July 24, 2025
This was our latest morning yet since the adults were up past 1am the night before. The weather was nowhere near as lovely as yesterday but the day was marked by a few heart warming conversations and one liners from the kids.
Lenny and Liana continued their morning Octonauts binge. After screentime was over, they took a snack of pistachios to go mess around in the backyard. Chris overheard a part of their conversation where they were walking around but stopped for a snack with Liana saying, “Lenny you’re right it is time for a nut.” Liana also shared her dream with Lenny, “Can I tell you about my dream. There was a big toilet, you, me and Oliver went in the toilet and Connor didn’t. It was a very scary dream.”
Driving into Bergen, we squeezed our group of 10 into two cars to make parking easier. (fast-forward: parking was easier but only because we parked in illegal streetside spots and ended up with two ~$90 parking tickets.) In our car, Lindsey sat in the back between Lenny and Liana and after a few song selections, the kids were shockingly quiet. I looked back to see both asleep and leaning on Lindsey in the middle seat. In the other car, I learned from Chris and Jamie that Connor, Ollie and Roy had a deep conversation about the likelihood that holiday figures and ghosts were real.
Connor, “I don’t believe in leprechauns or the Easter bunny but I think I believe in Santa. Also maybe the flying reindeer but definitely Mrs. Claus. I don’t believe in Elves either.”
Ollie, “How do you not believe in elves??”
Connor, “I’m not sure if I believe in ghosts either.”
Roy, "There's a difference between ghosts and invisible people!”
Jamie and Chris said they tried to stay out of the conversation and let the boys come to their own conclusions. They were pleased that the conversation came full circle with the kids agreeing that Santa had to be real but some of the pomp and circumstance around how he got the job done might not be real. We all agree we might have just 1 more year left where our older kids believe in Santa fully so we’ll have to make it a good one! Jamie tried to ask Ollie where he would be spending Christmas this year, but she asked when he was locked into an iPad so she never got a response. We’ll be in Hawaii this year! We need to align on our story about Santa Claus and Donut our Elf on the Shelf and how these characters operate with us being in a different house for the holiday.
We took the Funicular Railway to the top of Fløyen mountain in Bergen. All the adults appreciated the design elements of the funicular where riders exited and entered on separate sides and you queued up separately for different sections of the funicular– making onboarding and off boarding seamless and less susceptible to impatient or pushy riders ruining your experience. A much more pleasant experience than the “oogie boogie” queue experience in Cape Town.
There was a playground in sight at the top so the kids ran around and played ninja games while the adults watched them play and snuck in a bit of gift shopping at the nearby store. Our exploration continued to the “troll trail”, incorrectly shared with the kids as a “troll maze” which led them to proclaim that it was the easiest maze ever. The highlight of the day was just around the corner though– an incredible playground and playscape tucked among the tall conifer trees. I later learned that this area was voted greatest playground in Bergen and I can see why.
The kids first took to climbing to the top of the huge playground/ treehouse . Liana resisted climbing to the top, but the kids eventually convinced her to do it. Soon we heard a wail of, “Get my mommyyyyyyy” from the house at the top and realized Liana was too afraid to come down on her own. The scene was reminiscent of one my mom often shares where I climbed to the top of a McDonald’s playscape and she had to come in and retrieve me when I refused to come down. Connor tried his best to gently coax Liana to climb on her own but Chris eventually climbed halfway up and lifted her down a level.
Jamie enjoyed tracking the few red/brown squirrels in the playground area and snapping photos with Chris’s phone. Soon the crows/ magpies took over her focus and she alternated between watching and feeding them Pringles for the next hour or so. Liana joined in and seemed happy to sit patiently and observe the birds– something neither Ollie or Len would be able to do.
We had dinner at a burger spot in downtown Bergen and all the kids seemed relieved to have a meal of fully recognizable foods- cheeseburgers, waffle fries, chicken nuggets and chicken wings.
At the carnival downtown, Ollie and Lenny were especially excited to see bumper cars as one of the ride offerings. After Kyle and I saw how fast the cars went and how old the other kids on the ride were, we declared that ride off limits regardless of the height requirement. Ollie was super bummed by this decision and let me know of his disappointment repeatedly. When I was putting him to bed, he whispered to ask if he’d be big enough to ride the bumper car rides “back home on the dock”. After a brief back and forth, I learned he meant the bumper cars on the boardwalk (not dock) in Point Pleasant, NJ.
Connor, Ollie and Len favored the super spinner ride while Roy and Liana took multiple rides on the flying elephants. We had cotton candy in hand when we broke the news that it was time to go home and this move dulled the whines from the kids as we exited the carnival.
It was my turn to put Ollie and Lenny to bed which has meant also letting Connor and Liana in on the routine as the foursome has been sharing a room. Song selections were:
Lenny: Octonauts theme song
Ollie: Going back to Cali, Notorious BIG
Liana: Pink Pony Club, Chappel Roan
Connor: Rolling in the Deep, Adele
