the cup of life

the laundry room away from home :) my kids can't seem to eat a meal without spilling "something" on their clothes

dinner at the hard rock cafe! i am pretty sure i consumed more calories than i have in a long time.... i had a really yummy chicken salad topped with walnuts, oranges, cranberries, and blue cheese... but it tasted so good! the kids were excited to order mac and cheese. and yes - we got tshirts as souviners to add to my hard rock cafe tshirt collection. (i've been collecting hard rock cafe tshirts since college.) - which reminds me... i'm pretty sure we haven't visited the hard rock cafe in amsterdam.... we will!

just the right number of kids for the picture! flat stanley makes his appearance in Oslo!... you can really only see jayden's flat stanley in the picture though

i seriously think this is the best photo of all 4 children i have ever taken ... all looking at the camera... no funny grins... jillian is not running away from the kids in the photo :)

shopping area in oslo on our way to the hard rock cafe

took our picture using the reflection in the window of what i believe is the opera house

walking down the "walls"

oslo skyeline

the harbor near our hotel

outside our hotel room - i could hear music, people clapping, and an announcer... so we decided to check it out. i lost track of time - but i'm pretty sure we watched for about 1.5 hours. these people were "driving" these contraptions off this platform into the water... some would dance on the platform before they jumped in...others did cartwheels and they would play music to go along with their contraption.. for example there was a cowboy hat and they played cotten-eyed joe

this actually reminded me of a show in the netherlands (i've seen it on the tv at the swimming pool) - where people take their contraptions down a ramp into some water....

a tv screen was positioned in the water so you could get a better view of the people on the platform... these guys spelled OSLO with their tshirts

the moose before it hit the water

yes - it's cold and windy here!

i'm pretty sure this is the opera house

today was our first day in oslo - i survived the 1 hour and 20 minute plan ride from amsterdam to oslo with the kids... hopped on a train to oslo central station... and walked a few blocks to our hotel... it seems to be in a great location - close to a castle we are going to explore and the famous viking ship museum. a lady on the train from the airport to our hotel asked my why i was traveling in norway... she wondered if i had relatives here.... or if i was possibly researching my heritage... maybe jillian's blonde hair made it look like we were norwegian :) ... i told her - nope - i'm just here to explore norway and spend some time with my kids... yes - all 4 of them! i decided this trip is going to be my cup of life trip..... i want to take this time away from the hustle and bustle of my life... to enjoy my kids and the natural beauty of norway. so far so good.... i feel like i'm drinking a grande cup of coffee from starbucks.... or in my case.... a big nalgene bottle of water since i don't drink coffee :) ... now perhaps at the end of the week i'll be screaming.... no more cup of life...... need.some. time.alone.... haha but for now - it's good.... we watched the "contraptions" for way longer than i planned this afternoon - but the kids were having fun - and laughing at each new contraption that came up on the platform.... dancing to the musicso today - we drank from the cup of life.....and it was good! now i better finish this post and get my cup planned for tomorrow....