A week full of challenges and experiences – competition, pirates, snakes, steep mountains and Vossabia in your bag! 🐝🎒

Emil advanced well through the race from 93rd to 72nd place, which his mom thought was fantastic, but he was very unhappy with his race 🤷‍♀️ He had a terrible time shooing away jellyfish, slipping and tripping on the rocks, he jumped wrong on paths, swam longer than necessary, and then he struggled to get his swimming goggles to fit (and many other excuses 😉 haha). But, actually, I feel sorry for him because he got really burned by jellyfish! And then there's Chamomile balm in! ⛑️🪼 The rescue when stingrays have struck!

💪 Then there's this RÅ vetlajento! In a fierce competition, where both several profiles from the TV series Norges Tøffeste took part, AND many professional, adult triathletes, Ylva manages the crazy thing: becoming the 4th best woman, and 39th place overall!! 🙌🏅🥹

🥹 The Vossabia mom with tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat, because she is so tough and constantly impresses! ✨🙌 What a team! Now Team Vossabia is ready for new athletic challenges 😌

Before Emil went back to the military and Marius had to go back to work in Vossabia, we got a mandatory trip to the Animal Park 🐨🐍🐘🦁

The zoo is always fun, and for us it's actually like a big botanical garden too! 🌱💚 They have great plants there, and pirate Ylva found it delightful Calendula among other things, and that makes us happy, we who love Calendula and as ALWAYS Vossabias has enormously good Calendula Balm with you in your bag, no matter where you are! 🌼🎒

Emil tried to ambush his mother 🗡️ while I stood and enjoyed the view of beautiful planting in Cardamom City. I never feel completely sure what he's up to, hahaha 🤣

For Ylva, the Swim Run Challenge was the starting point for a week full of activities and other experiences and challenges. And of course, Ylva and I have had wonderful morning baths every single morning! 🫧 We actually haven't showered once in a week, because it's incredibly much more pleasant to use The forest on the body and The shampoo out in the open air! And with only pure and gentle ingredients that are good for both people and nature 💚, we just have to enjoy it and take the chance! 😉

There is so much great to experience in Southern Norway, and we are always looking for new experiences 🔍 And we are constantly looking for small local and unique shops and businesses. And I stumbled across several amazing ones.

In Lillesand I got completely lost in the spirit and bought a pair of beautiful ceramic lamps from Lillesand Design AS , where Lise and her husband design and make everything themselves, and they have the most beautiful shop in the city center 😍 Lise and her husband are also enthusiasts and run a great freediving and snorkeling club for kids in Lillesand 🤿 Check it out here:

She thought it was fun to have Vossabia visit, because she had plans to stop by Straumebui this summer and buy some good natural products from us! 🤩✨😁 So wonderful to meet such enthusiasts with whom we share values and joy of creating local products! 

🐊🦎🐢 The next day Ylva was in awe, as we got to pet baby crocodiles, turtles, lizards and have a boa constrictor around our necks!! 🐍 I even had a snake coiled around my neck! Fascination more than fear, amazingly enough. And Ylva thought it was absolutely fantastic!

And from a snake around my neck, I had a butterfly on my nose 🦋! The Little Zoo in Gjerstad was wonderful and the close contact we got with plants and animals was very special ✨ Another exciting day! 😃

🌊 The sea is calling of course when you're in Southern Norway! So Ylva got a skipper's hat, we rented a boat, and sunscreen and fishing rods were taken out into the archipelago 🎣 Satisfied fishermen and landlubbers smeared themselves with sunscreen and hooked the best lures on their rods. There was no point in sunbathing or fishing, as the clouds came and the fish were probably in Western Norway or something.

Then it was just a matter of getting further out into the sea, and the Jettegrytene on Sylt! And they delivered! ✨ What a magical nature experience! In the wind, sun and waves, there was a lot of laughter and many WOWs! Ylva of course jumped in! Right into the Jettegrytene, while the sea spray from the sea filled and rinsed the Jettegrytene. Swimming in all kinds of environments gives such strong nature experiences! 💖

❀ We've seen yarrow everywhere, which we're now on our way home to pick large quantities of. I've been feeling a little bad about not picking on the trip, and even Jonatan is going around saying: "Look, mom! Yarrow!" 🥰