Bymarka by tram

We took advantage of the beautiful weather on Saturday to go to Bymarka (City Forest).  It's on the edge of the city, just a short tram ride away.  The park is crisscrossed by miles and miles of hiking and skiing trails, and the vistas over the fjord are lovely.  It's also peppered with cozy mountain cabins where you can get a snack and a drink.

Isaac was tickled to be riding the tram.  After our boat experience the previous weekend, he had been wanting to expand his transportation experiences to a bus or the tram.  

Dave might be smiling because it only cost 50 kroner for a family ticket on the tram.   What a deal!

The tram climbs from sea level in the city center to Lian, at 235 meters above sea level. 

Our arrival at the edge of Bymarka

The tram stop at Lian

We spent most of our time at this lake 

Katie and Sam devoted themselves to catching minnows.  (Katie thinks this photo is proof that fairies exist.)

Digging it.

I regretted not bringing our swimsuits and some towels.  The kids were in that water like moths to a flame.  You can see here that Isaac already needed to ditch his jeans - he had walked right into the water with them on. 

Once the kids were established playing in the water, Dave and I took a snooze on the grassy shore.  In the background, you can see a fancy restaurant in the Bymarka.  It wasn't open - they looked to be preparing for a wedding banquet.

My American primness is long gone - now I encourage the kids to take off their clothes to play in the water.  More enjoyment for them, less wet clothes for me.  Also, good potential blackmail pictures for later in life.

This Norwegian girl seemed intrigued by Grace's enthusiasm for the mud. 

Isaac does his first polar swim.

Tenaciously after those minnows 

Getting up close with the animals of the forest.  If there is a dog within sight, we can count on Grace heading in its direction, with her hands out and saying, "Hei, puppy, puppy!"

Hiking up in the hills 

The lake where we played and picnicked

On Friday night, the kids watched Pippi Longstocking, so Katie wanted Pippi braids today.  The folks who own the house we are renting left lots of DVDs for the kids to enjoy.  Our rule is that they can only watch them if the language is Norwegian - no movie-watching in English.  The Pippi movie was in Swedish with Norwegian subtitles.  Uffda!

We hiked up the hill behind the lake to see if we could find a hytte (hut) where we could buy a waffle, but nothing was open nearby.  Lucky for us, we found this marshmallow hut.  If you were in the hut, you got a marshmallow (at least until I ran out of my stash.)

In the marshmallow hut

This picture makes me smile

Funny marshmallow faces I 

Funny marshmallow faces II

Funny marshmallow faces III

Hiking back down to the tram stop 

On the walk back through the city center, we paused for a quick bathroom break.  I waited with Grace and (sleeping) Isaac next to this statue of skater Hjalmar Andersen.  It's election time in Sør-Trondelag, so the political parties are all out in the city square in full force.  One party is always handing out red roses, and it looks like Hjalmar will vote for them.

Sam and Katie raced home ahead of us and were waiting at the door.  Dave tossed Sam the keys, but his aim was a bit high - they ended up in the gutter.

Retrieving the keys - Dave's first plan was to lower Sam out the window above the porch.  But once Sam was tethered into the makeshift harness Dave had make out of a belt and some webbing, Sam nixed that plan.

Success!