Home, sweet home

Bollan and the family were looking forward to coming home after the holidays, going back to every day life again. The flight went well, they even got their own seat on the plane, and as always, safety is important!

When they got back to the apartment they discovered that it was almost freezing inside, only 3 degrees Celcius! Poor Glyptodon almost had a heart attack and had to rest on a hot water bottle for a while.

After recovering from that first freezing shock, they were all happy to meet their friends again, and they all snuggled up together to keep warm.

But most important, The Boll could finally relax with a (not so) cold beer :)

Bollan's Christmas holiday 2009

It was quite the eventful holiday this Christmas, as the whole family got to go along. Usually she comes with us on holiday by herself, while the family stays behind to watch over the apartment. Here they are all getting ready to go:

First they were reunited with some old friends, one of which is a very distant relative of the Boll from China. You can guess who that is :)

Then it was time for some preparations. Of course Bollan wanted to help, so she had us make her an apron for the baking. She loved making cookies in all kinds of yummy shapes, like bats, frogs and hearts. She wanted to make hegdehog cookies, too, but I'm not so sure we'd have the heart to eat them!

Piggen, Bollan's husband, naturally had the role of family Santa and had to get his own hat. Tiny and Iggy played Santa's little helpers.

When Christmas Eve finally arrived, the family even got a present all for themselves! Bollan opened it very carefully (because some obsessive people - like me - collect wrapping paper), and revealed a picture frame with lots of hedgehog pictures :) Later the pictures will probably be replaced with some of Bollan and her family.

Early on New Year's Eve she went for a walk on a frozen lake. It was a little scary, but the ice was about 8 inches thick, so there was nothing to worry about. It was just very, very cold. Good thing she had her vest to keep her warm :)

The beginning

Here are a few facts about the origins of The Great Boll, and the beginning of the story about a quite famous hedgehog plushie.

She's originally from China, but remembers little from her time there. She was sent to a toy store in Bergen, Norway, where she was picked up by a nice guy as a Christmas present for his girlfriend (me!). This was in 2004. Therefore her birthday is 24th of December, and she's 5 years old.

The girlfriend immediately fell in love with her new hedgie and named her Bolla Hedgehog (Bolla'n/Bollan for short), and the plushie followed her everywhere. Sadly there are very few pictures of Bollan from the first year of her life, but here is one, where she's sitting on a shelf with some of her friends:

In 2005 she traveled to London, but unfortunately there are no pictures documenting her visit :( She stayed in the hotel most of the time, so there wouldn't be much to take photos of anyway.

In the summer of 2006 she began showing up in pictures more and more, demanding we'd make her look pretty. Here she has borrowed my grandmother's summer hat:

Spring 2007 she went on a five-month trip to Egypt, where she totally ruled as Pharaoh of the Two Lands! But that's another story for another time :) Here's a picture to enjoy while you wait, of her posing with the head of Ramses II in Luxor: