Just Another Rainy Day in Dusseldorf

Well, it started out as a pretty nice day in Dusseldorf...a nice cafe, a glass of white Chardonnay and big plans to shop til we dropped. Hmmm...guess what happened? Big thunderstorms. Pouring rain. No shopping. Damn.

Cheers to a big day of shopping....

Hey! Are those raindrops? Argh! Yes, they are!!!

Per going to get the car...Doesn't he look cute in the pink umbrella?

If it's on the ground, she'll eat it

It was a gorgeous day today and we went walking in the park today. Before we went, I decided that I was going to bite the bullet and let Keira get dirty and play with the sand today. If it didn't move, she put it in her mouth. My cute little girl picked up rocks, sticks, sand,...anything that was on the ground, she picked up and put in her mouth.

It's incredible the amount of times I said, "No, Keira, don't eat that."

We also met a nice German lady and her little boy, who's name, I unfortunately, have just forgotten.

She said "mamma"... right?

Who's your mamma, baby?

Playing Catch with Pappa

Here's Keira and Per enjoying a game of catch! :)

Hanging out in Dusseldorf

We had a great day hanging out in Dusseldorf! Little bit of shopping, little bit of eating...and then...a little bit of rain.

Here's Keira enjoying the bolle that we made and you will also see her enjoying Korean food, of all things! Yum yum, kim chee! :)

We made bolle!

Bolle, for those of you who don't know, are little round Norwegian dough rolls with cardemmome, sometimes raisins and sometimes chocolate. They a staple of the Norwegian diet and Norwegians eat them up like they are candy. These rolls are sold in just about every Narvesen, 7-11, large grocery store and gas station in Norway.

Per and Keira both love them. And, now that we are living in Germany, there are no bolle to be found. So, what does a newly found housewife for a year, previously a very up and coming career woman do? Why...make bolle for her family, of course!

I trolled the internet to find a recipe and had to make them twice. I tried the recipe yesterday and totally screwed it up. German yeast is different than the Norwegian yeast. You don't mix their yeast up in water. The German yeast can just be mixed with the flour and away you go. Yesterday was a disaster. The bolle didn't rise and they came out like rocks.

Today, I went to the grocery store and bought enough flour, sugar, milk and butter to try making the bolle two more times. I am happen to report that they turned out very yummy on the first try today..melt in your mouth delicious! Ok, so they don't look so good, but hey, that's the second step. I have yet to ask someone how to make the perfect looking bolle.

We had some good teamwork going on today. I made the dough. Per helped me to make the balls and we both watch them rise in the oven. Take a peek....

If any of you Norwegians out there read this can tell me how to make them look good...I am all ears! :)

Who needs a fork when you got hands, man?

Used a fork yesterday for brekkie...well, not today! :)

Look I can use a fork...almost

What's a girl got to do to eat some breakfast around here? Use a fork? Or, maybe just use my hands.

On the menu today was: an English muffin (not a good choice, especially not toasted) Whole wheat bread, untoasted and scrambled eggs. I think that there was more breakfast on the floor than there was in her tummy.

Back in Germany

And, what's the first thing little Keira does? Gotta watch Barney on the big screen! :)

Fun in Trondheim, June 11-14, 2009

So, we've been up to see the family this past weekend. What a fun trip! Keira got birthday presents, lots and lots attention from Per's family (which she just ate up because she's such a ham).
Here's the lucky girl getting sung to by her farmor.

Here's her Daddy hanging her upside down

And here are some choice pics from our visit:

Sitting with farmor for coffee and cake
Farfar feeding Keira. Who's mouth should really be open anyway?

Marthe and Keira

Ann Kristin and Keira

Pappa and Keira

Sitting on Aunt Siri's lap

Oooohh, cool, Raybans

Relaxing with Farfar

All Dressed Up to Go To Work with Mommy

I thought...oh, I just need to go to work, make a few copies, do my expense report and voila, I'm in and out, shouldn't take more than 30 minutes.

Lets see...once I got to the office, darn it, if Keira wouldn't cooperate as I had imagined in my head that she would. She climbed into things, crawled all over the floor, ripped paper, messed up my desk....what was supposed to take 30 minutes took me about two hours. Hmmm...what was I thinking anyway?! :)

Uncle Terje here for a visit

We had a very nice surpise and unexpected visit from Uncle Terje, Per's brother. This is the first time that he has met Keira. See how cute they are!

Just another day at the park

The weather is so beautiful and fantastic. We couldn't help ourselves but go out to Hvalstrand with several friends to enjoy the weather.