A very busy day!

I know we are leaving in only 5 days and I should be packing and getting stuff done. That is not what I did today however. I started off by going to the Little Gym in Sandvika which is about 20 minutes away by train. Katherine loves it there but we were running late and arrived after class started. She was a little slow getting into it but she finally did.

There are so many smaller museums in Oslo that I had not been to yet. There is nothing like the 11th hour so I decided to try to see some today. On the way home from Sandvika, we stopped at the Henie Onstead Museum. It is an art collection of a former Olympic skater and her husband. Katherine's favorite was the giant banana on the lawn. I forgot my camera and only had my video camera so sorry for the funny museum pictures.

Then we headed downtown and went to three free museums. First we went to the Stenerson museum where there were two exhibits, one on photography and one called Equatorial Rhythms which was about global music.

Next we went to the History museum where we saw exhibits on the vikings, arctic people, tribal villages in Africa and Asian cultures. It was actually a pretty good museum but I had not heard much about it. Katherine enjoyed the deer.



Last we went to the Art and Design Museum and I saw an exhibit on knitting and the design and fashion of furniture throughout the last few centuries concentrating on Scandinavian design. Some of the furniture was very funky. The first part of the video - the tiger and bear head as well as the off white living room are entirely knitted. The lamps are just a sample of the rest of the museum. This was the part with no security guard so I could video it.



I came home very tired and Katherine was asleep in the stroller. I had to hurry to cook dinner because our friends John, Anne Grethe and Amelie were coming for dinner. John is from Houston and is married to Anne Grethe who is Norwegian. They attend our church. Their daughter is almost 5 months old. Katherine loved having a real baby here for the evening.

A dear friend visits

When we returned from Stockholm, we brought a dear friend of mine, Anita, back with us. I met Anita 20 years ago as a high school freshman when she was my Bible study leader at church. We met weekly for all four years of high school and have kept in touch ever since. She has been a missionary in Albania for the past 6 years so we don't see each other often. This was a special treat to have her come visit us for 3 days.

We got in very late on Sunday night so we slept in on Monday. Katherine stayed with her favorite babysitter, Cally so Anita and I took out across town to explore. We strolled through downtown, shopped, ate lunch and went through the castle. We were exhausted so we headed home and rested.

Tuesday we went to the Viking ship museum. Katherine slept through it when we visited with my parents so she enjoyed it more now. She kept saying, "whoaaa" when she saw the big boat.

We walked a short distance to the Folk Museum where we ate lunch. Katherine insisted on feeding herself and was quite proud of all the yogurt on her face.

This was my third trip to the Folk Museum so I knew where the best places to go were. We knew that Katherine was a time clock so we headed to the highlights. The Folk Museum is a great place to go with Katherine because she can walk around without getting in the way or destroying anything.

Katherine loved Anita. She would follow her around and at home crawl into her lap to read books. It was so sweet.

My favorite part of the fold museum is the stave church. It is beautiful and something unique to Norway. You can barely tell that we are all three in the picture, we are so small compared to the church.

It was so great to have Anita here. She felt like she had gone back to America being in Norway. There are a lot more conveniences and products here compared to Albania. It was a great encouragement to me to have her here. It was so refreshing to be with someone who knew me so well. I have really enjoyed all of my friends, but you can only go so deep in a few months. I sure miss having Anita around.

Sunday in Stockholm

We had another busy and fun day in Stockholm. It started by taking our luggage to the Central Station to store it in lockers for the day since we had to check out of our hotel. One negative to traveling with a toddler and therefore a stroller is that you have to use elevators a lot. For some reason people think that the elevators of the subways of Stockholm are public restrooms. They were horrible. Katherine and I actually got stuck in one when it kept stopping between two floors. I thought we were never going to get out.

We started our touring for the day at the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. The Vasa was built top-heavy with insufficient ballast and foundered as soon as she encountered a wind stronger than a breeze, just a few minutes after first setting sail on her maiden voyage. Despite clearly lacking stability even in port, she was allowed to set sail. When I saw this ship, it was obvious to me that it would sink. The ration of height to width was scary and very unstable. It was however a cool looking boat and I immediately thought of Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was really difficult to get any good photos because it was so huge and the lighting was poor.

The back of the ship - beautifully carved.

Our only family photo in Stockholm and you can't see the ship in the background.

Cool map of Scandinavia.

Stockholm was a pretty town so we enjoyed walking around a little. This is by the water. Actually, there is a lot of real estate by the water because Stockholm is 14 islands.
This is the Nordic Museum. We were going to go there about 30 minutes before it closed but our tourist card did not include this museum. Oh well.

After the Vasa, we went to Junibacken, the Pippi Longstocking museum. You remember Pippi, the cute girl with red braids that go out to the side. I actually dressed up as Pippi Longstocking once, I assume for Halloween. Well, the author, Astrid Lingren, is Swedish and the character is very popular throughout Scandinavia.



The museum was really more of a kids theme park or play area. It was very crowded. We did not even get to go on the story train because the line was so long and I bet that was the best part. There was a sing a long and you can see Katherine is quite involved in "head, shoulders, knees and toes" in Swedish of course.

There were houses from the movie and play areas that were a lot of fun for Katherine to run around and play in. It did a good job of wearing her out.



Our last stop in Stockholm was Skansen, the open air museum. It seems that these museums are quite popular all over Scandinavia. They are basically large parks with a bunch of old buildings from around the country so you can learn about life.

Stockholm was a great city. I wish we had more time there to see more. Maybe we will go back someday.

Saturday in Stockholm

Having only 2 days in Stockholm we wanted to pack it in and see it all. Well, it seems that there is a lot to do in Stockholm so that was not possible. Traveling with a toddler changes things. I think I need to write a whole post just on that topic.

We started off going to the Kulturehuset or Culture House. A friend said it was a hit with the kids. They have a great children's library with all kinds of fun things to do. It was good to let Katherine run around a little to burn off some energy. Her favorite was the swinging basket.
Next we walked to Gamla Stan or Old Town. This is the medieval area and also where the royal palace is located. There are 4 museums to see at the Royal Palace and we made two of them. We went into the Royal Apartments but we went in one at a time. Katherine decided to fall asleep for her nap right as we arrived so I stayed with her when Sam went in and then we switched. It was full of stairs and not stroller friendly.
We just so happened to be there for the changing of the guard. In the winter they have a full parade two days a week and we happened to see it. Pretty typical of a European royal changing of the guard.
We wandered around the Gamla Stan area and saw the smallest statue in Stockholm (of over 6000). I am not sure the attraction but it was mentioned in every guide book I looked at and there was a crowd of people looking at him (hence the feet). So, I took the photo.

You can see this area is quaint with narrow streets and cute buildings on the square.

The second museum we went to was the Royal Armory museum. It had some armory, clothes, carriages and all kinds of things related to the royal family. The best part was that there was a children's area. Katherine dressed up as a queen and sat on her throne.
Sam put on part of a suit of armor. He said it was quite heavy and could not imagine the entire suit or how you could fight while wearing it.
They had a play carriage and horses. The horses actually rocked which Katherine liked.

An last we colored a coat of arms. I did not know our family coat of arms was full of scribbles.

Weekly random post

This is my weekly post or random things. When you are out of town for three months, you eventually need a haircut if you have short hair. Sam has needed a haircut for a few weeks now and has not gotten around to it. Finally I made an appointment for him at a studio that was open late. He usually goes to a true barber shop so he was a little apprehensive about what kind of stylist and cut he would receive.

Sam's "before" hair - the swoop reminds me of his high school pictures.
Sam's "after" hair- much improved.

He came home very happy with the experience and even said he almost bought the "hair wax" that they used but it was so expensive with the exchange rate. It is by Redken so we are going to look for it back home.

A few weeks ago I found out that there is a Little Gym in a suburb about 30 minutes away by city bus. Since I am always looking for things to do with Katherine, I went to their free trial class. There is a Little Gym close to our home in the US but we have never gone. She LOVED it. We have signed up to go for the remaining time that we are here and may have to check into it when we get home.

Today we went to a 2nd Birthday party for Colin, one of Katherine's friends. Colin's dad works with Sam and his mom Karen and I really enjoy hanging out. Colin just had a baby sister 3 weeks ago too but I did not get any pictures of her.

For the party all the kid from his Barnehage (kindergarten) came to his house to play and eat lunch. It was chaotic, but fun and Katherine enjoyed playing with different toys.
Yesterday my friend Sarah (moved her from NY) and I took our kids to the International Children's Art Museum. It was a fun museum for the adults and not as much for the kids, despite the name. The building was full of artwork from children throughout the world. Some were really great. We would try to keep the kids interested by pointing out different pieces of art and asking them to describe them. There were a lot of things that were within reach that they could not touch so that made it frustrating.

They did have an art room with magnadoodles and Katherine and Aiden enjoyed that a lot.

Aiden and Sarah

In the garden outside the museum

4 weeks

In 4 weeks I will be home!

Four weeks from today we will just be waking up from our first night back at home. Well, with jet lag, we actually will probably have been up for quite some time, but we will be home regardless. Four weeks is a short time and a long time. I am excited about coming home and seeing my friends, family, dog and home, especially since we will be arriving just in time for the holidays. Four weeks though is not that long when I think of all of the things I still want to do. I realize how short of a time it is when I can list off what we are doing every weekend between now and when we leave (Helsinki, Halloween carnival, Stockholm, Anita here, packing and shipping stuff). I want to make the most of my time here and the most of the relationships that I have made.

Today in an effort to cross some things off the list, Katherine and I went to the Munch Museum. The Munch Museum is solely paintings by Edward Munch, most famous for "The Scream". He is the hometown hero as he is one of the only Norwegian artists of note. The museum was small and free for the winter which was good because Katherine lasted just long enough for me to run through and look at the paintings. He is not really my style but good to check off the list. Here are a few paintings that were my favorites. Sorry they are not that great, I could not use a flash and did not have a tripod.

The Scream!

Across the street from the museum was the Botanical Gardens so we went back there for a picnic. Katherine was not really in the mood so we did not stay long. I tried again to get some cute pictures in the leaves. I want her to play in the leaves. This first photo was using the timer so I could throw leaves.


Back to the idea of being back in our own bed in four weeks, I am excited as our bed here is not too great. Plus, we are actually in two beds that are pushed up beside one another so it is not too cozy. Speaking of beds, I told Sam that for our 5th anniversary in December I would like a new bed. He bought ours when he moved into his house before we got married and it is fine but the mattress is getting a little lumpy. So, to all my blogging friends out there I ask "what kind of bed do you have and what do you like about it?" It is quite overwhelming when you see all the pillowtop, memory foam, sleep number options. How do you choose a bed when you can't really try it out and take it back? Hmmm. Let me know.

Our lovely sleeping arangement in Oslo.