Norway June 2009

I think what the kids love most about Norway is the children's shopping carts at the grocery stores.



Some of the guests at the traditional pizza party.









Walking around Holmendammen.





Anna og anda.



At the playground at Holmendammen.





With cousins Eva and Anna at Ramme farm.



At Eva's place.







Anna + Anna




At Oddvar's tomb.



Pizza with Guri's family.



Watching Kung Fu Panda with Guri's family.



Jamming at Guri and Erik's place!









Playing with the cat.







Sankthans at Holmendammen.





Janette made some new friends



Guri and Erik off to sail the Færdern Regatta, the worlds largest overnight regatta.



Confessions of a shopaholic? Buying a Moomin house at "Riktige Leker".



Enjoying more Schleich animals.



Playing with the trampoline at Egil's place. We just found out that Egil's oldest son had voiced Thumper/Trampe in the Norwegian version of Bambi. Respect!!!



Playing with Aleksander at Lars's place.







Visiting Kirsten og Kjell.



Playing at the animal farm at Ekeberg.













Dinner with Beate's family.



Playing at the Fram Museum.



Enjoying the stave church at the Folk Museum.



Enjoying lefser at the Folk Museum.



Making lefser with Guri at home.



Visiting Lars's mother.



Sailing with Guri's family.







Dinner with Terese and the Smith family. Anna likes playing with the boys!



Anders and Oluf.



Merete and the kids.



Dinner with the Vogt family.



Tante Elle gave Edvard a fire engine that he loved playing with at the table.



Anna and Eva.



In Frogenrparken with tante Helen, Iulie and Tom.



Lunch with Per and Liv.







We got two upgrades to business class on the way home!



Anna at the playground.





At the pool.



Anna is already a master of social networking.

April-May 2009

Pappa's latest toy: a double hotplate for making pancakes at the table for Saturday dinner!



Mamma invited her class for a party, and I taught 25 primary school kids how to make pizza. Quite an educational challenge, given that almost all of them have maids at home and have no experience with housework. However, it went very well, and there was enough food for everybody. Maybe I should buy an additional pizza oven?



Inspecting our new house.



Playing together.



Playing at West Coast Park.





Anna swinging at the Norwegian Church.



Every Sunday we're either at the Zoo, Bird Park or Animal Resort. They love to feed the animals.









Anna even rode a pony. Next time she'll try without the pacifier!







Going for a swim.

Anna starts childcare

This month Anna started in childcare. She was crying a lot the first few days, but now she seems to be very happy. She also likes being in the same childcare as Edvard, but Edvard seems to feel that his little sister has invaded his domain a bit.



We've also celebrated Edvard's third birthday. We brought cupcakes to childcare. At first Edvard ran and hid in the corner, but eventually he came out and joined the rest.



We also had a party where I baked some cakes. I'm getting pretty good at Kong Oscar, but I still need to work on kranskake.



Edvard's favorite toy is a set of animal cards that Aunt Eva gave him for Christmas. He plays with them every night before going to bed.



He also likes helping Mamma with her makeup.



Anna is a happy girl!



Every Saturday they go to a gym play group.



Blowing bubbles with Grandma.



We go to the Zoo almost every Sunday.















Dinner with Roger Howe and Lynn.

Chinese New Year 2009

Anna is the hostess with the mostest on the first day of CNY. Edvard is VJing in the background. Given his Dragon Warrior outfit it had to be "Kung Fu Panda"!





The start of the solar eclipse.



Modeling the latest in geek accessories.



Visiting friends on the second day of CNY.



Anna with my old house cleaner, Ah Kuai.



Anna modeling for Pappa.







Watching Kung Fu Panda once more.



Edvard loves the Zoo, so we go there almost every Sunday. And when we're not there, we're at the Bird Park!









Staying cool at the Bird Park.



Dinner with Jukka's parents.

December 2008

Enjoying the Christmas calendar from aunt Eva.



Class picture from Edvard's child care.



At the Jurong Bird Park.



Edvard is a sweet big brother.



Having Gil Strang over for dinner.



Christmas Eve!



Christmas dinner at the Norwegian church.





Visiting Master Oogway at the Zoo.



New Year's Eve dinner with Jukka and friends.

November 2008

I have started the Christmas baking. I first made a batch of peppernøtter, using my mother's recipe. They are quite simple to make, but delicious, so go ahead and try the recipe on my baking page yourself.



Next came a batch of goro, using my grandmother's recipe. They are much harder, and I had never done it before. But I want to make sure that my kids get to experience the lovely cakes my grandmother made, and I hope they will eventually pass on the traditions, too. So with the help of my cousin Eva, I got a goro iron from Norway, found a recipe and went ahead. The hard part is to roll out the dough in a thin layer, which is not easy to do with a sticky dough in the tropics. I really wish I had baked it with my grandmother when she was still around, but I learned a lot, and hopefully it will be easier next year! The recipe is on my baking page.



We have also put up the Christmas tree.



Most weekends we go to the Zoo or the Bird Park. Here we are feeding the giraffes!



Watching the jaguars being fed.



Edvard and an emu.



Edvard doing his "happy dance" with a swan at the Bird Park.



Anna is a very clever and happy girl!

October 2008

They are both working on their modeling skills.







We are often stopped by strangers who want to take pictures with the kids!



Meeting the lions at the Zoo.



Edvard can eat noodles.



Anna eating waffles at the Norwegian church.



I take them to the playgroup at the Norwegian church every Monday. I'm the only pappa in the mamma-group.



At the pool.



We have a little playground at our condo.



We often go to a "playscape", where Edvard loves to crawl around, but Anna so far mostly sits in the ball pool.



Edvard likes Duplo!



At Underwater World.



Edvard is very happy in his childcare. However, they do not take kids older than three, so then we will move him to another kindergarten, and start sending Anna there, too.



There are six Singaporean students going to the University of Oslo this year. I had a dinner for them together with some of the students from Oslo who are at the NUS this year.

Olympic Games

The local cable provider has six Olympic Channels, so we have watched all the three Norwegian gold medals. Here Edvard is celebrating the women's handball gold with a piece of chocolate.



Anna's hero is Gro Hammerseng!



Edvard is a very nice big brother!



Edvard prefers basketball.



Celebrating Mamma's birthday!



Edvard on a filed trip with his child care. Can you spot him in the group picture? (Third from left.)

Anna's first birthday!

Anna turned 1 on July 3, and she celebrated by taking her first steps on that day!



Anna enjoying one of her presents.



They both love the kitchen set.



Visiting Pappa in the hospital when he had his appendix removed.



We had a big birthday party for Anna. I had planned to bake a lot of cakes, but ended up in the hospital. I got out just the day before, so I had to bake in a rush. Not everything worked out that well, but I learned a lot. Unfortunately the picture was taken with the flash off, but I hope you can see the kransekake, toscakake and kong Oscars kake (with an Elmo face!),







Opening Anna's presents the day after the party.



Enjoying the penguins at the Bird Park.



We bought a buggy board for Edvard, so now he can stand behind Anna on the stroller.





Anna is already very good with the ball. She trying to decide whether she wants to play football or handball. The Norwegian women's football team won the Olympics in 2000 and the World Cup in 1995 and the women's handball team won the World Cup in 1999 and lost the Olympic final to South Korea in both 1988 and 1992.

Norway June 2008

We had three wonderful weeks in Norway in June 2008.

Edvard and Mamma checking in.



Edvard likes to stay close to Mamma.



Anna is all over the place.



We were very fortunate in that Lars Kristiansen let us stay in his apartment at Torshov. We could go for lovely walks along Akerselven.



Visiting Iulie and Tom.



We had a great weekend with Guri, Erik and Ingunn at their cabin.



Enjoying a quiet moment in the the morning.



Watching the swans.



Edvard got his first boating lesson from Guri!



Visiting Helga and Svein.



Anna teaches Edvard how to turn off the TV.



At Holmenkollen.



Visiting Erling and Astri where we had stayed in 2006.



Edvard helps teaching Anna to walk.



Visiting Kristian and Inger.



Breakfast at Torshov.



Tante Eva had taken out lots of fun stuff to play with!



Tante Eva even had special plates and utensils for Anna and Edvard!



And she had a BIG ball!



After dinner we went to Ramme gård to look at cows.



We had lunch with Bobben and Reidar at Bygdøy.



Reidar has a big gong that Edvard loved!



Bergljot and Lasse joined us, too.



On June 7 we had a naming party for Anna at tante Ell's. Here Anna is playing in the garden of her great-grandmother Anna.



Edvard loved staying with tante Ell.



We had almost 30 guests.









Onkel Carsten giving a speech.



Playing with second-cousin Anders.



With Carsten and Terese outside great-grandma's old house.



Karen with Edvard, Ellen, Helmer and Anna.



Tante Ell with Anna.



Playing on the terrace on Sunday morning.



Visiting Beate and Per-Magnus.





Visiting Kirsten and Kjell.





Sindre and Bente who stayed in Singapore in 2007 let us have a baby party at their place.













Pappa and Edvard at the playground in Sofienbergparken.



This is where Pappa was born, the former "Kvinneklinkikken i Josefines gate", which is now an apartment hotel.



Staying on the third floor was great practice for Edvard!



We went to the Høyer family party in Horten. It was the same weekend as the Færderseilasen regatta. Guri and her brother Hans Petter invited us on board the boat they were on.







Dinner at the Høyer party.



With tante Lucy.



Visiting Merete.



Anna is a happy girl!



We all had a great time in Lars's apartment.





Edvard visited his first stave church at the Folk Museum. He loved running around the external gallery.

April 2008

Nothing exciting happened this month, but lots of cute pictures of the kids.

At the child care, there are now 9 girls and Edvard. The girls are fighting over who gets to put his shoes on, carry his bag, put away his mattress and so on. No wonder he is having trouble learning basic skills! :-(



He is getting good at pushing Anna's pram! He is very sweet to his little sister.



Anna on her rocking reindeer.



Future TV addicts.



Grandfather's grave.





More elephant rides.



Feeding the goats at the Animal Resort.



Feeding the swan with Pappa.



Here we are with Lars just before he left.

Visit from Lars

My friend Lars from the Bay Area visited us for a month.







Lars at the bird park.







Edvard likes the birds.



On Sundays we go to the Bird Park, the Zoo or Go-Go Bambini, which is a huge playscape. Afterwards we go for Chinese lunch. The kids look very cute!





Anna can almost walk!



At the Norwegian church.



Pappa is trying to learn cake decoration!





Pappa teaches in the evening this semester, and Edvard comes to pick up Pappa.



Everybody loves pepper crabs!



Eddvard loves lotus paste buns.



Surfing girl!



Edvard can feed himself!

Edvard's Birthday, Part 2

We have been celebrating Edvard's birthday for almost two weeks! We had a big party for him on Saturday. However, first we took him to the hairdresser. He hates having his hair cut, and screams the whole time, but he looks great afterwards!



I baked two Kong Oscars kake, and one kransekake (wreath cake). I had baked the kransekake in December and kept it in the freezer until now. I had a bit of problem putting it together, and the icing was a bit too thin, so it looked a bit funny, but the taste was wonderful and I learned a lot! I have also finally figured out how to get the yellow cream for Kong Oscars kake stiff.



Blowing the candles!



The next morning, Edvard surveyed his mountain of presents!



He got a nice book in the mail from tante Ell!



On Sunday we went to the Zoo with some Norwegian friends. Edvard got to ride on an elephant!



Edvard is very kind to his little sister! He has learned how to put the pacifier back in her mouth when she loses it.



Edvard has improved a lot at climbing!



We gave him a slide for our balcony on his birthday!



He loves the slide in the playground downstairs, too!

Edvard's Birthday!

Edvard turned two years old on 13 February. I bought cupcakes and took them to childcare. I actually think my own taste better, but these looked nicer.



I brought Anna and Janette along, too.



Just hand over the cupcake and no one will get hurt!



All the kids had a great time, but Edvard was crying most of the time. :-(



I made balloon animals for all the kids, too!



We've also done other stuff. Last weekend we took Anna swimming for the first time. She liked it.

Chinese New Year

We had a nice visit from Bernt Øksendal and Giulia Di Nunno just before Chinese New Year.



There was a big CNY party at Edvard's childcare.



Anna is growing up and can sit with us at dinner now.



Grandma, the two cousins and Jukka came for reunion dinner on the eve of CNY.



The kids are great friends!



After dinner, Jukka and I baked almond and walnut CNY cookies.



The almond cookies came out great!



Anna is very cute!



Anna and grandma!



Karen's uncles and aunts came over on CNY.



Full house!



Edvard and Mamma are very close!



The whole family!



Multitasking!



Edvard loves Mamma!



On the second day of CNY we went visiting. First to Sun Laoshi, Edvard's favorite childcare teacher.



Don't you think I look cute?



Then we went to visit Ah Kuai, who used to clean for us before Janette started working for us.



Anna and Ah Kuai's 93-year old mother-in-law.



Edvard has gotten very good at sliding. Even in his CNY best!

New Year's Eve

Anna is six months now, so I've started taking her along when I go running with Edvard and she loves it! Edvard is maybe not so happy about his little sister intruding into this Pappa-Edvard activity, but I think he's getting used to having her next to him.



I have a single baby jogger that I have used with Edvard for over a year, but as soon as we were expecting Anna, I started looking around for double baby jobbers. I got a cheap one through E-Bay. It's not a very good model, but it works, and because of my hip injury I can't run as much as I would have liked to anyway. The baby jogger is a fabulous invention!

We had Eng Chye and his whole family over for dinner. The kids said that my pizza was better than Pizza Hut's, and they loved Grandma's almond cake (kong Oscars kake).



I have finally figured out how to make the cream stiff.



Edvard is a bit jealous, and very possessive over toys, but most of the time they are very good friends!



Edvard is now very good at jumping down from the bed, and loves to show off his skills!



On New Year's Eve we went for buffet dinner with Jukka. Janet likes buffet dinners, but she also complains about gaining 5kg after she started working for us. But I don't think feeding your maid too much cake is considered maid abuse.



The proud mother!



Fireworks!



Edvard is getting much braver these days!



He dares to do more fun stuff!



Now he has learned to kick a ball!

Christmas

We opened presents on Christmas Eve.



Anna practicing opening presents.



Edvard got a little train set from Mamma and Pappa.



In the evening we went for a fabulous dinner at the Norwegian church. Janette was the only maid there. The other maids were waiting outside or sitting alone at home.



The kids threw Santa Claus into the swimming pool! But Edvard was scared of him, and had to be carried by Pappa.



On Christmas Day, Jukka came for rice porridge lunch. He gave the kids a set of Moomin soft toys!



They can't talk, but they seem to communicate somehow.



We hope they will always be friends!



Bedtime mayhem.



More bedtime mayhem!

Beautiful Babies

Here are some pictures of the kids taken with Mamma's phone.

Mummi Pepperkakehus

Today Jukka came over and we made the Mummi Pepperkakehus. I had bought the forms from Hikmet. I had made the dough yesterday, and it was very good. However, it is very hot here, even if we worked out in the living room with the aircon on. Not very good for baking.



This is the tricky part! We both got burned on our hands. :-(



Under construction.



Mission accomplished. The proud architects!



Lille My likes the house. Snusmumriken is visible on the right, too.



I took it to a Christmas party with Mamma's family. They all loved it! Edvard ate a lot, too!



Two days ago I also baked kransekake. It is now in the freezer, and I will assemble it on Christmas Day. Stay tuned!

Edvard and Anna out and about

On Sundays we usually go to the Zoo, the bird park or the Science Centre.



One day Jukka came along. Edvard likes Jukka, because he is used to his voice from all the hours we have run together with Edvard in the baby jogger.



Every Monday morning I take Edvard to the playgroup at the Norwegian church. This is from the Christmas party.



That was the first day we brought Anna along, too. I also decided to bring Janette along to help me handle two kids.



We live right next to West Coast Park, which is very nice!



Edvard is a sweet boy!



He is quite good at walking in stairs now. Notice the extra railing at the childcare!



Here we are out celebrating Mamma's birthday together with Grandma!



He is still very scared of slides, but once I get him going, he loves it.



It may take a couple of minutes to get him to go down, but it is worth it!