it took awhile to get through immigration, and then we discovered that our bags had been lost along the way. But it was pouring rain so it was actually a blessing to not have to drag the bags from the terminal to the car park (15 min walk). We were pretty tired by the time we got home, but we made it safe and sound.

Now we will have Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun to recover before going back to school on Mon 22 Feb.

Final night in Sweden

Tonight was our last night here before the kids and I head back home and Rhodri stays on through the weekend. Tryfan wasn't feeling 100% so he spent all of dinnertime (at Flamman, again!, for our 3rd time this trip) laying on a couch upstairs. Rhiannon kept going up to check on him and keep him company, and Danny the waiter from Majorca also looked after him. Such service!

Rhiannon doing a self-take with Tryfs on the couch

Darren, Geir and Rhodri

It was really cool to be able to have dinner and chat with Darren and Geir - they are both such interesting people.

Danny the waiter and Lena the owner/ chef

We really actually don't want to leave tomorrow!

A day in Åre

We left first thing this morning after breakfast (well, 09:23 we were on the road, which was pretty good for us) and drove 1+ hour to Åre to visit Klattermusen (for Rhodri) and go skiing in Sweden's main ski resort. The kids and I spent about 30 seconds inside Klattermusen before wandering off to explore the village.

Pufferfishes

We bought afternoon ski passes that started at 12, and we got on the slopes about 12:10 so pretty good going. We skiied in the Åre Bjornen part of the mountain, which is mainly for children and families. Perfect for us!

We had loads of fun and nobody got hurt. 

Our own little slope

Here is a photo of the kids at the top of "our" slope that we didn't need lift passes for, and where we spent a lot of time. The hotel we stayed in is in the background (Storlien Högfjällshotell).

Rhods went for a solo tour on x-c skis and I skied with the kids until they were tired and Tryfan said he didn't feel very well. Then we went into our cozy room and read books in bed until dinner.

Afternoon rest time on our bunks

We met up with Darren Jordan, who also was staying at the hotel to learn how to ski prior to his trip with Rhodri and the Arctic Training and Expedition course that starts Wednesday. And we also met up with Geir Vie, who I had heard so much about over the years but never met in person. It was quite special to have dinner in the hotel with these fine people.

A slightly longer outing

This morning we were going to go into Åre for the day, but decided to change plans and go tomorrow instead. So we went for a 7.5 km x-c ski tour, which turned out to be about the limits of "fun" for these kids. To be fair, it is hard work going uphill and sometimes can be a bit scary going downhill.

 At about the 5 km mark, at the top of a little rise, there was a little shelter that had benches and a firepit along with stacks of wood and an axe. We took our skis off and had a little rest before making our way back to the hotel.

Sunday afternoon - skitastic

The kids had another ski lesson today with Max, but this time they had it on the main part of the downhill slope. They had SUCH a good time with him and learned so much from him. And they were all stoked to have gone down a red slope (between blue and black). 

Meanwhile, Rhodri and I went skiing on our own. I rented telemark skis and Rhodri rented normal skis, and we stuck to the green slopes! Fortunately neither of us are that excited about finding the steepest, fastest runs on the mountain and would prefer to glide beautifully and smoothly down the gentler slopes. It was a stunning day, and quite nice to just be out the 2 of us together on skis!

Amazing ice crystals on a bush

In the late afternoon, while everyone else was inside swimming and relaxing, I went for a little 5 km x-c tour by myself, I was SO happy to be out in the pink light of the waning day alone on skis. So i did this self-take to try and capture/ remember how happy I felt in this moment.

For dinner we ate inside the hotel, which was a set menu that the kids weren't massive fans of, but Rhods and I thought it was good. We played some games (Yatzy and Exploding Kittens) in the ballroom under the dark discoball, and then called it a day.

Sunday morning ski tour

After breakfast with Petter, we all went on a grand cross-country ski outing for 4.5 km. It was the most gorgeous morning, although it was -17 C!

The little ski tour was over all too soon for my liking, but the kids probably wouldn't agree with me! They had a good time, though, and Petter was helpful in giving technical advice in a fun way.

Saturday in Storlien

This morning we met our friend Petter who had just driven from north of Trondheim over to spend a couple of days with us in Storlien. After a lovely breakfast in the hotel, Petter and I went on a ski tour while Rhods and the kids sorted skis (again). Petter brought his two sweet dogs Pia and Stella and they joyfully raced through the snow off the lead, while we made our way across the open terrain in an uphill direction.

Out in the middle of nowhere waxing skis

It was soooo wonderful to be out tromping on skis in whichever direction we wanted, enjoying the nature, the day itself, and each other's company. I was in heaven.

Around 1pm we skied back down towards the hotel in time to catch Tryfan and Rhiannon coming out to the slope for their ski lesson with Max. In the meantime, they made a couple of friends called Katinka and Karl-Erik.

Tryfan, Karl-Erik, Katinka and Rhiannon in front of the hotel lift and slope

After their lesson finished, we all played on the slope (because it was very small and right next to the hotel, and we didn't need a lift pass to use it!) for a few hours until we were tired. Then we headed to the swimming pool, sauna and showers in the hotel where Tryfs and Rhiannon met up with their little friends again.

We met Petter around 6pm and went for dinner at Flamman, which is quite a special restaurant in Storlien just a short walk from the hotel. Petter knows the owner/ chef Lena, and we went here last time we were in Storlien. They gather local ingredients throughout the year and create amazing menus with them - lingon berries, wild mushroom, elk, moose, reindeer, birch sap. Here is their website: Flamman

We had this amazing beer at Flamman which was made from spruce needles and called "Gran". After the kids went to bed, Petter and Rhodri and I met upstairs in the hotel to hang out in the grand ballroom which was empty except for us.

A cold day in Hell

We flew from Gatwick to Trondheim last night after a bit of a fiasco at the airport!

Turns out Rhiannon's British passport had expired a couple of weeks ago and so we had to call upon our friend Cat to drop everything and race to our house, pick up Rhiannon's American passport, and drive to Gatwick to hand it off to us!

Anyway, we made it on the 8:00 pm flight as scheduled to Trondheim. After getting our bags, we took a quick taxi ride to Scandic Hell hotel and went to sleep.

We had an amazing breakfast in the morning, then we headed off to Storlien!

Tryfs and Rio with the amazing breakfast area behind.

The pool we didn't have a chance to go in

We had an excitable journey over the mountains, all of us eager to get to the snow and the skis. One funny thing was that we heard "Edelwiess" on the radio as we were driving! And it was Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer singing it, same exact version as the Sound of Music soundtrack.

Map showing Storlien relative to Trondheim and borders

Last time we visited Storlien (2 years ago), we stayed in a farm hostel but this time we stayed at this grand old hotel http://www.storlienhogfjallshotell.se/  It really was grand and old, but in an endearing sort of way. We had a room with 2 sets of bunkbeds and our own bathroom, so we were stoked.

Once we settled in and unpacked our bags, we went to the downhill ski slope to rent some skis and boots and all that. Then we went back to the hotel and tried out our cross country skis on a short little trip of about 2 km. It was actually really windy and cold, and so we didn't want to push it too hard on this first day! So we called it and went back inside after about 40 minutes, then relaxed until dinner time.

Long slanting mid-winter light

Today Emma called me and asked if we wanted to go for a walk in the forest with her and the kids, and it was one of those perfect moments when that was exactly what I wanted to do and outside held this perfect golden light.

We went out to the fallen down tree, which is now polished smooth on top after at least 6 years of laying there in the middle of a bracken clearing.

Tryfs, Soph, Rio and Osc

We took the long loop across the heath so that we could call in at the Red Lion for a swifty before the final stretch back home. It was so wonderful to just be out enjoying the afternoon with our friends on a spontaneous outing.

The latest weekend thing

Rhiannon got a voucher for 10 horse riding lessons as a Christmas present, so I've been taking her to Tremaine's riding stables on either Sat or Sun these past few weekends. Here she is on Della: