Knitting to my nephew

I've been knitting the last week.
I still have half the hat to go, and my mom is making the pants - I don't like knitting pants, but here is what I've done the last few days.

And here is a closer look at the pattern:

It's raining

Raindrops are such funny things.
They haven't feet or haven't wings.
Yet they sail through the air,
With the greatest of ease,
And dance on the street,
Wherever they please.

---------

"Splash," said a raindrop
As it fell upon my hat;
"Splash said another
As it trickled down my back.
"You are very rude," I said
As I looked up to the sky;
Then another raindrop splashed
Right into my eye!



We've been out walking and playing in the rain. It was great! Not too cold and not to warm to wear our rain suits. We had to pick some of the tempting raspberries and blueberries. They were so tasty and very fresh, covered in raindrops.

Pictures from our hike

Mostly these pictures are shots the kids did with our kid friendly not so good, but very funny little camera.
Here we go.
Checking out the view.



Stacked stone cairns are everywhere. They are used to mark the hiking trails. On one of the mountain peaks we found this one.
Passing rivers and creeks is more the rule than the exception.

A little hero on her way uphills.

Before we entered the (Dørålsglupen) rough rocky passage.

Mom is having a rest

Another viewpoint.

A last glance at the beautiful landscape for this time:

48 km or 30 miles in Rondane Mountains

On the map you can find all the cabins we visited.

That is what we have been doing the last days.
First we drove to Grimsdalshytta, parked the car and pitched our tent on Monday.

The kids threw rocks in the water and A fell in and got all wet - a good start.

But luckily there was this hatch outside the diesel generator house and his shoes, socks and pants were all dry within a couple of hours.


The next morning we cooked our oat porridge and loaded our backpacks for a three days hiking trip.

The first goal we set to Dørålseter 22 km (13,5 miles) uphills, downhills, uphills again and downhills again. We went through a rough passage called Dørålsglupen.

The maps from the Norwegian Trekking Association says it is a 6 hours effective walk for adults. We used 9 hours including cooking and pauses. The kids were only complaining every time we asked for a rest ;-)

We came to the cabin and had a great dinner there before we jumped in bed, tired but happy.
Next morning we planned to go to Haverdalsæter. The hike is estimated to approximately 5 hours, and we have to walk back trough Dørålsglupen again before we walk along the river the last part of the trail.
Yet again we started the ascent and then the jumping from rock to rock, passing the snow and descending on slippery ground to the Haver valley. We got our shoes soaked several times on this trip and we saw lots of living and lots of dead lemmings, some of them very angry :) We used 7 hours for this trip and from we cooked and the rest of the hike, we had some showers of rain.
At Haverdalsæter we also came for dinner. Very tasty and delicious!
We met another family with kids the same age as ours, and they played together a while before bedtime.
The very last morning we headed back to Grimsdalshytta (where we parked). A very nice, and quite short hike. Not too challenging. The kids even had to run an extra peak to make it a bit more of a real hike :)

3 hours it says on the map. We stopped for a swim (kids swim) in a cold mountain lake and for a lunch, but we did not cook. 5 hours in total.

At the very end of the trail the rain surprised us, and we all got soaked within a couple of minutes.

48 kilometers (30 miles) in three days for a 6 year old, two nine year olds and two grown ups isn't too bad :)

The 6 year old said this before the rain started today: "The mountains are beautiful, and hiking is much more fun than I thought."


There will probably be some more pics - we have another camera (still in the car) with pics the kids have taken.

Wildlife and not so wild life

I have to tell you a secret: Work isn't half as addictive as vacation! I love sunny days, beach life, pool life, flip flops, sleeveless, shorts and so forth. The only thing I can think of that I don't like that much about all this, is the sunscreen. Having all the kids and myself sunscreened every day that's a hassle.
But don't get me wrong: I still love sunny days!

About a week ago we were on the beach. To be exact we were at the state park part of Huntington beach. Hubby was out walking with the camera on his way to find some surfers. The kids were digging in the sand. Suddenly I spot a few dolphins not very far from shore. I love dolphins almost as much as I love sunny days, and every time I see them it just makes my day :)

Wasn't expecting to spot any dolphins (except my three human dolphins aged 6, 9 and 9) off shore here in Norway.
Here are my dolphins, by the way:

After watching the kids play around in and out of the water for a while, we went over to the pier, and they had fun pencil diving, doing cannon balls , belly flops (ouch!) and other creative jumps and dives.

Boogie boarding is also a great activity even there are no incoming waves ;-)
You can lay on them paddling or sitting is fun as well.
I have to be honest. The kids have fun much longer than the adults. We sort of get tired of sitting there - did I mention the water was freezing cold? I put my toe in and that was all.

We are ready to grab all our stuff and head home when there is a bunch of birds over our heads. I think there were three seagulls chasing something bigger. For some reason I thought it was a hawk. But no. When I came home I had to look for pictures of different birds, and it certainly is a white-tailed eagle! Wow! Just the same feeling as spotting the dolphins!

On duty

Three lifeguards on duty :)

Beaches are fun :)

Picture post.
Buried in the sand. First we buried one of the boys and covered his head with a towel. We tricked the other two, and told them we couldn't find him. They didn't see him even he was inches away.
And of course all of them wanted to be buried after that.