Norwegian Playgrounds

Today was the the day for Norwegian playgrounds! Nic left for the office around 8:30AM (and he didn't make coffee for me!). The kids and I got ready to go out early as the weather was good. We managed to get out door around 10:00AM to head for the Ila Parken (a park with a playground that we had seen while driving around Trondheim with Chris). We took the number 8 bus through the center of the city and we successfully found our destination! For a while we had the playground to ourselves and the favorite item had to be the "zip swing" for lack of a better word. (See the video). It was enjoyed by Gwyneth, Ethan, & Deb! After a while some Norwegian school kids showed up and the kids had to share. Gwyneth had a pseudo-conversation with some Norwegian school girls where she thinks they asked if she spoke english. Gwyneth said they said a lot of things in Norwegian and then ended with something that sounded like "English" - so Gwyneth just said "yes".

After the park we were getting a little hungry and we were lucky to catch the Tram back to the center of town. Trondheim has one Tram line that runs out of town to Liam which is a popular hiking spot that we hope to try while we are here. Ethan was excited because we got to go on the bus that ran on the tracks. Once back in the center the drizzle has started a littleand I decided that I would treat the kids to some Norgwegian McDonalds. For $27 we got 2 Happy Meals and one adult meal. The meals were mostly the same as at home except that for the Happy Meal you got french fries and some apple slices. Also, my chicken sandwich came with onions which was unusual but tasty.

After lunch we headed to the toy store in the town center and we were enjoying ourselves. Unfortunately Ethan decided to leave a little present in his pants while we were there and so the visit was cut short. I wasn't successful at finding a bathroom so we just hopped on the bus to head home for the change. We decided to stop at Nic's office since it was just as close and because I had been dreaming of the department cappuchino machine. We found Nic and got Ethan cleaned up - luckily it wasn't very messy. Then the adults had some cappuchino. I actually had a cappuchino followed by a latte. Gwyneth had a fruity tea with several sugars. Ethan had nothing but was learning to spell his name on Nic's computer. On our way down from the 13th floor we learned that the math building has a great spiral staircase! We did a quick stop at the NTNU bookstore (we scored some cheap coffee mugs) and then the kids were on our way home - in the full out rain this time.

We made it home and eventually Nic did too. After some homework and a dinner of tacos and Guatemalan Beans (6 cans left!) we all decided to try another playground that Nic and Ethan had visited before. We found more unique playground equipment. Gwyneth & I enjoyed this rotating swing/teeter totter. Ethan didn't want to have anything to do with it. We played a little "football" at the adjacent soccer field and we were on our way home at 9PM. This picture was taken close to that time and you can see how light it is! It doesn't start to really get dark until 10PM around here.