Sognsvann, Dandelions, and Picnics

It’s Sunday of a long weekend. C’s party was the next day. Did we stay home and vacuum? Not with weather like this! We took a quick picnic lunch out to a local lake and explored the forest a little. C and Ruby have been into dandelions lately, so I made them a dandelion crown.

I had this blouse knit up to the waist, but the guage was all wrong and I misinterpreted the pattern, so I ripped it all out and started again. It’s added about 3 weeks to the life span of this project, but I’m going to be much more satisfied with the result. And that’s what counts.

Ruby is actually playing with the rocks that she picked up along the road. “Dandelions? No thanks, I’ve got rocks.”

It was too bright to get Ruby to smile.

Ruby shares her real treasure: a rock.

C is so sweet about offering people dandelions.

A picture of Chris rounds out this Sunday Picture. It was a pretty normal week this week. School, work, etc. I visited Maristova early in the week, and got an ok vibe. Not totally fantastic, but workable. C’s school has been outdoors-only with all the nice weather. But I think it’s too much for C. He looks overheated when I pick him up, and he’s just wiped out at the end of the day. Poor guy. They went on a skogtur (hike) with his school Thursday. His teachers told me he was eating unripe blueberries and even blueberry blossoms. That can’t have been good! They also said he’s speaking a lot more Norwegian at school, which is just great. Finally. I ordered a lot of yarn online, though! :) Silk for Missy’s lace, and a cashmere/silk as backup. I finished knitting the purple shrug this week. It’s a little large, a lot stretchier than I’d thought. Saturday we spent planning C’s birthday party (waffles, smoothies, and Mexican food). Sunday the weather was so so beautiful and we went out to Sognsvann. It was highly enjoyable except for the mosquitos. We enjoyed the movie The Prestige this week.

C is putting a dandelion on his head, just like mama!

Note the jackdaw at the top of the dead tree on the left. This place really reminds me of places in Alaska (except for the jackdaws, I don’t think I ever saw any of those there). The evergreens, the birch trees… just beautiful.

He looks like such a big boy these days — almost 4!

This is where we had our picnic.

Chris brought home a book about a little duck recently, and in the book she listens to “the gurgling of the waterfall”. This turn of phrase captivated the children and has become very popular around the house. Now they love to hear any water splashing, and exclaim “the gurgling of the waterfall!”

Here we are at the bridge.