Amy's Balancing Act
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Every adventure has a beginning.
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Travel

Every adventure has a beginning.

And this is ours.

On August 14th, JP, Chloe and I set out on a 3 week journey to Norway, Sweden and Denmark! After almost 24 hours of travel, we made it to Oslo to see Charlotte waiting for us. She came prepared, Norwegian flag in hand in attempts to woo Chloe. Let’s be real, my stubborn toddler is pretty pick on who she shares her love and smiles with these days. I think the flag did the trick though!

We had to take a train from the airport into Oslo, and there was one waiting on the tracks as we arrived. We got Chloe, the stroller, pack n play, carseat one suitcase and the duffle bag on the train. Charlotte and I hopped on while JP grabbed the last two suitcases, and the doors closed. I kid you not. We banged on the doors, pressed the door open button, shouted, everything! And the train just left with JP standing there, two suitcases in hand. It was kind of dramatic. Charlotte and I were in shock! We immediately had to come up with a plan. Luckily the train leaves from the airport every 20 minutes. Chloe, Charlotte and I just waited on the platform in Oslo for JP to arrive since his train arrived on the track next to ours. It gave us a little bit of time to chat and hang out which was nice, but it was kind of a weird way for our adventure to begin.

Eventually we did make it to Charlotte and Ole’s apartment. We got settled in and walked down the street to pick up some pizza for dinner. On our way back, Chloe passed out and was just done for the day.

Traveling and exploring is hard work for a little girl! She really did a great job with travel, but we were all exhausted. We let Chloe rest, but Charlotte insisted on JP and I staying up until 10pm. I know it’s what I needed to do, but I was so sleepy! I did manage though. The first night’s sleep was rough. Chloe woke up and saw us in the room and wanted to sleep in bed with us. Naturally we let her. It was more cramped then we’re used to, but it was comforting for our tiny human. Let’s be honest, when Chloe’s happy, we’re all happy.

We woke up to our first official day in Oslo. Charlotte had to go off to work and JP had to work from home, so I took Chloe with me on a little adventure! Just down the street from Charlotte’s apartment is the Oslo Botanical Garden.

Of course it was a gorgeous day with blue skies and sunshine. The perfect day to walk around the gardens! From visitoslo.com: Large garden at Tøyen with ample botanical variety and diversity. Most of the area is designed as an Arboretum, with approximately 1800 different plants. The garden holds a large and varied collection of trees and shrubs planted in a systematic fashion after plant family.

It was so nice to just be outside, taking it easy and enjoying the day after being cooped up in airplanes and airports for so long. After Chloe got out of her grumpy morning funk, she really started to enjoy herself and run around.

There was a sweet children’s garden that had stumps to hop across, logs to walk along like balance beams, plants that created tunnels and huts and more. Chloe loved running through the tunnels and jumping from stump to stump. It was all just a wee bit too big for her, but she loved it anyway.

The Botanical Gardens is an awesome free activity that you can do in Oslo! Chloe and I spent about 2 hours walking around and playing, and we didn’t even cover the entire garden. 
We went back to Charlotte’s apartment for lunch and to rest for a bit. Later when JP was finished with work, we set out again to explore and find a park for Chloe to play and burn some energy. 

Charlotte gave us directions to a really fun park that we loved! Chloe had a blast trying to swing like a big girl and climbing everything. Before we knew it, Charlotte was getting off of work!

We met up with Char at the grocery store because JP and I wanted to cook dinner! Salmon, veggies and potatoes. It was colorful and delish and of course we didn’t take any pictures. We spent the evening relaxing and watching Last Chance U on Netflix! Ole also came home from a work trip that evening and we were officially all together!

It was the perfect start to our Scandinavian adventure. It wasn’t over the top or fancy. Just perfect, calm and around our loved ones.

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