OSLO

Norway has become my new favorite country. The weather this weekend couldn't have been more perfect for our trip. We spent our time in Oslo with the rest of the Norwegians in the beautiful outdoors soaking up the sun. We took an early flight Saturday morning and after checking into a gorgeous airbnb we headed for Bygdoy Peninsula a little outside the city center. We got there just in time for the PARTY!!! It seemed like everyone around us was having a grill party and getting in the water. Now originally none of us really had the intention of jumping in, think Nordic Sea... yeah, cold! Jake however didn't want to miss out on the fun so he found a spot where some guys were doing cool dives off a rickety old platform and decided to join them.  

 Afterward he swam out a little ways to a tiny island to warm up on the rocks

 It took some convincing and a lot of courage but eventually my sister and I decided to put on our big girl pants and jump in too. We made, well more like my sister flirted and made friends with the guys that were doing crazy dives. We were a little too scared to jump off of the platform Jake jumped off because it seemed SO high. One of the boys said he would jump with my sister...

 Right before they jumped he grabbed Heathers hand. It was hilarious!

 Afterward I told Jake I would only do it if he came and held my hand. Even though he had dried off he was awesome and jumped with me. I fell in love all over again!

 Cold, wet and one happy family!

 The next day, first thing we hiked around a gorgeous fresh water lake Sognsvann. It really was picturesque and the water was really clean and clear... So of course we had to jump in!

 It wasn't as cold as the ocean and I was surprised to find out that after a few minutes of treading water I warmed right up and it felt great.

 I love this picture of Jake!

and this one... ;)

 After the lake we went into the city center to do more of the touristy things... first stop, the palace.

 Down by the docks they were celebrating a national holiday and many ships were free to hop on and tour which was really cool.

 The Fortress

 The beautiful opera house

 Our last day there we started off the day by hiking up to Holmenkollen which is a Ski Jump Tower. It looked over the whole city and it was an incredible view. Here behind me are cute little cabins with grass growing on the roofs.

 We climbed up to a smaller practice ski jump first. I am horrified of heights so it wasn't the easiest thing for me to be up there and I was surprised how steep it was.

 Jake getting ready for his jump

 Behind us is the Holmenkollen. We made it to the middle level, Jake would have gone higher but it was against the rules to go all the way to the top. Jake has the most amazing integrity of anyone I know so he hung out with me while my little sister who, well, is very spirited, decided she wanted to jump the fence and climb to the top, rule braking or not. So we waited for her....

 Our last stop on our trip was the Viking Museum. It holds burial ships from the Vikings which was really interesting because the Vikings believed that you took all of your worldly possessions with you into the after life. So the burial ships were loaded with things that the deceased might have needed.

My favorite part of the trip? Being able to spend so much time with my family! I love these quick weekend adventures because it's Decker time all day long. This was a special trip as well because my sister came. She went home yesterday and I'm pretty sad about it. We haven't lived in the same house together since I was in High School. It was really fun to be able to spend so much time with her and see the beautiful person she has become.
#dublindeckers