Feeling Overwhelmed

I woke up this morning with a horrible sense of dread. With Kory out of commission, the reality of what I face when I get home was a bit too much to bear. The lawn will need to be mowed, all the luggage unpacked, errands run, groceries to be purchased, meals made, and two empty apartments to deal with in our building in Seattle. Cousin Odd says Kory can’t do a thing before October 1st so that also means we start home schooling with Kaleb and I’ll have the bulk of that task. I wanted to either scream or cry all day long and couldn’t have felt more burdened. And there is still plenty to do here before we leave that I’m stressing about.

Before we took our road trip we put everything in our little storage space at our condo here in Aalesund. We designated the space under the table for our six suitcases we’ll be taking with us back home to America. One of them was empty, anticipating we’d buy a few things on our trip. When I went to get them the other day I noticed that two of them were empty and Kory’s things were nowhere to be found. He was the last one in the storage unit and he swears he had everything in the suitcase when we left. That was pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back for me because not only did I have no desire to go looking for his stuff, but I didn’t have the strength to move everything out and back in again. I lost sleep over the whole situation last night trying to figure out where in the world Kory’s things were. Finally today I insisted he go with me to the storage unit to try and find them, and sure enough, it wasn’t as he remembered. For some reason he’d unpacked his suitcase and stuffed things here and there and we only found about half of what he thought he’d be bringing home. I finally gave up looking as the reason I’d asked him to pack up the suitcase before we left was just for this very reason – that we wouldn’t have to go looking for things when we returned. It’s a seemingly little thing, but right now, everything is a big deal.

Yesterday Kaleb was over at Tobias’ house and Tobias called today saying one of his brothers woke up with Chicken Pox. If I do the calculations right, when we get home, Kaleb may be breaking out with Chicken Pox. It’s just one more thing to deal with, but that’s actually a good thing as I’ve been wanting him to get them for some time now, but the timing isn’t ideal (is it ever?) So my plate feels full as I still have all the insurance forms to fill out and a few more details to care for before we leave. (I need some cheese to go with this whine.)

While we were at our condo, Kory was in pain, but still wanted to go up and visit Tante Kari. They have matching crutches as she’s still hobbling around from her broken hip. It would have been funny if it weren’t so pathetic to see the two of them trying to get to the couch. At least Kory got out a little today, but he’s still so far from being fine.

I went to the evening service at Agape Church tonight and it was just what I needed. They sang “Uten Deg” my all time favorite song (“Without You I have no hope, but with You I have everything.”) While we were singing that song I thought about something that happened a few days ago. I needed to go to the “people register” office but as I drove near the office I just couldn’t turn in because the road I had to go in is very difficult to come out. I’m so worried about having a car accident and the only way to come out of that place requires turning left on to the busiest road in town. I didn’t have the guts to go the first day, but the second day I was running errands and I knew I had to do it. When I turned left off the main road I saw there were six cars backed up waiting to get onto the road I’d just left. I asked God if he could PLEASE provide a way for me to get out of there when I was done. I neither wanted to wait half an hour behind other cars, nor did I want to pull out fast onto that busy street to avoid a collision. When I was done at the office, I headed up the side road and there were no other cars waiting to turn - that was the first miracle. Then, as I approached the main road, a city bus that wasn’t in service was coming down the road on my right and the driver just stopped in the middle of the road, looked and me and motioned for me to cut out in front of him – thereby stopping all other traffic so I could get out safely. It nearly felt like God parting the Red Sea for Moses. I just had to laugh that God loves me so much that He made a way for me through that otherwise awful traffic situation and why would I think He wouldn’t do the same for me for all the other things that plagued my mind today. Of course He will make a way, and of course He will give me the strength when I need it. I then had to ask for forgiveness for my doubt and unbelief. God is good, all the time, even when we aren’t. (I feel so much better now – Hallelujah!)

A Good Day for a Hike

My friend Tina decided today was a good day for a hike. It was warm, but overcast, so we headed for the hills with her son Daniel (in the red shirt), Kaleb and Tobias. It was going to be just a quick trip up to a viewpoint, but it went so quickly, we decided to keep on going up to a mountain lake. We weren’t disappointed. It was good for the boys to do something other than electronics and it was good for me to get off my butt. I’ve been sitting at the computer just a little too much lately and feeling a bit lazy. I have so much to do I’m not motivated to do much, so thanks to Tina I got some fresh air and exercise today before the rains came to Aalesund.

Kaleb had a great time with Daniel last night and wanted to keep playing with him, but Tobias also wanted to spend time with him so we invited him on the hike, then Andre called asking for Kaleb to come over, so he had to make some tough choices. In the end I took him over to Andre’s after the hike and I’m not sure if I’ll see again anytime soon. Andre has been gone all week to his grandmother’s house and just got home. Kaleb was crying his eyes out yesterday telling me that he thinks Andre likes his grandmother more than him. I tried to explain that was the way it should be, but he just didn’t understand. He said one time he was at Toben’s house and they called Andre to come up and play, but Andre said if they wanted to play with him, they needed to come to his house because his grandmother was there. Kaleb was so upset when he said, “He sees her ALL the time – she comes over at least ONCE a week!” Poor Kaleb, he’s so used to being the center of attention he doesn’t know what it’s like to share. But these are the things that grow him up so I’m thankful for that. But now he has Andre all to himself so he might just stay there a few days.

Tina kept me entertained today as we were hiking with stories of her adventures in the wilds of Norway. I can’t believe what a Mountain Mama she is. She likes to hike and has been to the highest peaks around here. She went with eight other women to the highest mountaintop but only three of them made it all the way because they had to scale some pretty steep rock faces and the others thought it was too dangerous. Not Tina. She also likes to hunt and told me of the time she packed out a hundred pounds of cut up elk (I don’t think she even weighs that much) in her backpack, four hours down a steep mountain in the black of night. She kept falling and had a hard time standing up with all that meat on her back. I didn’t understand her persistence on that one, but she said she likes to challenge herself and she never gives up. Then she told me about the time her door was left open a crack and she was welcomed home by a poisonous snake in her entryway. She took a shovel to it hoping to chop it in half but the skin was so tough it just pinched it and made it so mad the snake kept striking at the shovel. She dared not let it go and had to keep pressure on it a long time until it finally gave up the ghost, then she threw it outside and crushed it’s head with a rock. I was in awe of her gumption and bravery, not to mention skill and determination in all her experiences. What a woman. She also told me about harrowing experiences her husband has had. They are both walking miracles. Thankfully today didn’t produce any exciting stories to tell, it was just a nice walk in the mountains with lots of blueberries for the taking along the way.

I found out today there is another berry that looks exactly like the blueberry, called a blokkaberry and one taste tells of the difference. They grow right next to each other so for novices like me, it’s easy to mix them up. Blokkaberries are quite bitter and unfortunately, I put a whole handful of them in Kaleb’s mouth. He wasn’t at all happy about that, but I didn’t know until it was too late. Apparently the leaves on the blokkaberry are the same shape, but slightly greener and when the berry is squeezed, it has a clear liquid inside rather than the reddish liquid in the blueberry. At least they aren’t poisonous – now that would have been a story, if I’d given Kaleb poisonous berries. Uff da.

Kory in the meantime continued to lie on his back and be bored all day at Odd and Turid’s. He’s getting a little grumpy now as he wants to do more, but can’t. He sat with us out on the deck tonight and ate dinner with his left hand because his right hand was busy keeping the weight of his body off his back. I hate to see him in pain so it’s hard for me to be around him. It’ going to be a long week.

We Should Be Home By Now....

Kaleb has been hoping for a sleepover invitation all week. Today was his lucky day. Yesterday a friend of mine called who has an 11 year old boy that Kaleb has met once. She invited me over for coffee this morning so Kaleb came along to play with Daniel. They were two peas in a pod and after I had a wonderful time visiting her on her deck with the most amazing view I’ve seen (see today’s photo for a tiny part of it), I had to go home to feed Kory some lunch. Kaleb didn’t want to leave so he stayed on until my friend Tina invited him to just spend the night. It was like he won the lottery. I’m not sure what’s so special about sleep-overs but he was beyond thrilled - so I’m happy he's happy.

When I got home, poor Kory was lying on the couch, all alone and hungry. He asked for so many things the first week he was on his back, he sort of wore out his welcome and now is afraid to ask for anything – even food. So I have to remember to ask him if he’s hungry and I nearly forgot about him today. Uff da. He’s getting so tired of being bored and home alone, but at least there is a TV and a remote control. He’s watching the History Channel and the Discovery Channel non-stop as he’s never had such luxury before, (we haven’t had TV for over ten years) but he’d still rather be out and about. He went back on pain pills today because he’s been moving around too much and the pain returned. He can stand longer than he can sit, but lying down is still the best.

I worked on my digital photo albums again today. I should be getting a commission from the company that makes them because so many people have now downloaded the software and made their own photo books after seeing mine. I showed Tina today how to do it also. The quality of the books can’t be beat, but it does take a little time sorting through all those photos I’ve taken. Now, what do I do with the ones I don’t use in the book….

Odd and Turid had a dinner party to attend tonight so Kory and I were home alone. We popped popcorn and watched a movie – a rare thing in our lives. I had to stay up until midnight so I could be their chauffer (and then was too tired to post the blog afterwards). They usually take a taxi home if they drink wine with dinner, but Turid has been our taxi every year we’ve come to Norway, so I was happy to return the favor. I was a little afraid of driving late on a Friday night without a license though as it’s an automatic $125 ticket for not having it with me. The police set up road blocks often and just check everyone’s ID and to see if they have been drinking or if there are safety concerns with their cars. They don’t need a “just cause” here in Norway to pull anyone over for anything so I’m trusting God to keep me out of trouble with the law for another week as they don’t care about excuses like “my license was stolen” either.

We should be on our way back home right now. I even had an e-mail from a friend telling me she has some fresh picked blueberries just waiting for us, as well as some homemade jam. She hadn’t yet heard about Kory’s back, so I’m hoping the blueberries are still ripe for the picking when we get home. It’s nice we have been missed and it’s nice that people here are already looking forward to our return. I don’t know why we are so popular with extended family members when our immediate families in America don’t even talk to us. Strange. It’s probably because the extended family lives in Norway and real Norwegians are a practical and socialized group of people who always do the right thing, especially if it’s expected of them. And family is pretty important here. Kory has often referred to this country as “Stepford” (taken after the movie “Stepford Wives” where all the wives were perfect, but turned out, they were robots.) Kory said he feels that way sometimes because Norwegians are so predictable and conforming to what is proper, right and practical. If they disagree with something they usually keep it to themselves as it seems their freedom of expression has been lost somewhat in their socialized training. I see both good and bad in that. I think it was good when they had closed borders and they could maintain the life they have created here, but now I think it’s not so good with so many immigrants coming in with different social norms. Twenty years from now the whole of Norway will have gone from the Ballard of the 1950s to the Ballard of today with nary a true blue Norwegian to be found. It’s like some cosmic blender is about to get turned on and another Big Bang might just create an entirely new universe here. We’ll see.

Kory's Getting Better and Better

Little by little, Kory is literally, taking steps toward recovery. Today he took a few steps without crutches. It gives me the creeps to watch him because I still think he should be flat on his back, but he insists on pushing himself a little just to see what is possible. I know he’s bored, but his healing requires time and he must be patient. I’m sure glad it’s not me that’s having to stay in bed all day as surely I’d be in a home for crazy people by now. Poor Kory. I’m not even a very good nurse, but I do bring him food. At least I don’t have to help him in the bathroom anymore. Love has its limits.

I went to a prayer meeting this morning with The Praying Ladies. It was so good to be with them again. They swear they don’t know what to do when I leave, but really, I don’t know what I’ll do without getting a regular dose of prayer from them. It’s so incredible for me to be with so many women that know how to talk to God Almighty in such a powerful way. What a gift. And each week Kristen hosts this event, makes lunch for us all, sets the table in the most artful and fashionable way and makes us all feel special with her gift of hospitality. I love it that they are all “soaking” now before we pray and then we share what happened while we basked in the presence of God. I fell asleep today while we were soaking (as I sometimes do), but then the answer to something comes to me the minute I wake up – it’s a strange phenomenon. I hope that God loves it that I fall asleep in His presence, just like I love it when Kaleb sits in my lap and leans back in my arms and falls asleep. Time with God is never wasted and I sure needed the nap!

Kaleb spent the entire day up at his friend Toben’s house. As promised, his dad put them to work. Today they moved a big pile of wood from their current house down the street to their new house. Kaleb said it took three hours and they each earned a hundred kroner ($18). He’s rolling in it now and between him and Toben, they have enough money pooled to buy the Nintendo game they have been wanting. It’s been a good experience for him. He’s been gone for at least nine hours a day, which I’m sure he needed after spending five solid weeks with us on the road trip, but I do wish I could be a mouse in the corner and watch him at work. That’s a kid I don’t yet know.

Turid was gone all afternoon so I worked on the photo album of our road trip I hope to get ordered and delivered before we leave. I also made dinner tonight for everyone but Hege and Odd weren’t too thrilled I put beans in with the taco meat. Neither of them have ever eaten a bean in their life and they actually acted afraid of them. I think it makes the tacos healthy and better tasting but they didn’t see it that way. They liked the other ingredients though so they were able to make their own tacos after picking out all the beans. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but Norwegians put canned corn on EVERYTHING. The corn is different here – much better than the canned corn I grew up with. There is very little water in the can and the corn is actually quite crisp and tender, not mushy at all. They never heat it, they eat it out of the can at room temperature and they put it on salads, baked potatoes, pizzas, tacos, pasta and about every other thing that needs a little yellow on its top. I’ve gotten hooked on it myself and wonder what I’ll do when I get home and can’t get that need met.

Another quirky Norwegian eating habit that I won’t miss, however, is that they put catsup on any and all pasta. When they serve spaghetti, they put the catsup bottle on the table and everyone squirts it over the top of the sauce. Pasta and catsup go together like salt and pepper in America. Weird. I also think it’s weird they don’t put sugar or vanilla in their whipped cream. The first time we were here visiting Norway we were served something with whipped cream on top. I was in a bit of shock over how unsweet it was, so when our hosts weren’t looking I scooped a few spoonfuls of sugar on it from the container on the table. Little did I know the container (with spoon!) was salt. Norwegians really like salty food and apparently a salt shaker doesn’t deliver the goods fast enough so they need a spoon to get a good dose of it quickly. Once I realized the error of my ways, I was wishing I’d just stuck with the unsweetened whipped cream, rather than having to deal with salty version. To this day, I avoid the whipped cream whenever I’m in Norway.

A Quiet Day

Kory was feeling so good today he walked around a bit more than he should have. It’s not that his back was bothering him so much, but the weight he put on his wrists as he was holding the crutches, about did him in. It’s tough to get old. If it’s not his back, it’s the arthritis in his wrists that make life challenging. He watched TV most of the day while the rest of us ran around and did normal life stuff. He’s already getting tired of the view of the ceiling, but not complaining too much. He knows I’m on thin ice.

I felt better today than I have in a week, so that’s something. I had spurts of energy and used them to get the stuff cleaned out of the back of the van and take a load over to our storage unit. I sorted through things to decide what will be left here and what to bring home. I’m never really sure I make the right decisions, but I do the best I can.

Kaleb and I walked over to our old street this morning so we could visit Tobias and his parents. Tobias has been calling and anxious to see Kaleb, and today we found out why – he had bought Kaleb a pack of Pokemon cards when he was in Turkey last month and he was anxious to give them to him. Kaleb couldn’t have been more pleased. He stayed on and played with Tobias for several hours after I visited with his parents and filled them in on the details of our “disasters.” They own a condo in Turkey (many Norwegians do) and their three weeks there were pretty uneventful so it was a lopsided story time. They bought a boat last week so we all took a walk down to the water to see it. I told Bjørn the two happiest days in a man’s life are the day he gets a boat and the day he gets rid of it. He just laughed.

This afternoon I also visited Lizbet, one of my old neighbors. We used to take the same bus into the city every morning. She said the bus rides are so boring now because there is no one to tell her stories. Her vacation had a little spice to it so we swapped vacation stories. It’s only the things out of the ordinary that make a good story and she had a good one, but I still topped hers. (They also just got a new boat and went on a long boat tour for vacation. While they were in Bergen one night, one guy tied right next to their boat, stabbed another guy. They heard the whole thing and saw all the blood the next morning.)

Kaleb went up to Skothaugen this afternoon and got to his friend Toben’s house just as they were about to paint a fence. He got in on the work party and Toben’s dad paid all four painters. They each made sixty kroner today ($10) so Kaleb was more than pleased with how fast he worked and how much he made. Toben is soon moving into a new house in the neighborhood so apparently his parents are getting their current house ready to sell. There was talk of more work tomorrow so Kaleb is anxious to get up there and make more money. I like his work ethic and only wish I could harness that enthusiasm.

We had a beautiful summer day today, for which I was thankful but I didn’t take a single picture. I think that’s a first. I’m also thankful I haven’t forgotten how to speak Norwegian as I’m having to do it an awful lot. I love this neighborhood and how the culture here emphasizes being outside and going for walks. Neighbors stop and talk to each other in the street, people drop in on each other all the time just to say “Hi,” and life involves less driving and more socializing. I’m so going to miss that.

He's On the Mend!

Today was a big day for Kory. He didn’t take any pain medicine all day and he was able to get up on his own (using crutches) and walk around a little. He looks like an orangutan with extra legs as he has to walk leaning so far forward, but at least he wasn’t in pain. He even sat with us at dinner for a while before the grimaces in his face told me it was time for him to go back to his bed and lay down. There are so many people praying for him, I do believe he might be healed in half the time the doctor said. Many friends and family have been calling and stopping by to see how Kory is doing. It feels good to be so cared for.

Kaleb had a good day, spent entirely up at Skaathaugen, a neighborhood near here where all his buddies from school live. He just bops around from one house to the next playing with the kids. Often they all hang out together and he was pretty pleased to tell me wherever he is during lunchtime, he gets fed. He said the parents all just feed whoever is in the house and he likes that system a lot. (I had suggested I pack a lunch for him but he told me it’s not necessary.) Today he was at Toben’s house when his father was doing some yard work and Kaleb came up with the idea of helping him pick up all the cut grass on the hillside. It turned into quite the work party with several other kids joining in. Kaleb set up a type of conveyor system involving one kid picking up the clumps of grass and another putting them in the bucket, another kid emptied the bucket and another kid did something else but I forgot already. When one girl from his class showed up, they decided to set up a bar so she could bring them all glasses of water. They worked for about 90 minutes, rotating positions every five dumps of the bucket. The dad surprised all the kids by paying them 50 kroner each for their help (about $8) so then the boys decided to pool their money and see if they have enough to buy a game they can all share for their Nintendos. I love hearing about stuff like that so I am glad we’ll be here the rest of the summer. (School starts two days after we fly home on the 17th.)

I too had a somewhat productive day, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun. Ever since I drove those three longs days back to Norway (under a bit of stress), I’ve had a terrible numbness in my right shoulder, below my neck. Today I decided it wasn’t getting any better and a massage was in order. (I guess that might be an understatement.) My whole body has been one big tense muscle and I was nearing the breaking point. I was able to get a very effective Thai massage today that totally repaired the numbness, but now my neck is stiff from all the pressure she used to break up my muscles. I’m sure tomorrow all will be well and in the meantime the rest of my body is whistling Dixie, but she told me I might need another massage soon because I was pretty stiff (no kidding). After my massage I went to talk to the Aalesund Kommune about some nasty collection notices they’ve sent us recently about unpaid rent. They had their billing system all messed up so I had to go point out the error of their ways and after much explanation, the woman understood what they did wrong and apologized. Check that off my list. Then I had to order a new bank card, and a few other cards that were in my wallet that was stolen. Then I had to go fill out a form with the “folktelling” (people counters) to inform them of our plans to move out of the country. So many formalities and details to be tended to around here.

I made dinner tonight for everyone, trying to minimize our impact, but it’s pretty hard when Kory’s bed is set up in the living room and Kaleb and I are sleeping in their TV room. Turid and I went for a walk tonight over to our old neighborhood and she told me, “It’s easier for us to have you here, than for you to be here.” I appreciate that sentiment but I still feel like we are putting a crimp in their style. I guess this is a good way for us to transition back home because if we flew home this Friday, we’d leave here feeling like we didn’t have enough time to say good-bye to everyone and it might be a very sad day when we left. Now that we have a few more weeks, and we aren’t in a house of our own, it will make our own house feel all the more welcoming. I’ve long given up second guessing what God has in mind when things happen outside the ordinary because I’ve learned time and time again, there is a very good reason. I just don’t know it yet.

(The photo today is “classic Odd” – sitting out on his deck, drinking a beer….)

The End of My Rope

It wasn’t one of the best days I’ve had lately. After picking up Kory from the hospital and getting him settled in a bed in Odd and Turid’s living room, and making sure Kaleb had his playdate plans for the day all squared away, I headed into town to face the insurance company to see what I must do about all the messes we’ve created lately. I told the woman about the broken window in the car and what was taken and all she could say was, “Sorry, you aren’t covered for that.” As it turns out, we didn’t pay for damage to any windows – apparently that was one of those fine print things that you don’t know about until you try to file a claim. When I told her they also damaged the locking system to the car trying to jam something in it to get the door opened, she said, “Sorry, you aren’t covered for that.” As that one turns out, in words translated to English, it’s something similar to an “attractive nuisance” – the fact we left something in the car that would make them want to break in, makes it our liability, not the insurance companies, so no compensation for that either. Then when I asked about the contents of what was taken I got, “Sorry, you’re not covered for that. You shouldn’t have left anything in the car.” So there you have it. Of all the differences between America and Norway, it’s at least reassuring to know one thing is the same – insurance companies don’t like to pay out any claims.

When I then told the woman about Kory’s accident and that the doctor said today he can’t travel any sooner than the 16th of August, and we have tickets to fly home Friday that we now can’t use, she referred me to some guy on the telephone that said he would be happy to reimburse us for the cost of the tickets for Friday, but that was it. The fact that the new tickets home the next week cost four times the price we paid for the tickets on Friday, wasn’t his problem - our travel insurance only covers the cost of the tickets we can’t use. I wanted to cry. He then reassured me that all of Kory’s medical expenses were covered, which is a moot point anyway because we are in a socialized country and they pay medical for everyone, regardless of where they come from or whether they have insurance or not.

What fries me the most is when we bought the insurance the woman assured me that if anything went wrong, we’d even be compensated for loss of travel days if we had to come home early, any cancellation fees we might have to pay for hotels, etc., etc., but as it turns out, now that we are no longer legal Norwegian residents, all bets are off and we are on our own. They will only pay the $1,500 for our unused one-way tickets. Tickets the following week will cost $6,000, and we have no credit cards to pay for that because they were stolen. Then when I then told the insurance woman about the car I backed in to in Oslo she was bright and cherry and spouted, “No problem, you are covered for that!” so it was good I gave her something to be proud of.

I walked out of the insurance office and headed to my car, fighting back the feeling of being totally ripped off. We’d paid nearly $400 for that policy just for the road trip and now it seems, we would have been better off without it (except it was required by law since we were traveling out of the country.) I wasn’t that angry about the loss of money, as we came in under budget on the road trip anyway, but I was angry at the deception of it all. I was only half a block away from the insurance office when I ran into My Pal Vestina, sent by God, to cheer me up. She took one look at me and said, “Set your nose up, you look terrible like this,” as she hung her head as low as mine. Her hug did me some good as I then ranted on about the situation with the insurance.

After I got back to Odd and Turid’s house I checked out airline tickets on other airlines, trying to find a ticket for the 16th within a reasonable price range, but couldn’t. Finally, I changed the dates for more than two weeks out and was able to find tickets to Seattle and back again next May for a little over a thousand each. If the insurance company really does reimburse us the $500 per ticket, then that wasn’t too bad of a deal, except I still had no way to order them without a credit card. Fortunately, about that time, Turid came in the door and she called Odd and they let me use their credit to buy the tickets, so now, if everything calms down and Kory can sit by then, we’ll be coming home August 17th.

I needed to calm down a little from my frazzled state so I drove over to a nearby island and visited my friend Melinda from school. She just got married in Romania last month and had the most elaborate wedding I’ve ever seen, so it was good to watch the video and see her photos, as it got my mind on happier things. I told her at least when everything happened on our trip, we were comforted at the time with the THOUGHT that the insurance would cover everything, so it made it more tolerable at that moment to deal with it, even though now it turns out not to be true. Melinda sounded almost disgusted with me when she said, “No matter how bad things are or no matter what happens to you, you always find the bright side.” To which I replied, “It’s the only way to get through it without becoming bitter.”

It's Good To Be Home

We’ve stayed at Odd and Turid’s house every time we’ve come to Norway, so there’s no place in all the land that feels more like home than their house. They are gracious hosts and they swear it’s no problem we are here as long as we need to be. With Kory in the hospital and Kaleb with friends, it’s only me they have to put up with for now.

Kory is feeling no pain today (see photo). He was all smiles and his normal disposition when I visited him this afternoon (they have very limited visiting hours.) The fact he was completely still all night and day and they are giving him some good pain medication that doesn’t cause him to be sick, made all the difference. When he leaves the hospital, I hope he doesn’t have a set-back as he’s progressing nicely now. Many prayers are being said so we’ll take it one day at a time. The doctor that saw him today said there is no way he’s going home this week, and maybe not next. He will write a note to the insurance company so they will pay for the change in our tickets. The doctor also asked if he needed a note to get disability pay as he won’t be fit for work for a while. Kory just laughed. The accident happened the day after his permission to work here expired, and even though he’d quit his job before we left on vacation, he would still get disability pay if we were still legal residents. Norway is THE place to be when anything out of the ordinary happens. Yesterday I ran into Sandra, a friend from my Norwegian class. She just had a baby ten days ago but it came seven weeks premature. Because of that, her husband gets time off with full pay until the baby’s due date in September, then he can get the normal three month maternity leave after that. (The baby is doing well, but it will stay in intensive care until its due date so Sandra and her husband need to be at the hospital every day.) Norway knows how to care for its people.

I went to Filadelfia Church this morning without Kaleb as he didn’t want to leave his friend’s house. It was good to see so many familiar faces and to hear an inspiring sermon. Cousin Kari stood in front of the congregation and prayed for Kory. I love to hear that woman pray – she just pours it out from the bottom of her heart and I was in tears by the end of it. I was in tears most of the service anyway as I started thinking about leaving here and I got very sad. Right after church I went over to our old neighborhood and had dinner with Sabina and her mom, Tone, and a few others. Tone is one heck of a cook and I was sorry Kory couldn’t be there as she made leg of goat, and that’s something he’s never tried before and he would have loved it. I had to speak Norwegian the whole time so it was good for me to get back in the swing of it as we didn’t speak Norsk too much while we were on vacation. (One city we were in had a lot of beggars and gypsies approaching people who spoke English and asking them for money, so we kicked into the Norwegian mode to avoid being accosted. It worked great.)

Kaleb called as expected this afternoon asking for another sleep over with a friend but I thought it best he wait and get a good night’s sleep tonight before having another sleep over tomorrow. He wants to be with friends night after night, but I know he doesn’t get much rest and I hate for him to get sick from lack of sleep. He spent all afternoon up in the mountains with his friend Andre’s family, picking blueberries, so I was glad for that because I also know he usually sits for hours on end playing his Nintendo when he’s with his friends. I picked him up after dinner and he went with me to Agape Church’s evening service. When he fell asleep in my lap during the sermon, I knew I’d made the right decision to have him home tonight.

Currently Odd and Turid are out on the deck, sitting by candlelight, all bundled up, drinking wine and talking. It’s a nightly thing in the summer around here even if it’s pouring down rain (everyone has an awning). One of Odd’s common sayings is “If it’s summer, we are outside.” In the winter, they don’t have that option too much, so they make the most of every summer night, no matter what the temperature. When we were staying at a campground in Denmark, we had Norwegians all around us and sure enough, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they were sitting outside eating. Even after the kids where in bed, people were sitting outside watching the rain by candlelight. Kory and I never sat outside even once as it wasn’t warm enough by our estimation and tonight I’m inside writing and everyone else is outside. We may have lived a year in Norway, but we have a long way to go before we are Norwegians.

Managing Pain

Before we even made it to Aalesund last night, cousin Odd was on the phone with Kory asking him about his symptoms and how he injured his back. Kory told him all the details and what the doctors said in Denmark. Odd told Kory that they didn’t do a thorough enough exam, as he suspected Kory had a compression fracture in his spine and they should have taken an x-ray. Once we got to Odd’s house last night and Odd took one look at the pain on Kory’s face, he said he was sure he had a compression fracture. So this morning Odd kicked into “solve it” mode and took Kory down to the hospital for a second opinion. He wrote up the papers requesting an x-ray and worked his magic so it was done right away. He then schmoozed with some of the medical staff there and got it read immediately so we didn’t have to wait until Monday morning to know the results. Sure enough, he was right. Kory has a compression fracture to his L3. They examined him further and felt a CT Scan was prudent to rule out any nerve damage. If he had nerve damage, he’d need back surgery, so I was really praying THAT wasn’t the case. The CT Scan again came at lightning speed and after about an hour of waiting we knew he had no nerve damage. Hallelujah! But, according to the ER doc, he had “enough damage” that they wanted to admit him to the hospital immediately. He needed to be immobile and his pain needed a bit more managing.

I had just begun taking everything out of the car to get it cleaned, sort through things and figure out what is coming home with us and what is staying here, when Odd said we needed to get Kory to the hospital. Now, as it turns out, I’ll have a lot of time for cleaning the van because we can’t travel home on Friday as planned. The ER doctor thought it might be two or three weeks before Kory can fly, and a good two months for a full recovery. But the good news is, there WILL be a full recovery and by October 1st he will be back to his OLD self again. HALLELUJAH! (Now I just hope we don’t wear out our welcome at Odd and Turid’s.)

Kaleb left early this morning to go play with friends so he didn’t even know our day was spent at the hospital. I drove by and told him the news because he is having a sleep over and I thought he might want to pray for Kory’s quick recovery. The look of horror on his face when I told him Kory's condition turned to a look of glee when I told him we can’t fly home on Friday. He worked hard at not getting downright giddy as he knew it was a serious situation with Kory, but he couldn’t be happier he will have a little more time with his friends before we head home. I’m thankful for that.

I laid in bed this morning and thought through my agenda for this day, had it down to a science, and then it all went out the window when we headed to the hospital. I had told My Pal Vestina I would come over for a visit at noon today and I didn’t make it until after seven this evening. Stuff happens. But after I got Kory all settled in his hospital room, I couldn’t wait to go find out all that’s new in Vestina’s world (see photo). It’s like I’m in high school again, only WAY smarter. We talked about “boys” and I was able to give her some advice I wish I would have had when I was her age. She is such a hoot to be around. Her relationship with Kim was going along well and blossoming into something quite hopeful when the bubble burst. She wanted him to spend ten more minutes with her one day when he had to leave to go to a party with his friends. When he wouldn’t spend the extra time with her, she swore at him and got very angry. That did it. He didn’t call her or see her for four days and at the end of the four days he said he just wanted to be friends – he pulled the plug on their relationship. So Vestina and I had a long talk about what all that meant and how they both blew it. She just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t give her ten more minutes. Then I had to explain that if he’d told his friends he’d be there at a certain time, keeping his word to someone was more important than just sitting around for ten more minutes with her. I told her today I almost didn’t take Kory to the hospital JUST BECAUSE I had told her I’d be at her house by noon. It was so important for me to keep my commitment to her that I was going to let Kory continue in his suffering because his back problem wasn’t on my agenda today. She finally understood, so it was good we had a chance to talk. I missed her and I’m so going to miss our friendship. I don’t really have anyone in my life like her, so I’m thankful now I might get a little more time with her before we leave.

I feel badly for Kory though, as the hospital he’s in is pretty basic with no frills - he doesn’t even have a TV in his room. It kind of feels like a prison (except they have TVs there). And they don’t cater to “special diets”– everyone gets what the cook makes, so Kory had rice porridge for dinner and loved it, as he hasn’t had cream for years. And I couldn’t believe how vacant that place was. Not many people work on Saturdays so the hospital had empty corridors and many locked doors. It was a strange sensation walking around entire wings with nobody in them. Odd said it’s where they keep the dead bodies, but I’m hoping that was just a joke.

We're Back!

After all our “adventures” on this trip, we kept saying we were glad nothing else has happened. Kaleb kept asking, “What else could go wrong?” and our answer was always “plenty.” Well, the “adventure” continued today as we began our journey back home. It was raining hard when we left Kory’s cousin’s house in Oslo. I had driven straight into her long driveway yesterday, but was unable to turn around this morning so I had to back out. Sigrunn was helping guide me back UP her driveway (as I was going uphill and backwards in the rain and difficult conditions), and I was going very slowly until I reached the street then had to give it a bit more gas to get over the ridge of the road. That’s when I heard the crunch. I didn’t see the car parked on the street right behind me, nor did Sigrunn. I did some serious damage to the other vehicle because our van has a tow hitch on the back side and it put a good sized dent in the lower cowling on the front of the Volkswagen that was unfortunately parked there. I couldn’t believe it. I’m thankful we have insurance but it was still no way to begin the day. Kory didn’t say a word.

After that unfortunate event, I was glad to be the hero today in Kaleb’s eyes. I drove over eight hours from Oslo to Aalesund with only one stop and we made it back in time for him to say good-bye to Henrik (one of his friends) before he left on vacation tonight. The trip home didn’t go exactly as planned because I trusted the GPS to get me out of the city, and just like my laptop – it suckered me in to trusting it too much and then let me down. For some reason the GPS routed us out of Oslo heading to Bergen and then up the coast to Aalesund – taking a route that would use four ferries and many unnecessary hours. I didn’t realize the mistake right away as I was so worried about getting out of the city – but when I saw the signs to Bergen, rather than Trondheim, I knew we were in trouble. It cost about an hour to take a road over a mountain pass to get back on the highway heading north, not west, but that road was incredibly beautiful and there were no other cars to deal with – which was a good thing because it was a one lane road and I had to dodge many sheep along the way. I didn’t go the speed limit, hoping to make up some lost time, and as it turned out it was the fastest I went all day. Once I actually made it to the longed for Highway 6, I never went more than forty miles per hour – which is typical for traveling around in Norway. Most of the main roads have a speed limit between 25 and 40 miles per hour so it’s painful driving – especially since there are never straight stretches long enough to pass the inevitable motor home or truck in front of me. It’s quite the opposite experience from driving the German Autobaun, but that’s the “charm” of driving in Norway.

Kory and I had the same feeling today, driving back to Aalesund, that we had when we were heading back to Seattle after our two year honeymoon motor home trip. We loved driving all over America and Canada and seeing all the nice places, but when we drove back into western Washington we realized that as pretty as other places are, there’s no place as beautiful as the Northwest. Well, it’s the same for Europe. There are many beautiful places, but once we got back to the west coast of Norway we realized there is just no place that can compare with the beauty we have here. Kory was also glad to have something to look at other than the sky, as every place we’ve driven is pretty flat and he can’t see the landscape lying flat on his back, but once we reached Norway all of a sudden he had a view, as the farms up on the mountainside are almost touching heaven.

Once we got back to town we drove right over to Henrik’s house so Kaleb could give him a hug good-bye. His father was busy rotating the tires on their motor home so it gave Kaleb a few minutes to tell Henrik all about the amusement park rides he must not miss, as Henrik is going to all the same places we’ve just taken Kaleb. They also talked Pokemon moves and all that’s happened on our trip, so it was good to see Kaleb having a few last minutes with Henrik before they had to take off and drive out the road we’d just driven in on. After we left Henrik’s we drove down the street to see our old house. Nothing’s changed except the grass hasn’t been cut. Kaleb is already talking with a sentimental lilt to his voice when he talks about living there. Oh, it will be hard to leave.

Cousin Odd was waiting for our arrival and was quite protective of Kory as he helped him to the couch. Odd’s only plans this weekend is to be Kory’s personal physician. Kory said Michael Jackson had a personal physician and it didn’t work out too well for him, but Odd promised not to give him any drugs. It is good to be “home.”

(The photo today is a “drive by shooting” taken from the car while we were leaving Czech Republic last week.)

We Have Passports!

I set the alarm for six o’clock this morning so we could pack up and leave by seven. The GPS system said it was nearly six hours from where we were to the US Embassy in Oslo. When I called the embassy earlier they said it would take a full day to re-issue emergency passports so I was hoping to get there around noonish so by tomorrow at the same time, we might have them and be able to drive back to Aalesund Friday afternoon (an eight hour’s drive.)

Even though I didn’t have a driver’s license, I didn’t let that stop me from speeding. I was on a mission and had only one thing on my mind. It was the best scenario too because Kory was still lying flat on his back in the back seat and could neither see how fast I was going nor if there were other cars or hazards in the way – so he didn’t stress out and he didn’t stress me out. I only went as fast as the car in front of me, figuring the locals knew where it was safe to speed, and it worked well for me as I made it to the embassy in exactly four and a half hours without stopping. Whew.

I would highly recommend a GPS system for anyone who ever needs to drive in Oslo as it guided me right to the spot without one wrong turn. (It was a much better experience than spending two hours trying to find a hotel one time when Kory was driving in Oslo and left the GPS at home.) I also prayed this morning that we’d find parking near the embassy as the only way Kory is mobile is if he flops all his body weight onto my back and lets me take the steps for him. I couldn’t imagine walking like that for blocks, then waiting to be seen, etc. And sure enough, God loves me more than I ever expect and He heard my prayers as there was an empty parking spot as close to the embassy as I could get. Hallelujah! I parked there, left Kory in the car for the time being, and went in with Kaleb and the photo copies of our passports and explained our predicament.

The US Embassy is quite the experience. First we had to stand in line out on the sidewalk (rain and all), waiting to be invited in to the little security house to be checked out. While we were standing there, a security agent came and asked us why we were there. Apparently he’s the pre-screener as some folks had to leave the line after they talked to him. I think for the most part, an appointment is required and if their name wasn’t on the list, they got booted out. Everyone also had to show ID while standing in the line, so they don’t mess around. Once we were invited into the security building our palms were swabbed with a cotton disc which was inserted into some type of scanner to see if we’d recently been handling dangerous chemicals. Fortunately, I found out today, I hadn’t. Then we had the usual metal detector scanner and coats going through the x-ray machine. Once we cleared that we were allowed to go into the embassy building, which felt like being in a bomb shelter. All the employees were tucked behind bullet proof glass with only one slit open for talking at each station. Nearly every window also had a finger scanner machine and everyone had to have their finger and thumb prints scanned on both hands. Kaleb and I didn’t because we were at a special window for US Citizens that had problems with their passports. I guess they know enough about us already.

I was so impressed with the sympathy of the woman I dealt with. I think she was more upset about our experiences than I was so she was more than accommodating. I told her I needed to fill out Kory’s info for him and then go get him just for the signature, as he wasn’t able to walk. She said the Consulate could come with me out to my car and have Kory sign in front of her so we wouldn’t have to move him. Now THAT is good customer service, and I was so thankful! The other thing I was impressed by was that she said we could have the new passports in two hours! So after all the paperwork and signatures were done, I walked to a bakery to buy some lunch and we had a picnic in the car while waiting for the prize. The time flew by as Kaleb got on the phone and called all his buddies from school to tell them he’ll be back in town tomorrow, so his social calendar is filling up fast. I used the time to send a few text messages to people I’d like to see before we leave also, so I’m glad we will have a few extra days in Aalesund before we fly home.

Before we knew it, it was three o’clock and our passports were ready! They cost a hundred dollars each and are only good for three months, but they will get us home and then we can apply for permanent ones for free, so all-in-all, it wasn’t that painful to get them replaced (well, maybe it was painful for Kory as he had to ride in the car to Oslo. The insurance company said they would have flown him back to Aalesund in an air ambulance because he couldn’t walk, but he needed to get his passports in Oslo, so that wasn’t an option we could take.) I’m sure the fact I had photocopies of the old passports (and our social security numbers) helped a lot, but the woman did say it was a problem I didn’t have Kaleb’s birth certificate so we need to present that again when we get back home before they will issue him a new permanent passport. No sweat.

The GPS once again saved the day and guided us across town to one of Kory’s Slaatthaug cousins (Sigrund even has the same last name!) where we are spending the night before heading back to Aalesund in the morning. We had a wonderful visit with Sigrund, Bent and the girls (see photo). Sigrund is an incredible artist, (many of those Slaatthaug cousins are) and she had her first child at 45 (then they adopted another from China). Manghild is just a few months younger than Kaleb and they became instant best friends now that Kaleb can speak Norwegian (on previous visits there wasn’t so much bonding going on.)

So today was the last official day of our road trip. I think vacations with a few bumps in the road make the trip a lot more interesting and certainly give us more to talk about than just, “We had a nice time.”

On Schedule

Kory finally got all of the pain meds out of his system, so this morning he was feeling all the pain and not too happy about that. It dawned on me that I had a bottle of Valerian in the car, so I ran out and got it. Valerian is an herb that helps muscles to relax. I always use it when I can’t sleep as it relaxes me so much I fall asleep – but it’s not addicting and has no side effects. I gave it to my dog once when he slipped a disc and it really helped his pain level. Turns out, it did the same for Kory. I was so thankful.

It was a gorgeous day, but we spent it indoors. We had a leisurely morning at the hotel – Kory watched CNN and Kaleb watched kid movies while I was able to work a bit more on a photo album of our year in Norway. I hope to have it printed before we head home.

At noon I loaded Kory and Kaleb up in the car and we drove about ten minutes from the hotel to visit Elin and Sune Andersen – friends of Kory’s from way back. But we got doubly blessed because other friends (Lars and Astrid Eggerhorn) from Seattle were there visiting the Andersen’s as well so we spent the entire afternoon jabbering away (see photo). Kory was able to sit up at a slant on the couch, but not able to sit in a chair at the table, but at least he’s moving in the right direction and could participate in the chatter. Elin let him use her walking sticks, which worked out well for him also, so I’m confident it will just be a few days before he can walk without having to lean so much on me (literally).This morning I went in search of crutches for him but soon found out that they are not for sale in Sweden – they only come by a doctor’s prescription and then they are only on loan. Kory was so hoping to buy some but if he’s still bad when we get to Aalesund I’m sure his cousin Odd can write him a prescription. In the meantime, Kory will be using the walking sticks when my back isn’t available. His group of friends prayed for him today and I’m quite confident he’ll be on the mend sooner than expected. At least the look of pain is gone from his face. I think that Valerian has worked wonders.

It was so great to eat some American food today (Sune made ribs, coleslaw and jo-jo fries) and to hear these friends of Kory’s talking about things that God has done in their lives. They all come from Christian backgrounds and they are all in service to God one way or another so they were quite the inspirational group. I love hearing how God is in the details and they had many examples of it. It was pretty funny when Sune asked Kory how his brother Henry was doing, and then said that Henry was in his wedding some forty years ago. Sune got out his wedding photos to prove it, and it was actually Kory that was in his wedding (people get them mixed up all the time). Kory said he was in so many weddings back in the sixties he can’t remember them all. Too funny. (I think they picked him because he was so good looking he made the photos look good.)

Kaleb was unbelievable quiet today as he just sat and read a book without saying a peep while we were at the Andersen’s. He was hoping to earn a few “brownie points” for extra favors because he didn’t listen to me yesterday and lost his Nintendo privileges for today. Once we got back to the hotel, he was in the kid’s TV room and watched a few more movies, so he was a happy camper. I went back to working on the photo book and Kory had the remote control. I’m just thankful my computer is limping along. I don’t fully understand what’s wrong with it but one guy said it was an automatic software update that went bad so my operating system doesn’t work properly. Most programs won’t open – like the internet or e-mail. I can’t move any files around or delete anything and it won’t ever shut down on its own. At least I can open Word, and the software program that controls the photo albums, so it provides some value, but it’s been more than frustrating not to be able to get on the internet. The campground we stayed at in Denmark let me post my blog from their office computer, and the hotel we’re at now has a computer in the lobby. Most hotels have just the keyboard and screen, with no access to the hard drive so I haven’t been able to upload files or photos. But I’ve been lucky lately. I hate how dependant I am on the internet, but thankful it’s there when I need it. Like today I was able to see what will be required to apply for a new passport tomorrow when we drive to Oslo. I read that we’ll need our social security numbers and I knew I’d be in trouble because I hadn’t yet memorized Kaleb’s so it was written down in my wallet – which was stolen! A quick call to the guy that does our taxes in America and I had that problem solved, but if I hadn’t checked today, tomorrow we’d be hurting because of the time difference. I’m learning to listen better to that “still small voice” which prompted me to check the internet about the passport requirements. It also whispered in my ear to take my backpack into the store with me in Prague last week, but sometimes I have the same problem as Kaleb, and I don’t listen too well then have to suffer the consequences. Oi.

Flat on His Back

It’s a good thing I’m a highly capable woman because I have had to wear many hats today. Kory is still in intense pain from his back injury so it hurts me to even look at him. He was taking the pain pills the doctor gave him at the hospital last night, but he felt sick to his stomach all day and after he finally threw up several times, he decided he’d rather just feel the full force of the pain than to take any more pills. I think they give those nausea producing pain pills more to distract from the pain of the injury, as he complained more about how sick he felt all day, than his back.

Kaleb got to ride in the front seat for the first time in his life today – as Kory laid flat on his back in the back seat (see photo of my multi-tasking abilities - taking a photo of Kory in the back seat at the same time I'm driving 70mph). Before we left the campground, Kaleb had to help out a little and it was as if we’d turned him into our personal slave or something, for all the fuss he was making about every little thing we asked him to do. I wasn’t thinking he was too spoiled before today, but now I have to wonder. He was also upset we never got to play miniature golf at the campground so I had to have a talk with him about our unexpected circumstances and the need to catch the ferry we’d reserved to Sweden. I think he understood but I’m sure he thinks I’m the worse mother in the world to deny him such a simple pleasure.

Before we left the cabin I had to make breakfast, pack up all our stuff, clean the cabin, help Kory get dressed and use the bathroom, then drive three hours to the ferry, get Kory a wheelchair, get him out of the car and up to the lounge. Fortunately the drive north was a breeze – good weather, no traffic and beautiful scenery – so I was spared what Kory has endured on several of our driving days – and the GPS and Kaleb did a great job of getting me where I needed to go. The ferry ride to Sweden was three and half hours and I was so thankful they had a wheelchair so I could get Kory out of the van and up to a bench so he could lie down for the journey. The ferry (think cruise ship) was full of entertainment and innovative ways to pass the time. They had an internet café, a movie cinema, dog lounge, gambling casino, tax-free shopping, a huge kid area full of ping pong tables, air hockey, Legos, Wii machines, professional photo studio, art stations and lots of run-around area. (I have to say, Europeans very much value family life and children as we’ve even been on a train before that had a whole car geared to little kids with an elaborate play area built right into the train car.) The ferry today didn’t seem to have many rules however, as I saw kids younger than Kaleb plopping their kroner in the slot machines and pulling the handle – some of them won more coins than could fit in all of their pockets. What a sight.

We ate lunch on the ferry but Kory wasn’t too hungry and had a difficult time sitting for so long in the wheelchair. He needed to lean over and put all his weight on his arms against the table to take the pressure off his lower back. He just moaned most of the day but he seems OK now that we are at the hotel and he’s not having to move around too much. We drove about two hours east into Sweden to the town of Jönköping once we got off the ferry. We’d scheduled two nights here so Kory could visit an old friend who is now living here, and he figured even though he’s in pain, he can still visit while lying on his back, so we decided we’ll just carry on as planned this week. We still need to go to Oslo on Thursday to get our new passports so I’m hoping by then he can walk a little bit. As it is now he needs to lean over on my back and put all his body weight on me in order to even take a step. When we got to the hotel, I got one of those luggage carts and was able to get him up to the room pushing him around on that – which looked pretty funny – but worked great.

The hotel we are staying at is super lush and would be very expensive if we didn’t order it through a club we joined in Norway. We’re able to get four and five star hotels all over Scandinavia for under a hundred bucks a night. This one was only about eighty dollars and I’m sure it would be well over three hundred if we didn’t use the membership. It’s so nice now that Kory will be spending so much time in bed, to have a huge cushy room to hang out in. We’ve been here for several hours and I’ve yet to see Kaleb as there are several kid play areas, one with children’s movies playing non-stop, so he’s well cared for and hopefully won’t feel the need to play with his Nintendo for a few days.

Jönköping is a beautiful town situated on the shores of a lake so large I can’t see the other side. I took a walk around town tonight looking for a grocery store to buy Kory some saltine crackers for his nausea, but the only stores open were candy stores. They were the size of other grocery stores I’ve been in, but all they sold was candy – row after row of candy – every kind imaginable. I thought it was incredible when I walked into the first one, but then when I found two of them within blocks of each other I was shocked. (The dentists in this town must have a good client base.) I also saw that some pranksters had put soap in a big fountain and the foam was picked up by the wind and was floating all over the downtown area. It looked like pieces of clouds were falling from the sky. Teenagers had scooped out such a huge pile of the foam it was nearly as tall as they were – and they were daring each other to walk through it. Another fun sight.

It’s a spectacular summer evening and we have much to be thankful for.

Accidents Happen

It was a pretty good day today until we needed an ambulance. Right next to Legoland is a brand new indoor water park that’s gotta be the biggest in Europe. We decided when we woke up and saw drizzle today that doing something indoors would be a good idea. Kaleb was thrilled he got one more day that was all about him, so we were there shortly after they opened. We were completely amazed at the inside of this massive building that we thought JUST contained the water park, but instead contained an entire rainy day entertainment land, complete with miniature golf course, bungee jumping, bowling alley, shopping, restaurants and an amazing water park. We made a beeline for the Aquadome and couldn’t wait to get wet. They had huge water slides and tubes, hot tubs, saunas, water works spray area (where a gigantic bucket of water dumps on everyone in the area about every five minutes - see photo), a wave pool, river current (which I avoided), water obstacle courses and a cave swimming pool where it’s possible to dive down and see through a window into an aquarium full of tropical fish. They even had a pool that was indoors/outdoors. The whole thing was mind blowing. Kaleb was in heaven and even Kory and I were anxious to try out all the activities.
We did everything there was to do, then took a break for a late lunch and went back at it. Kaleb wanted to do the “Tornado” one more time but Kory wanted to sit and relax so I said I’d do it with him. The problem was, the Tornado requires a four person “raft” type inflatable to be carried up several flights of stairs, and I couldn’t carry it myself, so we had to coax Kory to come along. We’d gone on it before lunch and it was pretty fun where we all sat on one of the corners of this big inflatable thing that looks like four inner tubes connected together then we shot down a long tube of water and got dumped into a container that looked like a space capsule on it’s side and we slid up one side and down the other until we shot out the bottom and the ride was over. It wasn’t as scary as some of the rides Kaleb and I went on last month in Norway, so I was happy to go on this one again. But on the second go round, Kory’s skinny butt sat too far down in the hole of the inflatable and when we were sliding from side to side inside the Tornado, we hit a bump of water and the inflatable got a little lift and came down hard, with Kory’s bottom absorbing the shock of it all. Right away I saw the panicked look on his face and he just screamed out “My back!” I knew we were in trouble.

When we got to the end of the ride he couldn’t stand up so some guys lifted him out of the water and carried him over to a bench where he laid down for about an hour with his legs lifted – thinking he might have just thrown out his back again. But after an hour the pain wasn’t one he’s familiar with when his discs get injured, so the lifeguards there thought it best to call an ambulance because he couldn’t stand up, he was in so much pain. We prayed like crazy. Kory was so worried something in his back was broken, or even his hip, and we couldn’t even think through how something like that would play out while we are on vacation.

The ambulance took Kory away and Kaleb and I waited a while to give Kaleb a chance to play some more and then go on the bungee jump/trampoline ride. I found my way to the hospital thanks to the good directions from the lifeguard and we joined Kory in the Emergency Room. The first doctor that checked him out said she was pretty sure nothing was broken, but because he couldn’t move without intense pain, she gave him some powerful pain pills and just said, “We need you to stand up so you can walk out of here.” Kory just laughed as he couldn’t imagine how he was going to walk – and he was afraid to because he wasn’t convinced something wasn’t seriously wrong with his back. They gave him another dose of pain pills and some ibuprophen then let him hang around another hour while they took effect. Then another doctor came in and tapped all along Kory’s back, moved his legs around, had Kory do a couple moves and then told Kory he too thought nothing was broken. He drew a picture of the triangle shaped bone at the bottom of his spine and said he injured that bone and the muscles around it – which is very painful but there is nothing that can be done for it. The muscle pain radiates up to his lumbar region so Kory was initially worried he would do damage to his spine if he moved too much but the doctor told him he can’t damage it further – that he just needs to lay on his back for a few days and take pain pills and let it rest. He said in two weeks he’ll be back to normal. We both shouted HALLEUJAH with that bit of news, but then the reality of how to get home from here was a daunting thought. Kory will have to lie in the back seat and I’ll have to drive (without a license) the whole way with Kaleb acting as navigator. This should be fun.

Legoland!

Today was Kaleb’s day – all day at Legoland in Billund, Denmark. We had perfect weather for such a thing – not too hot, not too cold and no rain. It didn’t have any real thrill rides like the other amusement parks we’ve been too, but it’s still an impressive place to go just to see everything made out of Legos. The other cool thing about this park, and others we’ve been to in Europe – they let everyone bring in their own food and drinks. Legoland even provides free little carts to haul the ice chests and kids around. And as Kaleb says, “It’s a park not just for kids – but for the WHOLE family – because they allow dogs!” Every amusement park we’ve been to – dogs have been part of the experience. It’s funny to see the small ones in little tote bags going on the rides with their owners. Some of the parks even have special places for the dogs to hang out – I love that. Dogs are also allowed in restaurants and shopping malls and stores all over Europe – so it seems they are very dog friendly here, which makes our outings all the more pleasurable when we can see “adora-dogs” all day (Kaleb’s term for adorable dogs.)
We went to Legoland in San Diego four years ago, so Kaleb remembered some of the things there that were similar to the one here. There were enough differences though it wasn’t at all boring. The rides were geared more for littler kids here but Kaleb didn’t complain – he looked for the good in everything – which I appreciated. Legoland had two rides that I think are a step ahead of other amusement parks because they allow the children to have total control. One of them is a robotic arm with a seat at the end and each person gets to program the arm before they sit in the seat and the arm does what it’s been programmed to do. I wouldn’t go with Kaleb as I knew I’d spend most of the time upside down and spinning around, but Kory bit the bullet and lived to tell the tale. The other ride I so appreciated was driving real (mini) cars on real (mini) streets. It’s not like Disneyland where it’s impossible to go off course – each kid is given a driving lesson first and told about the rules of the road and then turned loose. I think it’s more entertainment for the parents than the kids – watching them run red lights and smash into other kids (although it’s not bumper cars and they are warned not to crash). Kaleb did very well signaling and obeying the traffic signs for the entire twenty minutes of the ride (they allow reservations so we didn’t have to stand in line.) At least there is some real life application to it and they were all issued driver’s licenses at the end. Kaleb was so proud.
Another ride we all participated in was at the fire station where eight fire trucks race across a big area (powered by hand pumps), then we all jump out and pump the water hose, all the while trying to hit the water into a hole in a second story window of a “burning” house. When there is enough water in the hole, the window closes and the firemen jump back into the fire truck and pump their way back to the fire station. Surprisingly, we won our round by a long shot, but then Kory and I had to sit down for quite a while and catch our breath. It was such a hard work out I was a little afraid Kory was going to have a heart attack. Kaleb didn’t understand our dilemma because all he did was aim the fire hose, but we were wiped out afterwards.
By far the best thing about Legoland is looking at all the mini cities made out of Legos. They so accurately recreate cities and towns, it was easy to recognize them without even reading the labels. Most of the cities use millions of Lego pieces and would take one expert Lego builder twelve years to build. They all had working parts whether they were windmills, airplanes, boats, cars, trains, or trucks moving along the pathways. One even had real working locks and moved boats up and down from a lake to a canal. I could have stood all day just looking at the details. Kaleb recognized the streets from Bergen (see photo), Copenhagen and Amsterdam right away. As he was studying the display of Copenhagen he started walking down the harbor and before he could even see it, he said, “The Little Mermaid should be right HERE!” and sure enough – there it was – not visible unless we stood right in front of it. I was impressed – and also when Kory found the restaurant where we ate lunch that day.
I feel so decadent on days like today. All my childhood I dreamed of going to Disneyland but never did, so I remind Kaleb that other kids aren’t as fortunate and don’t get to do even once, the things he gets to do in abundance. I’m not sure he fully appreciates that reality on one hand, but on the other, he’ll probably have a dozen dogs when he grows up because I wouldn’t let him have even one. Life just isn’t fair sometimes.

A Driving Day

I knew today would be tough, as I planned a seven hour driving day to get up back up to Denmark – so we all expected to be in the car most of the day – but those seven hours turned into eleven pretty quickly. There was so much road construction in Germany, one stretch of road that should have taken less than an hour to drive, took well over three. And to top it off, we had incredible downpours and pitch black skies off and on throughout the day so if the construction traffic and rush hour traffic weren’t enough, the slowdown from the rain got us. We left at nine this morning and got to our campsite near Legoland in Denmark twelve minutes before eight o’clock – and just in time as the office closed at eight o’clock. I’m not sure what we would have done if we came after closing, but sleeping in our car wouldn’t have been out of the question. Poor Kory had to drive all but one hour of it and it was white knuckle driving most of the time as the construction lanes weren’t quite wide enough for our van so it was pretty stressful trying not to hit other vehicles. Thank God we made it safe and sound and this day is done.
Kaleb entertained himself for nine hours straight playing a new Pokemon game he bought for his Nintendo. Normally I limit his use on electronics, but today I knew better. We didn’t hear a peep out of him for nine hours. We didn’t stop for lunch and he didn’t even say he was hungry – no bathroom breaks – nothing. That kid was focused. Then the last hour we asked him to turn it off and look around at the landscape and all we heard was how bored he was and when will we get there. That Nintendo was a lifesaver today and I highly recommend it for long car trips. Kaleb did look up long enough to notice the police in Holland are very “polite” as that is how they spell “police” in Dutch. Pretty funny.
We at least saw some nice scenery during the drive as Holland doesn’t have any trees up next to their freeways so we saw lots of cows, corn and wheat fields and we watched all the new windmills spinning throughout the day. Holland must have a zillion windmills and I’m sure a good portion of their energy comes from wind power. We saw some incredibly designed office buildings and very interesting sound barriers along the freeways – many of them in glass and quite artistic. We also enjoyed trying to figure out what the road signs said, as Dutch is very similar to Norwegian, with just one or two letters off on many words. Some words are nearly universal – like the center of town - in Norwegian it’s called Sentrum, in Swedish it’s called Centrum and in German it’s called Zentrum. But a lot of the traffic signs about all the construction – we were just clueless - otherwise we would have taken side roads. Every single person on the freeway today had a car full of people, loaded down for a holiday vacation somewhere – pulling campers or with bikes attached. Today was the day for getting out of town. All of Norway shuts down for vacations the month of July, but the rest of Europe tends to take their vacations in August.
Once we got to our campground, Kaleb couldn’t wait to check out the facility and meet other kids. Some he made friends with right away and others beat him up. He’s clueless as to what he contributes to those rough encounters with other kids, but we see clearly he is no innocent bystander. We only blame ourselves because he has no siblings to rough him up a bit – just two over protective parents trying to explain the ways of life, but knowing it’s much better experiencing things first hand than being told about them – even if it means getting beat up every now and then. I’ve decided I do like staying in campgrounds better than hotels because of all the social activities and ability to get out and move around. I think European campers are a different breed than Americans. When I’ve had to camp in campgrounds in America before (something I loathe), it seems there are plenty of loud, drunk and obnoxious people who break up the whole “peaceful nature” experience that should come with sleeping outdoors. But in Europe, people sit quietly by their tents, trailers or cabins, reading or talking softly – no one is playing music or making a scene. And there are designated HUGE play areas for kids which keeps them all contained rather nicely, so it is a much more enjoyable atmosphere here than in the U.S. Kaleb likes the campgrounds too but says it would be nice to not have to walk so far to use the bathroom. I can’t disagree with that.

I AMsterdam

We got up this morning and hit the road before even having breakfast because we were just about twenty minutes from Amsterdam and we wanted to spend as much time in the city as possible. It was a good thing we left when we did because the minute we took the off-ramp on the freeway to check into our next hotel, the skies opened up and an incredible downpour ensued. The lighting and thunder were right overhead and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard thunder that was so close or all-encompassing like that before. It was quite the deal.
We left our car in the safety of the hotel parking lot and took the tram into the heart of Amsterdam. It rained off and on all morning but by afternoon it was blue sky and sunshine so we had a bit of everything today. The downtown area was not in the least affected by the weather as the streets were just as full and crowded as they are on any summer day with people coming and going like ants working an ant hill.
Amsterdam is not exactly a family destination, but I wanted Kaleb to see the Anne Frank House, so that was my only goal in coming here. He read her diary and I thought it would be a good way to teach him about the war without going to any concentration camps (I don’t think he’s ready for that just yet.) When I was here in 1983, her house was just like any other house on the block and I walked in the front door, went into the opening behind the bookcase and up the stairs to the loft where she lived with seven other people who were hidden for 25 months during the war. There wasn’t much to see and there wasn’t much pomp and circumstance around it. But now, time has certainly changed that place. The museum has bought up all the houses on the block to on one side – given them a new modern face and made a huge museum in them where we entered. In a way, it was better because there was more information and it was more interesting on the inside, but I wasn’t too fond of how much it changed the looks of the whole block. Kaleb was able to recognize each room inside by the details she’d written about and he did seem interested in it all, so I felt like my mission was accomplished. After that tour, we really didn’t have much else to do so we wandered around the city and looked at the canals and buildings and tried to avoid the whiff of marijuana in the air.
When the rain kicked in again Kory decided he wanted to go on a city bus tour so we did that for an hour and didn’t learn much, but Kory enjoyed seeing all the buildings and how they lean every which way. Most of the city was built on pilings so I guess after living in The Sinking Houses he felt right at home. It was difficult to keep Kaleb away from all the “liberalism” of the city, but I think he was clueless, even if I was a bit stressed about it. Between the Red Light District, the Sex Museum, Torture Museum, Erotic shops, marijuana bars and disgusting postcards displayed in the racks out on the sidewalks, I began to wonder why I even had this on our agenda. But I did see in the travel book there was a Bible Museum in town so we made a bee-line for there, figuring at least the content was family friendly. It was a pretty cool place with quite the collection of old Dutch Bibles (and many others) – some of them even hand written. They also had large scale models of Solomon’s temple and the portable Temple that was made for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. I could have stayed there all day, but as it was, they kicked us out at closing time.
Kaleb sampled some of the famous Gouda cheese in one of the shops and fell in love with the smoked gouda variety so we had to stop at a grocery store on the way back to the hotel to buy him some for dinner- all he wanted was bread and cheese. Me too, as the bread we bought was super good. (I’ll so miss all the good breads in Europe.) Kaleb was a non-stop talker today and it totally got on my nerves. Normally I can just let it go, but I couldn’t say one thing that he didn’t come back with “What do you mean…” and then he repeated everything I just said. He wanted to understand every little detail of every little thing – even if it was obvious. I told Kory, “Look at all the hooks up at the top of the buildings,” then Kaleb asked, “What do you mean look at the hooks up at the top of the buildings?” He swore he wasn’t intentionally being obnoxious, but he was. (The hooks were to hoist furniture in and out of the building through the windows because the staircases are too small.) Normally I enjoy Kaleb’s curious nature, but not so much today. I guess I needed more sleep. (What do you mean, you needed more sleep?)

Hello Holland!

We are moving around so much that Kaleb asks every once in a while, “What country are we in now?” I think Kory wonders the same. And besides not knowing what day of the week it is, we don’t know if something happened this morning, yesterday, or the day before, as all the days are starting to run together. We’re on the downward slide now though, so home is within sight. Kory is having to do all the driving because my driver’s license was stolen, but he’s holding up well. He says it’s less stressful than having me drive, but the only reason that’s true is because when I drive he has to navigate and that’s not his strong suit, as we’ve found out through trial and error. This trip has been good for us all in one way or another, but mostly to teach us all a bit more tolerance.
We enjoyed breakfast in downtown Brugge this morning at a fancy bakery that brought the coffee cup on a little tray with a bowl full of an assortment of sugar cubes (no two were alike). I love the little European touches we see in things here and there – like that we were given a knife and fork in which to eat our croissants. In America, they are finger food, but not here (neither is pizza, French fries or hamburgers.) One time when I told someone I blog about all the differences between American and Norwegian culture they said, “Oh, like that Americans don’t know how to use a knife,” because most Norwegians think it’s strange Americans cut their food with the side of their fork. We are so unrefined, we Americans.
The rain came down hard all morning as we drove out of Belgium into Holland, but at least we weren’t stuck in any traffic jams. Today was the day to go see Kinderdjik – a canal in Holland with 17 very old windmills lining both sides. I was a little worried about the rain, but the minute we showed up, the rain stopped and we were able to rent bikes and ride all over the area. All the clouds to the west of us were black as night, and same for the clouds east of us, but right over our heads we had blue sky and sunshine and it didn’t rain one drop on us for the two plus hours we were riding – it was nearly a miracle. We also got to go inside one of the windmills to see how they worked and how people lived in them years ago. One stretch of eight straw thatched windmills were all built in 1740 – others were built in the 1500s and people continue to live in them even today. I don’t know the rules about who gets to live there but each one had a picture perfect little yard complete with boat anchored out front ready to go explore the canals. It looks classic Holland more than any other place in all the land. There are so many canals around that area that even the horses didn’t need fences as they were completely surrounded by ditches full of water – all perfectly spaced marking off the home lots – with a house in the front near the street and the back few acres surrounded on three sides by water. It was all nice and orderly and looked so well planned.
Our destination for the night was about half an hour away from the windmills so we headed over to Gorinchem to check into our room and see the area around the hotel. As it turned out, Gorinchem is not at all a tourist town but still cute as can be – completely surrounded by canals, windmills, locks and buildings as old as the hills. It was originally a fortified city so the bird’s eye view of it shows a well planned five pointed star pattern – typical of the times. Many of the buildings in town were built in the 1500s and some were much older and even leaned a little. The town was full of locals out shopping in the heart of the city, where no cars were allowed. Fortunately for us, everything was open until 9pm (quite unusual) so we stayed in town and had dinner and did some souvenir and gift shopping as everything was so much cheaper than the tourist towns. We ate dinner out on a sidewalk café (as we have for most our meals on this trip). We were right in the town square so quite typically, there was a water fountain which attracts all the kid’s attention. Kaleb insisted on running around while waiting for our food but he was blessed tonight to have several other kids who were doing the same. One 11 year old Dutch boy he befriended right away spoke perfect English because he had lived in South Africa for a year. They played hide and seek for a long time around the town square with some other kids – it was just too cute. They talked to each other– sharing notes about how old they were when they first learned to read and how quickly they can get through certain books they both have read. I’m so pleased when Kaleb can kick into social mode and make friends like that. He’s upset he didn’t get his e-mail address so they could stay in touch, as they had many things in common.
I’m not too thrilled with the new camera I bought and I’m missing my old one terribly. I saw a mother loon in the canal today with two little black and white stripped babies peeking out from under her wings every once in a while. My new camera wouldn’t focus so I couldn’t get a good shot of them. I guess the camera is having the same problem we are – as everything is becoming a blur as we move from one city to the next, but there are still plenty of memories to be made on the road ahead of us, so onward we go and hopefully I’ll have a few clear photos to remember it all by.