Mom comes to visit Part 1: Bergen

Our first and only visitor! We were so excited to have my mom come to visit! It had been 9 months since we had seen any family in person and no one had met Oliver yet. Time goes by fast, but when you think back to the fact that Lily was hardly saying words when we left and now she has complete conversations, you realize how much time has actually passed. A lady in our ward was kind enough to drive Lily and I to pick her up so we didn't have to make the long bus trip.

Unfortunately, my mom's big suitcase got lost en route. (Her carry-on had all our clothes and food we requested, ha ha) We were leaving for Bergen early the next morning so we were nervous she might be without it for the weekend, but luckily they flew her stuff to Bergen and she got it the following night after she arrived.

Playing at one of Lily's favorite parks the night she arrived.

We had wanted to visit Bergen while living here and thought that when my mom was here would be the perfect time to go. We decided to go the weekend of May 17th which is their Constitution Day, or the day they signed their constitution as an independent kingdom.

On the bus headed to Bergen. It took about 6 hours to get there, but it seemed shorter because there are 2 ferry rides on the way so it gives you a chance to get out and walk around which breaks up the ride. It's been nice traveling around in Norway because everything seems familiar now. In Amsterdam we had to get used to a new language and systems, but now that we know Norway, we understand the language (mostly), know the stores, understand the bus system, etc. So transportation around the city was pretty simple once we got there.

One of Barrett's coworkers offered to let us stay in her dad's apartment while we were there. Norwegians are so nice that way! Hotels are expensive here so they are very willing to offer accommodations if they have a place. It's always nice to have a kitchen and separate rooms when traveling with kids.

This was the great view from the apartment down to the water.

The first night we were there we went up Fløyen, the mountain that overlooks the city. This is the tram up...it's so steep!

They have a  big park up top (also very Norwegian to have great family places everywhere you sightsee) with some really cool trolls. 

Lily was skeptical, ha ha.

The next day we had a full itinerary. We started out at the aquarium. 

We saw a penguin show and a sea lion show outside.

Then we walked around an oceanside park that was right by the aquarium. We saw a pool there that had a diving board into the ocean! We were so disappointed it was cold and the pool wasn't open. That would have been so cool! Someday...

And then we saw the famous Bryggen. A town of wooden buildings along the harbor, that was built as a hub for trading. It was built around 1070! There have been many fires and rebuilds in this area. 

The architecture inside reminded me of a Dr. Suess book.

I don't get enough pictures of Barrett alone. Love him!

We walked around the fun shops in the area.

We went back to the apartment and made dinner and had a nice evening in.

The next day was 17.Mai! And it rained and rained. Probably the worst day of rain while my mom was here and the one day everything is closed because it's a holiday. We were prepared and still got really wet, ha ha. 

Drinking hot chocolate because that's what you do when you're cold and wet :)

There are always parades on the 17th of May. They're very different from the parades in America. 90% of the parade is people walking with drums and there's no floats or big balloons or animals. They have a parade for all younger children enrolled in school and then a parade for anyone who has a group or a cause to support. Then they usually spend the rest of the day with family.

Most people wave Norwegian flags, wear red, white, and blue ribbons, and have whistles. They also sell big balloons for the children.

One of the neatest parts of Constitution Day is seeing everyone dressed in their "bunad", or national costumes. The bunads are region specific so everyone looks a little bit different. And if they're not in a bunad then they are dressed up in formal attire. We loved being a part of the celebration and seeing more of Norwegian culture come out! 

(Small side note: Barrett and I loved the idea of a national costume and found that most countries have them. So we decided to look up America's national costume. We figured there probably wasn't one or we would have heard about it, but we were laughing so hard with the search results. If you ever need a good laugh see what "American" national costumes you can find.)

A hotel was the one place we could find open to get out of the rain for a little bit.

After the parade the weather cleared up just in time for us to walk around their lake and take some pictures. It was perfect timing before we had to leave to go home!

Look at cute Black Bear Oliver! 

Ha det Bergen!

Cabin in Randøy

Beautiful, beautiful Norway! I feel so blessed to have lived in such a gorgeous country. I pestered Barrett the whole year to request time with his work cabin and we were finally able to get there on Mother's Day weekend. 

To really get a sense of our adventures in Norway I always have to tell the funny stories of living/traveling without a car + 2 children. So there were two routes to get to the cabin, both of which involved considerable walking for carrying luggage. We could take our normal 20 minutes bus ride down to the pier and then either take a couple ferries and get off with a 10 minute walk to the cabin, or take a ferry then a bus and have a 20 minute walk to the cabin. Due to the timing of when we wanted to leave/feeding times/nap times we decided to take the bus option on the way there. The drive was amazing! You just drive on everyday roads in Norway and it's breathtaking. There is water everywhere and greenery and mountains and valleys, plus all the tunnels you drive through (which sounds boring but they have some pretty sweet tunnels here through mountains and under fjords). Anyway, after a couple hours of travel we pushed the button when we saw the name of our stop on the screen and the bus dropped us off. Here. In the middle of nowhere. The bus drove away and complete silence. We started laughing so hard. I mean you look at the map of where the stop is and where the cabin is in advance, but you have no idea what it will be like to actually push a stroller full of our luggage and two children while the other person drags a roller suitcase. We had to take a picture. Behind where this picture was taken is just forest.

A not-so-great backend view of me pushing through the canyon road. Notice the lack of sidewalks on this narrow, mountainous road:)

A huge bridge we crossed.

And the spectacular view of the fjord while on the bridge.

I love grass-covered roofs.

At our turn-off to the cabin there was a field of sheep.

It felt like we were in a movie. I had to post this video of the jingling bells to give the full effect.

2 busses, 1 ferry, another bus and a trek through the mountains and we made it to our cabin.

The view from the back deck of the cabin. We found out that they were just finishing a major remodel of the cabin, where they added this open deck with a glass railing. There was also a huge window in the living room so you could just sit on the couch and look out to this all the time. Amazing.

We invited some friends, but sadly no one could join us. So we enjoyed our usual weekend movie night. But first the DVD player was broken (because who watches movies at a getaway cabin, ha ha) and Barrett was determined to fix it. Which he did. I love my engineer husband!

The next morning Oliver woke me up really early to eat and let's be honest, I was pretty annoyed. But I came out to this amazing sunset (picture taken through that big window I mentioned) and my frustration and sleepiness diminished (a little anyway:) ).

The wind picked up that morning and it rained and rained and rained that Saturday. Oliver and I didn't even step outside. But it was still a very relaxing day with games, naps, Doc McStuffins, etc. etc.

Luckily, Sunday made up for the rainy Saturday. Barrett's company also owns a boat that you have access to while staying in the cabin.

Getting ready for the boat ride. Doesn't this picture make her look so old?

From the dock looking up to the back of our cabin.

View of the dock.

Seven-week-old Oliver in his infant life vest, ha ha!

I took a ton of pictures from the boat ride because of the beautiful scenery.

Can you spot the little white sheep on the hill?

We rode until we were too cold to ride anymore.

And too fast our weekend at the cabin came to a close. On our way home I told Barrett that if we had gone to the cabin sooner maybe it would have changed our minds about staying in Norway ;).

And as is Barrett's way, writing in the guest book became a creativity project. So if you'd like a recap of what we did you can just look at this picture. I didn't even need to blog, I should have just posted this.

Walking with our bags-only 10 minutes to the dock this time :)

Waiting for the ferry.

And our sleeping children on the ride home.

We had an amazing time! And did I mention it was beautiful? ;) I need to find some new description words. Thank you Laerdal for the amazing time!