We had a quiet weekend this weekend - getting ready for our trip to Paris next weekend, taking it easy after the past two weekends away from home, and recovering from springing forward this morning. Saturday morning was very nice (although a little chilly). I got a run in and we all enjoyed walking downtown to run a few errands. We were even able to grill hamburgers on the terrace before the rains came Saturday afternoon.
Kristiansand, Norway
Two weekends ago we went to Kristiansand. We went because Stepler was scheduled to go to a conference there and we wanted to take Rory to the zoo. The three-hour drive there is beautiful (at least what I saw when I wasn't napping).
It was past lunchtime when we arrived, so we quickly checked in at the hotel and headed out in search of lunch. We wanted something quick and easy. I was lured into a Tex-Mex restaurant because we do not have Tex-Mex in Stavanger. As we walked in I was still a bit skeptical of it, the menu reassured me, and the food itself was pretty good. Really good for Norway. We shared loaded nachos and quesadillas. After lunch we wandered around the city center and played at a playground before going back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. Supper that night was at a seafood restaurant on the water. My meal was a lot of work - everything required peeling or cracking - but it was worth it.
Sunday morning we went to the zoo! The zoo was very nice and it was a beautiful day, but snow and ice were still everywhere. We saw lions, lots of birds, little monkeys, chimpanzees, meerkats, kangaroos, a lion and an orangutan. We watched the orangutan through the windows of the orangutan house and twice it got close to us. The third time it got close to us it really scared Rory and each time it came back to us she was very anxious about having it so close to her. And we've heard the orangutan got close to me! many times since then.
Suada, Norway
Last weekend was the Marathon ski weekend. Late Friday afternoon we boarded a boat filled with Marathon employees and their families and went to Suada. It was a rainy afternoon and we could not see out the boat's windows, but the boat was a very comfortable way to travel. After the boat docked in Suada it was just a quick bus ride to our hotel. By the time we'd all had a late dinner together in the hotel's dining room, it was past Rory's bedtime.
Saturday morning there was a buffet breakfast at the hotel and we had the chance to pack our lunch from the buffet. Our family was the first down to breakfast. Rory is quite an early riser.
We all took a bus to the ski center. Upon arriving at the ski center I went to the rental office to ask about the lessons I'd been emailing the instructor about. There was a group of five beginners who were interested in taking lessons. At first we were told yes we could have a lesson, then we were told no you can't, and then finally we were allowed to take our lesson.
The two instructors showed us how to stop, showed us how to catch the lift, and then we were taking the lift up the mountain. I think the first time down the mountain I set a record for most falls. Two of the people taking lessons gave up before even getting halfway down the mountain. I went down the mountain at least three times. The last two times the instructor was skiing backwards in front of me. That was very helpful, but I was still quite nervous about going too fast and falling. Maybe next year I'll take more lessons.
In the meantime Rory and Stepler had lunch and then got out Rory's sled. They came over so they could see me attempting to ski. There was a small hill at the bottom of the mountain I was skiing down so Rory sled down it a few times. The time passed very quickly and it was soon time for Rory and me to catch the first bus back to the hotel. While Rory and I napped at the hotel, Ryan cross country skied.
Rory slept through the snowman competition but we went outside to take a look at them before supper. Rory found a room with crayons and paper so she colored while Ryan and I chatted with the other adults there. We all ate supper together again and then it was Rory's bedtime.
On Sunday Rory and I skipped the ski center, but Stepler went, rented downhill skis, and had a good time on the slopes. Rory and I hung out in the room until check-out time, went for a walk, had lunch, and then chatted with a few other Marathon folks who had not gone skiing. It was then time for the boat ride back. The weather was decent on Sunday so we were able to see the sights (mountains, trees, small towns) that we had not seen during the rainy ride Friday.
Rory has the upcoming week off from school for Easter and then on Thursday we leave for Paris. We'll be there for five nights and have plans to see as much of Paris as we can with a two and half year old.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Green eggs & ham
Dr. Seuss's birthday was March 2nd. So we celebrated with Dr. Seuss books, the Horton Hears a Who DVD, and green eggs and ham for breakfast on Saturday. Rory is still talking about her special breakfast!
Rory and I went for a run today. Our first run together since before Christmas. She seemed excited to see her jogging stroller again. It has been warm enough this week that the snow has finally begun to melt. When we got the stroller from the balcony, Rory noted that there was no snow on the balcony, just a little bit of ice. When she and Stepler put the stroller back on the balcony later, even the ice was gone. Finally the thaw has begun! Hoping it continues.
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| silly girl enjoying breakfast |
Rory and I went for a run today. Our first run together since before Christmas. She seemed excited to see her jogging stroller again. It has been warm enough this week that the snow has finally begun to melt. When we got the stroller from the balcony, Rory noted that there was no snow on the balcony, just a little bit of ice. When she and Stepler put the stroller back on the balcony later, even the ice was gone. Finally the thaw has begun! Hoping it continues.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
vinterferien
This past week was winter break (vinterferien) here in Norway. Maybe we should have planned a beach vacation to get away from the cold, snow, and ice. But we didn't, so we made the best of it here.
Rory has a book called our Wonderful World. The characters in it take a hot air balloon ride across the world. Rory can recite most of the book from memory. In the back of the book there are instructions for making a wonderful balloon. Rory made her own wonderful balloon this week.
On Wednesday we had a play date with Rory's friend Hannah at Capella Play, an indoor playground here in Stavanger. We all had a great time. Rory really loves seeing Hannah and it doesn't happen too often because our school schedules are opposite now. We'd planned a play date with a Norwegian family that we've met, but they were all sick so that didn't happen. On Thursday Rory and I made oatmeal butterscotch cookies after running errands. Friday was playgroup as usual, only Hannah was there because she didn't have school. Rory was a happy girl this week!
This week marked one year since Stepler and I were here on our advance trip. One year ago we visited Stavanger for the first time and found our apartment. Hard to believe that was a year ago.
Rory has a book called our Wonderful World. The characters in it take a hot air balloon ride across the world. Rory can recite most of the book from memory. In the back of the book there are instructions for making a wonderful balloon. Rory made her own wonderful balloon this week.
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| getting started |
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| adding the red tissue paper |
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| our wonderful balloon! |
On Wednesday we had a play date with Rory's friend Hannah at Capella Play, an indoor playground here in Stavanger. We all had a great time. Rory really loves seeing Hannah and it doesn't happen too often because our school schedules are opposite now. We'd planned a play date with a Norwegian family that we've met, but they were all sick so that didn't happen. On Thursday Rory and I made oatmeal butterscotch cookies after running errands. Friday was playgroup as usual, only Hannah was there because she didn't have school. Rory was a happy girl this week!
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| Rory loves wearing her apron! |
This week marked one year since Stepler and I were here on our advance trip. One year ago we visited Stavanger for the first time and found our apartment. Hard to believe that was a year ago.
Christmas in Norway & Munich
This blog entry has been sitting in my drafts folder since early December. Never got around to finishing it, but might as well post what I have...
Stepler and I attended the Marathon Christmas party a couple of weekends ago. It was held in an old fishing warehouse. For dinner there was a buffet of traditional Norwegian Christmas foods, a julebord. Lots of meat on a julebord -- pinnekjott (salted lamb), ribbe (fatty pork), sausage, a meatball (no sauce) and I think some other meats that I didn't even try. That was more meat than I normally eat in a week. There was also a good bit of seafood on the buffet - shrimp, crab, scallops, fish - all of which I enjoyed a great deal more than the meat. Not much in the way of vegetables on a julebord.
Last weekend we went to Munich for the Christmas Markets. Stepler and I had talked about it before we moved to Europe and since we're not sure how long we'll be here, we wanted to go this year to make sure we got to go. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and after a bit of quiet time in our room we headed down to the main Christmas Market. We just wandered through the market and then found a restaurant. The food was very good (schnitzel! and potatoes!) and so was the beer. After supper we went back through the market and to our hotel.
First things first, Friday morning we went to a bakery for breakfast and I went to Starbucks (there are no Starbucks in Norway) for a latte. It was raining, as we expected it would be, so we took the subway to the Duetche Museum. We thought we'd take Rory to the Children's Museum there and then maybe see a bit of the museum. When we arrived there was a sign that the Children's section was closed until 12:30. Bummer. So we had some time to kill in the museum before eating lunch and then finally getting into the children's museum. We saw the transportation area, - with helicopters, airplanes and cars - the oil and gas area, metals and toured the coal and salt mines. By then it was lunch time so we ate in the Museum's cafe. Sausage! and potatoes! Finally the children's museum was open so we went there.
As we walked in I had a ping of longing for the Children's Museum of Houston. I miss it. Not so much working there, but visiting it. This was a very nice area of the museum, but nothing quite compares to CMH. Rory loved the water area, there were locks, wheels, plastic boats and plenty of opportunity for getting wet. There was a fire truck for climbing on and pretending to drive. There was also a music area that Rory enjoyed, drums, an xylophone, a piano (without its front so you could view the inner workings) and a very large guitar that Rory and Stepler were able to climb into. Rory also visited the ropes and pulleys, but was too small to really do that. There was a light room, but Rory did not go in there. The water area was so popular that Rory had to do it a second time before we left.
Stepler and I attended the Marathon Christmas party a couple of weekends ago. It was held in an old fishing warehouse. For dinner there was a buffet of traditional Norwegian Christmas foods, a julebord. Lots of meat on a julebord -- pinnekjott (salted lamb), ribbe (fatty pork), sausage, a meatball (no sauce) and I think some other meats that I didn't even try. That was more meat than I normally eat in a week. There was also a good bit of seafood on the buffet - shrimp, crab, scallops, fish - all of which I enjoyed a great deal more than the meat. Not much in the way of vegetables on a julebord.
Last weekend we went to Munich for the Christmas Markets. Stepler and I had talked about it before we moved to Europe and since we're not sure how long we'll be here, we wanted to go this year to make sure we got to go. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and after a bit of quiet time in our room we headed down to the main Christmas Market. We just wandered through the market and then found a restaurant. The food was very good (schnitzel! and potatoes!) and so was the beer. After supper we went back through the market and to our hotel.
First things first, Friday morning we went to a bakery for breakfast and I went to Starbucks (there are no Starbucks in Norway) for a latte. It was raining, as we expected it would be, so we took the subway to the Duetche Museum. We thought we'd take Rory to the Children's Museum there and then maybe see a bit of the museum. When we arrived there was a sign that the Children's section was closed until 12:30. Bummer. So we had some time to kill in the museum before eating lunch and then finally getting into the children's museum. We saw the transportation area, - with helicopters, airplanes and cars - the oil and gas area, metals and toured the coal and salt mines. By then it was lunch time so we ate in the Museum's cafe. Sausage! and potatoes! Finally the children's museum was open so we went there.
As we walked in I had a ping of longing for the Children's Museum of Houston. I miss it. Not so much working there, but visiting it. This was a very nice area of the museum, but nothing quite compares to CMH. Rory loved the water area, there were locks, wheels, plastic boats and plenty of opportunity for getting wet. There was a fire truck for climbing on and pretending to drive. There was also a music area that Rory enjoyed, drums, an xylophone, a piano (without its front so you could view the inner workings) and a very large guitar that Rory and Stepler were able to climb into. Rory also visited the ropes and pulleys, but was too small to really do that. There was a light room, but Rory did not go in there. The water area was so popular that Rory had to do it a second time before we left.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
When will the snow melt
My computer died a few weeks ago. The dreaded blue screen. I finally took in to a repair shop and now it is fixed. Not having a computer was not a tragedy, Stepler has a computer, I have an iPhone. But I am so accustomed to my own computer that I can use whenever, e.i. all the time. Happy to have my computer back. And my documents -- things that didn't seem too important, until faced with the possibility that they were gone.
Today Rory and I made dark chocolate oatmeal cookies. Our cookies turned out a little crumbly, but pretty tasty. Wearing her apron is a definite necessity for my little baker.
something to look forward to
We are planning an Easter trip to Paris! We've booked our flights and our hotel. Now I'm reading our guidebook trying to plan the rest of our trip.
this weekend
Tomorrow we're heading to the Marathon cabin in the mountains. It's going to be cold. There is lots of snow there. Hopefully new, clean, fluffy snow (not the old, dirty, crunchy stuff we have here). We're taking our new sleds and Stepler is taking his cross country skis.
There is still SNOW on the ground. I am done with it. It's dirty. There is ice everywhere and I am a bit of a klutz. I cannot run. Makes me nervous to even walk on it. On Sunday the ice cleared a bit and I finally got out for a run, it felt really good. It was a short run because I haven't run in quite awhile and because the snow/sand/slush made for difficult running. The ice is back now so no more runs until it thaws.
We have had some fun in the snow though. We've walked on two frozen lakes. Rory got a sled a few weeks ago and has enjoyed it for the most part. Last weekend we got a sled for Stepler and me. It's pretty fun, but I get nervous when it starts going too fast. Stepler got cross country skis and enjoyed skiing on one of the frozen lakes. There are pictures, but with the computer issues, they will not be included in this posting.
We have had some fun in the snow though. We've walked on two frozen lakes. Rory got a sled a few weeks ago and has enjoyed it for the most part. Last weekend we got a sled for Stepler and me. It's pretty fun, but I get nervous when it starts going too fast. Stepler got cross country skis and enjoyed skiing on one of the frozen lakes. There are pictures, but with the computer issues, they will not be included in this posting.
becoming a baker
For two mornings in a row last week Rory asked for pumpkin bread, but we did not have any. So on Thursday I decided to make some, with Rory's help. She wore the apron that we got her for Christmas and stood in her chair to dump ingredients into the bowl and stir the bread. She was a very good little helper and our bread was delicious! We put it in the oven right before her nap and when she woke up she ate two pieces.
She ate the last piece yesterday morning. She wanted it with peanut butter and the other peanut butter. The other peanut butter is otherwise known as Nugatti, the Norwegian version of Nutella.
Today Rory and I made dark chocolate oatmeal cookies. Our cookies turned out a little crumbly, but pretty tasty. Wearing her apron is a definite necessity for my little baker.
something to look forward to
We are planning an Easter trip to Paris! We've booked our flights and our hotel. Now I'm reading our guidebook trying to plan the rest of our trip.
this weekend
Tomorrow we're heading to the Marathon cabin in the mountains. It's going to be cold. There is lots of snow there. Hopefully new, clean, fluffy snow (not the old, dirty, crunchy stuff we have here). We're taking our new sleds and Stepler is taking his cross country skis.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
January in Stavanger
SNOW -- it is still on the ground. And it is getting old. Really, it is the same snow that fell before Christmas. There is ice on the sidewalks, making walking semi-dangerous. And, for me anyway, running is not happening. I have fallen just walking. I wish it would melt or snow or again.
Rory has taken quite awhile to readjust to Norwegian time. After a week she was going to bed almost on time and then we had a Norwegian lesson at our house (when she was supposed to be in bed) and she would not go to sleep. After that it took another week to get her back to her normal bedtime. Unfortunately there are still nights when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Ugh. These colds that we have all caught do not help. I think we are all on the upswing now though.
Rory has taken quite awhile to readjust to Norwegian time. After a week she was going to bed almost on time and then we had a Norwegian lesson at our house (when she was supposed to be in bed) and she would not go to sleep. After that it took another week to get her back to her normal bedtime. Unfortunately there are still nights when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Ugh. These colds that we have all caught do not help. I think we are all on the upswing now though.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Back to Stavanger
We are back in Stavanger after a fabulous Christmas trip to Georgia. We had a great time visiting family and friends. And it was nice just to be back in the States.
After two and a half weeks, it does feel good to be back on our own home again. Rory always seems glad to see her room and her toys. We were greeted by SNOW covering the ground and COLD.
We had a fairly uneventful trip back. Bobby Bowden was on our flight out of Tallahassee. He wore sunglasses the whole time and was on his way to California. All three flights were delayed a little, but not enough to affect our next flights and we ended up arriving in Stavanger about an hour late.
We have a jet-lagged two-year old. She woke up in the middle of the night last night, hungry, right on time for supper in Georgia. And slept until 10:40 this morning. Yikes. No nap, lots of good food, and plenty of activity today, to maybe get back on Norwegian time. Good thing we found a snowsuit on sale when we were in Georgia.
After two and a half weeks, it does feel good to be back on our own home again. Rory always seems glad to see her room and her toys. We were greeted by SNOW covering the ground and COLD.
We had a fairly uneventful trip back. Bobby Bowden was on our flight out of Tallahassee. He wore sunglasses the whole time and was on his way to California. All three flights were delayed a little, but not enough to affect our next flights and we ended up arriving in Stavanger about an hour late.
We have a jet-lagged two-year old. She woke up in the middle of the night last night, hungry, right on time for supper in Georgia. And slept until 10:40 this morning. Yikes. No nap, lots of good food, and plenty of activity today, to maybe get back on Norwegian time. Good thing we found a snowsuit on sale when we were in Georgia.
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