Writing from Norway!

The flight from Chicago to Frankfurt went really well--it was with Lufthansa (which, apparently, is a really great airline because they were super nice and helpful instead of rude) and the kids were perfect angels.  Then we took a short (and pretty easy) flight from Frankfurt to Bergen.  By chance, we met the family we're renting a house from at the Bergen Airport.  They'll be on sabbatical in the US at the same time we're in Bergen.  They had planned to pick us up from the airport, but since we were two days late, it couldn't work out.  I was disappointed I wasn't going to meet them (Davin had dinner with them in June when he was here for a conference; he said they were a really wonderful family).  But they happened to be at the airport for their flight to the US at the same moment we were arriving.  They were really nice.  They have two sons (ages 12 and 7), and they left behind lots of toys for our kids to play with at the house.  And the house is unbelievably beautiful.  When we got here, we all napped, then went to the little park just outside our house and took a short walk to the nearby grocery store.