Pappaperm ... Part 1

So, being the good Norwegian resident that I am, I have finally decided to take out some Pappapermisjon (paternity leave) and this just happened to coincide with summer in Stavanger. I am taking 6 weeks leave and will then go back to work in mid-July. Emma has just returned to work which was both daunting and exciting for her, but I think it made it a little easier knowing I was home to look after Cami. Cami's grandparents (Grandma Ann and Granddad Nigel) will then look after Cami for 4 weeks before she starts with her exciting barnehage (kindergarten) in mid August.

So the first 3 days in and how is it?

Well it has been FANTASTIC and ever so much fun. The first day we went cycling to Vaulen on a sunnyish but windy day, the second day we went feeding ducks at the lake and today we have been soaking up the sun, swimming in the fjord, BBQing and bike riding round the coast in Godalen. We also went to a street festival called jærdagen down in Bryne on the weekend (whilst Emma was in London) and pappaperm hadn't officially started yet and got to play with some baby animals.

Cami has been great and has loved exploring (particularly on the bike) everywhere with her daddy. She is a little sweetheart at the moment (she always is I know) and with her walking and talking she is really a lot of fun to be with whether it is out on the bike, in the sandpit, or on the beach.

Here are some pics from the first couple of days.

First day of pappaperm and off to vaulen on the bike.

The funny things daddy can do with my hair!

Feeding the ducks at Mosvannet (1 for you, 1 for me)

Arrived at godalen for a BBQ picnic with dad!

With fresh strawberries and cherries

And polse med brød!

Splashing in the fjord

Right before she needed a change of clothes!

A future cyclist on our hands?

And finding rocks in our reserve suit!

Getting ready to cycle home.

Vegie on bread - yum!

Playing with the baby goats at jærdagen

And baby chickens - berk berk kykkelikili!

 

Our Bobil Adventure, Summer 2008

And here it is, the blog entry you've all been waiting for! Our summer holiday photos. We have embedded it as a slide show, so click on the heading above to start the slideshow and enjoy!

Warm up race for Le Tour de France

Joel competed on Saturday in the Nordsjørittet (North Sea Race). Having opted to drink beer in Belgium (refer previous post) rather than participate in a seeding race a few weeks earlier, he was in the general group 6, rather than the serious riders that left in the first groups. Our friend Justin (he and his wife Nat are the proud parents of Cooba’s sister Brandy) was visiting for the weekend, so we drove down to Egersund, about an hour’s drive south of Stavanger, to see him off. The race is about 90km along a coastal trail combining road and off-road tracks, and is very picturesque winding its way along the south west coast of Norway – a very nice part of the world.

Joel completed the course in 2hr:51min which was a fantastic time, and won his group after strong competition with 2 other riders to the finish. Joel managed to burn them off riding up the last hill – anyone that knows Joel on a bike knows how much he loves the hills – nuts if you ask me. The overall winner completed the race in about 2:25. Joel's time should see him seeded in the elite group for next year’s race. Of course having borrowed a bike from a mate (thanks Al!), because none of his 3 bikes were suitable, I am now being targeted with a very focussed campaign aimed at buying him a new bike. At AUD$5-6K I’m not exactly rushing out to the bike shop, but that does not seem to dampen Joel’s enthusiastic campaigning!



We are now getting ready for our holiday, lists galore of things to take. I hate to think how much our luggage will weigh! After a beautiful 6 weeks or so of sunshine and true summer weather during late April and May, unfortunately it did not last. We have been back to mid-teen temperatures and quite a bit of rain over the last few weeks. Joel and I refuse to believe that was The Summer, and now it is over, and are crossing our fingers for some warm days during August and maybe even September. The warm stretch broke records in Norway, but for us it was just a short taste of what we hoped was a ‘real’ summer. After last years dismal imitation of a summer we (perhaps undeservedly) felt like we were owed a good one! Time will tell.

Cheers to all,
Emma