Norway and Sweden 2008

Friends

We've been away on vacation, and recognize that we sort of left on a sad note, so first things first - Daniel is doing fine and has fully recovered from that seizure. Anyhoo - we went to Norway and Sweden for 2 weeks in a slightly scaled-back trip from last year, when Iceland was on the agenda too.

The travel parts mostly went incredibly well. By the time we took off from Newark to Oslo, both kids were sleeping and stayed that way through most of the long leg. On the way home, Rachel found something to upset her and so she became "the screaming kid that gets glared at"for an hour or so, but overall the kids are seasoned travelers and did great.

The agenda was mellow, with several days down at Stugan with great weather and good times with the cousins, aunt Sara and Uncle Michael and of course Farmor and Grandpa. The boys had a good time playing together and Jacob was a good sport with the younger ones.

Back again in Oslo we got to see Jacob play soccer, and spent several afternoons at Sara and Michael's place. Great aunt Marjan (oh, she'll love knowing she's a "great aunt") was in town by chance and finally got a chance to meet the kids. All in all a "slow" but very rewarding vacation.



Rachel has gained a lot of skills and confidence in the last couple of weeks. She started singing/humming and has 2 distinct songs -> "Twinkle, Twinkle little star (trad.) and "We Will Rock You" (Queen) - it's hilarious to hear a 16-month old rock out.

Rachel really warmed up to everyone after a couple of days of being mama-centric, and had a great time playing on the beach and eating new foods. Her favorite activity is eating and she's good at it. Farmor cut her off after she ate 8 waffle-squares which didn't seem fair at all.

Other than that, her hair is getting thicker, and she has this massively scandinavian look going on with piercing blue eyes and a beautiful smile that get compliments wherever we go. She's very much into books these days, and will demand to be read to by making the book sign or bringing over her favorite picture book. She's also started to feed her stuffed animals which is a milestone of sorts.



Daniel got to ride on Leo's bicycle and thought that was fun, and by jumping on the trampoline with the other boys he learned how to jump with both feet at the same time (previously it sort of looked like he was jumping hurdles).

Daniel now understands the concept of a joke and has started telling his own. He tries them out carefully "How about.... SOGGY?" and giggles a little, but if he gets laughs in return, he escalates both the joke and the laughter. He thinks jokes are the best fun. He also makes up songs by substituting in his own words to known melodies. Some of these are better than others...

And of course, he also picked up some Norwegian phrases: "Hva heter du?" (what's your name?) was a popular one.

So that's what we've been up to lately. The touring schedule for 2008 is our lightest yet - we were originally going to take a trip somewhere in the USA in August, but that's off. We did, however, get a family tent and some other camping equipment, so we might do some camping.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Love, A.D.R.E.