Kongeparken & Sirdal

We had a fun week and it was all about the kids (at least that is what we are saying). On Sunday we went to a local amusement park called KONGEPARKEN. NATO families were invited for a day and we all headed there on a big bus. The kids were thrilled just to ride the bus! But when we got there.....it was awesome. It is sort of like Sesame Place without the water rides. The kids are the perfect age to enjoy almost every ride. And if they weren't tall enough, usually they let the kids ride with one of us so we all had fun together instead of taking turns. The rides were great, many of them had the kids climbing and jumping on their own which I expected being here in Norway. These Norwegians are so sporty and athletic. At lunch, the park sponsored a lunch for all of the NATO members with a great spread, face painting and a visit from Brume & Brumeline the park's teddy bear mascots. When our kids saw them though....they both ran in opposite directions. ha ha. This is why we haven't gone to Disney yet! LOL Not sure if any of our friends are reading this who went to Oktoberfest with us 10 years ago....but do you all remember the ride "THE ROLLERSKATE" in Munich? You know the one that we all went on really drunk and was so rough that we all had trouble breathing afterwards? They had that one there and Aaron went on it twice. ha ha but I don't think it was as rough, and Aaron wasn't drinking this time LOL. The kids really had an amazing day and the weather was just perfect. Logan was big enough this time to go on many of the rides. He is a little more hesitant to try new things than Avery. But when he saw his sister going on so many, he really found some confidence to try too. By the look of his face sometimes, we weren't sure if he was liking the ride until it was over. Then he either yelled YAY! or AGAIN, MAMMA! We are definitely going back next summer.

On Wednesday, I attended my first "wives" meeting of the Jatta International Women's Club (JIWC) associated with the Joint Warfare Center. I went with my neighbor Tiffany, whose AF husband is a new Services Commander on base. There were over 75 women there from over 20 countries and we got to learn about this club and the many social activities they have during the year. Some women there speak 5 languages while others have lived in over 7 countries during their husband's military career! Some women have newborns while some have children who are 38 years old! Some families are new to the military, some have been in their country's military for 35 years. So there was lots to learn and lots to talk about. The American wives, aka the NORTHERN LIGHTS, are sponsoring the next JIWC social event in October. We voted on a LUAU (ha ha I have lots of stuff from Logan's party) so our next meeting will be lots of fun. Each country sponsors a month's event, so I am looking forward to the other meetings as well. There are many mini groups within this big group, runners, walkers, supper club, book club, travel club etc. so there is lots to do together. I even won a raffle prize...right after telling Tiffany that I always win at raffles!!

On Saturday we headed to Sirdal, a mountain town about 60 miles away on a winding country road. There was a festival there commemorating the herding of sheep off the mountains and sending them away for the traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner. :-( The kids LOVED seeing hundreds of sheep on the mountains and walking in the street. They had fun calling to them and watching the cowboys round them up for the truck. We tried bbq lamb and it was fantastic. Although we are in Norway, I have NO IDEA how to cook lamb so we are going to stick to the Christmas ham. The sheep were too cute to cook.

Aaron left on Sunday for two weeks in Bavaria at a NATO conference. Just in time for OKTOBERFEST??

Our household goods are scheduled to arrive this week, but I have heard from NO ONE yet, so I am just going to stop thinking about it. I have a few friends here who have volunteered to accept the shipment with me so I won't be too overwhelmed. This is why I love the military....instant family no matter where you are in the world.

On a totally random note, Avery has been coming up with some real doozies lately. On the way home from school, she is always so tired, so I either let her fall asleep or just let her veg on the way home. But on Tuesday, out of the blue she said, "Hey mamma, remember last week when you thought Tahoe ran away? Why did you yell OH SHIT!!!!!!?" Ha ha ha so it begins!! I was hoping she missed that. Not a chance. Miss you all xoxo