Thanksgiving dinner in Norway

If I do say so myself, Thanksgiving dinner at our house went really well and (almost) everything was quite tasty.

We ended up with 16 people at our house Thursday for dinner.  We lost three to swine flu on Wednesday.  I had my list of everything that needed to be done and when to do it and things came together nicely.  Monday I made the cranberry sauce.  Tuesday I chopped onions and celery and grated cheese.  Wednesday I put together the red macaroni and the sweet potatoes.  Thursday morning while Rory was at school I put the dressing together and got the turkey started in the oven.  My 16-pound turkey barely fit in our tiny Norwegian oven.  One of the guests that we lost on Wednesday was not actually sick herself and had already offered to bring green beans and corn casserole, so she brought it over anyway early Thursday afternoon.

Our guests started arriving at 5:30.  At first Rory was very shy, but she warmed up to everyone.  She'd been looking forward to it all week.  The food was all ready as planned, except for the sweet potatoes which ended up taking just a bit longer.  Our guests were Norwegian, British, Scottish, Irish and Canadian and many had never had a Thanksgiving dinner before so we explained all the food to them.  We served turkey, dressing, rice, gravy, red macaroni, green beans, corn casserole, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.  For dessert Stepler made pecan and pumpkin pies.  

I wasn't totally pleased with the dressing, but everyone else liked it.  They also enjoyed the red macaroni and a few even requested the recipe!  The pies were also a hit with everyone.

We set up our patio furniture in the living room and expanded our dining table to seat eight so that everyone had a spot at a table.  We also put Rory's table in the living room and Stepler was the lucky one who got to sit with her.  She was too busy talking to everyone to really eat much.  She did sit in my lap to eat a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert.

And since Thanksgiving Rory has had lots of leftovers, especially red macaroni!


  

Pecans found!

We're preparing to host Thanksgiving in our home this year.  We invited Stepler's group at work and they've all accepted.  So we're having 19 for Thanksgiving dinner (that does include Rory and a six-month old).

With the usual stresses of Thanksgiving dinner preparation come doing it in a country that does not celebrate the holiday.  So trips to four different grocery stores have been made to find all necessary ingredients.  Found pecans for the pies today and now there's just one more trip to one grocery to pick up the turkey and fresh food.  We do not have 19 plates etc, but I bought some plates rather cheaply at the Freetex (Salvation Army), am borrowing other needed items, and will be using paper plates for dessert. But I'm also wondering about the size of our apartment, where everyone will sit, the size of our oven, the size of the refrigerator, and on and on.

Many of our guests have never had Thanksgiving dinner before.  It will be fun introducing them to my family's traditional Thanksgiving meal.  And I can't wait to eat it myself.  I just need the gods of Thanksgiving to smile on me for the next week.

Tuscany, London

We have such fabulous opportunities for travel living here in Norway.  Rory is an incredibly lucky girl and I hope that she'll remember some bits of it.

Right now if you ask her what she did in in Italy she'll say, eat pasta.  If asked what she did in London she'll say, [double] decker bus.  Hopefully the pictures we've taken will help her to remember.

We're just back from a quick weekend trip to London.  They speak English there!  All the signs are in English!  They have Starbucks and the Gap!  We rode a train, took a cool London taxi, saw Christmas displays in the windows of the big department stores, took a double decker tour bus (rode on the top of course!), tried to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but got to see and hear the bands, ate Indian food, saw the Christmas lights, walked through Hyde Park, saw the Princess Diana Memorial, ate at Hard Rock Cafe, visited the National Gallery, and walked along the Thames.  Rory was a wonderful little traveler and even slept well in the pack and play at the hotel.

In early October we went to the Tuscany region of Italy.  We flew into Florence, rented a car, and spent six nights near the town of San Gimignano.  We stayed in an apartment that was part of a renovated farmhouse on a working vineyard.  They had a pool, laundry facilities, and we could walk to San Gimignano.  San Gimignano was a great town because it was small and not too crowded, but there were plenty of things for us to do and see, and plenty of restaurant options.  We ate well while in Italy -- pizza, gelato,  pasta, and cappuccinos.

We got settled in on Saturday and did a little grocery shopping; our apartment had a kitchen.  Sunday we explored the town of San Gimignano.  Monday we took a winery tour in Chianti.  We visited Pisa on Tuesday.  Rory was too young to climb the tower so Stepler stayed with her while I climbed to the top.  Wednesday was spent a lot of time driving around the town of Siena looking for a place to park.  Thursday we took it easy, swimming, and wandering around San Gimignano a bit more.  Friday we headed back to Florence where we turned in our rental car and spent the rest of the day seeing the sights of Florence.  Florence was crowded and dirty.  I don't think Rory liked it because we made her ride in her stroller all the time.  We finally let her out to ride a carousel and I think that made up for the day in the stroller.  Saturday morning before flying back home we walked to a park and let Rory play for awhile at a playground.

Rory is always excited to go on an airplane.  Maybe it's the gum.  Maybe it's the new pack of stickers in her backpack.  She gets worried about her stroller when we check it at the gate, even though we usually have to coerce her to ride in it.  She's very happy to get her stroller back when the flight is over.  She's also very happy to be back at home when our trips end.  

One more trip planned before flying home to Georgia for Christmas.  We're going to Munich the first weekend in December for the Christmas Markets.

    

Pumpkins

Still slacking.  Know I should write about Rory's birthday or our trip to Italy, but that's too daunting, so I'll start not slacking by writing about things a little more mundane.

This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch.  Rory loved it!  It was cold, but we wandered through the field to pick out the right pumpkins.  We got an orange one, a green one and a couple of multi-colored ones.  As we were leaving the farmer gave Rory a small white one that was just her size.  When we got home we put our five pumpkins together on the floor and Rory is calling it her pumpkin patch.

Sunday evening we carved one of the pumpkins (a green one!).  Rory also enjoyed that.  She especially liked eating the pumpkin.  I decided to attempt to make pumpkin bread from the jack o' lantern remains and Rory thought that was great that she'd get to eat more of the pumpkin.  She went to bed saying eat the jack o' lantern.  I wasn't expecting much since it really wasn't the right type of pumpkin for baking, but the bread turned out okay and we all ate it for breakfast this morning.

Fall forward.  We did this weekend.  It gets dark so very early now.  A little concerned about the dark winter.  Hoping that Rory will adjust to the new time and start sleeping a little later in the mornings.  Right now she's napping.  She fell asleep in the car and let me put her down.  I'm marking the day in my calendar as she's let me do that maybe three other times.  From the parking garage to the elevator, up seven stories, shoes off, coat off, and she still didn't wake up.

Another new recipe tonight.  A variation on Savory Vegetable Bread Pudding (Southern Living, September 2009).  I'm looking forward to it.  Also a Norwegian lesson tonight.  Looking forward to that less.

Highlights

I am a blogging slacker.  You already knew that though since it has been a month since I last posted.  I will try to do better.

Highlights since I last posted:

       

Various

I love magazines.  Marathon sends me my magazines.  I hate to get rid of my magazines, but I also hate to have stacks of magazines all around the house.  So I tear interesting pages out and put them in a folder.  My folder was getting pretty thick.  Most pages have recipes on them.  Recipes I've never even tried, but they sound good.  For September I've decided to try a new recipes six nights a week.  We're rating them to determine what gets put into the rotation and what gets recycled.  It's going pretty well, a few will make the regular rotation, there are some that need improvement and so far nothing has made it into the recycling bin.

Rory is still loving school.  She often asks to go on days that are not school days.  LilleGym started again last week and she's still loving that.  Today when she got dressed in her LilleGym shirt she was ready to go, right then!  Class didn't start for another two and a half hours.  So for about two hours I was asked go? gym? until we finally got in the car.  On Fridays we go to the international playgroup and Rory really enjoys that too, several of her classmates are there as well as friends we made when we first moved here.

Our Slingbox is working!  Fingers crossed that it continues to work without any problems through football season.  We stayed up late to watch the Oklahoma State game.  The following Sunday was a long day.  We did not stay up for the South Carolina game, but recorded it and watched it as soon as we woke up Sunday morning.  Rory was very patient with us through most of the long game.  She now says go Dawgs, sic 'em, let's go D, Hairy Dawg, Uga, and touchdown.




   

A visitor, a birthday, a boat ride and a marathon

On Tuesday, August 25th Kay arrived for a week-long visit.  After finding a really great fare from Philladelphia she decided to visit for Stepler's birthday on the 26th.  Rory and I picked her up from the airport after Rory's first day of school.  Rory napped on the way to the airport, but was so excited for our second visitor that she was not able to nap once we got home.


Rory started the birthday celebration off by sleeping in!  (Sleeping in = later than 6:20 when our alarm goes off.) I cannot complain about that, but it did mean that I had less time than I thought I would for making the birthday blueberry rolls.  They were supposed to be rolls, but they did not roll, so we had blueberry bread.  Tasty, but not pretty.  Birthday dinner was pizza out, followed by gifts, yellow cake (from a box per Stepler's request) with (homemade) fudge icing and ice cream.  Rory was delighted to help her dad open his presents.

Stepler took Friday afternoon off and we all took a Lysefjord cruise to see Preikestolen.  We had hiked there when Hannah was here visiting, but this was a completely different view of it.  It looked so much smaller from the water.  Just shows how high up Preikestolen is.  Rory loved being on the boat.  For awhile we were sitting on a bench beside the boat waiting for 12 other people to show up so we would have enough for the tour to run.  Rory was so excited to be there and couldn't understand why we weren't getting on the boat!


Saturday evening Rory stayed home with Kay while Stepler and I went out for dinner.  It was very nice to go out by ourselves.  While having drinks we saw participants in the Stavanger Marathon, some finishing, more starting their final lap.  We'd heard less than good things about the marathon because it is a loop course and the streets are not closed.  No thanks.  And Saturday was not a good day for running - I think it started raining right as the marathon started and didn't stop.  Seeing the marathon did get us talking about running one in 2010.  Stepler's interested in the Midnight Sun Marathon and I'm still looking - Prague, Berlin, Dublin?

Rory's first day of school

Rory started pre-school today at the British School.  She's in Playgroup and will go every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:10 to 12:10.

When we arrived at school there was a sign telling us which class Rory is in (Playgroup B) and where her classroom is located.  As we made our way down the hall to her classroom we found her name over a hook and hung her rain coat on the hook.  We sat down on the bench to put her indoor shoes on and then headed into the classroom.  Rory was a little disappointed that her friend Hannah is in Playgroup A, but as soon as her teacher showed her the play stroller she was happy.

Since she wasn't upset at all, I left the classroom after just a few minutes of watching her play.  I did wait in the lobby drinking coffee and talking with two other moms for quite awhile, just to make sure everything was going well before I left.

Rory squealed with excitement when I arrived to pick her up.  But her teacher reported that she'd had a great day - didn't cry at all and participated in all the day's activities.  She even had paint on her fingernails to prove it.  When I asked Rory if she liked school, she said, "yes, fun."  It didn't take her long to fall asleep once we got in the car.

Hoping that Thursday goes well too!

Anniversary

Our anniversary was earlier this month -- seven years!  The actual day fell on a Monday this year so we celebrated a little on Sunday.

Sunday morning we took Rory to the beach.  She wore her new long-sleeved rash guard shirt to keep warm in the North Sea.  There must have been a storm out at sea because there were seaweed and jelly fish on the shore and at the edge of the water.  Not the prettiest day for being at the beach, but Rory seemed to have a good time.

That night we went out for Indian food and took Rory with us.  She really enjoyed the Masala sauce, dipping everything in it, sometimes just her fingers.

The Queen Mary 2 came to town for our anniversary so we went down to the harbor to take a closer look.

Getting back to normal

Things are returning to normal around here after our visit to Georgia and having our first visitor to Stavanger.

Rory and I left for Cairo on Wednesday, July 1st.  We got to meet baby Brock for the first time!  It was wonderful seeing everyone, eating Mama's food, hanging out with Sanford, having Chick-fil-A for lunch, sipping Starbucks lattes, shopping at Target, getting my hair cut and enjoying Mr. Chick chicken strips.  Rory particularly enjoyed going outside all the time. 

We returned to Stavanger on Wednesday, July 22nd (we left Georgia on the 21st).  My cousin Hannah came with us!  Hannah was here for ten days and we stayed busy while she was here.  The first weekend Hannah and I flew to Oslo where we started the Norway in a Nutshell train tour on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately a power outage delayed our train by almost three hours and we missed our connection to all the really cool sites we were to see.  So we just took a train ride from Oslo to Bergen, interrupted by a long ride on a taxi-bus.  Very disappointing, but we did enjoy our evenings in Oslo and Bergen.  I tried whale steak in Oslo, it was okay, but the mushrooms, spinach and potatoes served with it were very good.  In Bergen we had sushi.  Other than enjoying our dinners out, we also had the opportunity to explore both cities a little bit.  Oslo seemed to be a real city and Bergen was similar to Stavanger, but bigger.  

Last Tuesday was the only really pretty day that we had while Hannah was here and we all hiked to Preikestolen, one of Norway's most famous sites.  I found it to be a challenging hike, but well worth the effort.  Stepler and Rory went along too, with Rory in the backpack.  Since it was too long of a hike for Rory to stay in the backpack the whole way and there was no way that we were were letting her out at the top, Rory and Stepler hung out at a swimming area and had a snack while Hannah and I went to the top.  (Stepler had been once before while Rory and I were in Georgia.)

While Hannah was here we also explored downtown Stavagner, Old Stavanger, visited the Oil Museum and put our toes in the North Sea.  We also ate a lot!  Hannah and I are clearly bad influences on each other.

She left very early Saturday morning and each day Rory has asked to go upstairs to wake her up.  Today she started saying no Hannah upstairs.  Stepler also left on Saturday for his field trip to the Arctic.  So after a lot of excitement and time with other people, it's just me and Rory until Thursday night.     



   

Runnin'

Since moving here I've been trying to run regularly.  The wonderful weather and gorgeous scenery have helped.  Rory and I have gotten into a good routine, getting out the door for runs more mornings than not.  Rory seems to enjoy it and knows what clothes and shoes I wear to run.  Runnin' she says when she sees my gear coming out.

Most mornings we just run about 30 minutes, with a slightly longer run on the weekends.  I have gotten into a rut of running the same route, just out the door to a nice street, down the street for 15 minutes and then back.  It's a nice pretty run without too many hills.  For some reason this morning I thought it would be nice to run to Little Stokka Lake.  It's a beautiful lake, but the run there is so much more difficult because of all the hills .  There is even a hill around the lake that I have to walk up when pushing Rory in the stroller.  What was I thinking?  Today was the hottest day we've had so far and we got a later start than usual.  I survived, but it made me thankful not to be running in the Houston heat.

Rory has mostly given up her morning naps, but often on our runs she can't help but fall asleep.  Maybe that's why she loves runnin' so much.
  

Waiting...

We'd been told the battery could take up to four days to work its way through Rory's system.  Luckily it didn't take that long, reappearing on Monday morning.

Rory was her usual self all weekend long -- 

these are pictures of her having fun on our back balcony on Sunday evening.

looking at Mom inside

rearranging the furniture

up close, way too close

Watch and wait

Earlier today I was thinking that I'd write about food, grocery shopping and cooking in Norway.  But after our afternoon I'll have to save that for another day.

Today while I was cleaning up after lunch, Rory swallowed a watch battery.  At least I was almost certain that she'd swallowed a watch battery.  There was a battery and then there wasn't one and she had this look like she'd swallowed something.  I asked her  if she'd swallowed a battery and of course she didn't answer, she just said battery.

After a quick internet search I decided I had to call the doctor.  We have the number for a private clinic so that's who I called.  Before that I called Stepler and he started walking home from work.  The doctor's office suggested that we come in to their office so that we could get a referral to the hospital for an x-ray.  So we all went to the private doctor for the referral.  Only we went to the wrong location so back in the car to the right one.  Traffic was the worst we've encountered in Norway.  We finally got there, saw the doctor and he wrote a referral to the hospital.  

First the x-ray would confirm if she had swallowed a battery.  And if so it would show where it was located in her body.  From what I could tell, the big worry with the battery is that it would get lodged in the esophagus and cause burns.  The x-ray would show if the battery was still in the esophagus, indicating that removal was necessary.  If the battery had moved to the stomach, then we'd likely just have to wait for it to pass.

We didn't know where to go once we arrived at the hospital.  So wandered around showing our letter, trying to figure things out.  We went in two wrong doors before finding the information desk and he sent us to the children's ward.  They read the referral and then sent us down to x-ray.  There were several people ahead of us in the waiting area, but we didn't have to wait too long.  Luckily the x-ray technician spoke English.  Stepler and I were given lead aprons to wear so that we could stay in the room while Rory was x-rayed.  She did well, staying still for the x-rays to be taken.  The first one confirmed that she had swallowed the battery.

From x-ray we were sent back to the children's ward.  After waiting a little while there we were lead to the surgery department.  We waited for the longest time there.  The receptionist came out and asked if we had our passports...and we started worrying that Rory was going to have to stay at the hospital.  While waiting I  called the U.S. number from the battery package for if the battery was swallowed.  I felt much better after talking with their representative.  She said that as long as the x-ray indicated that the battery was in her stomach, she would recommend that we just increase her fiber and wait for it to pass.  That  was very reassuring.

While I was talking on the phone, a nurse spoke with Stepler.  After that we were moved to yet another waiting area.  There were learned that we would see a doctor soon.  We were also told that we were now in the out-patient area and that previously we were in the in-patient area.   Another big relief.

The nurse spent awhile talking to the Norwegian poison control center in Oslo.  And then finally we were called back to talk with the surgeon.  Turned out he was an orthopedic surgeon, but he'd looked at the x-ray, spoke English and had at least read about swallowing batteries.  The battery is small enough that it should pass through.  We're to give it four days before we contact the hospital again.  Because we do not yet have a GP here, the surgeon gave us his card so that we can call him directly if we have to go back to the hospital.

Now we watch and wait.  Watch Rory for any signs that she's not feeling well, watch the diaper, and wait to see the battery again.

WHEW.

This all started right after Rory and I finished our late lunch, so around 2:00.  Through it all Rory did not have a nap, she did not have a snack and she missed supper.  She held up really well.  Smiling at everyone.  Each waiting area had a few toys and each time she saw them she said play.  In the car we fed her a cereal bar and she fell asleep.  She woke up when we got home for a high-fiber supper and a bath.  Now she's peacefully sleeping.

Queen Mary 2

 The Queen Mary 2 came to Stavanger on Tuesday while we were eating breakfast.  

Later that day we picked up my new rain boots at the post office.  Rory likes them.

After Stepler got home from work we went down to the harbor to see the QM2.  The largest ocean liner ever built.

  It started raining really hard while we were at the harbor, good thing I had my new rain boots.  Rory was the luckiest (driest) because her stroller has a rain cover.  

Micky D's

Rory and I had lunch at McDonald's today.  I know, I know, I've read Fast Food Nation too.  I can't even tell you when I'd last had a meal there before today.  But every time I passed the Golden Arches they were calling my name.

Seemed like the perfect day for it.  Rory and I went to playgroup at the beach park and after two hours of playing outside we were ready for lunch!  McDonald's is on the way home.  So I did it - I stopped and took Rory to a McDonald's for the first time.

She wasn't too impressed with the meal (chicken McNuggets Happy Meal with carrot sticks and a few of my fries), but did enjoy their playground and the balloon she got as we were leaving.  The Norwegians like mayonnaise a lot and there was a little too much of it on my chicken sandwich.  My fries were very good while still hot and the fountain Coke tasted like home.

It won't become a part of our Friday routine, but it sure was nice today.

Wednesday routine

We are settling into a definite Wednesday routine.  Run, coffee with other moms and kids, butcher shop, lunch @ home, weekly cleaning while Rory naps.  Wednesdays are nice - we see people, Rory naps well and I get things done in the afternoon.  Yesterday I added my 6th and 7th trips to the Apple Store to the Wednesday routine.  It's close to the coffee shop.  Visits to the Apple Store are not nice.  Getting a phone without a Norwegian number requires too many steps, each one different depending on who is working that day.  New guy made visits 6 and 7 a little easier and I'm waiting on a call from the store to say that I can get my phone.  We shall see.  I'm not going back unless they call me.  

Ready for the rain

Today while we were out running errands I finally found a rain suit for Rory on sale. Rain suits are required for schools here because they go out to play no matter what the weather. It's one that I'd had my eye on for awhile, hoping it would go on sale. It's still a little big, but she seems to like it!

Yesterday was Friday play group. For the summer we've started meeting at a beach park. Rory fell asleep in the car on the way there so we missed the first 45 minutes or so of it. But once she woke up she enjoyed the playground and the other kids very much.

Rory has officially (finally!) moved to size 18 month clothes.

Biblioteket

Rory and I visited the Stavanger Library for the first time today.  You can actually get a library card with just a picture i.d.  No person number required.  A person number or at least a temporary person number is required for almost everything.  And as we learned today, if you only have a temporary number you have to provide proof of income and Norwegian residence to get a cell phone.  Geeze.  Car dealerships let you drive off with a car on a test drive without even making a copy of your driver's license.   

Anyway, about the library, Rory and I took the elevator to the children's section on the third floor. They had a decent selection of children's books.  We only picked out five books to take home with us and we've already read four of them.  Rory loves to read and it's great (for all of us) to have some new books to read.  We also looked at the adult books and they have an even better selection of English books in the adult section.  I did not get anything for myself though because I still have several books bought before we left Houston that I haven't read yet.   

There is also a children's museum in the same building as the library.  We'll have to go back to check it out one day soon!

Some of the everyday

I’m sitting on our back balcony enjoying the end of a beautiful, sunny, spring day in Stavanger. Rory and I (Stepler is on a field trip in England) spent most of our day outside enjoying the wonderful weather. This morning we went for a run around Mosvatnet Lake. Then we met two of Stepler’s co-workers and their families at the Arboretum for a picnic lunch and a bit of wandering through the grounds. Rory really liked picking flowers (weeds) during our walk and kept us moving at a very sloooow pace.

I haven’t given much or any detail about out daily activities lately so I’ll try for a quick recap of our last week. It was a nice week as we both had the opportunity to socialize with others several times.

On Monday Rory and I went to our last Lille Gym class before summer break. It’s too bad that it ended so quickly, because Rory was having a lot of fun there. If it works with our schedule, we’ll start again in the fall. The last class had a summer vacation theme – with one half of the room “underwater” and the other half “on the beach”. Rory liked the “underwater” side best because it had a small pool of water that she could play in and pretend to fish. She liked the pool so much that I had to pull her away from it so that she could try some of the climbing and jumping activities.

Tuesday was my first Norwegian Pilates class and Rory’s first time in the gym’s kids’ room. It went well for both of us. The class was all in Norwegian, but I was able to follow along. I was very sore on Wednesday though!

Wednesday we joined several moms and their young children for coffee at the French café. The restaurant was fairly empty early in the morning so the children were able to wander among the tables without bothering anyone while the moms chatted and enjoyed their coffee. After coffee we went to the butcher shop for the first time to get hamburger meat. Rory charmed the butcher with her smile and he gave her a hot dog. She was shy though and didn’t want to eat it in front of him. The hamburgers were that night’s supper and were the best we’ve had since arriving in Norway – other hamburger meat has been a bit chewy.

After dropping Stepler off at the airport on Thursday morning Rory and I headed to the big grocery store. But because it wasn’t open right after dropping Stepler off, we stopped at a nearby park. I wanted to go there because the Friday playgroup is going to start meeting there next week and I wanted to be sure I could find it. We didn’t get to explore the park much because it started sprinkling and we weren’t really prepared to be out in the rain. But by then the grocery store was open. I can find almost everything I want there – including tofu. At the grocery store we ran into one of the moms from the coffee – Stavanger really is like a small town!

Friday morning we went to the international playgroup on one of the islands for the first time. Many of the same people from Wednesday’s coffee were there. The group meets in a large room in a community center and there are lots of toys for the children to play with. Including two Flintstone type cars which were everyone’s – including Rory – favorites. After playgroup our day was pretty much done because Rory was so tired. After nap and before supper we did manage to sneak in a few minutes on our playground.

Hikes

We're getting truly settled in and decided that it's time to start getting out and about for more than just everyday errands. Stepler had this past Thursday off so we took a short hike. We'd heard that the hike to Dalsnuten was nice because it offered a great view of the entire Stavanger area - particularly rewarding for newcomers because it allowed us to see all the places we've driven to and heard about over the past several weeks.

We were the first ones to arrive at the parking lot! There was a map at the beginning of the trail and the trail was well marked so we had no trouble finding our way. It was easy going at first, to a pond and through a sheep pasture. Things got a little more difficult as we started heading upward, but we made it - even with Stepler carrying Rory in the "Kangakid" backpack. The view from the top was great and would have been even better if we'd been lucky enough to have a clear day. But we could still see the Stavanger harbor and all the other little towns that surround Stavanger. It was quite windy at the top so after some pictures and a quick snack we were ready to head back down. For the hike down we took another path down and it was a bit easier. There were even planks laid down so that we did not have to walk through mud. When we got back to the parking lot there were at least 30 other cars there. A Starbucks on the way home would have really been perfect, but no Starbucks here and besides that there was nothing open because of the holiday.

Since we'd tried Rory out in the backpack on Thursday we thought a longer, more difficult hike was in order for Sunday. But first we went to a candle factory. At least that's how it had been described to us. More store, less factory, no factory actually. But the store did have a lot of cool candles, a Christmas shop, a giant troll that scared Rory a bit at first and it offered the chance to create your own candle by dipping a white one in wax. There was a small children's area outside with goats and more trolls. We had lunch in the restaurant attached to the shop. It was pretty tasty and seemed Norwegian. I had lamb, potato casserole, carrots and broccoli. Stepler had meatballs, boiled potatoes and some sort of mashed pea. Rory shared with us and also had a pancake with the traditional Norwegian toppings of raspberry jam and sour cream. As we were walking back to our car we noticed antique trucks coming down the road, they just kept coming, then they turned into the candle factory parking lot and then there was an old bus - Rory loved it!

On our way to the parking lot to begin the hike to the Manafossen Waterfall we went through a very, very long tunnel. Longer than any tunnel I've ever been through before. This time when we arrived at the parking lot there were lots of other people there. We got Rory all loaded up in the backpack. She seemed very excited to get in the backpack saying, "backpack, in." According to the sign this hike was pretty short, but fairly steep. First we had to go up a steep rocky hill. The most challenging part of that was the rocks. This path was also well marked and had chains as handrails for us to hold

on as we went up the steeper parts. We were rewarded with two overlooks with great views of the waterfall. After seeing the waterfall we continued on to Man. On our way there we went over a bridge that also offered a stunning view of the waterfall. Once we got to Man we were able to see a valley that had once been farm land. We stopped again to see the waterfall on the way back down. My legs were shaky on the way down! While Rory enjoyed the hike and seeing the water, she was ready to get out of the backpack.

May 17th pictures

Syttende Mai

The 17th of May.  Norwegian Independence Day.

Almost as soon as we arrived in Stavanger we began hearing about the holiday.  The two main things that we learned were that 1) people dress up for the holiday and 2) a lot of ice cream is consumed.  At the post office one day last week we picked up a schedule of the festivities and made plans to attend the first parade of the day.  I bought syttende mai napkins and a small Norwegian flag for Rory to wave at that parade.   

Sunday morning we got dressed up - Rory and me in dresses and Stepler in a suit and tie - and followed the stream of people down to the city center for the parade.  Many of the Norwegians (particularly the women) were wearing traditional clothing, bunads.   The first parade is made up of students from the various schools marching down the street carrying Norwegian flags while singing and cheering.  A few of the schools had marching bands which Rory particularly enjoyed.  

After the parade we went through the market area where food, candy, balloons and trinkets were sold.  We bought Rory and red, white and blue pinwheel that she enjoyed carrying for the rest of the day.  I was quite tempted by the ice cream, but it was cold.  So I got a 7-11 coffee instead.  

We returned home for lunch.  Continuing our celebration of the day we had grillposers, Norwegian hot dogs.  Not quite the same as American hot dogs, but they were okay.  Rory really enjoyed them, saying "hot dog" again and again and eating and entire hot dog!

After Rory's nap we decided to go to the final parade of the day.  When we got to the spot where we wanted to watch the parade people were already lining the streets.  This parade included many community bands and all sorts of sports clubs and after-school activity groups - soccer, handball, badminton, swimming, dance, drama and many others.  I'm glad that we got out again for the final parade because it was much livelier than the first.  It was quite long though and when there was a break in the action we headed back home.  

Mother's Day

We had a nice, quiet, low-key Mother's Day last Sunday.    

After Rory's afternoon nap we walked to the city center to get Chinese take-away.  We took the long, slow route through Old Stavanger - stopping at a couple of playgrounds along the way.  Rory had a great time running down the cobblestone streets and playing.

  

  

Fredag

Another cruise ship came in to the harbor today. This one was not as big as the first, but it did have a face painted on the front/side of it.  We all walked down to the harbor to take a closer look at it.  

Tonight we ate supper on the terrace for the first time.  It is very nice up there, but with the wind it is still a little too cold for me.   

What a day!

Yesterday (Monday, May 11th) was quite a day. A cruise ship out our window, Lille Gym and a school band marching down our street. 

There was a cruise ship outside our window early Monday morning.  Throughout the summer cruise ships stop for the day in the Stavanger harbor.  It was huge!  I didn't think to take a

picture until it was leaving though.  

On Monday mornings, Rory and I attend Lille Gym.  It's sort of like a Gymboree class - with a warm-up song, free-play on

various activities such as trampolines, climbing structures and slides and ending with a game and songs.  Rory has a great time and  it's an opportunity for me to meet other moms.  Rory got a t-shirt the day we signed up and wore it to class  yesterday.

While we were eating supper we heard the sounds of a marching band and Stepler looked out the window.  There was a band marching down the street - a busy street.  They had no escort other than their teachers and no regard for the cars in the street.  Rory really enjoyed the band and wanted more.  We think they were practicing for the parades on Sunday to celebrate Norwegian Independence Day.  We're planning on going to watch the parades.  We've heard it's quite a celebration.