Headed home

Our flight out of Trondheim didn't leave too early, so in theory we should have had a pretty stress-free morning getting to the airport.  Turned out a bit more exciting than we planned, but it all ended up fine.

Katie waits in the entryway with our bags.

When we came to Norway, we checked 5 bags.  On the return, we had 6 bags to check, we sent one bag home with our friend Kristen, and the Math Department shipped 3 small boxes for us.  It's tough not to accumulate stuff.  But we sure appreciate all the things we brought home from Norway.  We were tickled to discover that our DVD player can play the DVDs we bought in Europe.  Pat and Mat (De To Gode Naboene - The Two Good Neighbors) are in regular rotation at our Texas home. 

Our friends offered to give us a ride to the airport, which was awesome and meant we didn't have to pull our bags down the street to the airport busstop.  But our friends got stuck on the hill they live on, and ended up picking us up with just enough time for us to make it to the airport.  And then...the road to the airport was closed due to an accident in one of the main tunnels.  We were sweating bullets in our friends' van as we were parked on the highway, but we made it to the airport in time.  Phew!

And they're off, marshmallows in hand 

On our flight to Copenhagen, we were all split up.  Sam and Katie sat near the front of the plane, Grace and I were in the middle, and Dave and Isaac toward to the back.  It was a pretty brief flight, so it was fine. 

Hanging out on the climber at the Copenhagen airport.  

Our little bear

He looks like he is looking forward to the upcoming flight.

The flight home was smooth.  We have great travelers.  We arrived in Chicago around 6:00pm and then had to get our bags and go through customs.  That part stunk.  The setup is really inconvenient for families.  The strollers need to be picked up with the rest of your checked baggage after you go through passport control.  And passport control is about a half mile from the gate.  Normally, this wouldn't be that tough, but for our kids, it was the middle of the night, about 1am Trondheim time, and they were totally beat.  Poor Katie could hardly walk.  But once we got through passport control and customs, we all slept through our last flight of the day between Chicago and DFW.  We had a Super Shuttle waiting to bring us home, and we arrived at our house at midnight.  To the kids, it was like Christmas all over again, because they hadn't seen their rooms and toys in half a year.  We finally got them to bed around 1am, and boy, did it feel good to sleep in our own beds.  

Last full day in NO

On our last day, we made one last visit to the kids' schools so they could say goodbye to their friends and teachers.  In the morning, Sam, Katie, Grace, and I walked to ThIS.

Sam in front of his cubby 

Hugs from his best friends.  You can see that Adrian is wearing blue booties over his boots.  Those blue booties were ubiquitous at the schools in Trondheim.  If you wore outside shoes into the school, you need to cover them with the little plastic booties.  As a rule, all the kids have a pair of inside shoes that they keep at the school.

Katie's contribution to her class' unit on celebrations 

Grace and Mr. Mauro.  We stayed for snack and I got to watch Grace in her element.  She ate a bowl of oatmeal, followed by three slices of hearty bread with leverpostei (like liver pate) on them.  This may explain why she didn't continue the slimdown of her body shape that had begun in the months before we came to Norway.

Katie sprinted home, leaving Sam, Grace and me bringing up the rear. 

We decided to make a stop at the Festning on our way home. 

Some great views of the city from up here

Grace was more interested in sledding.

You can see the fjord beyond the cannons.

After lunch, Isaac and I walked to his barnehage.  We enjoyed one last stroll along the river Nid.

My faithful companion.  The is the last time he'll need to wear a snowsuit (until we visit family in Minnesota over spring break.  :)) 

Reading one of his favorite Christmas books at school, Den Lille Julenissen

Isaac gave his teachers some gifts for the class.  Here Yvonne is looking over the book Isaac picked to give them: Going on a Bear Hunt.

Chantal and Yvonne

Roughhousing with Chantal

Butting heads with Amelie.  These two had matching stubborn personalities and made a good pair.

Isaac the robot stuns mild-mannered Hedvig Ingebørg.

One last hug from Yvonne

2012!

We've been back in the US for a full month now, so I figure I'd better close out the photos from our last days in Trondheim.  Ah, the memories.

On our way to church on the first day of the new year.  It was a beautiful snowy day.  No stroller today - sleds all the way. 

Crossing the Gamle Bybru on our way home

Sam and Isaac were having a grand ol' time roughhousing. 

Our third grader

Grace and her sled 

Walking up through Bakklandet.  The Christmas garlands are still up. 

Dave was pulling more than his far share of kids.

Katie had an easy ride up the hill thanks to her ox, Sam.

New Year's Eve

Trondheim celebrates the new year with fireworks - all over the city.  It was a fun sight to see.  At 7pm, there was a firework show at the festning for the children.  We walked out to the corner playground and watched the show with neighbors. 

Grace and Katie take in the display

Dave wanted to record it on the flip camera, only to realize that Sam and Adrian had eaten all the memory on the camera with videos they made of their Lego creations.

Walking back home, following some neighbors with torches

At midnight, there was a huge fireworks show from the festning for the grownups.  The fireworks are made by the firework club at the university, and they were spectacular.  What a way to bring in the new year - Dave and I were out in the backyard in the crisp winter air, just counting our blessings.

Grace and Isaac spent the morning reading books together.  In preparation for our return, I washed the cover to the couch, so all week we had a sheet over the now clean couch to protect it from any unfortunate spills.

We tried another sleepover with Adrian the next night.  Same story.  The boys had great fun, but then Adrian couldn't get to sleep.  Another early morning pick up from his mom.  Sorry, Tania! 

Adrian brought over his gingerbread house and the kids all got to share in its destruction. 

We had a great meal at the home of our friends Mike and Pam.  They just moved into a new house with an awesome view of the fjord.

Our hostess does her magic with spring rolls

The kids were completely entertained by some dancing game on the xbox.  The adults were pretty entertained watching them.

 Note Katie's creative use of the elliptical trainer as a chair

We played two rounds of Blokus.  Dave sacrificed his strategy to let Isaac make some moves.

Our two families (picture taken by Adrian).  We will really miss these guys.  They keep planting sneaky ideas in our heads about doing what they did - come to Trondheim for a year, and then decide it is so great that we move there for good.  We shall see, we shall see...