We went on another mountain hike. This one was planned, though, so we had plenty to eat and drink with us. The hike was rocky and steep — so steep that you could climb some of it only with the help of rope. There was a great play area up the mountain, though, and the kids had a blast there.
I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Thanks, Randi! Like another book I’ve read this summer, I have lots to say about this one. I’ll try to do that when I have more time.
Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to … marshmallow fields.
At least that’s what we call them.
I found some great workbooks at the bookstore, and they kids love them. They’re for Norwegian children to learn English, but they work well the other way around too, because they have both Norwegian and English words together. (And we’ve learned some interesting British English terms too!)
(Twenty-four years ago.)
Like son.
And daughter.
We went for a ride in Bestefar’s boat to Bjørnsund today.
Here we are in the same spot four years ago!
Want to reduce a 7-year-old to a mass of hysterical giggles? Show him this sign.
Then show him again.
*giggle*
(It’s a sign for speed bumps.)
See this mountain?
Today, we were going to “practice” climbing it, which we planned to do once Pappa was here. So up we went.
We got to see the cows. That’s as far as I thought we’d go. But I heard, “I want to keep going, Mommy!” So keep going we did.
I’m sorry we didn’t bring you, Marie (The Snake Charmers, @SnakeCharmers). I had no idea we’d go very far. I didn’t even bring water or food. (I know. Mother of the Year here.)
I kept figuring we’d turn back soon and call it a day. But, no. We kept going.
And going.
And going so much that they had to sit and wait for their poor, old mommy. A lot. She’d be gasping for breath, and they wouldn’t even be breathing hard.
At least I could still smile.
Pappa called before he left for work. “Guess where we are, Pappa?”
We made it!!!
We all signed the book at the top.
And squeezed together for posterity.
And again.
Just as we got to the top, the fog blew in. We were walking in the clouds. Literally.
I needed to lie down for a few minutes.
Then it was time to head back down.
Back under the clouds so we could see again.
Oh! But it was cold. And windy. And fairly miserable. I had two start crying. “I never want to do this again!” And, “I don’t want to do this when Pappa gets here!.” It was much harder going down than it was going up. I had to tell them they HAD to do this. We HAD to get down. That I believed in them, and I believed they could do it. Then we finally hit the tree line, back into the forest and trees. It wasn’t so cold. It wasn’t so windy. We kept going. Then I started hearing about what an adventure we had today. When I asked if they wanted to do it again, I got “maybe” at first, then it changed to “yes.”
We made it back to where the adventure began. This trip usually takes between two and three hours. It took us almost six hours. But, wow. I’m so proud of my little mountain goats. They can definitely claim their Norwegian heritage!
Woo-hoo! We did it!
