tunnel, rock, steps

just a few shots of owen's favorite things around aalesund--

look! it's a people tunnel:


this rock is big. no mommy, it's huge:

look daddy, steps! owen can go up them.

i am two

and i wake up reciting edward lear poetry mousy bousy sousy.

and i walk over the bridge and past the blue bus and across the street on my own two feet.

and when i get tired, i stop and sit in the window ledge.

and get up. and giggle.


and stop and sit again.

and again. and smile at my mommy.









legevakt

in norwegian, it means: "casualty clinic." which isn't a great place to spend a second birthday.

owen didn't think so either, so after spending less than fifty bucks and getting a free arm bandage we went to peppe's pizza. i think this is the saddest picture of owen, but it captures the injured kitten "mommy, arm hurt" cry we heard all morning. once we got home and after taking off the arm bandage he went right on playing with orange barrel train and hippo train and green train and yellow truck and people bus . which he is now driving over the laptop.

happy birthday sweet boy, we can't wait to see what else two brings. . .

northwest ties

since this area reminds us so much of the northwest, I thought I should share some pictures of ties to the nw. This first one was take up at the Geiranger fjord center -- it's a label from a trunk made in Portland, Oregon. The second one is from the park here in Alesund -- given from the people of Tacoma, WA. Tacoma and Alesund are sister cities.


more owen's world

it's time, i think, for some owen phrases. from today, here are a few of my favorites.

"goose. caboose. it rhymes!" actually this is the phrase of the week. and yes, he discovered this on his own--daddy pointed out that the words he was singing rhymed and it delighted him so much it's now his catch phrase. he's also discovered toes and nose and squirmy worm. but goose caboose is his favorite.

"legos? legoooos!" first words spoken after a very long nap. said with tears.

"it's raining." observation looking out of the open window. "no raining!" more tears.

"owen walking people car." said with smile pulling his norwegian wooden car that has for 'seats' for 'people'--little wooden pegs. actually, the "bus people" (his dutch schoolbus that has similar "people") were taking a ride in the car. bus people are red, blue, yellow and green. car people are slightly larger with no colors. very important to know these things. he keeps track of all people at all times. "mommy, where green people?" is a refrain. followed shortly after by a mumbling: "keep looking. . ." and then a shriek: "owen find it!"

"mommy, owen love dump truck." yes, enough said.

"mommy help you simmer down." i'll just leave that one without context.

"owen needs pajamaaaaas!" said while streaking out of the bathroom and then diving onto the bed with shrieks and giggles. word "pajamaaas" repeated with increasing cookie-monster like intensity.

cake is good

here is owen's norwegian birthday cake--made especially for owen by rosemary of the nomaden cafe around the corner who i'm pretty sure makes the best chocolate cake in scandanavia. it was specially decorated for owen with little gummy people and a green teddy bear and you can see where he dipped into the frosting early. he seemed to like the gummies and exlaimed: "owen's eating green people" while he tried out the sugary goodness. here are a few of my favorite cake shots--ah, the joy of chocolate cake!

happy birfday chocolate cake

adventurecardinale

It is our last night here in Norway with the fidfam and Cara had asked me to reflect on our time here by doing a "guest" post on the adventure blog.

We spent our first week at the Scandic Hotel. The view was so wonderful during breakfast right in front of the lighthouse. We watched many boats and ferries as well as a variety of weather: fresh white snow, white flurries, small hail, cloudy overcast, clear and raining.

And can you believe it? Papa and I climbed 418 uneven steps up to Mount Aksia; F
jellstova to see a birds-eye view of Alesund: the fjords, mountains, villages, fishing boats, and even the Fidler’s second home at the Clarion. Later I learned that Fjell in Norway means Mountain.
Then we had our own adventure with Owen at the Atlanterhavsparken: the Alesund Aquarium. Owen tried to help his "Nemofish" the stuffed tiny orange and white fish to swim along with the other fish in the Atlantic. And most exciting was feeding time when a scuba diver dove into the tank to give squid to the sting ray and codfish.

I think Owen's favorite adventure was when we all took the bus on our way to the Sunmore museums. He was so excited and kept signing "more! more!" as we rode through the scenic village coastline.

At the Museum Papa was reminded of his grandpa who had sailed from Italy to America as we explored the old fishing boats. Outside we peeked at the old Viking ships under tarps--waiting until summer to be put in the water for the tourists.


On our last day we enjoyed time with the beautiful family. We are proud to see our daughter make a home for her family in a small hotel room in another country while our son in law always keeps his family in focus. They are growing so much as a family and we feel special to be here. Today I realized how much our grandson Owen has grown as he made his way through the rocks and up the hill to the lighthouse. What a world traveller full of rich experiences! It seemed right to end
our day going through four tunnels and Owen showed his excitement by yelling "blastoff!" and putting his arms up with joy.


Now we are getting ready for our long, long, long and long journey home but we were so thrilled to celebrate Owen's 2nd birthday tonight (just one week early!). He was train crazy and ate his chocolate cake like such a big boy. Cara will put pictures up soon of the birthday. Farewell to Norway!

to the alnes lighthouse

They had tacked, and they were sailing swiftly, buoyantly on long rocking waves which handed them on from one to another with an extraordinary lilt and exhilaration beside the reef. On the left a row of rocks showed brown through the water which thinned and became greener and on one, a higher rock, a wave incessantly broke and spurted a little column of drops which fell down in a shower. One could hear the slap of the water and the patter of falling drops and a kind of hushing and hissing sound from the waves rolling and gambolling and slapping the rocks as if they were wild creatures who were perfectly free and tossed and tumbled and sported like this for ever.

Now they could see two men on the Lighthouse, watching them and making ready to meet them.

Mr Ramsay buttoned his coat, and turned up his trousers. He took the large, badly packed, brown paper parcel which Nancy had got ready and sat with it on his knee. Thus in complete readiness to land he sat looking back at the island. With his long-sighted eyes perhaps he could see the dwindled leaf-like shape standing on end on a plate of gold quite clearly. What could he see? Cam wondered. It was all a blur to her. What was he thinking now? she wondered. What was it he sought, so fixedly, so intently, so silently? They watched him, both of them, sitting bareheaded with his parcel on his knee staring and staring at the frail blue shape which seemed like the vapour of something that had burnt itself away. What do you want? they both wanted to ask. They both wanted to say, Ask us anything and we will give it you. But he did not ask them anything. He sat and looked at the island and he might be thinking, We perished, each alone, or he might be thinking, I have reached it. I have found it; but he said nothing.

Then he put on his hat.

[. . .]

“He must have reached it,” said Lily Briscoe aloud, feeling suddenly completely tired out. For the Lighthouse had become almost invisible, had melted away into a blue haze, and the effort of looking at it and the effort of thinking of him landing there, which both seemed to be one and the same effort, had stretched her body and mind to the utmost. Ah, but she was relieved. Whatever she had wanted to give him, when he left her that morning, she had given him at last.

“He has landed,” she said aloud. “It is finished.” Then, surging up, puffing slightly, old Mr Carmichael stood beside her, looking like an old pagan god, shaggy, with weeds in his hair and the trident (it was only a French novel) in his hand. He stood by her on the edge of the lawn, swaying a little in his bulk and said, shading his eyes with his hand: “They will have landed,” and she felt that she had been right. They had not needed to speak. They had been thinking the same things and he had answered her without her asking him anything. He stood there as if he were spreading his hands over all the weakness and suffering of mankind; she thought he was surveying, tolerantly and compassionately, their final destiny. Now he has crowned the occasion, she thought, when his hand slowly fell, as if she had seen him let fall from his great height a wreath of violets and asphodels which, fluttering slowly, lay at length upon the earth.

Quickly, as if she were recalled by something over there, she turned to her canvas. There it was—her picture. Yes, with all its greens and blues, its lines running up and across, its attempt at something. It would be hung in the attics, she thought; it would be destroyed. But what did that matter? she asked herself, taking up her brush again. She looked at the steps; they were empty; she looked at her canvas; it was blurred. With a sudden intensity, as if she saw it clear for a second, she drew a line there, in the centre. It was done; it was finished. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.

--from Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

driving the choochoo west



owen got a birthday package from his best friend west--but the gift he loved best? the handmade choochoo train card and his matching conductor hat!

göd paske

so all week we've been stashing hard boiled eggs from the scandic breakfast buffet and last night owen did his first easter egg coloring. he's quite the glitter and sticker master. i've figured out that the trick to making a hotel room home is lots of arts and crafts. or just having plenty of scotch tape on hand.

then this morning while everyone was at breakfast the easter bunny came to room 108 and left owen a yellow chick, a purple goose, and lots and lots of marzipan chocolates. he also left a dozen polka dotted eggs with sparkly bunny stickers which owen wanted to spend all day searching for. we've been reading "i spy" board books and suddenly all books are i spy books and all activities end with: "owen find it!" or "mommy, keep looking" (while he twirls his finger in a circle mapping out the perimeter). which makes those "trying" (as my pediatrician likes to call them) "twos" also pretty "terrific"--all at the same time.

after we had hidden the same egg six time under daddy's feet and behind papa's chair we decided to join the rest of the norwegians and get out in the snow. we drove about 30 kilometers out of the city to fjellstova and it clicked--ohhh, that's why they call it a "nordic track." because those norwegians get on those cross country skiis before they can walk. and if they're not swooshing along they're geared up in their baby buggies acclamating to the norwegain season -- which michael pointed out today was just one season with two months of bad ski weather.

here are us clearly non-norwegians playing in the snow. michael stomped out a trail for the antique wooden sleigh (with the "orange car" parked on top). nana went old school south dakota style and found some cardboard from the cafe kitchen to smooth out the sleigh trail. papa kept everyone in line and mommy--well, mommy had the most important job of all: she kept owen from having a southern california cold meltdown by making snowman faces complete with pinecone hair and little ears.



cruisin'

today we took a cruise to Geiranger fjord. There's been advertising at the two hotels open in town right now about this cruise, but it ended up only being us 5, and a guy from work (w/ his wife) as paying cutomers... there were a couple of the captain's family members who tagged along... so we probably only covered the cost of gas to get us there. The boat holds 35, so we had plenty of room. enjoy the pics, and happy Easter tomorrow! special birthday wish goes out to Melanie!!

Owen at the Geiranger Fjord center:


family up at Geiranger:


cara's parents sunbathing in the back:


shots along the way:






captain was too drunk, so Michael took over the wheel:


asleep for the journey home:

more snowballs!

although owen strongly objects to wind and cold he found snow and snowballs quite acceptable. even fun!

snow brings new visitors

guess who came to visit us in alesund?

after 27 hours of travel nana and papa joined the norwegian adventure. since it was 2 am back in california it seemed like a perfect time to get bundled up for a quiet walk around the city--and by quiet i mean absolutely still. everything shuts down for the holiday and it seemed as if we were walking through a painting of a quiet seaside village. a few boats made their way through the water and, of course the fish and chips stand was open. which was a good thing because shortly after we unbundled the wind gave way to hail which gave way to gorgeous snow flurries which made us all very hungry.

a few orders of jaf's fish and chips later we're back at the hotel, nana and papa napping, owen still running in circles giddy with excitement that we're all here--mommy, daddy, nana and papa. that, and waffles are on in an hour and a half.

trondheim

Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim:



it's about 4 hours drive from Molde to Trondheim -- more tolls, more ferrys, and more tunnels. We had to see all the sights really quickly because there was a storm coming through... Here are some more pics:

The Wharves:


The old town bridge:




On the drive back to Molde, there were several periods of snow... very exciting for mom and dad, but Owen was more interested in seeing more tunnels... There's about 15 kilometers of tunnels just outside of Trodheim.