Mother nature...

It rained for most of the night and day today, which really increased the flow rate of the Numedalslaagen river flowing through Kongsberg.  Very impressive!  Especially when comparing to the picture below taken in August...

On a normal day (August 2015)...

First swimming competition today

Today we had a first swimming competition for Celian, in Hokksund (a little town about 25 min from Kongsberg).  It was an all-day event, very well organized.  Celian did great for a first competition here in Norway.  He swam 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and finally 50m freestyle.  He really improved his time from his last meets in the US, so all the hard training paid off.  Coach Rune was very happy.  We're very proud of our little buddy.  Keep up the good work! Next competition is on October 11 & 12 (2-day competition, about 2 hours from Kongsberg).  Celian found 3 other friends who are in the same school and who swim as well.  Looks like a great bunch!

Ready for the 50m freestyle.  Celian is in lane 4.

Marching band practice + playing in the rain

Great day today:  Celian had his marching band practice (getting for the grand opening of the new Performing Arts school in Kongsberg).  And the kids played in the rain this afternoon:  they have all the gear for it and are all set!

First band practice for Celian today

Celian had his first band practice today with the Guttemusikken Hovedkorps:  he plays drums/percussion.  He's easy to spot on the picture below:  he's wearing his Norway shirt, in the back of the band.  He had some great help from his new band members.  Very proud of our little guy and how well he's fitting in.

Walk in the Jonsknutten mountain, around Knutehytta.

We went for a nice walk in the mountain this morning, around Jonsknuten mountain.  We found a beautiful little lake close to Knutehytta.  We'll be back for some camping there!  On the last picture below, you can see the TV tower in the background:  it's the summit of Jonsknuten mountain (904m) that we see from the house as well.

Kids in front of an aqueduct used to transport water into the silver mines back in the days.  This water was used (among other things) to power hydraulic lifts to go up and down the mines.

TV tower at the summit of Jonsknuten (904m) in the back on the left.

Quick visit to Daddy's work today

Quick visit to Daddy's work on this rainy Saturday morning.  Everyone enjoyed the quick tour, including the tour of the training center with all the legos!  The kids will come back just for that!  Celian is "ready to work" there!

Inside "Carpus 1" building

Sitting by Kongsberg's values

At Daddy's desk

Meeting in Daddy's office.  Lucas really looks like he's in a meeting!

In front of the model of a semi-submersible

Crazy girls...

In front of "Carpus 2" building where Daddy's office is

Full rainbow flying back home to Norway

I saw a pretty rare thing on my flight back from Bulgaria today:  a full rainbow.  The angle of the rays of the sun, the position of the sun and the droplets of water in the clouds were all in the right condition for this rare sight.  Enjoy!  Attached are some pictures of Sofia as well:  very nice place.  My business trip there was too short though.

Full rainbow from the plane (double rainbow visible if you look closely)

Landing in Sofia, Bulgaria

Landing in Sofia, Bulgaria