A Taste of Normal Life

2020-06-16Friends, Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 16 – 27 June 2020, posted online 27 December 2020. Hope you all had a lovely yuletide!! ]

With Covid all but gone (for the time being) people gatherings resumed (often on a smaller scale), gyms and restaurants reopened, and life in general went mostly back to normal. The weather even played nice!

We attended two graduation parties, Emma went from all-day gymnastics camp to horse-camp, while Bjarki went to 2.5 hour long gymnastics practices four times per week, as he’s now aged out of the camp-scene. Anna did odd jobs at the local library, tended to her veggies, and the puppy Spori.

We helped my brother Pétur and family move into their new apartment (very exciting!) which meant a very satisfying Ikea-assembly dosage for yours truly (me!). (55-ish images total)

Tuesday 16 June 2020

The veggie boxes finally had lids. Next year we might try non-waterproof lids, but these were fine as long as we remembered to water.
Kale, bought pre-grown.
Rather tiny broccoli plants, and a few carrots. They should all have gone outside 3-4 weeks earlier. Oh well!

Wednesday 17 June 2020

This was a strange Independence Day. Instead of hosting big central celebrations, the towns held small local gatherings in neighborhoods, and buses with performers drove around and performed in a few different spots. This was one of the celebration areas in Kópavogur-town.
I can’t remember how I ended up downtown, but while I was there, a very fancy car drove by.
My cousin graduated from Junior College! They held three separate receptions, one for each family group, which the hostess said she might continue doing in the future just because she had more time to interact with the guests that way.
One half of the living room.
The other half of the living room 🙂 The kids were outside jumping on the trampoline!
Glorious party food!

Friday 19 June 2020

It was obviously time for a haircut! (Also, I was in the office!!)
The gyms had reopened, and I went!
Screenshot from a social media post from Emma’s gymnastics-camp.

Saturday 20 June 2020

Flowers for mom on her birthday.
Cakes!
In the backyard of my brother Pétur and Signý’s new apartment.
Picking Bjarki up from the Laugardalslaug swimming pool at 10 in the evening. He’d been hanging out there with two of his buddies.
It was an extra gorgeous sunset. This is at 26 minutes past midnight, technically on 21 June.

Sunday 21 June 2020

The trailer hook coming in handy to transport stuff for Pétur and Signý, the hauler was courtesy of Ikea.
Yes! Some Ikea for me to assemble!!
Done!
After dinner (can’t you tell?) we managed to gather the gear Emma would need for horse-camp the following day. Basically, she’s wearing Bjarki’s stuff from 1-2 years ago.
Anna watering her plants.
Oh look, another gorgeous sunset!

Monday 22 June 2020

Anna tagged along to pick Emma up from horse camp, mostly to say hi to the horses there. Due to a policy change in the town we live in, Anna was no longer eligible to work at horse camp through the work-school program, as the town decided not to support private enterprises with free labor any more. Instead, Anna got a job at the town library for 6 weeks.
Afterwards, we drove to my mum’s and took the puppy out for a walk. He wasn’t quite sure that was a good idea.
Moving again. There’s a really nice walking path from my mom’s to my two brother’s that live in the same neighborhood.
Emma and Spori.
Investigating a puddle.
A little bit of tree-climbing.
Finnur was busy, and all of a sudden it was late, so we ate dinner at the Sushi train downtown. It was weird to sit in an actual restaurant again!

Tuesday 23 June 2020

Anna’s workplace.
It’s the city library in the city culture center. Happily, the area has been given a facelift, and is now popular with the local kids.
Time for a post-Covid haircut. I cut Bjarki’s hair once during the first wave, and we decided that should not be repeated. During the autumn wave, I just trimmed his “sideburns” so he looked less shaggy.
Bjarki suave. That colorful house behind him is pretty new.
That evening he went for another swim with is buddies, this time at the old indoor pool downtown, which features a proper tall diving board.
Another nice feature of this swimming pool is the self-serve ice-cream store within easy walking distance. They were in no hurry to exit when I came to pick them up!

Wednesday 24 June 2020

Just my luck… That’s my blue car stuck behind the window-cleaner lift! Thankfully the cleaner was almost done, and about five minutes later I could move my car.
Anna, armed and warm.
The boys being silly.

Thursday 25 June 2020

Emma’s dentist referred her to an orthodontist as one tooth seemed to be taking too long to emerge, and yes, her future involves work of some kind due to a teeth-y traffic jam on one side. Greeeat!
Playing dress-up at home.

Friday 26 June 2020

A whole week of horse-camp done!
Veggie boxes looking somewhat lively. I’m still not sure what to do about the surrounding area, as it’s full of a really annoying weed (elfting, Equisetum arvense, common horsetail) that’s nigh impossible to get rid of.

Saturday 27 June 2020

We attended the third graduation party of the season, this time it was Sif finishing her B.S. medical degree!
It was a lovely day.
Trampolines and balls are a good combination… until somebody gets hurt 🙂
The proud father pouring drinks.
The proud mother giving a speech!
All grown up!
After the party, we went and voted in the presidential elections. The current president, who is a lovely person by all accounts, won by more than 90% of the vote.
At home, I poked a few flowers into the ground, behind the fence.
Teenagers surveying the backyard. Anna had been given the task of watering the newly planted plants.
Umbrella’s are fun!
The smallest watering can there is.
Hilarious! 🙂
Colors!