pappa-blog

Fairy Party!

2008-08-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Last week Princess Amalie turned three.
Big occasion, and we celebrated by having
a fairy party.
Here are some photos from the celebration.
Seems like all the kids and dads and mums had fun.

Pappa

Pink Pappa

2008-07-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

Long time no see.
Things have been good, busy and very entertaining for the pappa
the last couple of months.
I am really enjoying spending almost every hour of the day with my girls.
Amalie started daycare here in Adelaide in the end of March, when Melanie started her job as a Child and Youth Health Nurse here (helsesøster). She really enjoys her job, but of course envies me for being able to stay home with little Lucy-Babe all the time (not so small anymore by the way). Amalie goes to daycare two days a week (Tuesday and Wednesday).
Thursdays are the most busy days for us. Amalie goes to Fairy ballet then, and the excitement starts pretty much the night beforehand. She has a very nice fairy ballet dress (purple of course). She wears it in one of the photos I've supplied. We have to sing and dance from the wee hours of the morning ('pappa loves fairly ballet....').
In the afternoon we have to go to our local cafe for coffee (babycino) and cake. Amalie's almost as dependent on coffe as pappa.

In one of the photos you can see the little chicks at the breakfast table. Pappa is quite easily convinced that it's time to have pancakes for breakfast...

Fridays are the major fun days, when mamma is home most of the time. Lots of things to do at the library, playground and the Adelaide Central Market in the afternoon.

Mondays are also very busy with the two of them. Fortunately Nanny comes along in the afternoon to look after both Lucy and Amalie. I have been trying to contribute to saving the planet by doing CO2 work then (we're actually submitting a paper as we speak; pappa is a bit proud to be able to fit that in as well).
Tuesdays and Wednesday are the days when only Lucy and pappa bond. We meet up with other mums (...?) from Norway for lunch, and hang out with them until pappa has to go home again and cook dinner for mamma. Wednesdays are just fun - pappa actually is able to fit in private German tuition for his friend Lisa who is going to teach Drama and English in Germany.
(The first teacher she had was a bit of a sleeze-bag who couldn't stop touching her, so I thought it was best to step in and help out.)

In between we've been able to travel a bit; been to Melbourne, Kangaroo Island, and other nice places here in South Australia. Going wine tasting in the Barossa Valley tomorrow!

Our trip to Fiji is coming up soon! Should be very good, because here the weather is really cold at the moment.

Well, that pretty much sums up how life is here at the moment. Very, very enjoyable!

Hope people in Norway who read this, have a fantastic and warm summer.

Pappa

Sjekk denne baben

2008-03-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

Hei,

Tok nettopp dette bildet av Lucy og meg.
Hu er ei kjekk jente...

Pappa

Just so bloody hot...

2008-03-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

Hei.

Kva er denne sekvensen:

35, 36, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 38, 39, 40, 39, 38, 40, 40?

Det er temperaturen i Adelaide dei siste 15 dagane. Varmaste perioden i denne byen nokon sinne, og varmaste perioden for nokon by i Australia nokon sinne.

Igår kom det endelig levelig vær - 30 grader. Det skal bli godt over 30 grader i påsken, men no er vi skikkleig forberedt med skikkelig aircondition i både hus og bil. Skal bli litt bading...

Ellers hadde vi ein flott tur til Melbourne frå forrige torsdag til mandag. Kjørte frå adelaide til Melbourne via Great Ocean Road. Skal oppdatere med bilete seinare. Har forresten endelig fått breidband her etter over ei veke utan nokon tilknytting.

Beklager mangelen på gode bilete så langt. Skal gå gjennom kameratet no og plukke ut godbitar,

GT

Gratulerer med dagen Bestemor!

2008-02-29T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hei

Idag er det bursdagen til bestemor i Norge, og Lucy og Amalie gratulerer så mykje med dagen. Skulle ønske me kunne vera der og spise bursdagskake med deg. Store klemmar frå oss.

Ha ein flott dag!

Lucy og Amalie

Here again!

2008-02-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hi,

We are back in Adelaide again - daddy arrived one week ago, and we have had a nice week at Kangaroo Island together. In the first photo you can see Lucy and Amalie together. Amalie is very good with her little sister.

We have also seen some kangaroos and been swinning. We have had warm weather, but also had some days to do sightseeing.

Yesterday we came back to Adelaide, and today we are catching up with people - and our first task will be to get a car...

One week into my leave now - so far so good!

Eigfam

Last day before the paternity leave starts

2008-02-14T05:05:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's all happening again. Lucy is now 5 months, and needs more quality time with her dad. So I'm now heading into a 7 month parental leave period, and I'm bound for Australia tomorrow to rejoin the girls who left 2 weeks ago. Just about to have cake with good colleagues her at StatoilHydro in Sunny Bergen, before I'm heading off.

Now the updates should be more frequent....

Geir

The rebirth of pappa-blog?

2007-11-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

Hi eveyone,

Time for pappa-blog to come back to life. Amazing how hard it is to find time to do the updates necessary.

Great news since the last update - our baby daughter Lucy Mathilde was born on 13. September. Here are some photos of her. She is just as much of a miracle as Amalie. We are so lucky to have two beautiful daughters now. Melanie is at home with her now, and we are planning for me to take over the parental leave from February. Again we're planning to head south to Australia.

Amalie is such a big girl now - she's two years and three months. She has started daycare, and is loving it. She struggles a bit getting up at 7.45 though.... She is really good, and loves hugging and kissing Lucy. And Lucy is a very good baby by the way. We're actually getting quite a bit of sleep these days now that we can't go out partying any more....

Well, this was a start - hopefully this blog might be more vital from now on!

Geir and his three princesses.

Back in Black

2007-03-08T08:13:00.000-08:00

Bloody hell! It's been more that 3 months since
we last posted here. And lots of things have happened
since then. We are back in Norway now,
and might be here for a little while...

Amalie is as gorgeous as ever, and it's great to spend
lots of time with her. Melanie is working part time, and
as we do not have daycare yet, I sometimes have to go
home from work very early.
Like today. We're really enjoying the afternoon together.

Came back to Norway just before Christmas, and had
a great celebration with the Norwegian family.... although
we had bucket-loads of rain for the first month.

I have decided to resign from university. Taking up a new position
in May as ...... in ....... Should be good!

(University is not the greatest employer, and expects you to
remain in non-tenure positions as long as you shall live...
And since it is not marriage I decided to break up.)

Have been skiing a bit over the past two months. Amalie will no
doubt win gold for Australia in the Winter Olympics in 2026.

Just booked a pre-Easter holiday to Italy. Going there for six days
to enjoy family life.

Anyway, from now on this blog will come to life again... promise!

Amalie og Pappa

Just booked

Nan-blog

2006-11-15T03:50:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone.

Last weekend Melanie and I went to a Halloween
party. Nice do, with many good costumes.
Amalie stayed with her Nan from Friday night to
Saturday morning.

We woke up quite early on Saturday morning, and I had
to ring to ask how they had been - of course everything
was fine.

Nan took her to the annual Christmas Pageant here in Adelaide.
Amalie was very excited to see Father Christmas and his
reindeer - which she constantly called wov-wov's.

In the photos she is hugging her Nan when we met
up with them after our (long) breakfast.

De e'kje greit å være mainn....

2006-10-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Eg må sei at det er litt skuffande
å sjå at eg no som mann nesten blir
diskriminert i visse samanhengar.

Ordningar som skal gjere det lettare for
folk å komma tilbake i arbeidslivet etter
fødselspermisjon går ikkje begge veier.
Sjølv om eg har tatt nesten eitt år med kombinert
betalt og ubetalt permisjon med Amalie slik at Melanie
skal kunne ta helsesøsterstudium, blir ikkje dette
verdsatt i når vi søker på barnehage eller i jobbsamanheng.

Ringte til ein av (UiB) barnehagane der Amalie står på venteliste igår,
og prøvde å få litt info om kva me kan gjere. (Sidan studieåret
her i Australia går frå Januar til Desember, treng me først
barnehageplass i januar.) Dama spurte meg om kva fakultet eg var
tilknytt - og sa då at eg var ikkje prioritert sidan eg var mann.
30 barn står på ventelista med høgare prioritet enn Amalie fordi
eg er mann....

Eg har ALLTID sagt at eg ville ta ut like mykje permisjon
som Melanie når vi fekk barn, og eg har argumentert for at
permisjon bør delast slik at kvinner står sterkare i arbeidslivet.
Men er det rettferdig at barnehageplassar skal fordelast etter kjønn?
Dei fleste barn har jo både mamma og pappa....

Er det andre menn som har lignande erfaringar?

Hug-blog

2006-10-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hei,

Amalie har blitt skikkelig kosete no.
Ho klemmer meg alltid om morgonen når eg tek
ho ut av senga. Og kjem stadig bort til meg
utover dagen for å klemme meg. Trur det må vera
heiltids-pappa-påverking!
På bildet ser de eit typisk scenario - ho liker
ikkje at pappa sit med laptop'en for å jobbe.

Dei siste dagane har ho sove lenge om morgonen
(dvs 9-9.30), men tidligare i veka har ho våkna
fleire ganger på natta, stakkars. Har hatt tannsmerter,
og ho har fått ei gigantisk tann nede. Ikkje
rart at det gjer vondt...

Var litt rart å bli vekt på natta igjen. Utrulig kor
fort vi gløymer korleis det er med slik 'tortur'.
På natta vil ho helst ha mamma, og ho skubba meg
stadig vekk då eg prøvde å trøste henne.
Greit å ha den unnskyldinga for meg, men det var
fint då ho var tilbake til rutinene sine igjen på
torsdag-fredag.

Tur til Melbourne og The Sunshine Coast

2006-09-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Hei,

Reiste først til Melbourne for å treffe Belinda og
Fiona nåken dagar. Belinda er fadder for Amalie, og var
veldig begeistra for å få vera med
henne igjen. Fiona kom ned frå Darwin (uten
Barramundi-fisher-Trav, som
akkurat har blitt tilbydd jobb i Singapore!), og samen budde me i
ei leilighet på St. Kilda.
Amalie er forresten blitt veldig begeistra for å fly;
veldig oppglødd når vi kjem på flyplassar og vidare skal boarde.
Og null problem når vi er i lufta; ho er fornøyd berre ho
får studert andre passasjerar.
I Melbourne fekk jentene handle fritt (med bidrag frå Amalie
sitt barnetrygdfond...), mens Amalie og eg 'hung out' på trendy
barar med 'the Gay boys'. Som den gode mannen eg er fekk dei og ta
seg ein skikkelig bytur på fredagen.
Eg måtte ta eit tidlig skift lørdags morgon...

Viste seg seinare at det ikkje berre var drinkane
som gjorde Melanie dårlig; me har alle hatt diare og
symptomer på matforgiftning etterpå. Sjøl blei eg sengeliggande
24 timar mens me var på The Sunshione Coast.

Helga var fin, men veret var skikkelig dårlig.
Melbourne er Australia sitt Bergen. Eg tok knapt av fleece
genseren mens me var der.

...derfor veldig kjekt å reise til the Sunshine Coast på
mandag. Budde rett ved ei av surfestrendene der (Mooloolabah).
Var der samen med mor og stefar til Melanie. Kjekt å ha litt
hjelp med Amalie; spesielt sidan eg var heilt utslått heile dagen.
Sidan dei ikkje snakker norsk kan eg her ærlig fortelje
at stefar til Melanie er ein elendig sjåfør, så eg sat med
hjertet i halsen fleire ganger mens me kjørte rundt i leigebil...

Var til Noosa eine dagen, og litt innover i landet (the Hinterlands)
neste. Fine dagar med sol og varme. Flott overnatting for ein
ganske rimelig penge.

Tilbake til Adelaide igår, igjen ein fin flytur med Amalie.
Trur ho sjarmerte heile besetningen. Ho kjem sikkert til å
bli pilot! - eller kirurg eller statsminister eller generalsekretær
i FN eller nåke liknande...

Og på kvelden igår var melanie og eg på Ben Folds konsert.
Han bur og her i Adelaide - og er gift med ei jente herfrå.

Ferie igjen!

2006-09-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hei,

I morgon reiser vi på ferie igjen.
Skal bli godt å komme vekk frå tjas og mas...
Reiser til Melbourne i morgon og blir der til mandag.
Skal treffe famile (inlaws...) og venner der,
og reiser vidare til The Sunshine Coast etterpå.
Bør bli avslappande dager med bading og lesing.
Blir borte 10 dagar til saman.
Skal bli kjekt å ha endå meir tid saman med Amalie,
som ikkje er så liten lenger.
Ho gleder seg og!!

Crocodiles in Kakadu

2006-08-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone.

We're coming into spring here in Adelaide now.
Nice, sunny days with temperatures around 20 degrees.
After all, Adelaide is the 'driest city of the driest
state in the driest country of the world....'.
Today is Sunday, and we're heading down to McLaren Vale
today to meet up with some friends and family.

Below are some photos from our trip to Kakadu and Darwin
last month. Our friends Fiona and Travis arranged a great
trip to Yellow Waters in Kakadu National park.
We camped there (with Amalie!) for four days, and did
quite a bit of sightseeing. But most of the time
was spent in the Billabong, which is habitated by Barramundi
and Crocodiles - big ones.......

Køben-Vats-Bergen-Frankfurt-Darwin-Trav&Fiona-Crocodile-etc-blog....

2006-07-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone.

I've got a lot of blogging to catch up on.
At least I took the time to blog some photos of Amalie's birthday
last weekend, but a lot has happened over the past 6 weeks.
Firstly, I went to Copenhagen to attend a conference and give a talk
(so that I had an incentive to keep myself updated with research...).
Then I visited my family in Varhaug and Bryne; had a very nice weekend
in Vats. Celebrated midsummer nights eve there - in grey weather...
But the next days the sun decided to shine again. Had really nice weather, and I
had almost forgotten how light it is there during summer. Whereas I had planned to
sleep quite a bit (without being disturbed by any crying during night), it was not the time of year to be stuck in bed.
Stayed with the very friendly couple Gunnar and Gry in Bergen. Thanks so much for that! Had a week there to catch up on work and with friends.
Went back to my parents and sister Monica for the last weekend and flew back to Singapore on the Sunday. Had a stopover in Frankfurt, and it seems that every time I'm there Ronaldo is there too! Brasil had lost their quarter final match the day before, so when I was at the airport the whole team showed up.
Finally got to Singapore, just to realise that my luggage was lost. Got on to my flight to Darwin alright; got in there at 3 am. Melanie and amalie had already arrived, and we then stayed almost two weeks with our friends Fiona and Travis.
The next blog will mainly be from that experience...

Geir

Eitt aar - prinsessa vaar har bursdag!

2006-07-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Er det ikkje utruleg. Amalie har akkurat feira sin foerste bursdag.Tenk, det har gaattt eitt aar sidan ho kom inn i liva vaare.....

Her er nokre bilder fraa den store dagen.

Pappa og Mamma

Sykkeltur til Goolwa

2006-06-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hei, igjen.

Forrige helg prøvde vi oss på sykkeltur for første gang alle tre.
Var nede i Port Elliot som er ein liten kystby ca 1 times kjøring frå Adelaide.
Ei veninne av oss hadde lånt ei hytte for helga, så vi var invitert ned dit. Bestemte oss for å leige syklar for ein halv dag. Melanie og eg tenkte at vi kunne no prøve Amalie på sykkelsete, og ta det veldig bedagelig. Så kunne dei andre heller legge ut på langtur dersom dei ville det.

Det gjekk veldig greit; Amlie veksla mellom om å vera storfornøyd i vintersola til å sove den flottaste søvnen. Før vi visste ordet av det hadde vi sykla til Goolwa. Det er ca 20 km frå der vi starta.
Koste oss skikkelig; fine vinterdagar her betyr kanskje 16-17 grader og strålande sol...

Er klare til å kjøpe eit skikkelig sete for Amalie og ta oss fleire turar.

Amalie, Melanie og Geir

Norwegian National Day (17.mai)

2006-05-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone.

Last week we celebrated Norwegian National Day here in Adelaide. On the 17th of May we were invited to celebrate with some fellow Norwegians, and we had a big(!!) party at two friendly Norwegian's house (Frode and Mari). There were almost 15 Norwegians there, and sang Norwegian songs as if we were professionals. Had some proper Norwegian food (thanks for the excellent potato salad made with proper Norwegian mayonaise!). Heaps nice weather; almost twice the average temperature back home.
Went out at night to a bar full of Norgs, and I was actually a bit hungover the next day...

On Sunday we went to Mitcham Reserve, which is a park here in Adelaide. The Norwegian consular here has organized this celebration for the past (20-30?) years, and we had traditional pølse i brød and vafler. Later the Norwegian team defeated the other team in tug-o-war (tautrekking). We should have thrown rotten eggs at the Immigration Minister here, but she didn't show up...

...and we won the raffle; big bag of Norwegian foods!

Here are some pictures that capture some of the moments.

G, M og A

Ferie på Hamilton Island

2006-05-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hei,

No har me akkurat kome tilbake frå en liten ferie til Hamilton Island som ligg i Whitsunday området i North Queensland. Kjempeflott vær, og veldig barnevenlig (eg sa det...). Amalie hadde det kjempefint - bildene taler for seg. Flott for mamma Melanie og pappa Geir og. Reiste samen med eit svensk par me har blitt kjent med her. Me nytta høvet til å prøve barnevakt ein gang og reise på båttur saman. Det neste felles prosjektet vår skal bli å seila verden rundt!

Pappa, Mamma og Amalie

No more bananas in the Banana Republic...

2006-05-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Banana prices are soaring after the hurricane earlier this year which destroyed most of the crops in North Queensland. Now bananas trade between 10 and 15 Australian dollars pr kilo! (Mellom 50 og 75 kroner pr kg!!!). There is no import of bananas here due to strict agricultural legislation. Sad story...

But, then IKEA came along and opened up a new store here in Adelaide. We were there the first week, and when we left people were lining up for more between 1/2 and 1 hour to get in! Great to see how much the Scandinavian influence is loved here. Great for me to go to the store too - felt like we were back home for a few hours.

Eigfam

Frukost

2006-04-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

Frukost

....er eit av høgdepunkta av dagen vår samen. Idag vakna eg av leing og snakking fra barnerommet sånn i ti-tida. Amalie er nesten alltid i godt humør på
morningen. Ho ser så begeistra ut når eg tar ho opp frå senga. Masse pludring når eg skifter bleia hennes. Når vi kjem inn i stova seier ho 'nam-nam' - veit at det er tid for frukost. Ser på meg med stor forventing når eg finn melk, graut og begynner å blande det samen. 'Nam-nam-nam-nam..........' heile tida.
Me bruker gjerne 1/2-1 time på å ete frukost saman. Etter at ho er ferdig med skåla si begynner ho å sjå på leveposteskivene mine - 'nam-nam-nam'.
Ho sug på skiva si idag. Har berre 4 tenner enno. Når eg hermer etter henne kjem det eit kjempesmil, og så ler ho godt.

Dei er veldig fine desse timelange frukostane...

Amalie og Pappa

'Arkivfoto'

2006-04-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

Hei igjen,

Fant enno fleire bilder som fortjente å komme på nettet. Viser litt meir av
den daglige aktiviteten her.

Amalie og Pappa

Bilder av Amalie

2006-04-11T05:18:00.000-07:00

Hei,

Har samla litt bilder av Amlie her. Har gått 2 veker sidan siste update, og tida flyr! bryllup i helga, mange kafebesøk i løpet av veka, bursdagsfeiring for to veker sidan, og mest lesing for Melanie i løpet av vekene. Ho begynte med klinikk idag, og no blir det 2-3 heile dagar med Amalie og pappa kvar veke. Har gått kjempebra til no.
Eg har no kun 3 månader og eit par veker før eg offisielt skal begynne å arbeide igjen. Midtveis i permisjonen no... Trur ikkje arbeid blir det same etter tida med Amalie.
Påsken nærmer seg her; ikkje same å vera her i Australia i løpet av påsken. Her er det berre helligdagar på fredagen og mandagen, men me skal på vinsmaketur med eit svensk par på torsdag. Melanie skal berre jobbe i måro (onsdag), og så er det fri for henne og.

P.S. I dag har Rolling Stones sin først konsert i Australia; dei speller i Sydney ikveld, og i Melbourne på torsdag. Sjekka for sikkerhets skyld flybillettar tidligere idag... you wish!

Fleire fine dagar

2006-03-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

Forrige mandag fekk eg endelig tid til ein (halv) runde golf. 3 par på 9 hol. Ikkje
verst for ein heiltidspappa...
Amalie har fått ein veldig fint søvnrytme no. Me legg ho i 8-9 tida, og vanligvis er det nok å berre synge litt for henne for å få henne til å sove. Ho har ein liten elefant som er god å halde i. Når me legg ho ned, ruller ho seg over på sida og koser med den.
På tirsdag kom Steve og Julianne tilbake frå bryllupsreise til Thailand. Me hadde familiemiddag oppe hos svigermor; eit ukentlig ritual mens me er her.
Onsdag kom og gjekk. På torsdag traff me Erika, Peter og dattera Ally frå Sverige.
Dei er her i eit halvt år. Eg traff Erika i 'Playgroup' som Amalie og eg går til på fredagar. Det er ein fin anleding for amalie å treffe andre ungar her nede.
Gruppa startar kl 10, men Amalie forsov seg den dagen, og vakna ikkje før etter 10...

Fredag var bursdagen min, og vi gjekk ut på Thai restaurant saman med venner om kvelden. Enda opp på 'Lotus Lounge' etterpå. Skal oppdatera seniare om det.

The weekend

2006-03-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

We were all happy to have some days to relax. Melanie was exhausted from studying so hard (....) during the week, and needed some days of not having any set things to do.
Amalie let us sleep until 11 on sunday; she was awake at 9, but fell asleep again when we took her into our bed.
On saturday we had coffee at our local cafe-street (Jetty Rd, Brighton). In one of the photos here you can see dad giving Amalie her lunch. Later that day we went into the city, and enjoyed some Fringe events (For anyone not having been to Adelaide, that's the big biannual summer festival here). Saw some buskers, drank a beer each (not Amalie), and had pizza at one of the Rundle Street cafes. Ran into some friends, and decided to have a glass of wine with them. Amalie fell asleep in her pram, and we called it the night at 9.30 pm.

On Sunday we had visitors over. In the second photo, you can see Adam, Tory, Amalie and Melanie in our backyard patio. Nice afternoon to just chill out. We had a walk along the beach, and ended up at one of the local yocals for a drink.
Went up to my inlaws for dinner where we got some self-caught fish. Yummy!

Monday came early for Melanie who is stuck in her Uni-books again. Amalie and I, on the other hand, have enjoyed the nice weather on the beach again.
See ya!

...the newly weds

2006-03-16T21:11:00.000-08:00

Of course I should post a few photos of the newly weds Julianne and Steve. At the moment I think they are relaxing on their honeymoon... somewhere on a beach or near a pool some place in the warm part of the world.It was a beautiful wedding, and they seemed to have the time of their life.Melanie was Julianne's matron of honour. Here she is in her bridesmaid dress.

Amalie in a wedding

2006-03-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

This is Amalie in her pretty dress in her aunt Julianne and uncle Steve's wedding. She was a very happy girl during the day. Mainly because she was with her daddy - and well looked after by all her family and friends.Here she is with Pop Pete.