Midsummer Night Celebration on Sandsøy, 2009.

A view from our kitchen window.

6/22/09

The smallest one of the cruise boats traveling along the coast of Norway, MS Lofoten, sailed through the inlet by Sandsøy. The mountain behind (on Grytøy), Galten, which means boar, is a little more than 3,000 feet high, still has snow sitting on it at about 1,000 feet above sea level....it is summer....but yet....

The cousins have arrived!

Barbara and Veronica's cousins, Katrine (4) and Eirik (9) has arrived. Taking a foot bath since Veronica stepped on a sea urchin. It hurt for a few days before we got it taken care of. No lasting injury, though.

Grilling Party 6/19/09

That northern breeze just makes it really cold outside. We all got dressed with wool long johns and braved the cool weather.....must have an outdoor grill party...it is summer after all. The daytime highest temperature before we left Norway was about 60 degrees F. We cut out a part of the grass and made a fire pit for the night. It got covered again when the party was over.

...and a man needs beer....Tony admiring the sky.....he-he

A total of about 30 people came to the party and we had fun lighting the bbqs.

The smallest ones had their own bed with them. Mathea taking a nap....not very successfully, but yet.

A great group of people. The su is shining, but it doesn't help much on the temperature. This night we had about 45 degrees F to enjoy.

Clearing new areas for harvesting at the sheep farm.

6/20/09

Going for a walk with the kids over to a marsh area, we found a frog. I have never seen a frog on the island before....I guess I just never looked hard enough.

Altogether there were 8 adults and 12 children working together this day. The children helped a little with loading of lumber onto the trailer of the tractor.....or maybe they just played in there....he-he.

Tone and Mathea checking out the work being done. There is mostly birch in this area.

The children trying to push a tree, which is party cut, over. Not an easy job. They finally needed some professional help.

My dad came along, too. 88 years old doesn't have to stop you from working in the woods.

Here is my dad, Werner,  trimming off branches...with a gorgeous view.

Felting at the Farm

6/19/09

Sheep farm = wool....and lots of it. Veronica, Jorunn, Tone and Ragnhild working on making felted purses. Some came out better than others.

Most of the kids made their own wool balls. Rebecca with hers...some food coloring gave great colors.

Mathea had so much fun playing with the wool, soap and water.

Barbara got her hands just as blue as the wool ball. She also used food coloring.

Aila working on her wool ball.

Mia (5) made a perfect ball.

Boa, preschool helper, had fun working with the wool, too.

There are new babies on the island, too. Lone feeding Tuva. She is about one month old in the photo.

After felting the wool for a while and getting the shape you want, the items needs to be 'shocked' by wacking it. Jorunn's purse came out very nice.

Birthday Party in Meløyvær

The kids went to one of the smaller islands (only 5 people live here year round) to celebrate Vårin's birthday (the family has a vacation home on Meløyvær). The kids took the regular passenger boat to get there.

The family had borrowed the small community house for the kids to spend the night. Sleeping bags all over the place.

Simen and Kim Roger all dressed up (probably by the girls....he-he). Both boys and girls participated in the sleepover party.

Here is Vårin with her b.day present from Veronica: a dragon Webkinz.

Two islands in this area are connected with a bridge. This was built when the military started to develop this area right in the 50's.

This is one of the bunkers on the island. Large parts of the island used to be closed to people but are now open for everyone to see.

Here is a canon installation on top of a hill.

Party is over and it's time to go home. The kids had to walk back to the dock, but the luggage was transported by the local mini bus.

Schools Out!

End-of-school-year party 6/17

Many awards were handed out. The first one was for the polar bear swim that happened during the bicycle ride on Sandsøy. All the swimmers were awarded a polar bear certificate.

Veronica with her award.

Barbara with her award.

The program 69 degrees North (the latitude Bjarkøy Municipality is on) split the entire group of students (1st-10th grades) into 9 groups. The students stayed with their groups throughout the entire school year. The group had to show cooperation and accomplishments in all the activities. The group Veronica was on, won the big award and they all received a t-shirt for their hard work.

Then, it was the teacher's time to 'show off'. Here are all the girl teachers being men.

And three male teachers (principal on right) all dressed up, too. They performed "The One That I Want", acting with great feeling.

The principal had to continue his speaker's role for a bit in his fabulous outfit. It was a great night with lots of laughter.