Oslo Day Trip #3

For our third day trip to Oslo we went and met Joshua's parents at their hotel in the morning after they finished their tour.  We headed first to the Nobel Peace Center and then to Akershus Fortress.  The girls did a children's activity tour at the Peace Center and got trading cards at each station of various Nobel Laureates while learning the importance of Speaking Up against injustice.  Evelyn especially has been asking about going to a medieval castle some day, and Akershus Castle within the fortress is one, so the bucket list is shrinking as we type.

These are some flower beds next to City Hall on the walk from the train station to the Nobel Peace Center

 Nobel Peace Center in the background

 And front of building

 A wall next to the center with various artists depictions of some of the things that can detract from peace

The girls at a station within the center, listening about making your voice heard when you see injustice

 Another station about using the internet to make your voice heard, where you could add your own thoughts

 Juliet in an exhibit about Syrian refugees

 Juliet with the mascots, Fred (peace in Norwegian) and Toca Loca

 Leaving the center

 Some sidewalk art outside the center

Off to Akershus Fortress, where we learned that cannons are almost as exciting as playgrounds

 Grandpa was happy to share his love of old cannons with a new generation

 View from the fortress across Oslo harbor at the Museum of Modern Art

 Older boat with view of the harbor

 Castle chapel in the backround

 Interesting picture showing three different time periods of building with different bricks/stones

 Coat of arms within the courtyard of Akershus Castle

 Sydney was enamored by the guard

 And then as seen above and below her sisters joined her in the stare down

 Post snack picture showing energy boost

 At first glance, Elizabeth thought that the shapes on these masts were stationery

 But quickly realized they were people working on the ship

 Evelyn, her seagull friend, and the Nobel Peace Center in the background as seen from the top of Akershus Fortress

There were multiple present day sculptures throughout the fortress, this one fit our group

This is where we live-Moss, Norway

We've been so busy trying to document our more exciting travels that we haven't posted much about Moss yet.  Here's a bit from the everyday routine here in Moss.  There have been a lot of "field trips" thus far in the homeschooling year as the weather has been nice and the days are still long.  Joshua and the girls(and Elizabeth on weekends) have trekked all over the city of Moss, tried out all of the local grocery stores, done most of the walks suggested by the Moss website, as well as explored multiple beaches and trails on the island of Jeloy that is part of Moss.

Roughly in order from when we first arrived until now...

 Outside our apartment door

 

Historic Building at the end of our street where Norway broke from Denmark after Napoleonic Wars

 

 One of the first places we explored was Sjobadet, the city beach

 Most locals thought beach season was over, but don't tell that to these three

 Outside Galleri F15 (an art gallery on Jeloy)

 View on Jeloy that apparently inspired famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch

 

 Back to Sjobadet city beach on the walk home

 Elizabeth doing a high ropes course with colleagues and students as part of orientation

 Joshua returning from paintball with students during an orientation event(Sydney trailing him asking him how much the paint balls hurt)

 Our street, Verket

 View out our window

 Sydney in the living/dining/kitchen area

Doing a walk to Roysasen lookout and Molbaek pond, suggested on Moss website

 You get a view of Jeloy island in the background

 Posing at the pond

 View north

 Fearless hikers

Another suggested walk to Thorbjornsrod

 This was the spot of an old cannon battery

 The steeple in the center is Moss Church at the center of the city

A new and modern style playground next the the church in the center of the city, we heard it was finished right before we arrived

 Cool trampoline strip to run and jump on

A park within Moss called Nesparken has a stage set up for outdoor performances, you don't have to tell Evelyn twice to start the show

 Nesparken also has a lake in it

A walk to the other side of Jeloy, 1.5 hours from the apartment, is another beach called Tronvik

 It was overcast the day we walked there

 But they still played on the beach in the mist

 Some play equipment on the pedestrian street within Moss

We all had to go to the police station in Sarpsborg to get our residency cards, a walk to city hall uncovered an interesting fountain that the girls enjoyed

Back on Jeloy again to a beach called Stalsberget with some volcanic rock

 Lunch break

 Watching the waves in the fjord

 More exploration

 Using swim suits again on the walk back, on a sand bar beach

Another hike to Roysasen today

 With Moss in the background, Jeloy on the right

 Picking wild blueberries

 They thought it was hilarious when I showed them the ferns and moss in the undergrowth, Sydney demanded a "moss in Moss" picture. She is definitely her Papa's granddaughter.

This is their Roald Dahl "The Witches" pose with their blue spit post blueberry eating

 Searching for things among the lily pads

 Found a dragonfly

And a butterfly