a bit of a relief

For the past six weeks we've been dealing with a leaky floor heater and its related problems. Just last week we were told that fixing it would mean that we'd have to move out of our apartment temporarily. But they couldn't tell us when they'd be finished and we'd get to move back into our apartment. And that's not to mention the cigarette smoke smells coming through our ventilation system into our storage closet.

So as much as I hate to leave our gorgeous view and our short walk to town, we decided to move.

After an extensive online search, bicycle drive-bys, and actually viewing only one house, our rental offer was accepted earlier this afternoon. Whew. A bit of a relief.

But now we have to pack (well, mostly have our stuff packed) and actually move. And probably move into a temporary apartment/hotel. All the while Stepler is crazy-busy at work and Rory and I are headed to Georgia for three weeks.

We'll be working on getting settled in before 1) we go on our vacation the second week of August and 2) our dear friends arrive at the end of August!

We'll get a yard! and more space! and a quiet neighborhood. So there are definitely some positives. The house is currently occupied so I wasn't able to take pictures, but I will do so once we're settled in.

a little list

Since my last blog post:

• The Easter Bunny visited Rory
• We went to Prague
• Rory started swim lessons
• Milk now comes in 1.75 L containers (still less than half a gallon, but the biggest we can get)
• While playing with her Toy Story characters Rory (speaking for Rex the dinosaur) told Buzz Lightyear, I'm going to eat you for my tea.
• Tomatoes vs. tomatoes (the British pronunciation most often wins out with Rory)
• Cruise boats have begun arriving in the harbor again
• We celebrated my birthday
• Rory can pretty much dress herself now
• We had some beautiful weather in late April and early May
• But lately we've had some hard rain too
• We celebrated our third May 17th this week

two years

Saturday (4/16) marked two years of living in Norway. We celebrated by taking Rory bowling for the first time. She was excited about it. And she seemed to have a good time. There was one point when her score was better than mine. There is a restaurant at the bowling alley and we ate there after we finished our game.

slowly, slowly, slowly

all smiles

you have to push the ball hard

still smiling

On our walk home Rory wanted to have her picture taken in the hat.

at a park close to home

Sunday we dyed Easter eggs. Rory was excited about that too. But they may have been because she wanted to eat one of the eggs. But only the white part.

getting started

our finished eggs

coolest egg ever

Snow White?

Rory picked out her own clothes today. And then dressed herself. It turned out pretty well. According to Rory she looks like Snow White because of the headband(you can see it in the mirror). It's true, Snow White does wear a headband.

she only wants to wear short sleeves these days

I dressed myself

We went to the library today. And then went shopping for a gift to take to a birthday party on Thursday. When we got home we had lunch and baked cookies for an Easter party tomorrow. 

She's recovering from pink eye and a cold. She got antibiotic drops at the doctor yesterday and her eyes are looking much better now. 

Stepler and I just booked a trip to Prague! We leave next Thursday for the long Easter weekend. 

cross-country skiing

We all have our own cross-country skis now. Rory and I got ours in the sales this year. Stepler got his last year.

Rory's skis are pink

having fun skiing on the carpet

Yesterday we tried them out in Stavtjørn. It was a little more than an hour away from Stavanger and there was lots of snow. It was a beautiful sunny day.

There were a few falls. And I definitely like the flat parts best. But we all had a good time. Next weekend we'll try it again on the Marathon family ski trip.

. 

cupcakes!

Rory and I made rainbow cupcakes today in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Fun times. We also downloaded Over the Rainbow (Glee Cast Version). We wore green. And Rory was totally excited about St. Patrick's Day.  

not totally excited about having her photo taken

up close

all that was left on Rory's plate

vacay

Last week was winter break here in Norway and we went to Grand Canary for the week. Sunshine! Warmth! Sandals! Shorts!

Okay, so it wasn't as warm as I would really have liked for a beach-y vacation, but it was a wonderful escape from the Norwegian winter. We all enjoyed just being outside in the sun. I got a bit of a tan. And read five books. (I love my Kindle and traveling was the big reason why I wanted it.) Rory and Stepler swam in the pools most days. There was a playground at the hotel. Rory enjoyed Mini Disco in the evenings.  We'd planned on going to a water park, but it just wasn't warm enough for that. So we went to a zoo instead. And on Thursday we rode a camel through the sand dunes. 

It was an easy five-hour, non-stop flight from Stavanger. Our hotel was quite nice. The buffet had way too many choices. Unlikely that we'll go back though, as there are so many other places to explore. 

Negro the camel had one hump