20230625 Returning to the Candy Store

The basement was cool and silent and we slept in the next morning. I got up before Amanda to shave, put on sunscreen, and cut my nails and saw Lukas and Ja were up watching spiderman on the TV. We sat in the morning sun drinking licorice tea until Lukas found a nerf dart gun and he started bothering everyone to set the plunger for him. He would pull the trigger with his thumb, concentrating more on the process than where he was aiming. Standing in the middle of the little enclosed deck room, someone would cock the gun for him and then everyone would duck, lean out of the way, or shield their eyes as he spun around looking confused at why everyone was acting weird. This continued until we could no longer find the dart. We spent nearly an hour looking for that little dart.

Later that morning we drove out to the Saltö nature preserve and walked through the forest to another rocky beach. Amanda perked up when she saw signs indicating the forest was home to crested tits. Kari wasn't sure where the beach was located and we ended up walking around the point, past a rocky outcrop where someone had spray painted "NO TEXTILE" and "NAKENBAD" on the rocks to signal the nude beach. I made a note to return later and we continued around the point, passing a trail marker indicating a snorkeling trail; underwater markers you could follow while snorkeling.

Amanda went off on a "1-hour" walk to look for birds and I stayed behind to swim and play with the kid. The floor of the bay was mostly barnacle encrusted stones but there were stretches of soft sand hiding razor sharp oyster shells. Ja cut his foot open and I cut my toe. To avoid making his sunburn any worse Ja stripped the kid from the waist down and left a shirt on him. He got a stone lodged between his cheeks and Ja had to catch him to pull it out.

When it came time to consider heading back, Amanda still hadn't returned so I went on a run to try to find her. When I caught her coming back around the point she said she saw some nudists on the beach and some crested tits. I wasn't sure if she was making a joke.

We returned to the house and then headed out on a walk back to the waterfront. I'd asked if there were any specifically Swedish activities we could experience and Kari mentioned the Fika - eating a roll and having a coffee. We went to have a Fika.

Amanda had a slice of princess cake, a layered white cake with raspberry jam and cream and a marzipan layer with a candy rose on top. I didn't order anything but I helped Lukas finish his pancakes.

Afterwards we split up and Ja, Sigurd, and Lukas returned to the house while Kari, Amanda, and I continued around the lake to visit the candy store again. This time I limited myself to the candy I knew I preferred from my extensive research of the day before.

On our brief stop over at the house we took turns entertaining the kid while we cleaned the kitchen and packed our things in the downstairs room.

The 3 hour drive back to Oslo was difficult. It was hot, the car had broken air conditioning, and we got caught in horrible traffic. The traffic was probably midsommar holiday goers returning to Oslo. Lukas was uncomfortable and sleepy and seemed on the verge of throwing a tantrum. He kept letting out heavy sighs, squirming, and tightening up as if trying to contain a tantrum. Because I was sharing the back seat with him I tried to keep the sun off and Amanda twisted around in the front seat to distract him with toys, water, and songs.

He cried in his mother's arms when we arrived but soon recovered and was laughing at our jokes and telling new ones. When Ja told him (in Norwegian) that momma was 'an old elephant' he looked shocked and then let out a long "NAIIIIIII!".

He carried around the wooden screwdriver toy as if it was a popsicle and Ja asked him, "Does uncle Na get an ice cream?" and he answered in a very serious voice, "Nai."

While Sine was cleaning the bathroom he reminded her several times not to eat the cat poop.

When it was time to go to bed, he went around the room. "Nacht Papa. Nacht Mama. Nacht Aunt Amanda. Hello Uncle Na!"

Ja left to return grandpa's car and Sine went downstairs to put the kid to bed. Amanda washed dishes and I took a shower. In the bathroom I was amazed to discover my unwashed wool t-shirt and synthetic patagonia underwear still weren't stinky.

Showering in Ja's guest bathroom is difficult. There is no curtain or divide and half of the room contains things that probably shouldn't get wet so you had to be careful with the hand-held shower nozzle. Also there was no place to hang the nozzle or a place to get soap (besides the sink) so showering required rinsing down, turning off the water and coiling up the shower nozzle, covering yourself in soap, unravelling the nozzle and turning it back on with soapy hands to rinse it off again.

Sine had prepared gazpacho and salad for us when we arrived. While we were gone she'd stayed at a hotel while attending a wedding. It was her first time away from the kid since he was born and, she claimed, the first good night's sleep in months, despite the fact her drunken roommate returned to their shared room at midnight.

We got news that the solar panel work they were going to do on grandma's Jeløya was postponed so the cabin was free for us to visit. Sine volunteered to take the kid while we were gone.