The Groundhog Days of June 2017

The hot tub being put to good use, as we said farewell to my brother Pétur, and his son Fannar, who were about to move to the UK to rejoin Signý. The get-together also nearly coincided with my brother Bjarni’s birthday.

Taking a short break to eat some muffins.

Pétur and Jóhanna sitting on the couch, attempting to have a grown up conversation, but being thwarted by kiddos.

Cousins, Fannar and Bjarki, bonding over Minecraft.

My brother Nökkvi passed out on the sofa.

The girls enjoying some screen time.

My brother Bjarni makes an appearance.

Time to say goodbye.

Hugs, Bjarki-style.

Later that evening I went out for a walk up the hill. The lupines were blooming!

The view down the hill at 22:50 (almost 11 pm).

By the Buddha stupa.

My daily coffee-time read had this exercise…

… which apparently could help with my psoriasis. To do or not to do…?

I went out for a lunch time walk/jog, even though my Achilles tendon kept not getting better.

The path ahead.

Still working on the appropriate out-for-a-walk selfie face.

On the way back to work.

With school done for the summer, Anna went to help out at the Guesthouse Steig for a week, and Bjarki had a string of overnight stays. Since there was no shuttling needed post work, I decided to bike to work for a couple of days.

Picking up Emma at daycare. She had to stop and check out all the…

… caterpillars!

When I got home, I realized I’d forgotten my house keys. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous, so waiting in the backyard for Finnur to arrive home was quite pleasant!

The day concluded with a trip to Ikea, since there can be no spring/summer without a new piece of Ikea furniture!

The view from the bike-path to work.

At lunch, I went out on another walk/jog. This is the view as one exits the industrial area and enters the path through the old lava-field.

By my U-turn point. Lots of work going on.

The weather was so nice I took my coffee-break book-reading outside.

What’s that yellow thing up there?!

The view as I biked back home after work. The bike-path has finally been finished, and it’s thankfully not as steep as the old one was. Yay!

The accomplishment of the day: A new Hemnes unit assembled, to replace the old Hemnes chest of drawers with was falling apart.

I asked Finnur to sort through the mess in the old chest of drawers. His efforts went way above and beyond anything I’d imagined, as he sorted through years of random stuff that had been deposited there. Here he is putting together jigsaws from the drawers of doom.

Meanwhile, the weather outside kept being gorgeous.

Later that afternoon I took the kids to the swimming pool while Finnur attended a qualifying game for the soccer world cup. I purposefully went at that time in the hopes that the swimming pool was not crammed with people, and got lucky!

Finnur’s view at the game.

Iceland won! (And when this is written, Iceland has actually qualified for the soccer world cup in Russia next year! That’s never happened before!)

Yet another 11 pm evening-walk up the hill.

The stupa.

View from the top.

Walking between the newish cemetery, and the new road up the hill.

Looking across the cemetery towards a couple of high-rises.

Trying out a new selfie-face.

I attempted to modify some sneakers I’d bought so they’d leave my swollen Achilles tendon alone, but no luck. I limped home.

This day the horse camp started up. Here’s Anna with Dolly the Dog.

Bjarki joining the fun.

At home we advertised Emma’s old crib for sale. It was picked up the day after.

Back out on a an evening walk, to discover somebody had carpeted the path with lupine flowers!

Arty!

Trying out a new path. Up ahead are teens on motorized scooters.

Yet another selfie-face.

Snapchat photo from the horse camp.

Anna’s perhaps a little too old for horse camp now?

After daycare, Emma practiced her scooter skills.

She even insisted on scooting all the way to the daycare yard and back!

Arrangement by Emma!

A new puppy at horse camp.

Dinner!

That lunchtime, we dropped Finnur off at the emergency room, as his shoulder was still hurting after he’d taken a tumble at soccer practice the day before. To pass the time we went and had lunch at Subway, and then…

… dessert at a nearby cafe.

It was Independence Day, so I apparently said yes to every indulgence.

We walked over to where I knew there would be games and face-painting to honor Independence Day.

Emma getting a Hello Kitty mask.

The results.

Playing for a bit, or until Finnur called to be picked up.

Only slightly weird.

Finnur’s collar bone turned out to be broken. We stopped at American Style so he could get lunch, and took a photo to mark us being together for, uhhh, 23 years. Eeek!

At home, Anna enthusiastically hung out with Emma outside.

Ms. Emma.

Uhhh…

Anna minus the hood.

Me trying to get Emma to bike, without trainer wheels, but she was too scared of falling to really go for it. I’d removed her trainer wheels a few days earlier, as she’d started falling over when turning, because she’s now so big, and the trainer wheels don’t allow you to lean into turns.

Later that night, we found Emma in this very practical sleep position.

We had a grand time visiting our friends Ragnar and Agnes. The weather was warm enough for the kids to run from the hot tub to the trampoline, hang out there for a bit, and then warm back up in the hot tub.

The kids eating dinner before the adults, hopefully ensuring a peaceful eating experience for the adults.

Back home, there were yet more lupines on yet another late evening walk. This is taken at midnight.

From the horse camp snapchat.

Life getting quite Groundhog-day-y.

Freshly moved grass.

Horse camp staying inside as the weather wasn’t very good.

Anna going in circles.

Bjarki.

Bjarki’s turn to go in circles.

Finnur’s bruise after his collar-bone-breaking soccer tumble.

Another lunch outing. I think I kept taking selfies to prove it was me on Strava.

There was a party at work at the end of the day to celebrate the opening of a new equipment testing space.

The day ended with a bit of Classic Star Wars trivial pursuit!

Anna.

Bjarki.

Emma.

Some old friends from California came over for dinner, as their two week Icelandic adventure was coming to a close. Their daughter and our Anna were in the same daycare class, way back when!

Group photo! It’s always fun and funny to meet old friends, and realize it’s as if no time has passed since last time.

Sunlollies being consumed in the blazing sun.

Pretty plant.

Anna and I went downtown for a bit of Pokemon Go-ing.

Later that afternoon we went to visit some friends, and got welcomed by their youngest.

Out and about at lunchtime again.

Ze pretty flowers!

Hanging out at daycare for a bit after picking Emma up. This is a common occurrence, as daycare closes at 16:30, but the kids still have a lot of energy left.

Bjarki’s 10th birthday!!!! He got to open his presents from us that morning.

Our ever growing boy!

Getting a tickle from big sister!

That evening I attended a sewing club. It was lovely!

Yet another week of horse camp came to an end!

That evening Adda and Halli came over for dinner, with the kiddos. We sent all the big kids outside, and they sent us snaps in return!

Ze boys!

Siblings!

Arty kids!

The entire family went to see Despicable Me 3 with my company.

The view from the exit.

That day I finally went and got myself an Icelandic CostCo card.

Just in time too! We bought a pack like this when we moved from California seven years ago, and we were just about to finish it!

Oh Costco. Still crazy busy, even though it’d been open since 23 May!