Finally a few meters of altitude

08/18 (Friday)

That was a long day. Michel woke up again in as good a mood as he fell asleep yesterday. From the age of 5 he was allowed to cuddle with dad and I was able to sleep for another 2 hours. I woke up to the sweetest sound in the world: Michel’s “cooing”.

After a relaxed breakfast (with a view of the fjord, of course) we headed to Lofthus, about 15 minutes away by bus, to climb the Dronningstigen. Apparently Queen Sonja's favorite trail and one of Norway's most popular tours. Nevertheless, I wasn't too busy and we were able to enjoy nature in peace. Most hikers start the tour from Rote, take the shuttle up to a few meters in altitude, walk on the plateau for about 5 hours and get picked up again on the other side. Despite the baby, we were of the opinion that we had to walk everything, i.e. the entire 1100 hm, and realized halfway through the tour that we had overreached ourselves or misjudged the time. Arriving on the plateau and 2 hours later, we decided to turn around after another 45 minutes and go down the same way again. We would have spent at least another 2.5 hours on the plateau and needed another hour for the descent. At that point, Michel was restless for the very first time and we didn't want to tempt fate. I'm glad we made this decision. At first I was disappointed, but Sven was able to bring me back down to earth. He is my rock in the surf.
Even if the other option might have been “only” 1 to 1.5 hours longer, with a baby it has a different meaning than before. I'm proud of us that we no longer have to go out of our way to implement everything we set our minds to. It goes without saying that we would never endanger Michel in any way or knowingly overwhelm him.
At the end of the day, Michel was in the carrier for 7 hours and tolerated it really well. One would rather say he enjoyed it. He laughed and talked, he was rarely so sweet. Not only a video was made today.

The hike was strenuous, especially with 8 kg on our chest, but always safe in the terrain and, above all, beautiful. The view of the fjord was worth every drop of sweat.

Instead of waiting for the bus, we took the shuttle back, which just happened to be there. It cost us 30 euros, but definitely gave us 90 minutes of life (unfortunately the bus only runs every 2 hours).

Since the campsite has a very well-equipped kitchen, we wanted to treat ourselves to the announced fries. Of course, as always, there were vegetables.

Unfortunately, it took our darling longer than usual to fall asleep today. We always think back and forth about what the reason could be. Too much program, too little program, not enough sleep or too much?

I think most of the time we do a lot of things right and well. We are anything but perfect, but we try to be the best parents to Michel. And that's all that matters.