Our little family: Small and big happenings: September 2007

NORWAY - Dyreparken (Zoo & Amusement Park)

We flew to Bergen/Norway on July 22, and arrived Monday the 23rd. We got one day or rest before we got in the car and headed down to Kristiansand with my sister Gro and her family, and my mom Inger. We spent 2 days on the road.

Steven had brought his bike to Norway and spent 3 (or was it 4?) days biking from Os to Kristiansand. It was much harder trip than he had originally thought. The terrain was different than expected the last 1-2 days of the trip. The stress he endured before leaving for Norway trying to get his bike ready is a totally different story, you can ask him about it if you want to know... I am not sure I would want to remind him about the miserable time ever again... let's just say it included a broken shipping delivery box that his new bike frame was in, etc.

My Dad in a thoughtful moment the day we arrived.

Anika always enjoys spending time with Eva reading books. Torgeir joined in...

Off he goes on his biking adventure from Os to Kristiansand.

We're off as well, but using a much more comfortable transportation method.... first stop (after 5 minutes in the car) is the ferry between Os/Halhjem and Stord.

From left: Sanaz, Steve, Freya, me, brother-in-law Roy Olav, Anika, and sister Gro. Front: My niece Kaia Malene and nephew Preben.

Freya is without doubt mommy's little girl...

Beautiful view of the Os coastline from the new gas ferry transporting us south. This is where I grew up!

Waiting for yet another ferry before we arrive in Stavanger/Sandnes on our first day of travel.

The second day of our trip started off with a shopping stop at a porselen outlet store.

My mom and Gro found a lot of nice 'stuff'

At the end of our second day we arrived safely in Kristiansand. It turned out that one of the top league soccer teams' stadium was a 10 minute walk from the apartment we stayed in, so Roy, myself, Preben and Sanaz spent a couple of hours watching a top league soccer game the first night in Kristiansand.

Sanaz' first soccer game!

First day in the zoo/amusement park... we were welcomed by an emu.

It was a rainy day, and Preben, Anika and Gro were covered up...

Freya got her own raincover as well.

The girls diggig eagerly for gold!

Sightseeing (Gro, Anika, Kaia Malene and Inger).

Garden joy

It's mid-summer, hot and humid, and what is better than taking a nice bath in our backyard, and help pappa with the garden?

Steve's garden has grown tremendously in the last month, and among other things we have heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, bell peppers, banana peppers, squash, eggplants, habaneros, chili peppers, pumpkins, carrots, strawberries, rhubarb, lettuce and all sorts of herbs (thyme, rosemary, several types of mints and basils, oregano, etc.)

I wish I could help Steve more with the watering and maintenance, but I get eaten alive by moskitos every time I spend a minute in the backyard. I stick to keeping the inside of the house clean instead...

Visiting Grandma in Brooklyn

A couple of days before I started my new job in NYC, I took the girls and Sanaz with me to stay at Grandma Kathleen in Brooklyn during my first week at work.

Grandma took us to a great park near her house.

Monkeys enjoying the breeze from the Hudson river

Great-Grandpa Jim and Freya in a bonding moment. They really enjoy eachother's company!

July 4th

Mali and Justin hosted a little get-together in Adams Morgan in Washington D.C. on the afternoon/evening of July 4th. We saw the fireworks on the mall from their living room windows!

...I should also mention that Sanaz and a bunch of her friends were down on the mall itself all day to watch the fireworks, but they had to evacuate the park area for a while due to a tornado warning!!! And then it rained... so we had a much better time staying indoors at Justin and Mali's :)

Anika sporting her new haircut, in Ansel's sofa.

Some of the grown-ups

Daytrip to Geza's beach house

Steve's professor Geza from our time at Monterey (MIIS) lives in a house with a beach front on Lake Anna, a couple of hours south of Washington D.C. Once a year he hosts a get-together for MIIS graduates, and this year we made the trip! The girls and parents enjoyed a relaxing day by Lake Anna in good company with other MIIS graduates...

Steve and Freya with Geza.

Ready for a swim (yes, Anika was sceptical)

Relaxing I

Relaxing II

Relaxing III

Anika's Dance Performance

Anika and her dance friends had a beautiful performance in their crazy cool tutu dresses in mid-June. They had a lot of fun, and so did we watching them dance! Wish I could post the video from the 3-minute performance...

Anika and her friends getting ready for the picture session before their performance...

Anika and best friend Isabella

Waiting for their turn to get onstage.

Everything is over, and nothing is more fun that play in the swing!

Summer tidbits

Ok, so it has been 3+ months since my last post... I know, sorry, it has been too long. I will try to post more often in the future! The summer was just too busy, with job change, 3 weeks vacation in Norway, lots of travelling to New York City (I think the girls and I spent 4-5 weeks there together this summer, and I spent more time by myself), and some laziness too.

Let me start with some pictures of friends on a nice and warm Saturday afternoon in early June...