Pictures from Banaheia

So each weekend for the past couple of weekends I have been running up to a place called Baneheia. It is a 2 mile run to the base and then a 2km in the park. It is a beautiful place! Here are some pictures! Here is a gigantic slug I came across! He was bigger then my iPhone.

Here is a picture of the water way I run along on my way to the park.
Here is one of the many ponds filled with water lillys. It was absolutely Beautiful!

Smile! I had been out runnning and hiking for about 2hrs. So I am not my most beautiful, but not too sweaty! It was not too hot, only about 20 degrees C. So that is about 70 degrees F.

This is most likely my last post for the summer. I leave early on Wednesday! I am SO EXCITED TO GO HOME! I am flying in to DC, to see Bill graduate from OCS on Saturday and then home to DFW on Sunday!

Kristiansand Tall Ship Race Parade

Sand sculpture out side my house in honor of the Tall Ship Race! Pretty Cool!
These girls are in the Norwegian Traditional dress, they are also on roller blades.

Here is one of the crews for the ships. There were about 80 ships in town. Part of the Tall Ship requirements is that a percentage of the crew are 15 to 18 yrs old.

Here is the historical society of Kristiansand, they are dressed as the founding fathers.

The official flag of the race! It was a great parade! Lots of fun! I am glad I went into town for the Tall Ship Races!

It haas almost been a whole week!

I applogize to the people looking for a story and some pictures! Here is what I have done...
Monday: NO SCHOOL! Megan and Summer Holiday! We had business in town and took forever to get out on the island. And then Nora aksed Summer if she wanted to go school, and she said no!
Tuesday: School Day...nothing too exciting. I watched a movie called "It could happen to you!" 99cent rental, super sweet Nicolas Cage, 1986 movie! I fixed dinner for 6 people, stuffed turkey with heerbs and peppers with a salad and boat potatoes.
Wednesday: School Day...again, nothing too exciting! We went to a friends house to have dinner. We had mackrel that was caught that that morning. The host handed me a foil wrapped fish and I began to unwrap it. And the fish fell out onto my plate, skin and all. So I peeled the skin off and then sliced the fish in half. The host asked me, "Do you know how to debone a fish?" I said no, and he said, good time to learn! I spent about 30 minutes picking out all the little bones. By the time I ate the fish, it was almost cold! I don't like fish with bones in it.
Thursday: A lost day for school, I was so frustrated. So I gave up and we did practical things instead of academic skills. Then Nora left for town, leaving me to host a dinner party! I fixed steak, mashed potatoes and a watermelon/cucumber salad and a field greens salad.
Today is Friday. I am babysitting until Saturday when Trip arrives. I am also watching painters to make sure they don't steal anything while the paint the house.
But, good things are coming! I get to go home in 4 days! So Excited!
I will post pictures of a parade later today!

Run/Hike to Baneheia

So this morning I got up early, condiering I went to be around 2am to go to an appointment at the salon arround the corner. I needed to get my eyebrows waxed. So I went, and for the 3rd time someone asked me if I wanted my eyebrows colored. What is with this salon? Are my eyebrows that much of a different shade then my hair? I am really self conscious now!
After that, I thought I would walk to the local market that is in the old part of town. Well on my way it started to rain. So I went back to the house, put on my workout clothes and tennis shoes and headed out for a run! I thought running in a light drizzle would be better than walking in one.
Well, I must say...Bill is right about running. You can totally loose track of time and your mind just wanders. I was out running for over 2hrs. Now I have been running on the treadmill downstairs and on the elyptical on the island. I have been building up and I run a steady 8.5 or 9 min mile. I am not sure how far I ran, but I ran from one water way to the next, up to the highway and to a park call Baneheia.
I had been told about this park, but I have never explored it. It is beautiful! I really enjoyed hiking up and down, over the rocks and exploring the forest. I stayed on the rock paths and was lost in the forest for about an hour or so. Finally after decending yet another rock path, I found where I had entered the park. There was a map and some information. I found out that I had explored all of the paths that the park people had created and I walked about 2.2 kilometers. Then once on flat land again, I started running, I ran up to where we exit for the highway and started home.
About 1/2 home, I thought, I have been working very hard, I should treat myslef to an ice cream and eat it on my cool down as I walk home! So i ran to my favorite Ice Cream shoppe...IT WAS NOT OPEN! It was almost 11:30 and It was not open! I was so dissappointed. SO I walked home without ice cream.
I am headed out now to do some shopping, I will deffinantly head up there again to get the ice cream I am so dreaming of!
I maped my route on Goolge and one way it is 3.6 kilometers, plus the 2.2 hiking in the forest and then 3.6 home. I would say that is a good days run/hike!
Now off to do some shopping!

Tall Ship Race, Kristiansand 2010

There is a Tall Ship Race in town. It is a HUGE deal! Summer and I walked around the harbor lasnight looking at all the ships. We even got to get on two! They are huge sail boats that have crews of hundreds and they are racing from Denmark to England. I think they are resting here for a few days and then they will move on. I am going to a parade and open ceremony later, I hope to tell you more about the whole thing! Here are a couple of the ships!

Here is Summer and I, we are renacting the Lady and the Tramp scene with a piece of tuti-fruti licorice!

Here is looking up at the mast, I was standing on deck of one of the tall ships...It is really tall!!

Here Summer is steering! Good thing she is not actually in charge of the ship! It is really long and really big!

More ships in the harbor. You would not believe the number of people in town, this place is hopping! I am excite to see what else is going to happen with the Tall Ship Race!

Eat your heart out!

Here is a quick harvest of what is growing in the green house on the island. I am not sure you can really tell how big these vegatable are, but the cucumbers are so big around, easily 3 to 4 inch diameters. And they all taste SO good! Just thought I would share what I picked for the day! I believe that they are all so big becasue they get about 18hrs of sunlight!

7th Annual Pinata Party!

Well on Wednesday we had our annual Pinat Party. This was the 7th one that has been thrown on the island. I have attened 3 of them. I think this was on of the biggest ever! There were 22 children and 22 adults! Here is a picture of most of the kids. There were so patiently waiting for their parents to come up stairs so we could begin the talent portion of the party! Here is another picture with all the people! There was only standing room left at this point! You can see the Blue Heart Pinata hanging above the audience!

During the talent portion, we had some dancers, some singers, some card tricksters, and a pair of brothers who could read each others minds! It was a really good show. Then I put on some music and they just started having a dance party! It was really lots of fun!

Then the most anticiapated portion of the afternoon- beating the pinata! Here I am helping Ben find the pinata and then take a good whack at it! The kids tried so hard at beating it up, but I had created a rock solid pinata.

Finally one of the dad's volunteered to be blind folded and when he hit is ha smashed it pretty good and then finally the kids broke it apart and got the candy inside!

Here is my broken heart! haha! It was lots of fun, but the party went on and on! Christian, Nora, Summer and I started preparing for the party around 11am and the last guests finally left after 2am in the morning! I am still exhausted! It is hard to keep that many kids entertained for that long. We had a talent show, we beat the pinata, we swam, we had appitizers and a huge meal! Then we had a water balloon fight, a ranger ride, a haunted ranger ride (Christian dressed up as a warewolf and jumped out to scare the kids, it was priceless!)

Nora keeps saying, "I think we can say that was a successful party!" I worked really hard at that party! Fun, but lots of hard work! Nora and I were up till almost 3am picking up trash, putting away food and doing dishes! I am thankful the party is over!