My 30th Birthday: Surprises, Swims, Books and BBQs

My thirtieth birthday in Norway was always going to be special... The sun, the fjords and the mountains make for a pretty spectacular backdrop. We had made plans for the day, and the weather reporters were promising glorious sunshine all day.

I couldn't have asked for more.

Or so I thought!

We had arranged breakfast up at my in-laws, and so once we had packed the kids into the car, we headed up... I smiled as we entered the kitchen to a loud rendition of "Happy Birthday!" Belted out by Dave's family. And as I stood, with my back to the dining room door, I suddenly realised there were more voices than people. Turning round, I gasped at the realisation that my parents were peering around the door, smiles wide and singing full volume! They had come out to Norway especially for my birthday! (The whole thing was caught on camera and you can take a peek over on the Facebook page!) 

 I was so genuinely shocked and pleased and surprised! 

After getting over the shock, we devoured a delicious Norwegian breakfast, courtesy of my lovely mother-in-law before the present opening began!

I got so many lovely presents, but my favourite of all was a gorgeous Breda watch from Dave. He knows me well!

Of course, I had a little help with the present opening from my girls.

After that, we packed ourselves into the car and headed off to beautiful Fjaerland, Norway's Book Town. It's a stunning little town which contains, a few houses, a couple of hotels, a handful of coffee shops and a lot of book shops! We browsed to our hearts content and came out with a tonne of new books for the girls (including some of my favourite authors - Astrid Lindgren included!)

It was a gorgeous day - glorious weather, a stunning backdrop, and town literally FULL of books, and spent with some of my favourite people. I am so privileged to be part of two wonderful families... Only my brother and sister were missing! (Next time guys!)

These ladies loved this little makeshift car outside the children's bookstore... I was only annoyed at the lorry that refused to get out of the background of my picture!

We returned home, and the day was made perfect by my first swim in the fjord this year. I am normally a huge fan of fjord swimming, and have found it hugely frustrating to need to be careful this year (my c-section scar has taken an eternity to heal this time!) so it was SO nice to finally get into that icey-cold water and swim across to the jetty and back with my sister-in-law. It was the cherry on top of a perfect day. (Can you spot the two little heads bobbing along in the photo above?!)

We finished off the day with a fjordside BBQ... Burgers and hot dogs with my favourite people, including this little man, who still spends an awful lot of time sleeping!

       

The views don't get much better than this...

It was a perfect day... My best birthday ever! Everything - from the surprise visitors to the book town, to the fjord swimming to grilling by the fjord - was wonderful. I'm so thankful to God for the thirty years he's given me, and the privilege of being part of these two families. I felt truly spoilt rotten, and I won't be forgetting this birthday in a while.

Dave - you did good! :-)