Walk along Mosvatnet

Lily wanted to go on a bike ride, so Rich and I loaded her, her bike and Kona into the car for a quick spin around Mosvatnet, one of the local lakes in Stavanger. Along this lake is what we call the "Pacifier Tree." When the little boys and girls are done with their pacifiers, it is tied to this tree. It was quite full this spring!

A few warm days...

Rich was working all weekend in a exercise when we had nice weather (which is how it always is....he never seems to get to enjoy those few short bursts of nice weather). This is what the Messina kids do to keep themselves entertained on warm, sunny days. :o)

Kona

We actually had a few warm, sunny days (warm meaning we hopped into the 60's - that's warm for Norway) and we were able to give Kona a bath. She is never too thrilled to have one, but will stand there until we are done. She has the most bizarre hair afterwards...her straight hair is all kinky. She looks so funny!

Last Baseball Game of the Season

After two fun-filled days of rugby, Tim had to switch gears and finish up the baseball season with his last game with the ponies for 2009.

NECIS Rugby Tournament

Because this was the end of the last full week of school, many of the teachers brought out their students to cheer on the rugby men and soccer ladies from ISS. Lily loved cheering along with them.

Go ISS!!!!

The victorious U19 Stavanger team huddles up...ice packs and all, to congratulate each other on their awesome feat.

The 2009 NECIS rugby U19 Champions! These guys were really happy...see the big guy with the baby? He's one of the coaches. The man is ginormous....his calves are the size of my thighs...and I have never had skinny thighs, my friends! He is from Fiji.

Tim zigs when he should have zagged....

Tim looks for a hole to run through...or a teammate to pass back to!

Tim prepares to throw the ball in during a line out in an U16 game.

Tim goes for the tackle during the Shier Exibition game. These kids are all his age or a bit older...but he was so big and serious about the sport of rugby that JP put him on the U16 team.

Tim breaks a tackle to go for a try...

Tim pauses to see why the whistle was blown...

Lily's mean Viking look...

Lily all dressed up to show her support for the ISS home team from Norway!

Tim and Alex, 15, eye the other teams as they play in the begining rounds.

J.P., the varsity coach for ISS, felt really bad that Joe couldn't play because of his finger...so he got him out of school anyways and had him be the permanent ball boy for the tournament. I think he got just as much running in as everyone else!

Tim, as the hooker, is in the center of the front row of the scrum.

Your body seems to get bent into funny positions during this game...

Tim practicing his throw-ins...as the hooker, if there is a line out, he is the one that throws the ball in.

Tim coming over to say hello to Lily and me in the stands.
On May 27th and 28th, the International School of Stavanger hosted the NECIS girls soccer tournament and the boys rugby tournament. Stavanger rarely hosts these events because it is so very expensive for other teams to come and stay here. However, I have heard that they will be hosting the same tournament here next year. Yay! That is good for the home team....cause we are the ones that ususally have to travel for the NECIS tournaments. What is NECIS? It is the Narthwest European Council of International Schools. For the rugby side of things, we had teams from Stavanger (us), Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Tonsberg. It was really very neat to be around all these young men (and women, for the soccer side of it) that were there to just enjoy their sport. Even though these were English-speaking schools from all over Europe, they are also International schools, so the mixture of countries from each team was also quite amazing.
For the rugby tournament, they divided the teams into U16 and U19. Tim was the youngest player out there at age 12. He played hooker for the U16 Stavanger team. There was also an exibition match played on the pitch for the "Shier" (sp?) team...the youngsters. These kids are Tim's age. He got to play in that game as well. He had an absolute blast. The ISS varsity U19 team got first....Whooo hooo! Go Green Goats! (okay...I actually asked about the whole green goat thing...they needed a stubborn animal as a mascot - hence the goat. They are covered in green stains after each game...hence the green. It has been a name that has stuck for years...) Both boys are really looking forward to playing next year!
They started out on the pitch around 0900 each of the mornings and finished around 1500. The first day was overcast, windy and COLD!! We were wrapped in blankets, wearing winter coats, hats and mittens. We even had to bring out the umbrellas for a little while. Friday was a whole different day with warmer temps and sunshine. The perfect day for playing (and watching) rugby.
Last year, the ISS team broke several bones of the opposite team. This year was a bit more benign (thank goodness). We did have one U19 player that had a bad enough concussion to stay overnight at the hospital after the first day. He was back with the team the next day, but cheering from the sidelines. I am already looking forward to the tournament next year!

17 May - International School of Stavanger in Children's parade

Tim's best friends, Julius, Kjell and Alex after walking in the parade.

Lily watching closely to catch a glimpse of "her boys" as ISS marched past.

My dear friend, Terri...the primary school music teacher at ISS and fellow AF wife. She played the accordian to keep the singing going during the parade.

Tim waves hello as he walks by with his alto saxophone in the combined ISS band. They had over 200 band members this year.

The boys' basketball coach, Mr. Knudsen, walks with the group.

The bell ringers and singers from ISS (primary school ages)

Here comes ISS!
This year, the International School of Stavanger won the best school in the parade! Congratulations Vikings!