Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah!

Today is (or was, it's rather late now) the national day of Norway, the day the Norwegians celebrate their Constitution. Years ago it was made into a day for children to celebrate and have fun marching and singing in school parades, stuffing themselves with hot dogs and ice cream, and play lots of games. Of course Bollan and her family didn't want to miss out on the fun!

Here they are marching away on our sofa, with some embroidered giraffes cheering them on in the background:

Tiny and The Mouse made themselves pretty with bows in the Norwegian colors,  and Iggy got to lead the parade with the flag, look how proud he is (not to mention his mother, I suspect she's very happy that he feels a little Norwegian as well):

Piggen formed the marching band part of the parade, and was so happy about his new saxophone, he got a little carried away and did a little jazz solo:

Of course Diego overslept and missed the whole parade, but he woke up from his slumber on top of the frigde in time to join the others for a little celebration :)

Then it was time to eat: hamburgers for dinner and ice cream with chocolate sauce & peanuts for dessert. Yum!

After all the food they were all very tired, so now they sit on their shelf and relax with Alien on DVD :)

Happy Birthday, Norway! :D

Easter surprise

This morning this huge egg was suddenly sitting on our couch.

Bollan quickly came to investigate, she'd never seen such a giant egg before!

She liked the chicks on the outside...

But she needed to find out what was inside the giant egg.

It was Piggen! What a sneaky guy, he was probably trying to get all the Easter candy for himself...

Thankfully he only wanted to surprise Bollan, and he invited the whole family to share in the fun :)

Saint Patrick's Day!

Such a glorious occasion (and perfect excuse) to drink lots and lots of beer :) Green beer! Bollan, Tiny and Glyptodon love the color, though the beer was a little flat...

Dressing in green :) Iggy and Piggen has new stuff to show off:

Glyptodon, Humpty Dumpty, The Mouse, Cousin and Tiny eating green cupcakes that Bollan helped to make :)

Happy Paddy's Day!

Sharing the love

Bollan's devoted husband Piggen decided to surprise his dearest today, since it's both Valentine's Day and Mother's Day here in Norway. So, with a little help with the preparations from me, the crocheting one, he gave The Boll a little present. He's such a romantic little guy :)

Happy Valentine and Mother's Day everyone!

Happy Valentine

Bollan and her family all wish that you have a great weekend and a lovely Valentine's Day on Sunday, together with your friends, family and loved ones :)

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 :)

Introducing the family

Piggen:

Bollan's devoted husband. His name means "Spiky", but he's really a big softie. He's actually a hot water bottle cozy, and is therefore pretty floppy and spineless, but Bollan likes him :) He's good at taking care of the family when Bollan goes on holiday. Prefers wine rather than beer.

Iggy:

Oldest son, has been away at school in Sweden for a long time, so he speaks mostly Swedish. A cool kid with earpiercings and everything. He's called Iggy because the Swedish for "hedgehog" is "igelkott". Like his father he likes wine, even though he's a little too young.

Tiny:

Youngest child and daughter. She has a pet, The Mouse, a somewhat failed attempt at a felt Christmas decoration made many years ago. She will probably grow up to like beer, like her mother. Should we be worried?

Humpty Dumpty:

Youngest son. Got his name because of his body shape, not because he breaks easily :) A finger puppet.

The cousin:

Hasn't really got a name yet, he's just called The Cousin. Never says anything, but is always there :)