Amazing sunset...

We were speechless tonight in front of the sunset over Kongsberg...

Sunset over Kongsberg, Monday 31-Aug 2015 at 8:55pm

Lake behind the house

We discovered a nice lake right behind the house today.  People still swim in it...  It's WAY WAY WAY too cold for Texans like us used to 30+ deg C pool...  But it's still a beautiful place!

Silvermines

Today we discovered Kongsberg's silver mines.  We went 2.2 km inside the mines with a small train.  We were literally in the middle of the mountain, 300m underground in a mine that goes as deep as 1.1 km.  These mines were founded in 1624 by King Christian IV and produced over 600 tons of silver over the years.  They stopped in 1958.  It's so impressive to see what human ingenuity can do:  from the techniques developed to go deep down the mine, to the fire setting technique used to crack rocks before dynamite was invented.  With this technique, the miners were able to dig at a rate of about 3ft per month vs. 20 cm per month by hand...

Ready to board the small train that took us inside the silver mines!

Inside the (small) train car...  Scary if you're claustrophobic.  

Inside the mine.  It was only 6 degree C inside...

In front of one of the "elevators" that was developed to get miners down.  They could fit up to 7 miners in there!

Proudly wearing my Columbia shirt 300m underground!  For my little buddy Simon!

In front of the mines main entrance

Picnic outside of the silver mines

Layla picking blueberries

Demonstration of the "fire setting" technique used at the time to crack the hard rock formations

Chippin' away!

Snapshots from Saturday morning run

Here are a few snapshots of Kongsberg taken during my Saturday morning run after dropping off the boys at Swim Team.

Kongsberg Maritime's main office where Olivier works

Kongsberg was a mining town (silver mining)

The boys at their swim practice

Great start to the week-end!

Layla and Alyssa playing the front yard

Sunset from the bedroom window

Getting into our routine

We're getting into our routine, with school for the kids, homework, swim practice, etc...  We're so proud of Celian, Lucas, Layla and Alyssa and how well they are adapting to our new environment.  People here are super nice and so helpful:  at school, at the supermarket, at work, at the swim club...  It's so nice to experience that.

Here are a few pictures around the house:  we can't get enough of the view from the dining area, with the hills in the background and the forrest.  The kids spend a lot of time outside.  Celian and Lucas walk to school (downhill on the way to school and uphill on the way back...  It's about 2 kilometers one way.  They took their sweet time today walking back home...).  Same with Layla and Alyssa (who starts school next Tuesday!), but their school is closer (just down the street).

View of the deck that wraps around the house

Layla ready for school this morning.  And Alyssa, so so so ready to go to school as well (next Tuesday!).

Sunset tonight from the balcony upstairs

Rainy day...

Today was the first rainy day since we arrived.  The kids enjoyed trying out their rain gear:  that'll be handy for them to have, especially since they spend so much time outside.

Ready for school!

Beautiful sky ending a beautiful week-end

Beautiful sky last night.  Here's a picture taken at 9:45pm from the front balcony.

And this morning, the sun was shining on the hill across town...  With some clouds preceding some rain we had this afternoon.

First week back to school for the kids in a new Norwegian school.  We're very grateful for the warm welcome and all the super nice staff at Madesbakken Skole and Raumyr Skole.  Celian, Layla and Lucas came home with a big smile on their face after their first day.  Celian is in an accelerated program to learn Norwegian, and Lucas will join him starting next week.  And both Layla and Lucas are "teaching assistants" in English class.  Alyssa will start school on the 1st of September.  We're so proud of our 4 little guys and gals!  Celian and Lucas also started training with the local swim team in Kongsberg (BK-Svømming).  Great club with excellent people.  They'll be training with the "Speed" group 3 to 4 times a week.

Today (Saturday 22-Aug) was also our first day in the new house we are renting:  beautiful place, with lots of light and plenty of space.  The backyard is right against the forest, and we have a nice view on Kongsberg's ski slopes on the other side of town.

Layla and Lucas in front of their new school.  You can see the ski slopes in a distance.

Kids ready for their first day of school

Proud Papa!

Proud Maman who had a few tears in her eyes on this first day

Layla getting ready to step into her new class (2nd grade).  She's easy to spot:  she's the smallest :-)

In the backyard by the garden shed