Ski Trip

We were invited, along with all the Fulbright scholars in Norway and their families, on a trip to Oslo followed by a fabulous weekend at a ski resort.  We arrived in Oslo on Wednesday night, spent the day there on Thursday, took a chartered bus to Skei Kampen Resort with other Fulbrighters and Fulbright families on Friday morning, and returned to Bergen late Sunday night.

Davin attended a seminar all day Thursday, so the kids and I were on our own in Oslo.  I was a little nervous about keeping track of all four kids in a strange city (especially since running away and getting lost has become one of Sergio's favorite pastimes), so I wrote their names and the name of our hotel on their arms, and we walked down to the Museum of Cultural History.

They had great exhibitions about Prehistoric Norway,

...Medieval Norway,

...and cultures throughout the world.

Oslo was cool, but the big, big fun happened at the ski resort.  There were tons of activities to choose from.  And the boys had a blast with the kids of other Fulbright families.  We all had a fantastic time.

Our first day at Skei Kampen (Feb 17) was Oscar's 6th birthday.
Here he is, being presented with a very exciting birthday cake.

I found a beautiful handmade Norwegian sweater at Fretex (Salvation Army) and gave it to Oscar
as a birthday present.  I had given one to Davin for his birthday, and Oscar wanted one in the worst way.
Handsome, aren't they?

Here the guys are, ready to hit the slopes.
None of us ended up actually skiing (Izzy didn't express any interest, and Davin,
who's never been skiing before, wasn't sure he could manage himself and three small children on skis),
but we still had tons of fun...

...sledding,

...frolicking in the snow,

...swimming,

...lounging in the sun,

...watching a movie with new friends (L to R:  Axel, Oscar, Kayla, Anders, Jonah),

...and seeing an amazing performance by Mr. Toons.  This was one one of the most entertaining things I've seen in my life.  Click on this link to see a short video of him in action.

One of the highlights for me (apart from Mr. Toons) was definitely the food.  We ate like royalty.  Both the breakfasts at the hotel in Oslo and the meals at the ski resort were incredible.  I ate about half a pound of brie, tried an amazing ravioli with a curry cream sauce, and discovered that my new favorite thing is a slice of good bread topped with cream cheese, cucumbers, and red and yellow peppers...Who knew?

We ate most of our meals with other Fulbright families with small kids.  It was really nice.

The buffet was very fancy and featured lots of sea food as well as plenty of red meat
(which pleased Davin immensely--beef is expensive in Norway).

There were dreamy desserts--almost too beautiful to eat...

...And some food that really WAS too beautiful to eat--like this savory gelatin with prawns, hard-boiled eggs, and vegetables suspended in it.  YUM!