So, picking up with Wednesday...after getting the kids off to school, I attended my second COP Spouse's Coffee. It was good to see some of the people I had met previously and meet a few more ladies too. Then, I headed over to get a one more item at IKEA...only to discover my debit card had unexplicably stopped working completely! Luckily, I had been to the minibank recently and had some cash. I ran over to the store next and once again...no go with the debit card...so now, we have NO access to our funds and I am very low on cash...Great...even had to fill up the car with gas and use my American credit card. Now we are back to where we started 6 weeks ago! Otherwise, Wednesday was Spencer's day in Oslo, so it was mainly low-key in the afternoon - homework, pizza for dinner, then a bike ride over to Three Swords. The kids nearly gave me a heart attack watching them on their bikes. We obviously need to work on biking and walking etiquette here since there are quite a few sharing the paths with us. I thought B was going to send a biker right into the road into a car at one point! YIKES!
Thursday was my school kiosk volunteer morning. I am enjoying that part of my week and really like the other mom I am working with at the kiosk. Stephanie is a valuable source of information for me as well! After that, I headed into Tanager to get Spencer...we ran over to the Tanager branch of the other main bank in the area, SpareBank (yes, as Emily pointed out..."spare bank" which we obviously need!) I opened an account in my name and our debit cards and information should be here next week. Cross your fingers (and toes!) Thursday evening, we again headed out on the bikes, but this time over to Stokka Lake with Spencer joining us. Spencer and I were walking and the kids would ride ahead and stop every so often to wait for us to catch up. We finally ended up walking/biking the whole lake - 8 km (or about 5 miles.) It is quite a ways around, but with the kids on bikes, there wasn't too much complaining.
Friday was a school day off for teacher team building. We had a lazy morning up until...the bank notified us that our 4-digit number we have been waiting weeks for was in. Spencer could not get away from the office, so he somehow managed to arrange for me to go get the information without him...so, kids in tow, off I went to the back downtown. Well, to my amazement, they had a number for us, gave it to me without much fuss, and home I came to see if it actually worked...AND....drum roll please...YES!!! YES, YES, YES!!! Online bank access, new pin for new debit card retrieved, available bank statements! The whole thing! Can I get a WOOHOO?!
After the bank excitement, we headed off to a birthday party for Kyla's friend, Abigail. It was at a place called Lekeland and it kind of like a cross between a Pump-It-Up and a big indoor playground. It was not crowded or busy at all, so I payed for Brendan and we just stayed. I visited with a couple of other moms and enjoyed hanging out with the ladies while the kids were thoroughly entertained! After the party, we headed back here to get Brendan ready for soccer practice. After practice, we decided to pick up Surfe Inn again for dinner (our new favorite place, I suppose) and ate over at Three Swords. The weather has been go beautiful this week and weekend!!! Needless to say, we wore the kids out pretty good and they slept well that night!
Saturday morning brought the first official soccer game. Brendan is on the green team and they played two games. Both games were close and the team is coming together pretty well. Kyla and I had to leave a little early to get her to the birthday party at the Stavanger Community Pool in city center. Okay, let me just say...you learn something new every day here and I learned several things on Saturday! I was sort of expecting the mom or the birthday girl to be in the drop off area, but no...so I was totally clueless about what to do, where to go. I took Kyla into the changing room where there was this huge pile of shoes inside the door. Apparently you can't wear shoes into the locker room...I am still looking for someone familiar or anyone I know. Then we round the corner and there are people (we are in the women's dressing room for clarification) all over and most of them are naked...yep, totally in the buff and not modest at all. I tell Kyla to go ahead and get showered off (everyone must shower before swimming.) About that time, I see three moms I recognize (one is Stephanie!) and I am totally flustered and said, "Please help us, we have no clue what to do or where to go!"
Stephanie, bless her heart, helped us get Kyla's swim cap on (you must wear a swim cap and luckily we had one!) and took me in to introduce me to the birthday girl's mom. Let me just say, I did not feel good leaving Kyla at the party, but it was a drop-off party and clearly stated so in the invitation...I was just expecting a lot less chaos! The pool was quite busy! So, then I am walking out with Stephanie and she asks where I parked and something came up about paying the meter (what meter, I ask?) and I was confused...I didn't pay, I said...she then told me about the little box at the front of the lot where you pay and get a ticket for your car (learn something new every day here!) I am just lucky I didn't get a parking ticket! I headed back to get her after the party and that time, I payed! Kyla then ambushed me about staying for the slumber party (first I had heard about it!) and she could go with Abby (birthday girl) and the other friends and her family back to her house...ummmm, no...Let's just say Kyla didn't take it well.
So, (still on Saturday here. Are you keeping up?) I get home and Brendan is waiting for a call back from his friend, John. He finally calls and he is coming over to play. For entertainment (and becasue the weather is so wonderful) we decide to take the kids to the beach to walk around and play a bit. Then we came home and I made spaghetti for dinner and the kids played out at the playground a bit. John had ridden his bike over, so we decide we will get the kids' bikes out and we will walk while they all ride to get him back home. Ah, a successful bike trip with only some complaining about pedaling uphill! Needless to say, we are all once again, pooped!
Today we went to church and I helped out with the Sunday School kick-off week. From there, we headed straight out to drive around a bit and went in the direction of Byrksjedal where the candle factory is. We continued on toward Sirdal, which is a popular skiing area in the winter. We could even see the ski lifts up in the mountains! It was a beautiful drive. We got to a point to turn around and began the trek back only to come to a complete standstill on the road. Cars line up as far as we could see and people out milling around and calmly hanging out...we are baffled. The kids are totally curious and head off to find out what is going on. Spencer followed a bit behind them while I stayed at the car. A few minutes later, I get a message on my blackberry (thank goodness for technology!) and Spencer says, "You gotta come see this!" So, I head down the road...to find a sheep herd being moved across the road - yep, herders, sheep dogs, the whole thing and literally thousands of sheep! We are cracking up! Brendan had just mentioned that his Norsk teacher at school was telling them that the farmers move their sheep down from the mountains around this time of year...and sure enough, we saw it happening! CRAZY! It was a worthwhile 45 minute delay to see that! I am attaching some pictures!
Whew! Are you tired of reading? This one is kind of long! Sorry!
