Ah, Norway...

June 29, 2008, Norwegian Cruise Day 1 (The Cruise Begins)

It is SO fun to surprise our children; and this was a real surprise, too, since they didn't know where we were going on vacation. We left around 11:00 and drove to Southampton, the port city where we boarded our ship. It's is only about an hour and a half drive, which was just long enough for the “are we there yet” and “when do we get to eat” questions to begin. Except for Jess, who really didn't want to know where we were going before we got there, the children all started trying to guess (for the umpteenth time) our destination. They even came to several wrong but amusing conclusions (Ireland, France, the Bahamas, etc.) before we arrived at the docks.

When we arrived and started figuring out where to park, it finally hit them what the surprise was, and they all just sat in stunned silence with big, disbelieving grins on their faces. It was priceless. (The “we're really going on a cruise” exclamations came a little later.) They even guessed from the name of the cruise ship (the Norwegian Jade) where we were going—yep, future rocket scientists. The rest of the day was spent getting registered, making it onto the ship, having a safety orientation, eating, swimming, getting the kids registered for the kid's club, etc., etc., etc. By bedtime, the children were all wonderfully exhausted and completely thrilled. And they must have thanked us for the wonderful surprise about 100 times, each.

What was my favorite part of the day? Derik ended up being the model during the safety orientation, confidently showing everyone in the auditorium how to wear their stylish life vests and hopefully not die in case of an emergency. I even overheard an attractive young lady that was part of the crew telling him what a handsome young man he is and how much she loved his beautiful eyes and long eyelashes; I didn't know a twelve-year-old's face could get that red!

June 30, 2008, Norwegian Cruise Day 2 (Cruising the North Sea)

Our second day on the ship we were at sea all day. Jess decided that the kids' club really wasn't for her since none of her siblings were in her age group, so she spent the day with the foges. (We went to a bridge class, a jewelry presentation, and a comedy show, some of which she actually showed interest in, bless her heart; we all loved the comedy show, and we were still talking about how funny it was hours after it was over.) The highlight of Derik's day was swimming--the pool had a two-story looping water slide--but he also had a great time at the kids' club. For Aubrey, Laurel, and Eryn, their time in the kids' club was “so completely fun,” but their favorite part of the day was eating ice cream in the hot tub. Like Derik, they spent most of the day in the kids' club and were actually quite unhappy with us when we came to take them to dinner. The funniest thing that happened is that after so much playing, Eryn fell so completely asleep during dinner that we couldn't even wake her up when her food came. I guess she needed the rest more than the food! We also learned that sunburns do happen in Norway, and, sporting various levels of sunburn, the children decided that swimming without sunscreen may not have been the best course of action...

My favorite part of the day? They children still talked all day about how thrilled they were to be on the cruise. At one point Jess was walking on deck and pointed at the water, grinned, and said, “Look, ocean!!!” I know—cool, huh?!!?

July 1, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 3 (Alesund)

Our third day we stopped in a port city named Alesund, one of the largest port cities in Norway. We didn't spend time in town, though; instead we took a seven-hour coach tour through the countryside, the main sights being the “Troll's Wall” (a towering, sheer rock cliff that looks as if it has been carved out of flint) and the “Troll's Path” (a scarily-winding road that leads precariously up the face of a mountain, complete with waterfalls and overlooking a stunning valley that looks like something out of a fairy tale). The kids all dozed a bit in the bus on the way up to the wall and path, but when they were awake there were “oohs” and “ahs” all around. They were awestruck by the impressive waterfalls next to the Troll Path, commenting on how huge the falls are and how small the road looks next to them. They also all agreed that driving up the road was pretty scary but it helped not to look down too far. It truly was an interesting drive, a breathtaking view, and one great day!

My favorite parts of the day? 1) The kids were more interested in the snow on the ground close to the falls than they were the falls. 2) Our tour guide asked Laurel to read "The Three Billy Goat's Gruff" to the tour bus of mostly octogenarians; of course she was thrilled and eagerly accepted. She played the crowd so well that she got a hearty round of applause when the story was over. 3) People have built small towers of rocks all over that are supposed to be trolls that were caught in the sunlight and turned to stone--it gives the country an unreal feel and is VERY interesting.

July 2, 2008—Norwegian Cruise Day 4 (Kristiansund)

Our fourth day was in a port city named Kristiansund. It is significantly smaller than Alesund, but we had a very nice day there as well. We took a much shorter tour, this time of the city itself and a “klip fish” (dried, salted cod--the town's main export) museum. The whole tour was only 3 ½ hours, so we had time after the tour to have lunch on the ship and then return to town to wander around. This town was also extremely beautiful, but it was a different kind of beauty than the countryside we saw the day before. My strongest impression of Norway at this point was that it is beautifully green, extremely clean, well maintained, and breathtakingly beautiful (including the people).

My favorite part of the day? Eryn. She wanted to buy everything she saw all day, but then she would turn each item over and look at the price and say, “No way, that's too much,” sadly placing whatever it was back on the shelf and walking dejectedly away. (The exchange rate right now is about 10 kroner to a pound, and a pound is around two dollars. So she would see 50 on something, for instance, and think dollars when it really meant the item cost around $10. She wouldn't even pick out a Christmas ornament when I asked her to choose one! Funny, funny little girl. (Maybe I should have listened to her, though, because we bought the ornaments and then lost the bag...)

July 3, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 5 (Crossing the Arctic Circle & Svartisen Glacier)


Our fifth day was glacier day—yeah! We started the day at the Svartisen glacier and then the rest of the day was time spent relaxing as we sailed though “the inside passage.” Seeing the glacier was a fun experience. We got the kids out of bed at seven and dragged them up to breakfast expecting the ship to arrive at the glacier around 9:00, but we were surprised that we had already arrived. The kids were all very happy that they didn't miss it and enjoyed eating breakfast outside on the deck while taking in the scenery. We then went to the observation deck to take a closer look at the glacier and take pictures. They all deemed it “REALLY COOL!” Jess even decided that it would be particularly nice to live on the face of the mountain just across the fjord from the glacier (it has an unobstructed view of the grandeur). After about a half an hour on the observation deck, though, they all came to us and said, “Um, we're done looking at the glacier—can we go now?” I guess there is only so much looking at a big stationary piece of ice you can do when you're a kid... The other fun thing that happened today was that at high noon we all gathered at the pool to celebrate entering the Arctic Circle by being inducted into “The Order of the Bluenose” by King Neptunus Rex, Ruler of the Ocean Kingdom (otherwise known as “the guy in the fish suit), by having our noses painted blue and then being sprinkled with ice water!

My favorite part of the day? Being inducted into the Order of the Bluenose definitely wins. How often do you get inducted into something by a guy with a trident and a giant fish?

July 4, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 6 (Honningsvaag)

Day six we stopped in a little town named Honningsvaag (the kids spent the whole day referring to it as “Hoggin Boggin” because they couldn't remember the real name). The morning was a wash because we had all stayed up 'til the wee hours of the morning the night before to see the “midnight sun.” Very cool! The only down side was that there was heavy cloud cover, so instead of being able to see the sky lit up in the middle of the night, we saw a bright section of mountain/sky between the water and the dark clouds--a very surreal experience, actually. At one point I went out on deck with Kyle, Jess, and Derik to the giant chess board because Jess and Derik had decided to to play chess while we waited for the sun to not set. The wind was way too strong to actually play a game with the giant pieces but chasing after them as the wind blew them down the deck became a game in and of itself (kind of like herding cats or small children). It was hilarious! By about two in the morning, when the sun had officially not set and it was starting to get even brighter again, we headed off to bed. So we headed into Hoggin Boggin, er, Honningsvag, around noon after letting the kids sleep in and then having a leisurely brunch. The children were very excited to take a lifeboat from the ship over to the town. (Frankly, I'm glad we saw the inside of one this way instead of during some disaster, um, “emergency.”) We spent our time in town wandering through gift shops, walking the quaint streets, experiencing the brisk arctic air, and just enjoying wandering. We even went out on a little arm of land that stuck out into the water (because it looked like it would be a good picture spot), but when we got there it was really barren and smelled strongly of dead fish. The kids couldn't retreat fast enough. We also tried some freeze-dried fish (“the arctic treat”--um hmm, only if you're a seal) that was a lot like eating smelly cardboard, and everyone decided that we have now had it one too many times in life. I suppose if you were REALLY hungry and were going to starve to death... We had to be back on the ship at 2:30, so it was a short trip but definitely an enjoyable one. The rest of the evening Kyle and I spent at a murder mystery dinner and the kids all (except Jess who doesn't seem interested) went to the kid zone and then complained when we made them leave at closing time. We all then went really late to the buffet for ice cream and hot chocolate and sat around talking about our day, how much fun we're all having, and how wonderfully sick we're all getting from consuming too much ice cream and hot chocolate...big grin.

My favorite parts of the day? Arctic chess and the murder mystery dinner. Watching Jess and Derik run after their chess pieces in the arctic wind was one of the highlights of my trip, and I've never been to a mystery dinner before. Both experiences were a blast.


July 5, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 7 (Cruising the Barents Sea)

On day seven we cruised the Barents Sea, so we were on board all day. everyone slept in again (too many late nights in a row), and then we went for a late breakfast. After tearing the kids away from the kid zone around noon, we headed to the “whatever rooms” and ended up having a family karaoke-a-thon. At the beginning the three youngest girls were very excited, but Jess and Derik looked like they had been handed a death sentence, sulking and looking very put upon. When we actually started picking songs, though, and then singing at the top of our lungs, everyone had a great time, each child picking the music they wanted and then leading the family in a loud and usually-on-key rendition of their favorite tunes. They had so much fun that they were unhappy when we left after an hour and a half. Then after dinner we went to a juggling and acrobatics show; the act was quite unique with ladder balancing combined with juggling and twirling of large prismatic shapes (when they were twirled it looked almost like a light show). Even later I ended up being a “contestant” in the comedy club's “Name That Tune” game show. The game worked just like the original TV show and real songs were used, but the actors sang them in very funny ways to make it a fun experience. Kyle and the kids sat and clapped madly for me while I “competed,” and then Laurel and Eryn ran up on stage when it was over loudly proclaiming, “Mommy, you won,” like I had actually been on the real game show. (I have to admit, it was pretty fun, though, and I even won an art print by some famous artist I've never heard of before.)

What was my favorite part of this day? I very much enjoyed just being together and playing. During dinner we turned Jessica's plate into a grinning face while she was in the restroom (tortellini into a mouth, clam and lobster shells for eyes/hair/nose, brussel sprout ears, etc.). She had a great sense of humor about it, laughing right out loud when she returned to the table (but then not wasting any time asking us to please remove the “icky water bugs” from her plate). I love my wonderful family!

July 6, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 8 (Trondheim)

Because it was Sunday but we didn't have the option of going to church (weren't going to be in port at the right time), we went to see a cathedral in today's port, Trondheim. The Cathedral is called Nidaros Cathedral, and it's kind of the Norwegian equivalent of Notre Dame in Paris, only smaller. The kids all enjoyed seeing the church; but we have dragged them to cathedrals all over Europe, so they basically had the "yep, it's pretty, now can we go wander through the cool graveyard” attitude. No big surprise there. We also took an old narrow-track railway (which you all deemed “BORing”) up to a copper mine, which was surprisingly beautiful, with stunning colors (see pic) in every hue from white to turquoise. While we were there, a violinist came and played in the main cavern. The music was amazing! It was such an intriguing juxtaposition to listen to a master violinist playing spectacular classical music in a man-made cave far below the earth's surface. The experience was obviously designed to impress tourists, but I was struck by the fact that God's wonders are all around us, even in an old copper-mine. The kids decided that the violinist was definitely NOT BORing, and the beauty of the copper mine “rocked" (tee hee). What a great day.

My favorite part of Trondheim? The copper mine takes the cake. Who knew that an old mine could be so stunningly beautiful?

Monday, July 7, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 9 (Hellesylt & Geiranger)

On day nine we stopped in two ports—Hellesylt in the morning and Geiranger in the afternoon. The day started in a most unpleasant way with everyone on board who didn't have an official shore excursion (which included us) smashed in a hallway waiting to be let off the ship. The hour-long wait in a cramped hall with tons of people pushing, shoving, and getting increasingly cranky while they waited was less than pleasant, to say the least. Sigh. When we finally got on shore, though, everyone decided it was worth it. Hellesylt has a waterfall right in the middle of town. I don't know if the children were happier to be out of the unpleasant situation back on board or to be looking at the waterfall, but they really enjoyed it. That was really all there was to see in town, though, so after an hour or so we returned to the ship to eat lunch while the boat repositioned on the other end of the fjord in Geiranger. Geiranger also has a waterfall that runs right through the middle of town, but both the town and the waterfall are significantly bigger. We spent the bulk of the afternoon hiking the little city in perfect weather and truly having a fantastic afternoon. This was the kind of day I hoped for when I booked this cruise for us, and everyone was VERY happy, skipping along as we hiked, chatting excitedly about things they saw on our walk, and even finding a small park to play in for a while (wherever we go, the children always seem to find a park...). Also, because the ship issued vouchers to get everyone ashore in an orderly manner this time, we didn't even have to fight a crowd to get into town—a refreshing change from the morning's fiasco! The children even commented on that fact, too, being happy just to be able to board our shuttle to shore when it was our turn; it's all about perspective, isn't it?!!? All in all, the disembarking unpleasantness aside, this was pretty much the perfect day—perfect weather, amazing sights, and perfectly wonderful people to share it with. What a blessing!

I don't have a favorite part of this day because most of it was so wonderful.

July 8, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 10 (Bergen)


Without going into too much detail about terrible behavior, let me preface today's log by telling you that the behavior of our children on day 10 was less than stellar. We were in Bergen—one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen—and they were being so rude and unpleasant to each other that it was hard to enjoy it. And that's putting it nicely. We went on a tour of Troldhaugen, the home of Edward Grieg (the composer), and they spent most of the tour snapping at each other, correcting each other, and being annoyingly unkind. (Though the house itself isn't much to look at, the property overlooks a breathtaking lake, has a separate concert hall, a composer's hut, woods that would make the most unimaginative mind come alive, and stunning views of the city.) We then went to see Fantoft Stave Church. (Stave churches were built from the wood from Viking ships, and this one was originally built in 1150 and rebuilt in 1992 after a fire. It even has dragons carved into the roofline by the suspicious natives so that their bases were covered in case Christianity didn't work out.) The church was cool, and the arguing subsided a little while we were there, but when we were given the opportunity to stay in town and explore on our own or return to the ship, the vote was unanimous for returning to the ship. On board the children did some much-needed resting before some play time on the Wii, a late dinner, and a decadent indulgence at the chocolate buffet. The resting really did significantly improve everyone’s' moods, and the rest of the day was really quite enjoyable. Thank goodness! It reminds me of the little girl, with the little curl...

My favorite part? After the rest of the family returned to the ship for some MUCH-NEEDED rest, I went back into Bergen by myself. I ended up chatting with some missionaries for a while and then exploring the city, taking pictures galore and having a great time. I don't know at what point I became such a loner, but I really enjoy being by myself every once in a while, especially when I have my camera to play with...

July 9, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 11 (Stavenger)

Day eleven was the ultimate sightseeing day. We went on a side cruise down the Lysefjord and then explored Trondheim. It's difficult to describe how amazing these fjords are with their towering cliffs, lush vegetation, and glass-surface water. It truly is something you have to experience. This day brought us weather that was beautiful, children who were all rested and charming, and sights that were amazing. We even tried water straight from the falls (hmmm, tastes a lot like water). When we got back to the ship, everyone swam, went to dinner, and then did their own thing (which for the kids was the kid's club and for Kyle, me, and Jess was the comedy club.

My favorite part of the day? Derik decided that the mountain goats we saw while on the boat tour were actually cardboard cutouts the Norwegians put up for the tourists. I'm still not sure if he was serious or not...

July 10, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 12 (Cruising the North Sea)
Day twelve was our last full day on the cruise, and it was a sea day again (headed back across to Southampton). The kids enjoyed the sea days as much as port days, and this was no exception. This day brought sleeping in, time at the kid zone watching movies and playing games, a family pizza making party, and tons of ice cream and then ended with the ship's kid pajama party. We all spent the day enjoying it like crazy but being sad that it was almost over, talking about how much fun it had been and what amazing things we'd seen and done.

July 11, 2008--Norwegian Cruise Day 13 (Ah, it's over already...)
When we got up on our last day, none of the children wanted to leave the ship. I guess that means it was a good vacation. After breakfast and disembarking, I asked the children what their favorite part of the experience had been, and these were their responses:
J—The food and Second City (the comedy club people), but all of it was good.
D—The shore excursions.
A—I don’t know; I liked it all.
L—The Troll Path.
E—Everything.



I feel so privileged to have been able to have this experience. The trip was wonderful and we saw the most amazing things! When it all comes down to it, though, my favorite part of it all was just being with my family. I enjoy Kyle and our children so much, and being together for almost two weeks was wonderful, even including the day we were in Bergen (big grin). I'm so grateful to be living in a place that makes experiences like this possible, and I'm just feeling plain blessed! What an incredible journey life is!

NOW WHO'S GOING TO WADE THROUGH THE OVER 900 PICTURES I TOOK??? IT WAS JUST SO PRETTY! (Needless to say, a full gallery of pictures will be coming MUCH, MUCH LATER...