Birds, The Scream, and Dragonflies

August 9
Today I went to downtown Oslo with Mom and got a Norway T-shirt with a little bit of trouble finding it.Then we went to city hall. At City Hall there where big murals and tapestries. Then we went to the National Art Gallery where we saw a few famous paintings like self portrait of Van Gogh which still had his ear and the first version of ''The scream''. I learned that Munch painted two copies of ''The scream'' and Madonna.

More pictures from Norway

We walked the 6.4 km around a bird sanctuary near Olaf's apartment on Monday.

Here I am in my new Norway t-shirt in front of the Nobel Peace Centre.

The picture on the left is taken outside Oslo's city hall. Inside there were lots of murals depicting Norwegian history.

On the left is a picture of me in front of a self-portrait of Van Gogh, each of us with all of our ears still. On the right is a picture of the first Munch's painting of "The Scream."

This is what our fishing trip at the cabin felt like!

August 10 (by Zachary)

Today we visited Olaf's lab which has the only 2 nuclear reactors in all off Norway. we had to wait for him to finish a meeting before he could show us around. Olaf had a desk that can go up and a down (he said it is so he can get his exercise by standing up and down).he showed us around and we got a oil lesson by one of Olaf's friends. then we went to Toys R Us and looked around and then came home and watched Toy Story 2 with the takeoff from star wars (with Buzz saying Zurg you killed my father and Zurg says Buzz I am your father).

Daddy and Olaf, the two great dragonfly hunters, had been planning all week to wake up early, build Olaf's canoe, and go onto Noklevann well before dawn to photograph dragonflies before they warm up enough to fly. Well, after 4 days of excuses, they finally woke up at 3:30am to get onto the lake before sunrise at 5:26am. However, the dragonflies were all sound asleep deep in the meadows, leaving the two famous hunters to perform one of Daddy's hypothermia experiments instead. Olaf looked thrilled in the kitchen prior to departure, and even more thrilled in the canoe!

Norwegian Dining

Norwegians have an unique view of sandwiches...

Big cabin bash!

Two fishermen

August 3 Wednesday 2011

Today we moved to the Atlantic Ocean near Grimstad on the south coast of Norway. We checked out the cabin which is in two parts 1 half has all the beds and the other has the kitchen and the living room and everything else. There is no bathroom but luckily there was a pre-made hole with a little shed around it for an outhouse so we didn’t have to dig one. After we checked out the house we went to the Ocean and took a plunge, which was pretty warm though not as warm as Crete.


More Pictures from Olaf's Cabin!

August 4 Thursday 2011

Today we missed the before breakfast plunge but we made up for that in the afternoon. We took the upgrade from canoe to motorboat and went to a lake and tried some water-skiing. that almost worked the first time for me but just got steadily worse. Jacob tried it as well but his feet were a bit too small for the skis. Then we all went to land and had about a half an hour nap. Then we packed up and headed for home because it was raining. But on our way home we caught some mussels to catch crabs with tomorrow, with me holding my breath and swimming underwater to grab the mussels. Then we finished going back home and Olaf made fish balls for supper. Another night we had home-made pizza for supper.

I am having ice cream with my new
t-shirt

August 7 Sunday 2011

Yesterday we were going to use Olaf’s telescope and look at stars and other things in the sky. We were having a nap but Olaf and dad didn’t wake us up because it became cloudy Olaf and dad still saw some stuff but when we were looking at the pictures we noticed there were some really amazing things there was even a satellite go by. The Chico song (Daddy and Olaf were members of the infamous Congo Band in Barcelona in 1994) even came out and they recorded it to listen to on the way back. The stars looked like little lines because the earth is spinning so the telescope moved with the earth, even in the space of 10 seconds. Today started out really rainy but ended out with a lot of action. 


We are returning from the south of Norway where Olaf’s cabin is to Oslo. At the cabin we swam, fished, hunted crabs, tried to water-ski, played games, and went to the town which was called Grimstad where I bought a tee- shirt that was made of a jersey kind of material for Only129 Kroners (or around 28 dollars cad) with money Olaf gave me. Jacob and I also bought a game called Ubongo Extreme (Olaf has Ubongo) which is like Ubongo but scoring and shapes are different it is a really good game. Today we also ran to the highway and back it was 3.9KM altogether it took 26:08 minutes and it took Olaf about19.30 minutes. After that we decided to go for a dip to cool off we decided that all five of us should jump off the pier at the same time Olaf forgot his video camera so we had to take pictures instead. We were waiting and Olaf said if it didn’t start clicking in 10 seconds he would check the settings and just when he got there it started clicking and 1 second before we jumped it stopped so we had to do it again and instead of a nice cool down we almost froze. The next time we got these really cool pictures but the water felt even colder!

August 4 we went for a walk in the nearby town of Grimstad. We had a snack at the pharmacy where Henrik Ibsen worked at the start of his career. Grimstad is home to 2 really famous cyclists Dag Otto Lauritzen (who was one of the stars when daddy started following cycling) and Thor Hushovd who is now the current world champion. in the picture there is a display for these two great cyclists it even has their bikes! Daddy actually met Dag Otto Lauritzen on a roadside coffee shop all alone drinking coffee so he got a picture and talked a bit.

Before we went fishing we had to bail out the boat because it had rained the night before this is Olaf's motorboat that we fished, hunted crabs, and water-skied in you can see the grey bucket that is the bucket we kept the mussels in. The engine is 25 horsepower.

Here are pictures of 2 great fishermen! On the right is captain Olaf steering the boat and on the left is Jacob in the boat. There is an Island that looks like a Submarine Olaf says that they call it Submarine Island.      

Here is daddy's feet along with the bonus of Olaf's feet. 

On the right is Olaf playing the Chico song (in the official version you are supposed to sing it for 2 and a half hours of until the police tell you to knock it off but dad and Olaf only did it for 10 minutes) and on the left he is setting up the telescope.

Live from Akerhus Castle

Ever wonder how horses with heavy loads can get up steep cobbled streets in the old days?

more museum blitz!

Today was much like yesterday. We used our Oslo pass some more. First, we went to the Oslo Reptile Park. There were even a few tarantulas and marmosets and a parrot! There were a lot of reptiles such as the Phantom Poison Frog, Red Tailed Racer, African Soft Shelled Turtle, Goliath bird eating spider, Bearded dragon, and those are only a few. They even had piranhas (if they don't get fed enough they will eat each other). Then we went to the Museum of Design where there is a lamp that is in the shape of a parrot. Then we went missed a few bus stops before getting to the International Museum of Children's Art where kids as young as 3 painted pictures and they collected them. Then we missed another bus and had to wait about 5 minutes for the next bus to take us to the Castle but the Castle closed before we got there so we went to the Armed Forces Museum. The last museum we went to was the Nobel Peace Museum then we took the transit home.

More pictures from our museum blitz!

On the left is a picture at the Children's Museum of Art and on the right is a picture of the parrot lamp that was from the Museum of Design.

Some handstands at the castle.

This is called an Axolotl. It was at the Reptile Museum.

After the Museum of design we went to the Frognerbadet water park where at the low diving board I tried to do a front flip but ended out doing a 1 and a quarter flip. These Norwegians are crazy. You have to pay to get into the waterpark and you have to pay 2 dollars cad for one ride on the waterslide when you can kill yourself for free on the diving boards!

Here is Jacob beside a mine at the Museum of Armed Forces.

Note: we will not be posting again untill after sunday because we are going to Olaf's cabin which doesn't have internet.

Museum Blitz

Yesterday we went to a lot of museums. First we took the transit downtown and went to an information center where we bought Oslo passes for 2 days 1 day costs 100 kroner ($20 Cad) and two days is only 20 kroner more for kids (220/340 for adults). On the first day after the information center we took the bus to Bygdoy and went to the Folk museum, the Kon-tiki museum the Fram museum and then the Maritime museum. Then we took the ferry across to the other side (because public transit is included). Then we walked to the palace to watch the changing of the guard and we also had lunch in a shady spot at the bottom of the hill.

Pictures from our museum tour!

Handstands at the folk museum outside the stave church which is from the 1200s, the city hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is given, and the royal palace.

Then since it was on our way we went to the new 2006 Ibsen museum where the made a replica (and used some real pieces of his house) of his apartment. Some things we learned about him were that he was really strict on time every day he would stop by the university and check his watch with the clock there. His schedule was this: he had a 1 and a half hour bath,work from 9 till 11 thirty,then walked to the Grand Cafe for German beer and reading the newspaper, then back writing for 5 hours, and another bath. He had a couch in his office so sometimes he would have a nap but if his wife heard him snoring she would come in and take the blanket. Ibsen has a portrait of another playwright who they each do not like the other behind his back when he was writing for inspiration. Daddy would have a whole row of portraits some days!

On the left is the Ra 2 at the Kon-tiki but they also had the original Kon-tiki raft that is made of balsa wood. On the right is a picture of a harpoon made from a Narwal tusk at the Fram museum.

At the resistance museum the first thing you see when you go is is this huge sculpture made of guns in the Nazi symbol and the last thing you see is the Germans surrendering. On the left is the changing of the guard at the royal palace.

 Here is a picture of me with the cannons at Akerhus castle.

Here is a picture of the scream I took at the Munch museum the painting was stolen for a few months before it was found a little while ago. Olaf said that the museum was given $5,000,000 for security before the painting was stolen but hadn't used it yet. So now it has bullet-proof glass over the scream and you cannot bring any bags into the museums. They also have metal detectors now in front of the ticket booth.

My Cuddle Pal Jorgen

Too busy for full blog, but check out our cliff-jumping videos on flickr!

How many PHD's?

Yesterday we stayed at the apartment till lunch time. Then we got out the canoe parts and put it together. It was put together a little bit wrong but we fixed that in a few minutes. We built the canoe while mommy was cooking pizza so ended eating the pizza after the canoe was built. Then we hauled the canoe up to the lake and canoed around the lake. We took a little detour to go around an island. But after we went around the island we went back to the middle of the lake when we got near the end of the lake there is a Tarzan rope that we sat and watched for a minute or two. Then we went on to the end of the lake and stopped there to eat and swim (but only me Jacob and Olaf swam). We had 2 years old (from daddy's and Olaf's big canoe adventure) beef and potato casserole. We also set up Olaf's hammock that he got in Australia.we could still see the CRAZY people jumping (the Tarzan place was higher than the place where we jumped). When we got back we noticed that lots of kids were playing down on the street and Olaf told us that in the summer time kids are allowed to stay up very late.

Canoe Pictures

 Perhaps I look quizzical about haw to build this canoe on the left so what I really don't know haw to build this thing dad and Olaf are the masters. well here on the right is where they figure out that they did something wrong and really hoe many PHD's does it take to build a canoe.

 we had to haul the canoe to the lake (and after we had to haul it back to the apartment) so here on the right is a picture of daddy and Olaf hauling the canoe on one of Olaf's high quality gravel roads. on the left you may see that something is wrong with the canoe well the trailer that held the canoe fell in a hole on another of Olaf's high quality gravel roads.

Here is another video by Jacob.

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 On the right is a picture of me with lake Noklevann behind me and on the left is a picture with the canoe.

here is Olaf with out beef and potato casserole 

here another of daddy's feet but this time they seem quite cozy in Olaf's australian hammock  

Here are some more amazing hammock pictures on the right is me reading on our kindle. on the left is a really cool picture of Jacob in the hammock with it dark behind except for light some light rays.

Lake Noklevann

This is a video at Lake Noklevann. We're building up Olaf's canoe and taking it here today. He's threatening to bring the tent, mosquito nets, and SCUBA gear, so I don't know what crazy adventure is to come. If we don't blog again by Tuesday...

We're Vikings Whaddaya Know the Terrors of the Seas!

The rock jumping was actually yesterday now we started yesterday with some swimming (and jumping) then we went to downtown and went to the viking museum which is on a peninsula called Bygdoy we spent about 3 hours there. then walked to the ferry terminal where there are 3 museums the Fram Museum, the Maritime Museum, and the Kon-tiki Museum. then we took the ferry back to the to the city hall where the nobel Peace Prize is given and to get to the metro station we went past the church where most of the roses are.then we came back home and had dinner with Olaf before he went Tango dancing.

Pictures of Vikings - Arrrgghhh!!!
Note: Please comment below on anything you find interesting! We'd love to hear from you and will respond!

My historical note: Vikings came from Scandinavia they are mostly farmers and are only part time pillagers. their helmets actually don't usually have the horns like in the movies they only have the horns at parties. the vikings pillaged to trade and capture slaves. the society had the nobility the free men and the slaves. the three ships at the museum were sailing ships that were used to bury the nobility one was used to sail for luxury, a second was a working vessel (of attacking), and the third was hard to tell because it was mostly deteriorated when they found it. the names were Oseland, Gokstad, and Tune in the same order as above. they were named after where they were found. when they found the ships they had been robbed. but they have part of the skeletons from the Oseland (two women) and the Gokstad (chief who was killed in battle) And the Tune (another chief). they still found lots of objects on the burial mounds even though they were robbed they were buried with food, sleds, animals, carriage, even peacock feathers, (and lots of other little odds and ends.

Daddy's Note: The ferry stop on Bygdoy is at the Fram Museum, where they have placed the Gjoa (upper left), the boat that Roald Amundsen used to sail the Northwest Passage for the first time beginning 1903. Walking through Oslo Centrum, everything looks "normal" in terms of everyday life until you get to the National Cathedral and the area blocked off around the bomb site. At the Cathedral, a large street is blocked off with flowers and tributes about the tragedy. It was raining when we got there, matching the overall mood. It's obvious that all of Norway is in shock. I can only wish the country well in its mourning and healing.