I was feeling a little under the rainbow today

August 31, 2010 | Iowa,Weather

Tooth fairy strikes again

August 27, 2010 | Family

This time it was the 7-year-old who lost a tooth. The tooth fairy must have spent the summer in Norway too because she left him a 20-NOK coin. In related news, all three kids had checkups with the dentist. No cavities!

Books: Runaway

August 20, 2010 | Books

I just read Runaway by Alice Munro, recommended by Sommeråpent on NRK this summer in Norway. I really like what she does with characters. I was a bit thrown off, though, by the short stories, and I was frustrated she didn’t write more about Juliet. (She had three stories about this character.) I wish she would have written an entire book about her.

Back to school

August 19, 2010 | Family,Iowa,School

My second-grader and two Kindergartners started back to school today. They have new teachers and lots of new classmates this year, so I hope they get to know everyone and adjust well. Luckily, they still have lots of familiar faces in school. Hope they have a great day and a great year!

Twin trivia: They really should rename this town Twin City. (There might be more twins than forests here.) I heard there are five sets of twins in Kindergarten this year (not all in one classroom, though). One of the teachers the girls had last year has 3-year-old twins. Their new teacher this year has grown twins. My son has a twin in his class this year (both twins were in his scout group last year).

I’m a guest blogger

August 14, 2010 | Blogging

Hey, I’m over at Bill’s place today, filling in while he’s on vacation. Seems to be a popular theme with me. I wrote about my summer vacation on his blog a couple of years ago. Hope you have a fabulous vacation with your family, Bill!

Over the mountains & through the woods

Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

My last hike was with my husband over the mountains (yes, more than one) into town to my sister-in-law’s home.

It was Charming Marie’s last hike in the Norwegian mountains. I’ve had lots of fun with her this summer!

We took a break at this lake. It was so quiet and pretty there.

We saw sheep everywhere.

See that bump in the background? That’s the top of Jendemfjellet.

See that yellow spot there? That’s a boy. We watched his progress over the top of one mountain and down another until he met up with us. He was RUNNING. The whole time. Makes me want to have a heart attack just thinking about it.

Skihytta — this is a ski cabin that’s open in the winter.

Getting close to town. These are ski paths with lights (for the winter). Folks use them for all kinds of things during the summer … hiking, biking, walking, running, etc.

Just about there! I think I can smell dinner from here.

I thought I’d slow things down, but when we were done, it hadn’t taken any longer than “normal” — about three hours. Yay, me!

Eidskrem

August 13, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

Every time I see this sign, I sing, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Every. Single. Time. For almost 20 years now. I sang it out loud with the kids in the car. So, who knows. Maybe I’ve infected them too.

Troll Church

August 10, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

Ever been to a troll church? Come on.

I’ve been a couple of times before, and it was all my idea to take the kids.

“It’s not as steep as Jendemfjellet,” I said.

That’s true. And it’s about half as high as Jendemfjellet. However. The hiking was much harder than I remember, with lots of water, non-existent paths and steep, slimy rocks. It took us twice as long as the suggested time to hike up and back. But, hey, we made it.

Ready to go!

First stop for a look at the view.

There’s Jendemfjellet.

Rough climbing.

See the path? Neither do I.

Still have a ways to go, but this was a good place to rest.

Welcome to the Troll Church.

See the ladder in the back there? That’s how you get down from the mountain into the cave. Below the ladder is a steep cliff where the waterfall continues to flow. Whatever you do, hold on and don’t slip!

On our way back down.

And … what hike in the Norwegian mountains would be complete without Charming Marie?

Charming Marie 7 & catching fish

August 4, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

We took a boat trip to visit a cousin and her family. I thought Marie would enjoy coming along.

Looks like the late sunlit nights finally caught up with someone. She fell asleep within 10 minutes.

We had a great visit with delicious food and good conversation, a sweet little baby and a charming dog. I had been hearing all day, “Canwegofishing? Canwegofishing? Canwegofishing?” from a certain 7-year-old boy, who was dying to go fishing with his bestefar on his bestefar’s boat. So, on the way back home, we went fishing.

We tried a few spots, and I started to wonder if we’d catch even one fish.

Then, bam! They started coming in one after the other.

You should have seen how big the 7-year-old’s eyes got.

We joked that the seagulls sang, “Fish heads!” as they swarmed the boat.

Fresh fish is a real treat for the little fisherman!

Books: Norsk, ikke sant?

August 3, 2010 | Books,Norway

I also read Norsk, ikke sant? Norge, Nordmenn & all things Norsk by Jenny K. Blake. A funny follow-up to her Brown Cheese Please book. Good stuff. Good as brown cheese.