Osl- ewr flight co39

9.48am We are at the airport. Marion is droping me and Isidor off at the check in and leaves with Milla to park the car.
10.44am we are still in the line to check in. As usually my passport draws a lot of attention. They can't figure out the code for my nationality. Eventually they have it sorted out and it's CS, totally counter intuitive for a country that's called Serbia. On the same token, we've changed the name of the country a number of times over the course of several years so it's no wonder they've ran out of intuitive acronimes. We are supposed to take off at 11.25am.
11.00am finally at the gate.
12 .21pm Milla is being nursed. Isidor is watching a movie. I'm writing this.
1.33pm everyone is fed. Hoping that Milla is going to take a longer nap. Isidor's been pretty good so far. The guy in the row next to the door looks sorta scary. He's like short and chubby, got long blonde hair and a bit shorter beard, long nails. The remaining teeth are in a pretty bad condition (I suspect due to excessive snus consumption). He's kinda like one of those rock n roll dudes, at least looks like one with his led zeppelin bag and the ramones t-shirt.
2.34pm Milla is in the basket attached to the bulkhead, not sleeping. Isidor is watching the same movie for the second time.
3.04pm Milla is asleep. Isidor is bored. I would love to take a nap but chances for something like that are very slim. Finally getting a chance to chat a bit with Marion.
3.25pm this time we've got male flight attendants. Personally I prefere female but these guys are nice too. The shorter dude is actually real nice.
3.58pm Isidor is entertained with the stowaway table that pops out the arm rests. He manages to pop it out himself.
4.58pm just banged out an email to Rudolfo, gotta send it when we land in Newark.
5.43pm for all the linux geeks out there, the onboard entertainment system runs on red hat linux!
5.47pm Marion just read what I had written. Milla pinched her finger, poor girl!
6.45pm I'm tired!

Saturday morning

...this just a typical Saturday morning.

The other day I accidentally came across the nordiccab bike trailer/stroller/ jogger combo. i was on my way to the on campus pharmacy store when I ran into a woman rolling around one of these. Given that we are about to travel and that we have two kids and only one stroller I thought that a stroller that can take two kids and that's fully foldable would do. At the same time I didn't want something that can be used only once or very occasionally. I needed something that's got a multipurpose nature. When I saw this woman I knew I found what I needed. Not the woman but the stroller she carted her kid in. What I got sold on is the reclining seat. This means that Milla can take her nap when we are on the go. What I particularly liked about is the sturdy plastic cab floor. The weight is also very acceptable so it will definitely make a great traveling companion. When folded its size is comparable to the size of a larger suitcase. I mean we don't travel light to begin with. That being said if I already have to carry a stroller than it better be one that can take both kids yet not as big as a full blown twin stroller. More over now we can bike around Boulder. Yeah, I just hope Marion attaches the trailer to her bike since she's a more experienced cyclist. :)
After a bit of research we found out where they were sold and we got one. Last night we assembled it and voila there it is in its full glory.

I totally recommend

Though I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination I can't help it and have to recommend this one. I've got a couple words for this white: fruity yet dry. That is a perfect combo for me when it comes to white wine. This comes at a price that's not on the cheaper end but I'm ready to pay it again and again...

Lunch

This is our very first lunch on the balcony this year. For some reason we haven't done it yet. We've done some dinners but not lunches.

I wonder how long...

...it's going to take before the pair to the right is in the same, almost unusable, condition as the pair to the left. Yesterday I bought a pair of new shoes for Isidor. The last pair (the one to the left) is only three months old.

Queen's court

Ten days ago we were on a four day , an extended weekend, trip to Budapest, Hungary. This trip was sort of an important one since that was Milla's first time to travel abroad. All of us really enjoyed it big time. The kids had fun and that was really important too. The city itself is beautiful and there is always a lot to see over there. Though traveled with the kids we still managed to do a bit of everything. We had some walks around, chilled in coffee shops, ate at nice restaurants, had some quality time at the pool, hopped on a river cruise, you know regular tourist things. My main impression though was the hotel. It was just superb! I'm not talking here some fancy schmancy and extravagant things, I'm talking simple cleanness and the level of service we got there. You know, after a long day outside running after kids, yet still trying to see something and have some nice time on a hot day (30 something C), the last thing I needed when finally at the hotel is rude staff and a dirty and run down hotel. I'm saying, when at the end of the day back at my room I wanted to kick it and let the kids crawl around and do whatever they wanted without worrying they were gonna get some infection or eat something crazy off the floor. I've been to relatively many different hotels but don't remember any of them being this clean and nice and I'm one of those weird guys who would never ever consider sitting on a public toilet without padding it thoroughly with paper towels, not the toilet paper! In this hotel I had no problems using the toilet from the very first moment (in the room though, not the lobby). Ironically, the hotel is situated in a pretty shady and not so tidy street. So the point here is, I really enjoyed my stay there for many different reasons but this last one is the crown jewel since it gave me peace of mind at the end of the day when I needed it the most. Price wise, it was on the more expensive side but it was so worth it! So, dear reader, if you ever find yourself in Budapest look for the Queen's court hotel (queenscourt.hu), you won't regret!


before




a couple hours later

Well spent 3000NOK

A week ago Marion came home with a trampoline. We had talked of getting one so she got it. Isidor spent a great deal of time jumping on our neighbor's trampoline last year and really enjoyed it so we decided to get him his own. As soon as we got it mounted the kids from the immediate and not so immediate neighborhoods started lining up to check it out and have some quality time jumping around and burning calories . Personally I don't mind, but can imagine myself being pissed off hearing the noise just in front of my window or even worse answering the door every now and then at any time of the day telling kids to f'off or eventually letting them jump on that thing, depending on my mood and other circumstances. That being said after the first excitement of assembling it we started being worried a bit. How were we gonna deal with all those requests or kids just sneaking into our backyard without our permission to use the trampoline? More over I don't feel like watching the kids jumping at all times and I can't let them do that without having an adult looking after them. I don't want anyone to hurt themselves. We really started questioning our decision to buy it. Finally we decided that purchase wasn't the smartest thing to do.
Well, I'm telling all this because I just wanted to point out that the trampoline all of a sudden felt like a burden. Having all those thoughts in mind I reluctantly decided to actually use it this morning for the first time. It was first Marion and Isidor jumping, then me and Isidor, them Milla crawled in and finally it was all four of us just hanging around, fooling and laughing. Well, having an 8mo. old in that thing wasn't really smart, but at that point we were not jumping but more like playing inside. Well, I felt really great and that's the reason I'm writing all this. I kinda had a zen moment there and felt amazingly good, or for the lack of better word, fantastic. Watching Isidor having fun was really priceless. I felt so good that I'm actually gonna go so far to tell it was well spent 3000, even if we decide not to put it up next year . The next door neighbors didn't put up theirs this year and I think I know why!