Today the weather turned for the better - sunny & sixties! We were rested from the day before and so we were ready for an adventure (everyone except Nic who went into the office). We planned to go to the Folk Museum with a stop at the Ila Parken since it was on they way and the museum didn't open until 11AM. It was a bit like herding cats but I managed to get the children out of the door before 10AM. We took the number 8 bus towards the museum and we were on our way.
The first stop was the Ila Parken! The kids were hungry for the zip swing again. So we spent a little less than an hour at the park. There were some Norwegian school kids running around. One of them kept trying to talk to me, despite the fact I was telling him that I only spoke english in a million different ways. I think he thought it was funny. He would come by and say "Hallo" followed by something that I had no hope of understanding and then he would laugh. Ethan mastered the climbing wall this time - it doesn't take him long to learn how to do anything!
After the park we hopped back on the number 8 bus for 5 more stops until we got to the Folk Museum. We were right on time at 11AM and on the other end we closed the museum at 3PM so it was a full day! Again, the cost of the museum was minimal 90 Kroner (or $13.50) for the three of us. Don't worry we paid our dues at the cafe later. The museum is on of the largest cultural history museums in Norway which show the traditions of in Trondelag (the county) of times past. The museum had an indoor exhibit but the main draw was the 60 or so buildings that were spread out across the property - they were divided into 2 sections, the city and the country. We started inside with the artifacts and true to form the museum had plenty of things geared towards children. Gwyneth & Ethan had the most fun with the "boat" that had several rooms and things to play with. In the photo Ethan is talking to Gwyneth on the walkie talkie. I was a passenger many times ..... we went back to the boat area three times during the day and I think I may be sea sick.
Next we headed outside for a tour of the countryside. We were treated to buildings dating back to 1170 but most were form the 18th and 19th centuries. We just had fun being outside and walking around - it was a beautiful day! The first stop was castle rock - the highest point in the park that treated us to a beautiful view of downtown Trondheim. Ethan of course enjoyed walking precipitously close to the edge which gave me the willies. At the top there were also some remnants of a stone castle that dated to 1183 for famous King Sverre. Anyone ever heard of him? We scrambled around the ruins - well mostly Ethan did - and then we headed down to a picnic table nearby for some lunch. I then convinced Ethan to use the potty despite his insistence that he didn't have to go. It was something in the way that he was dancing around like he had ants in his pants that told me he had to go. He seems to enjoy this little game - he always gives me a smirking little smile when he starts to go pee on the toilet - like it was a big surprise it was coming out. Yeah right.
We had fun just walking around and looking at/in the houses. Most interesting were the grass roofs! Christian was telling us some story of someone who would actually put a goat on their roof to keep the grass tame, but I can't quite remember the details. The kids had fun inside of the Sami (people who have made their living herding reindeer) grass hut. We were back at the main entrance by 1:30PM and had another go at the boat with a stop for a snack. Then we toured the city area with buildings from the 19th century. They had a small telephone museum and I showed Gwyneth what a rotary phone looked like and she got to dial one. They also had a small skiing museum and the picture below shows Gwyneth in front of the trophy case. Something tells me that Norway is good at skiing.
By this time it was very close to 3PM and the museum closed at 3PM. We took one more tour to the boat area which ended when a metal gate started to come down over the entrance. Gwyneth got a little nervous that we were going to get shut in, but I was pretty sure they were just giving us a suggestion that it was time to leave. So we left the exhibit and headed to the museum cafe which stayed open to 4PM. I treated myself to a cappuchino and the kids each got cinnamon buns and a milk - it only cost me 160 Kroner (or $24!) - but it was well worth it. The view was nice and the kids got to play with some Lincoln Log like toys. Norway certainly knows how to keep kids happy. The kids ate about 1/2 the food so I packed it up for home and it was only at dinner time when Gwyneth poured the rest of the milk and noticed that it was pink that she mentioned she thought the milk tasted funny! So it looks like we bought strawberry milk - which would explain why the cow on the box was red with green flecks (or seeds). Ethan didn't seem to notice one way or the other. We closed the cafe too and then hopped the bus for home.
Nic was home shortly after we arrived and it was taco dinner again. We used up another can on Guatemalan (I can never spell Guatemalan right on the first try!) beans and now we are down to four. After dinner we played a rousing game of Sharks & minnows (the "tag" version not the pool version) with the neighbor Swedish kids next door. Reuben is 3 and Isaac is 6. They spoke no English but the point seemed to be getting across as far as the game went. Reuben had to head off to bed early and Isaac stayed out to play with us for a little while longer. When it was time to go in he seemed interested in wanting to play with Gwyneth on another day so that it a good sign! Now my legs are tired and I think I need to go to bed!
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