The Movies - Norwegian Style

Today was Friday and Nic went to the office. I got the kids shuffled off to the pool (the Pirbadet) by 10:15AM or so. Ethan fell asleep in the bus on the way there but luckily he woke up in the dressing room. (He had fallen asleep the day before around 5PM as we were driven back from the music museum and he was woke up at 4AM this morning). We had fun at the pool and swam for about 2 1/2 hours. Ethan tried one of their floaty devices that went around his belly and made an attempt with blowing bubbles and kicking at the same time. The pool was a bit crowded today and I guessed that people had a long weekend with the holiday on Thursday.

We showered and I had a failed conversation with a woman in the locker room. We found someone who spoke English and Norwegian to translate and the woman had thought I had locked her towel in my locker. She found it on the floor afterwards. We had a little snack after we got changed - we just can't miss the ice cream - and we were on our way home by 2:30PM. Ethan fell asleep in the bus on the way home and this way I was successful at walking him all the way home and him continuing to sleep as I put him in bed! I don't think that my technique is getting any better I just think he was very tired. We so need a stroller for France!

I did a laundry load and took an hour nap as Gwyneth watched Disney channel (I think). Nick got home around 5PM and we had a quick dinner of hot dogs to try to get the movies to see "Hanna Montana". There was a theatre that showed the English version with Norwegian subtitles. The kids were remarkable agreeable about eating quickly and getting out the door on time. We were at the theatre by 6PM for the 6:20PM movie.

The first surprise came when we bought the tickets. We purchased our tickets and they asked us to choose our seats! (We were in row 7 seats 7, 8, 9 and 10 - the theatre had 80 seats total). They had an electronic seating chart with the available seats and your number got printed on your ticket. Nic and I surmised that many people bought tickets online and choose their seat in advance. Next stop was the concession stand - well it was more like a concession store and true to form you do everything yourself. The popcorn was already in bags in these cases that looked like it was being kept cold, but it wasn't. You could buy everything from candy in a million different forms to fruit. We went for the family size popcorn and one extra big soda for 75 Kroner (or $10.75).

Oh I forgot the ticket price as 90 Kroner or $13.50 per person. We found the theatre (and our assigned seats) and immediately noticed it was unbelievably hot! So we took off as much as we could and watched some advertisements and movie previews. Then it seemed like the movie should start but it didn't. After 5 minutes a man walked in and announced something in Norwegian - then he started passing out coupons. We asked a woman in front of us and she told us the air conditioning was broken and that we could move lower in the theatre if we wanted too. Also, they were giving out free movies passes. So we all got a coupon to come again for free!

The movie was very good - I thought the message was nice and I was glad to be in kids movie where things weren't getting blown up or people weren't shooting at each other. The kids loved it. Ethan's favorite part was when Hannah painted the chicken coop a different color (more like a rainbow). The movie included lots of Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana songs - quite catchy I thought. There was also a line dance - the Ho Down Throw Down - hope you all are ready at Cape Cod this summer!

We got out of the movie at 8:30PM, although by the sunlight you wouldn't know it. We walked home as it wasn't very far stopping at the park with the crazy teeter totter/swing thing. Oh, we also stopped at the Bunn Pris grocery store near the park to use their potty. Ethan had a bit of diarrhea which made it into the toilet and then at the park he "farted". Well it was a little more than that and Nic and I were ill prepared except for some Kleenex. It was contained to his undies, so we got them off, threw them out, cleaned him up, and sent him on his way commando! We enjoyed the park for a bit and it was nice because the last time we were there most of the equipment was wet. Ethan tried the teeter totter/swing for the first time and he enjoyed it.

We walked the rest of the way home and got there by 10PM. Funny there aren't many kids at the playground at 9:30PM at night. Wonder why? And here we are ... Ethan & Nic are working on the nice Norway puzzle we found on our road trip. Gwyneth is sulking a bit in her room, she was upset we turned the TV off until she finished her math. I am finishing the blog. You may have noticed there are no pictures as we didn't bring the camera anywhere today. Sorry!