In Iceland

We landed in Iceland at 6:30 am this morning after an fairly uneventful trip. Lessons from the first flight: a) Check into the airline that is operating the flight, not the one listed as the primary, b) Call/email way ahead to make sure that the family isn’t scattered around the plane. c) Having a special security check line for families is brilliant. Lessons from the second flight: d) Expect to get stuck on the tarmac at JFK for at least an hour, e) Anna doesn’t mind watching the same three children’s programs multiple times.

When we exited the airport in Iceland, we were greeted by still, warm(ish), gorgeous weather, and the smell of mossy/berry fields. We drove to Reykjavik, had some breakfast, and then collapsed into bed for four hours – all of us except Anna who has been extremely excited and happy all day. When we woke up at 1pm, all 3 of Finnur’s sisters were already here and we hung out for a bit. We then took off (it was either that or pass out sleeping again) and reclaimed our cell phone number, although it won’t start working until Monday. Then we headed to my mom’s place where we met all my brothers, 2 out of 3 girlfriends, my stepsister with her young son, and my stepdad.

We returned to home-base for dinner, and the kids passed out shortly thereafter. It’s now close to 10pm and it’s still bright outside. Apollo 13 is on the TV and life is good.

Finnur’s mom and dad as well as Hreidar (spouse of Inga, Finnur’s sister)

Finnur, Bjarki, Grandma Ásdís with Anna.

Stepdad Bjarni, stepsister Helga, my mom with Ísarr.

Sofa-bonansa! From left: Nökkvi (brother) and Jóhanna, Pétur (brother),
Helga (stepsister) and Ísarr, Hrefna with Bjarki, Bjarni (brother) and Bryndís,
Finnur and a tired Anna.