A Splendid Saturday

It was chilly in the morning, so we fired up the pellet stove for the first time.  It was really cozy and the kids were thrilled:

Right now is "National Science Week" (Forskningsdagene) in Norway, so there were science activities throughout the country this weekend.  Here in Bergen events included science lectures in the Downtown library, and an enormous tent was set up in the City Center full of experiments and science activities for kids.

Here, Jonah and Oscar are doing an experiment to help them understand how seashells are formed.

The kids were really impressed by a group of booths that focused on fiber.  The idea was to teach people about the benefits of a high-fiber diet, including the link between sufficient fiber intake and reduced rates of cancer.  One booth allowed them to make a trail mix out of things like oats, raisins, and different types of seeds and cereals.  When they were done making their mix, they presented their snack to be judged.  They'd get a thumbs-up sticker if they made a healthy, high-fiber mix, and a thumbs-down sticker if they didn't.  Sergio got a thumbs-up, but Jonah and Oscar had both filled their cups with Honey Smacks (or something like them), so they each got a big thumbs-down.

But the booth that impressed them was one that taught about the effects of fiber on poop.  It had platters of poop of varying consistencies (I don't think it was real, but I didn't want to investigate), as well as vials that contained various poopy aromas.  I didn't catch what we were supposed to be learning from the smelling portion of the display, but it sure was stinky!

Luckily, the poop display didn't spoil Oscar's appetite for Honey Smacks.

Later in the day we went to a birthday party for our friend Jill (one of Davin's colleagues in the Digital Culture Department at the University of Bergen):

I got to meet many of Davin's colleagues for the first time, and I had some good conversations with them.  The food was amazing (there was tons of it, and most of it was prepared by Jill's husband, Scott).  We all had a fantastic time. 

Playing with Legos with Jessie (Jill's Daughter)