Day #2 in DC: Downtown Bethesda, and a BBQ
[Photos from 31 July 2015, written up on 23 September 2015. Easy!]
We weren’t the only Icelandic friends of Elsa and Þráinn’s in the area during our stay. Another couple with two teenage kids was also hanging out, and we all enjoyed a BBQ together that evening.
The day started, though, with Elsa taking the other mom and her daughter to a hot yoga session (I opted out since I’d almost hurt my back during a similar yoga class the previous morning) in downtown Bethesda. I’d seen a playground close by, so we decided to get a head start on the heat, and let the kids play outside before lunchtime.
Once we were there, I spotted a sports store I wanted to visit with Anna, so Finnur got stuck minding the smaller kids. He had no internet connection on his phone, so he almost diiiiiiiied of boredom. But, Anna and I lucked out, and got some items on a sale at the store. (I got sports bras! Not, one, but three! In my size! On sale! In the store!!!)
After lunch, I vaguely recall there being grocery shopping, but Elsa also headed out to the airport to pick Þráinn up. In the late afternoon, the other family arrived, and we all ate way too much!
Photos! (13 images total)
Bored-to-metaphorical-tears Finnur at a playground by downtown Bethesda.
Day #1 in DC: Gymnastics, Shopping, and Playgrounding
[Photos from Thursday 30 July 2015, written up on 23 September 2015. Say it ain’t so!]
It was pretty darn warm in DC the first few days that we were there. To escape both the house, and the heat, we took the kids to a gymnastics club that offers 50 minutes of playtime every lunchtime. After playing and eating lunch at Subway, we split up, with Finnur taking the younger kids back to the house, while the moms and Anna went off to find the nearest H&M store during a thunderstorm.
Once we got back, we took it easy, except for a dusk-time visit to the local school playground, where I got my first bug bites, and eeek, they sure got nasty the day after!
Photos, or it didn’t happen! (26 images total)
Emma attempting to open the door to the gymnastics center.
To Washington DC!
[This happened on 29 July 2015, but is being blogged on 10 September 2015. No wind!]
In late May I got a fly in my head (Icelandic idiom) to go visit and stay with our friends Elsa and Þráinn in Washington DC during our summer vacation.
Long story short, a plan was hatched, tickets were bought, and on Finnur’s 41st birthday, we took off for a two week vacation! (16 images total)
You can tell by the cart/stroller that we’re at Keflavik airport! Yes, we decided to buy proper headphones for all but one unlucky soul. They were worth it!
Nökkvi, Jóhanna & Kids Spend the Day
[Photos from 28 July 2015, put online 09 September 2015. Storm #2 arriving tonight!]
We finally got around to hosting Nökkvi and Jóhanna and their kiddos for a hot tubbing day! It was a surprisingly good day weather-wise, so Finnur also got in touch with his inner stainer, and stained some of the fences in front of the house. (14 images total)
Sunbrella time!
Ríkey & Co visit and Finnur’s 40th (+363 days) Birthday Bash
[Photos from 27 July 2015, put online 08 September 2015. Yet another storm hitting.]
Monday was a busy day. My cousin Ríkey and her gang came for a day-long visit, which included american pancakes, and hot tubbing, of course.
In the evening, we handed the kids over to my brother Bjarni, while we took Finnur’s immediate family out for dinner to celebrate his 40th birthday, two days before he would turn 41 years old. Better late than never?! (16 images total)
Pancakes about to be gobbled up. Palli was a little late to join us, and Bjarki was too hungry to be photographed! Also, we TOTALLY failed at photographing the cousins playing. Tsk, tsk!
Tigers and Voyagers
[Photos from Sunday 26 July 2015, text and stuff from 07 September 2015. The autumn wind is howling outside.]
Emma finally dared to put on Anna’s old tiger costume, and looked adooorable. Our friend Elsa brought her three kids over for an afternoon splurge in the hot tub, and a scrumptious dinner. Her oldest daughter then took the younger ones home, while we rounded up Guðrún, and went downtown for an evening coffee house chat.
I’m liking this “child has a drivers licence” thing! (10 images total)
Sisters.
Saturday Staining
[Images from Saturday 25 July 2015. Blogged on 07 September 2015. Slowly, but surely…]
It was a slowish Saturday. The weather hung mostly dry, so I (Hrefna) kept staining garden furniture. The day before I’d managed to get started on a couple of Ikea things (a wooden crate, and a small table), and the staining continued with a small kiddie bench, and three chairs we got from my grandmother, that we’d neglected for a little too long.
Later on, Adda and Halli came over, and I’m sure we ate something delicious! (4 images total)
Emma, oozing cuteness and innocence while she tries to do something to my computer.
Bjarki Goes East, Hrefna Goes to a Concert
[Happenings of 24 July 2015, onlined 06 September 2015. Good thing nothing else is going on these days.]
We booked Bjarki a stay with his grandparents over the weekend to decrease our humans-per-area ratio a bit. The showering of unconditional love always does him good.
Meanwhile, I went out to dinner with Sigga (from CA), and then finished the evening by attending a jazz concert by the group 23/8, which is fronted by my old classmate Stina. They put on a great show of Björk songs, calling it Bjorkologi. (9 images total, 1 video)
Fresh from the library, these are the books Bjarki took with him to his grandparents’ summer house.
Travel Day: Time to Drive Back Home
[The long drive back happened on Thursday 23 July 2015. It’s being put online on 03 September 2015. In unrelated news: Happy Birthday Nökkvi!]
Our travels about Iceland came to a close on a fairly mild Thursday. We spent the morning packing up, and left our hosts close to noon. We stopped to buy cookies for the road, and then decided to eat lunch at a restaurant before heading off, in the hopes the kids would fall asleep.
Happily, all the kids nodded off for almost two hours, so we didn’t stop again until Staðarskáli for some ice cream. We kept driving south, clearing the Big Bank of Clouds at some point, to arrive in Borgarnes, where we visited the local swimming pool in gorgeous weather.
Our restaurant of choice in Borgarnes was fully booked, so we ended up driving to Akranes to eat dinner there, before driving the last 30 minutes home. All in all it was a successful trip, but we were also glad to be home. (13 images total)
Packing up the car.
Hrafnagil Day 3: More Horses!
[Photos from Wednesday 22 July 2015, but text and layout from 01 $#^@$ September 2015. How?!?!]
Our super fun horse ride along a beach on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula had us hungering for more horse-time. We decided to book a tour with Pólar hestar a little ways north of where we were staying.
This time, Finnur also wanted to try riding, so our hosts graciously offered to babysit Emma for a few hours.
On the way to the horse rental we picked up Solla and Gunni’s oldest daughter, Arndís, who tagged along with us on her first horse ride.
All in all it went well. It was a little troublesome to only have one guide out in front, because some of the horses were fairly willing, but Bjarki’s was not, so he kept falling behind. Bjarki was also still pretty traumatized from the last ride (where his horse took off like a rocket for a short spurt) so the overall speed was kept down low.
At one point, the guide tried to allow us to sprint away from her (and Bjarki) and back again, but the horses were unhappy to leave their lead horse, so that didn’t go so well. I did learn though that shorter stirrups beat long ones (Hello there, near fatal accident!).
We were a happy group at the end though, so that’s all that matters. (13 images total)
Horses!