Wading...

wade (wd)
v. wad·ed, wad·ing, wades
v.intr.
1. To walk in or through water or something else that similarly impedes normal movement.
2. To make one's way arduously: waded through a boring report.
v.tr.
To cross or pass through (water, for example) with difficulty: wade a swift creek.
n.
The act or an instance of wading.
Phrasal Verb:
wade in/into
To plunge into, begin, or attack resolutely and energetically: waded into the task.

The weekend was spent with Granny Libby, Grandad and Auntie Katherine, also known as the Wades, minus Uncle Alistair, who had to stay home in the UK and work.

We had a lovely visit with them on Thursday, when they drove out to see us from their hotel in Oslo. The weather was glorious, so we decided to wade up to a view point not far from where we live. Well, if you ask B boy, it is quite far and with a very steep ascent. He spent a bit of time complaining about the wade, but did finally make it to the top. The view was spectacular - we could see bits of Oslo and even Holmenkollen ski jump in the distance.



Saturday morning the Wades arrived in Drammen yet again, this time to spend the rest of the weekend with us. Once more they brought wonderful weather with them, so considering how thrilled Benjamin had been to wade uphill on Thursday, we decided to wade downhill instead, into Drammen. It is not a long wade. Perhaps 5 km, and, like I said, it is all down hill. Moreover, keeping Benjamin busy discussing the finer points of all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies - not to mention having him reenact particularly gripping scenes - kept complaints to an absolute minimum, and we made it down to the town in no time.

Weekends are busy in Drammen, and this Saturday was no exception. We waded around a bit and then moved on to the lovely riverbank that has been redeveloped along one side of the river. The newly planted grass and miniature beaches looked really nice, and we spent some time sitting on the grass eating fresh fruit and watching the kids goof off.



Or maybe just looking the other way and pretend not to see the kids goofing off...

We could not imagine wading UP the hill with the kiddies, and thus took the bus back to our house. Since our children are not used to taking public transit, this was quite a highlight, and a fight almost broke out over who got to pull the string to signal the bus driver to please stop. A prolonged battle was only avoided by promising to take another bus in the near future.

Grandad and Mike got up early to hit the golf course on Sunday, and upon their return we packed a picnic - my first - and headed into Oslo and Vigelandsparken, where we met up with Granny Libby's niece Barbara, her husband Terje and their two lovely kids. That's when I realized that picnics can be taken to a whole other level, and my salami-n-cheese sandwiches just do not cut it. Barbara brought a freshly made pasta salad and a home-made, absolutely delicious chocolate and custard layer cake. Needless to say, Mike was very happy and helped himself to two rather large slices.

Both Christopher and Benjamin proved to be very good with the younger kids, and B boy was particularly taken with Barbara's one-year-old girl, Ella. She is a fantastically good-natured little girl, who was thrilled to have Benjamin guide her around the park. Christopher, meanwhile, was happy to kick the soccer ball around with four-year-old David. Made me think that our kids really are getting older...and whatever does that say about us... :(



The park was incredibly busy, undoubtedly because of the fabulous weather. Vigelandsparken is dedicated to famed Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. It consists of some 200 granite and bronze sculptures of human beings of all ages engaging in various human pursuits, including running, dancing, hugging, holding hands, etc. The most surprising aspect of the sculptures to newcomers is perhaps the fact that the sculptures are all of naked people. Once you have been to the park a few times you no longer notice this, but it is striking the first time you see the sculptures.



I had mentioned this nakedness to Benjamin when talking about a particularly famous sculpture in the park, called "Sinnataggen" or "The little angry boy". This is a wonderful sculpture of a small boy clearly in the throes of a severe temper tantrum. The expression on his face is captured so perfectly that any parent, I think, can recognize it from personal experience. Mike and I wanted a shot of the boys next to Sinnataggen (for no other reason than to prove to ourselves that life really has gotten easier now that the boys are somewhat more receptive to reason), but as we started moving in the direction of the sculpture, Benjamin decided to throw a mini-tantrum of his own. He did not, in any way, shape or form, want to be photographed next to the "naked, angry boy". Christopher was slightly more accommodating, but made me promise not to show any pictures of him with the "naked boy" to others. And not to post them on my blog. He was particularly clear about the blog ban, so I am honouring his request.



At the end of the day we said goodbye to the Wades, who were heading out to an airport hotel for the night, planning to catch an early morning flight back to the UK the next day. We will see them again in just 5 weeks, but it was nevertheless great to be able to catch up for a few days here in Norway. It was also very nice to see Barbara again, and hopefully we will be able to get our kids together again soon.

Boating it...

The final full day at the cottage, and we decided to take a drive to the west of Norway, to see one of the smaller fjords, called Nærøyfjord. It is an arm off Sognefjorden, the longest and deepest fjord in the world.

The drive seemed to go by fairly quickly, as we admired the landscape that passed by outside our windows. To get to the other side of the country we had to drive over mountain passes, and once we reached the top we saw glacier ice and snow just a few meters away. The land itself was barren and harsh-looking and virtually lacking in human activity, except for a few cottages scattered along the way. The water looked absolutely pure and sparkling clean, almost green in colour, and really, really cold. It reminded me of the pictures you see on very expensive bottles of imported water. I suppose the water temperature was close to freezing, seeing as it was mostly run-off from melting glaciers.

As we came down the other side of the mountains, through what seemed like never-ending tunnels, a truly magnificent vista opened itself up to us. Pictures really do not do the landscape any justice, but here's an attempt anyway:



Although this is perhaps not the most beautiful fjord in Norway, it does claim to be the narrowest one, and has been included by UNESCO on the World Heritage List. Thus, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Norway, something we can now vouch for! We arrived at Flåm hoping to take the 1:20 boat to Gudvangen, only to be told that the boat was full. Instead, we were booked on the 3:10 boat.

However, this actually worked out to our advantage, as we decided to have lunch in Flåm instead of on the boat, and proceeded to spend a bit of time exploring this beautiful little village, with a population of 500. I cannot imagine how many tourists it caters to in a typical year, but judging from our experience, I would guess that this is in the hundreds of thousands.



After lunch and a quick stroll back to the car to get extra sweaters for the ferry ride, we leisurely walked towards the docks, only to see that there was already a lineup to get onto the ship. This was only about 40 minutes before departure time, but we had been told by the ticketing agent that this particular cruise was almost empty, and we were therefore surprised at the crowds.

Seeing as we had four children and really wanted to get decent seats for them, we immediately joined the queue. Or so we thought. The line snaked its way up to a souvenir store, and then made a 180 degree turn and down the other way again. To complicate matters further, the line was very skinny to begin with, with people lining up one by one, and fattened out further down, where it was several families thick. It is difficult to describe, as it was a little confusing to say the least. Mike commented that this lack of organization was highly un-Norwegian, and I have to agree. I would have thought the lines to be more "regimented", considering how many times a day cruises take off from the village.

Things got really interesting when a group of...ehem...Asian...tourists picked the middle of the line up as their group meeting point. People started dropping out of the queue to move toward the front entrance of the ferry, where there was still space since the beginning of the line was so skinny. Hae Yung and I began to get a bit concerned, but we continued to stand in line until it became obvious that we were now pretty much the last ones in the official queue. At that point, we left proper line-up culture by the wayside, grabbed our kids by the hand and pushed our way into the throng in front of the ferry.

Never stand between two mothers and their destination, is all I can say, because when all was said and done, the boarding completed and seats found, we pretty much had the best view possible! Top deck, right side, all we had to do was kick back and relax!



The trip itself was scheduled to take 2 hours, and the kids loved every minute of it. They saw huge waterfalls cascading down hundreds of meters. Cute little towns with only 10-12 houses, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Farms up mountain sides that looked so steep, that you might fall right off the land if you tried to work it. Even cottages at the top of mountains, completely solitary and with no obvious way of getting to them. It was a spectacular trip.

Of course, the highlight of the trip for the kids was the cafeteria(!) on the lower deck, which sold hot chocolate, pancakes and other goodies. Samantha and Christopher were down there several times, occasionally joined by Nathan and Benjamin.



Hae Yung and I did not leave our seats, however, as we were quite mesmerized by the beautiful scenery. The only thing drawing our attention away from the landscape passing us by was the constant squeals of delights emanating from our left. As we turned to see where the sound was coming from, we saw a family of...ehem...Asians delightedly throwing bread overboard, to seagulls flying alongside us! That's right! Forget about the scenery, let's feed the birds instead. They were even filming the birds as they swooped down to catch bits of bread. I have to say, their thrill and excitement was quite endearing, and I almost forgave them for the bits of bread that landed in our hair, on the ground around our chairs, and even in poor Christopher's eye. I only wonder why they chose to spend $150 dollars to do this on a fjord cruise, when they could have done just as well from the docks!



Mike had taken this cruise a few years earlier, with the Wades, so he offered to forego the boat ride this time, and drive to meet us in Gudvangen instead. This way, we saved an hour or so because we didn't have to take a bus back to pick up our car. Probably a good thing, as the kids were quite happy to get back to the cottage and hang out a bit before bed time!

Hiking it...

First full day at the cottage, and all the kids, with the exception of Nathan, were up early! B boy was persuaded to give sleep another try, but Samantha and Christopher were rearing to go, so they joined Mike and I for a drive down to the small town of Ål, to pick up a few provisions. After all, one pizza can only get us so far. Even with kids who do not eat...



In town, we stocked up on essentials such as bread, bread and bread. Throw in a bit of bread, and we were all set. The kids had an ice cream while we waited for the local sports store to open. Nothing like a nutritious breakfast to kick off the day! As soon as the doors open, we marched in with a mission: Christopher received a small scouts knife from his grandparents three years ago, and B boy had been waiting for his own ever since. We told him he had to wait until he was 7, foolishly thinking that by then he would have calmed down and become responsible enough to handle one! Well, he was now holding us to that promise! After all, it had been a full two days since he turned 7.

World beware. Benjamin is now armed! Fortunately, the store had enough knives for B boy, Nathan and Samantha. They even had a special girl knife for Samantha that we got pretty excited about.

Well back at the cottage, everyone was now up. We had breakfast - bread. Then we packed our bags and got ready for the goal of the day: Hiking up a mini-mountain. Benjamin, Mike and I had hiked up this hill a few years earlier, and we thought it would be a good challenge for the kiddies.

So into the car we went again, as we felt it safer to drive to our starting point. True trekkers would have walked there, of course, but who are we kidding...! Besides, we didn't want to completely discourage our kids from ever hiking again.



I think we were all a tiny bit worried about how the kids would react to this adventure, and perhaps especially Nathan,who is not known to be the most outdoorsy type. And in fairness to all the kids, we are not talking about some manicured, grassy hill you simply skip up. This is a rough part of the country, with loads of bushes to push through, streams to jump over, and rocks to climb over. But we needn't have worried. Just as in past situations, the kids all rose to the occasion, and Nathan in particular shone as he was the first one to start the trek uphill, and the first to reach the "summit". Much to the pride of his mommy, and totally well-deserved!

In fact, I suspect Hae Yung at one point thought we had bitten off more than we could chew, as she hiked up the rocky side of the hill. She is adamant in her claim that she had to use both hands and feet to hang on to the side, and believes that at that point the hill had an incline of at least 75 degrees. Interesting that no one else had that experience, but perhaps she took a more advanced route to the top :)



After our arduous hike, it was time to put our newly purchased scouts knives to use, so we organized a picnic lunch and proceeded to walk to a place where we knew there was a fire pit created out of rocks. The kids all sharpened their sticks and grilled hot dogs over the fire, followed by dough that is baked on the same sticks into (somewhat burned) bread, and finally marshmallows.






The evening saw the weather changing a bit from sun to rain, so it was spent indoors. After that much activity, the kids were only too happy to be allowed to spend some quality time on the couch, with their beloved Nintendo DS's. And we were quite happy to sit back with some wine and a couple of good books.

Roughing it...

Sunday morning, bright and early, we packed the car and headed off to the mountains. OK...perhaps it was closer to noon and seeing as the car has zero trunk space once the extra seats are up, packing was a breeze. A few shirts, pj's, jackets for all, rain boots and/or hiking boots, and one pizza. That's right. One pizza. That was all the space we had.

Fortunately, my thoughtful parents had made a stop at the cottage earlier in the week, and had kindly stocked it with enough essentials to last a meal or two in style. Read: red wine and brie cheese. Oh, and milk, cereal and hot dogs for the kids. We were good.

The weather up to the cottage was overcast, which was a little disappointing as the drive is quite spectacular on good days. I am fairly sure Hae Yung tired of hearing me saying "This is really a pretty area when it is sunny". Perhaps I was a bit overzealous in my attempts to be a good host, but she got the idea. Or else she just pretended, because she nodded frequently and appeared to be imagining how beautiful a certain mountain might really be without the clouds obscuring it. Fortunately, by the time we got to Ål, Hae Yung no longer had to be subjected to my constant barrage of apologetic comments, because the sun was peeking out through the layers of cloud. When we finally ascended the mountain and arrived at our destination, the weather was positively glorious.

This is what we saw as we arrived:

My parents had asked us to be sure to admire the roof this time around, as it had recently been redone, and the kids were all very impressed. Having seen it in previous years, I have to admit it did look exceptionally green and healthy. Nathan wanted to know how the grass on the roof was mowed, and Mike told him that all we do is put a sheep up on the roof to eat the grass. He was quite excited about this prospect.

The kids immediately went exploring, and true to form, Christopher was more than happy to be a guide. He bravely led them across the marshy area below the cottage, to a rocky section where we usually grill hot dogs "au naturelle". We were quite pleased that they managed to get across without getting too wet, as that has proven to be a challenge in years past. Perhaps it was Hae Yung's super rain boot purchase at Winners (at a famous $3.00 a pair) that made all the difference.



As the adults tanned themselves and enjoyed a well-deserved glass of vino on the deck, the kids discovered a couple of sheep in front of the cottage, which provided much excitement. Nathan and Benjamin were content to observe from afar, whereas Christopher and Samantha bravely ventured out to communicate across species, much to our amusement. As soon as the sheep showed the slightest bit of interest in their presence, both kids turned around and bolted back to the safety of the cottage deck!!




It was a fun day, and after having enjoyed our one pizza for dinner (ok, then, some hot dogs, too), we waited for the sun to set. As darkness fell all around us, we ventured out for some traditional moose hunting, only equipped with the weakest flashlights you could possibly imagine. Samantha had a firm grip on Mike's hand, while Benjamin and Nathan played flashlight tag. The moose stayed away, which is hard to comprehend, considering the racket that preceded us where ever we went.



After much fresh air activity, the kids were tired and ready to go to bed in the "hems", which is a type of open attic typical of Norwegian cottages. Nathan eventually decided that he would rather sleep in his mommy's bed, but Samantha was quite happy to sleep between Christopher and B boy.

Birthday Boy - Part Deux

B boy's B-day!

My little B boy finally turned 7. When I say finally, I do not mean to imply that I was in a rush to have him turn 7. However, Benjamin himself has been rearing to go ever since Connor turned 7 on December 31st. Such is the life of the youngest in a group, I suppose. Here's to a little peace, at least until Connor turns 8 in 4.5 months!

The weather was not fantastic yesterday, but that was actually OK, as we had planned to spend the day in an indoor play land anyway. We had booked a birthday package, complete with party room, food, drinks, slushies and ice cream. The party was small - consisting of the birthday boy, Christopher, Nathan and Samantha, as well as cousins Mathias and Joakim. Baby cousin Emil stayed at home.



The kids had a great time in the play land. There were trampolines, massive slides, ball pits, etc. Poor Nathan got so hot, he needed to be watered down a few times. The boys actually thought that looked pretty cool, and they all started cooling themselves down by sticking their heads until taps.

The party room included a king/queen chair for the birthday child, and Benjamin really took on the role of supreme ruler. He handed out roles to his minions - Christopher was a knight, Nathan a squire, poor Mathias was given the role of servant, while Joakim was "disco man". The latter undoubtedly because Joakim is known for putting on his cell phone music and boogeying down at the most unexpected of times. Mike was a blacksmith, while Hae Yung was a goldsmith. Nathan wasn't too sure that there should be a distinction there, but, hey, it was Benjamin's birthday, and he was running the show! Unsurprisingly, Samantha was the Princess.



As expected, Sam-Sam has been amazing during these days in Norway. She is absolutely surrounded by boys - there's five of them when the cousins are here, too, and she handles it beautifully. In fact, the boys are getting quite competitive about who gets to be with Samantha when. Mathias has already asked if Samantha will still be here on his birthday in September, and Benjamin threw a bit of a fit when Samantha was not on his soccer team yesterday. Christopher's got competition, in other words.

After a few hours in the play land, we all gathered at our house for coffee and cake, where the grandparents also could join us after their required golf round. We had a home-made chocolate cake made by Mormor, which everyone loved. Benjamin had also requested brownies, and he single handed enjoyed those. As the time went on, and everyone seemed to be having a good time, we decided to just pool our resources and make a very simple dinner for everyone here. The kids were all happy to continue to play, and we sat around and chatted until 11:30 pm or so.



While Samantha was handling the younger boys with aplomb, the older girls were fussing over the littlest boy in the family. Little Emil was the absolute centre of our attention (bearing in mind that birthday boy B was waaaay too busy for us, anyway), and he particularly enjoyed Hae Yung's arms, as she walked around singing for him. Daniel might have cause to feel a little worried...

Benjamin is already fretting over the fact that Nathan and Samantha will be leaving again, and would like to see them stay for the entire time we are here. Apparently, Nathan has agreed to do so. Yes, Daniel, worry now! Although, I am not sure Nathan realizes that staying entails going to a Norwegian school which starts in only one week.

Today is a new day, and we are off to the cottage where we will stay until Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the weather. We hope to see a fjord, perhaps by going on a mini-day cruise, climb a few hills (we do have four kids in tow), grill some hot dogs over open fires, and possibly stop by a nature park with wolves, foxes, etc. We will see how much we manage to squeeze into the time we have left.

Then it will be back to civilization for a few more days, until the Yims depart and the boys prepare for a new adventure - school in Norway!!

Visitors from Canada - days 1 and 2

Canadian tourists on the way to see the king and his castle...














New best friend. Samantha and Christopher are practicing their parenting skills...




A little restful break after a long hike up the mountain. No, wait, we drove...oh...ok...just a cute picture, then.











Four-leaf clover....three of them!




View of the valley of Drammen. Accessible by a spiral tunnel up through the mountain. Canadian tourists very impressed!