Weather

Before we moved to Norway, someone reminded us: There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad choice of clothes. While we expected more rain days and cooler weather, a change of mindset is still required. It is so much easier to just dress up in t-shirt and shorts and head out the door, knowing it'll be a warm to hot day with only a remote chance of rain. Now, we check the hourly weather forecast for the day and plan the days events and dress accordingly. Rain is just a very likely possibility, and the good days are savored.
Yesterday, the kids and I went to Oslo Reptile Park. It is a small reptile exhibition in downtown Oslo and occupies the basement and 1st floor of a building that looks like it also houses apartments and offices. (Hopefully the tarantula and snake cages are locked well at night!). The kids loved it and Benjamin could not check out all the displays out fast enough, while Annika took her sweet time. The alligator Brutus was a big hit and at one point, Annika proudly pointed and announced: That is my daddy! (She likes to assign names to all sorts of things. Several of the tiles in our bathroom are family members. Posters usually are "Mamma, Babba, Benjamin and me!" in the form of cartoons, animals etc). The over sized, hairy Tarantula was not one of the popular displays. Both kids froze, Benjamin backed away and refused to get close and Annika started crying. Past the tarantula, we saw all sorts of snakes, frogs, monkeys, a macaw and exotic Madagaskar cockroaches (there is nothing exotic about them and reminded me about the the Texas tree roaches). We even got to touch a snake, a harmless little python. Back outside, the return bus was 25 minutes away, so we decided to walk home. The kids did good and it was the usual walk: Benjamin ahead, impatiently wanting to move forward. Annika behind, slowly making her way, looking at every window and every person passing by. No water puddle was missed either.

This morning looked brighter with fewer ominous black clouds. It gave us the courage to venture a little farther away from home and we ended up on Bygdøy. First stop was the Vikingmuseum with three wiking ships on display along with other items from the viking area. Very impressive. We then walked over to the Fram Museum. The building looks like a big tent and houses Fram, the ship used to explore the north and south pole region in the late 1800 to early 1900. We were able to walk on board the ship as well.
Since the day turned out to be so nice, we took the little ferry back. It was only a short 10 minute ride, but we passed up sailboats, kayaks and girls in bikinis paddling around on boards.

The rain is supposed to return tomorrow and we haven't decided what to do or where to go..... but what ever we do, it'll be a fun, little adventure.