Weekend and More

Well, the weekend came and went and we didn't get to do any major outings...each kiddo had a birthday party to attend and that kind of took up our time...plus soccer too!

Brendan played his first soccer scrimmage on Saturday morning - we were able to borrow shin guards and cleats, thankfully! It was a messy, rainy morning, but it was of no concern for the people here...on with soccer! I ended up walking around the track with another mom and we had a nice visit. It turned out that her daughter is also in Brendan's class, although she is on a different team. We would walk until it was raining too hard and then we would retreat to the storage shed...then it would stop raining after a few minutes and the sun would peek out between clouds and off we would go again.

After soccer, we hung out at the house and the kids napped a bit...we had a late Friday night (Brendan had John over to play and for dinner, then we walked him home later) and the kids were up at their customary (i.e. very early) time. Brendan and Spencer went to check out the Harley-Davidson store in Stavanger also. After that, it was time for Kyla to head to Rebecca's birthday party. She ended up riding with Abigail and Anouk (Abigail's mom, Stephanie drove them) to and from the party, so that was nice! While she was at the party, we picked up Surfe Inn burgers for dinner - yum!

Sunday we went to check out a bakery we have been hearing about. It is one of the only things open on Sundays here. Stores here are open Monday thru Friday and limited hours Saturday - nothing really opens on Sundays. It was okay, but in a pinch is a good place to grab bread or a carton of milk, etc.

From there, we took Brendan over to Mostafa's birthday party. It was a martial arts party at a facility near here in Gausel. We dropped him off and hoped for the best...he seemed to have had a good time! While he was at the party, I went to see my friend, Shelia's house they are renting - their sea shipment was delivered yesterday (Monday.) It is so close to the CoP offices! Only a twinge of jealousy after seeing their house and all the space they have...I am still very happy with our decision to stay here in Madla. Spencer took Kyla to walk on the beach for a little bit. He picked up Brendan and we all met back here at the apartment. The weather was gorgeous (although a bit chilly and windy!) so we all decided to head back to the beach to enjoy the outdoors. It was really neat - we saw kite surfers - quite a few of them - in the water! It was so fun to watch them! The kite basically acts as a "motor" and pulls them along the top of the water so it looks like they are skiing barefoot. I wish I had taken my camera - we were actually very close by watching them!

Monday it was back to school. I had a fairly open day, so I had lunch with Spencer and went by to see how the unpacking was going for Shelia. I also ran a couple other errands, but nothing too exciting. Today was about the same, except I went to a store called Elkjop, which is basically equivalent to a Best Buy and purchased a cordless phone with a built-in answering machine for the apartment. The phone we had was driving us all crazy because you could only go 2 feet before you had to stop...what a pain! I also hit LIVING and IKEA and made small purchases at each - mainly we are trying to arrange Kyla's closet to afford her more space.

Brendan had a trial class for TaeKwonDo today after school. I was hoping he would take to it a little more, but he really didn't seem that interested or motivated to participate. It is a very expensive activity here and he agreed that maybe it wasn't for him...we certainly didn't want to waste that amount of money if he wasn't truly interested!

I guess the only other thing on our minds is our sea shipment...it was supposed to arrive in port here on Saturday, but when we went online to check the ship's progress, it was giving us random locations on the tracker, so we are hoping it made it in and customs will move it along! I am anxious to have the rest of the stuff we had sent over. I know we have more clothes in there and it would be nice to have them...I think Spencer is the only one with most all his wardrobe here. The rest was split between baggage, air, and sea. I really could use some more of my long-sleeve stuff...it has been pretty cool on several days already! I know, I am a big wimp! Spencer is loving it and the kids don't seem bothered. As a matter of fact, Brendan sleeps with his window open every night! Like father, like son!!!

And, sorry to say, I have no witty observations to share...

Oh, and I almost forgot...! The kids and I received our person numbers today! We are now official Norwegian taxpayers! That means we are eligible for all kinds of stuff - free medical care, grocery memberships, banking access...we are thinking of sending me to the other bank here and trying to open an account in my name. It will be kind of like a game/race to see which bank can get all their stuff together before the other...hmmm...

Have a great week everyone!