Antipodean adventures

Grier took it all in her stride on our recent holiday to Australia and New Zealand. She's now an intrepid traveller and fast collecting passport stamps! Not only did she go on a plane this holiday, but she also managed a car, a bus, a taxi, a train, a boat, a tram and a helicopter!!

Craig eventually enjoyed a well earned holiday from work and was glad for some down time with family. We all enjoyed catching up with Billy, Phillippa and the family who made us really welcome in their home.

We all had a fantastic time down under and enjoyed spending time with friends in Australia and New Zealand as well as seeing a little of both countries. We were gone a month but the time flew by as we'd packed in quite a bit. Grier really enjoyed the company of Sam, Will and Isabella and had a great time playing with them and their toys. She has now moved from crawling to pulling herself up to standing and walking with the aid of furniture.
Christmas could be an active time as it may not be long 'til she's off on her own two feet.

We're now safely back on Tjome and well into the winter woolies. A temperature difference of 35c has been a shock to the system and the warm sun of Australia seems like a distant memory.

And we're off!!

After all the frustrations of the previous months, Grier is finally on the move and loving it! The living-room's like an undiscovered land and she's enjoying the new found space and numerous hidey holes! It'll not be safe to leave her alone anymore as you never know where she'll end up, so I think some serious baby proofing's on the cards when we return from Australia/New Zealand. We're all looking forward to a well deserved holiday and a month on the other side of the world sounds pretty good.

Anyway, it's Grier crawling you'll want to see, so enjoy the video!

Fun in the sun!

It's summer on the island of Tjome and the summer residents have increased the permanent population ten fold! 4,000 suddenly became 40,000 and the local supermarkets have had to open on a Sunday to cope with demand. We don't really notice the increase in folk in our quiet little sheltered cul-de-sac as the holiday makers tend to lurk in the forests and skerries of the island. You can however spot several hundred of them basking on the beaches and rocks slowly cooking themselves a nice shade of lobster - ah the national pasttime!
The weather's been beautiful all summer with temps regularly in the 30s and not a breath of air - great during the day but not at night.

Life continues to go well and we're all good. There's been plenty to do in the garden - a little off road boules was played recently with the odd stop inbetween to pick and eat some of the berries and fruits growing in the garden (cherries, apples, raspberries, wild strawberries, blackcurrants and blueberries). Last weekend we drove to Horten and had lunch at the harbourside. It was lovely just to relax and watch all the big yachts arriving at the guest harbour on the Oslo fjord.
Craig's enjoying work and has also managed to fit in some golf recently, Ruth-Cheryl continues to generally do nothing in particular but eat ice-cream and socialise with the other mums. They're supposed to go walking but the weather...............

Grier has started on solids and really enjoys trying all the new flavours - avocado, banana, spaghetti bolognese, peas and carrots, sweet and normal potato, turnip, pasta and her favourite - mango! She's taken to the flavour of water especially during the really hot days. She has two bottom teeth coming through and loves to chomp on fingers.
She's also recently made the move to her own room and loves chatting with all her toy friends from her cot.

Hope you enjoy the video and the photo.

Doesn't time fly?.......

It's been a couple of months since our last blog - time's flown by. In that time Grier's increased her circle of baby friends and mummy's met some adults too! We've finally received Grier's UK Birth Certificate and are currently in the process of filling out forms and applying for a passport - STOP ASKING!!!! Our little girl's absolutely fabulous. She was spoilt last weekend by the mass visit of her aunt, great aunt, grandparents and great grandparents who all doted on her and gave her lots of kisses and cuddles. As usual Grier loved the attention and wasn't camera shy. Now she's looking forward to meeting Uncle Simon and Auntie Bronwyn to complete the immediate family set...

Over the past 2/3 weeks we've enjoyed fab sunny weather and the island's starting to fill up with its rich summer residents from Oslo. Empty houses have woken from their winter hibernation, the local caravan site has started to breed and our once private beaches are now filling with bikini-clad blue norwegians! We've been busy in our massive garden keeping the grass at bay and eradicating weeds. We've potted some plants and have brought the inside out with a brand new BBQ and outdoor furniture - perfect for alfresco dining. Life's really busy with lots going on at both Craig's work and home. Grier's found her voice and is shouting really loudly, telling lots of stories and keeping her parents amused. No visits for a couple of weeks - time to get back to 'normality'.

Do you like our courtesy pram?

Back in from the cold.

Hi everyone, sorry that we haven't updated the blog for a while - this has been due to continuing computer problems, which we believed had been repaired, but hadn't. Also we have been exceptionally busy preparing for, having and clearing up after visits from family and friends. We are absolutely exhausted, especially as we arrived back from Bodoe yesterday, having spent the weekend with Carol and John and Eivind, Kristin, Simon and our godson Endre. It was great to go back north again and see our old haunts - the weather was fantastic all weekend with lovely deep snow on the ground and clear blue skies above. It would have been nice to get some cross country skiing done but we were on a tight schedule. We attended the CAOC 3 closure party on Friday night and decided to take Grier along with us. She was the star of the show and seemed to enjoy all the admiring attention. We also visited Ruth-Cheryl's old workplace at Skivika - all were delighted to see her and Grier and said "Oh Ruth, det er kjempebra a se deg, vi savner deg, nar skal du komme tilbake for a arbeider her igjen?" ( a prize for the closest translation - non norwegians only). We came home yesterday to a cold but snowless Tjoeme at around 8pm. Grier is doing really well having caused no problems on our whole journey north and back south again - she is such a contented little thing although has been a little ill today, having covered Craig in sick and refusing to sleep. We think she has a tummy upset, so hopefully it will pass soon. Anyway, Jude & Chris arrive on Wednesday, so we better get some food in. Until next time, ha det godt...