July 22, 2025
Guest Journal Entry Day! Lindsey is writing todays entry :)
The day started with most folks woke up around 9 for breakfast. Lenny and Liana each took down a trio of Danimals yogurts while the other kiddos had three cereals to pick from and most wanted Froot Loops. The Froot Loops here have two colors and taste great.
We all rolled out around 11:30 to go for a hike. A few wrong turns and we were at the trail head in about 20 mins. We did the Høgelikampen hiking trail, 2.5 mile loop. The trail started with an incline but one that then offered views of the fjords including a huge boat with smokestacks that we all called the "Titanic". Connor goes, “I want to dive into the Pacific Ocean to see the Titanic!!"
Bugs haven’t been an issue around the house but horse flies were after us on this trail. Power up’s of Mentos and Norwegian sour gummies and plain pretzels kept them all going. Liana picked some wildflowers from the jump and insisted that Chris hold them for the duration of the hike. The kiddos all got some walking sticks, but they just carried them and they became more of a liability than a help.
Using google translator, we learned that “Utsikt” is meant to signify a scenic overlook as the trail itself didn’t over views of the surrounding fjords. Even though we couldn’t see the fjords, the trail was still so cool looking. Everything looks like an enchanted forest, so much thick moss covering everything.
Beginning part of the descent was very steep. Chris and Kyle were helping the kids “fly over” the rocks. The kiddos were great hikers for the most part! Lenny and Roy lagged during the major incline but once at the top, they found their way to be the leader once again and then kept and set the pace. Back to house for immediate shower and tick check. We found a few on the kiddos.
We put Greatest Showman for the kids, but they all walked away pretty early on. Connor and Ollie were playing video games (FIFA soccer I think??), Lenny, Roy and Liana enjoyed some tablet time. We aren’t sure if Connor and Ollie scored any goals. Lenny felt left out and kept turning off the console, and then would wake up Chris from the small, comfortable kitchen bench seat. We tried to give Ollie and Connor a break from the little ones and saying they were doing homeschooling upstairs. That still didn’t last long.
We decided we couldn’t handle going out to dinner at night, so Chris and Kyle went to get stuff to grill (veggies, halloumi, shrimp) while the kids had frozen pizza. Been a bit of a struggle finding a meal these kids all like!
Kids played around the house. Trampoline. Jenga. While the adults ate dinner, we set the kiddos upstairs in the movie theater to watch Wall-E with lots of popcorn. Movie ended at 10:20 and it was off to bed!
