Emma’s 9th Birthday, Skis & Bagels
[Photos taken 12 – 14 February 2022, posted online 10 July 2022. Sitting in rainy Borgarnes, on my way home after some house #2 time. Trying to get over feeling like a parental failure.]
Emma’s last single-digit birthday was super-legit, with a party and everything. Mindful of covid, we first had a party with just Finnur’s family, and then had some health-hiccups before we could get to mine.
The day after I went and bought cross-country skis for myself. It’s a thing middle-aged women do apparently. I even went out for a bit!
Snow kept falling in copious amounts, and Anna made bagels while on a school-break. (30-ish images total)
Saturday 12 February 2022
Goodbye 2021!!
[Photos taken 31 December 2021, posted online 07 May 2022. Went to see Trevor Noah last night in a packed auditorium. Been a while since I laughed so hard!]
We all tested negative on PCR tests for Covid, so the New Year’s Eve party at Finnur’s parent’s place was ON!
However, as the day wore on, I began feeling more and more poorly, and in the end I decided to stay home, reading a book in bed, only venturing out at shortly before midnight to join with the others for a few photos and some fireworks.
And thus endeth 2021, may it never come back! (30-ish images)
Friday 31 December 2021
Yule 2021, Anna’s 18th Birthday & Self-Quarantine
[Photos taken 24 – 30 December 2021, posted online 01 May 2022. The past week included two 20+ km e-bike rides and two hikes, and I’m still mostly standing, if a bit stiffly.]
Finally, finally (!!!) yule arrived! To lessen tensions while waiting for the clock to strike 6 pm, and the formal start of Christmas, I took Emma out on a walk up to the observation point on a nearby hill. It was a little colder out than we expected, but it was a nice walk.
Mom and baby-bro Bjarni joined us for Christmas dinner, and opening of presents.
The following day we met Finnur’s extended family at his parents’ place for a yule day feast, and celebrated Anna’s 18th birthday! Late the following day one of the guests tested positive for covid, so we went on a self-imposed quarantine, with Finnur and Emma hunkering down at house #2, while the big kids and I whiled away the days in town. (85-ish images total)
Friday 24 December 2021
Bjarki Turns 14 Years Old!
[Photos taken 28 June – 01 July 2021, posted online 26 September 2021. Elections yesterday, for the first time in Iceland, women hold more than half the seats in parliament.]
Bjarki’s long awaited birthday finally appeared and he’s now officially 14 years old, and busy checking ever more boxes on the “stereotypical-teen checklist”.
We again held two parties, one for each family, a few days apart, in between life as usual. (25-ish images total)
Monday 28 June 2021
Country Easter Break
[Photos taken 01-05 April 2021, posted online 26 July 2021. Current domestic regulations stipulate max 200 people per area, so all merchant-holiday-festivals this coming weekend are cancelled. Minimum distance is at 1 m, and people are being asked to mask up again, although, unfortunately, the wording of the mask-rules is muddy.]
House #2 came in surprisingly handy over the Easter break and beyond, as we were all sick and tired of home-home.
Some friends of our asked if they could join us, and arrived late the day they cleared quarantine as a kid at their kid’s school had been diagnosed with covid-19 the week before. We chilled, baked, played games, walked, ate, and chilled some more. (55-ish images total)
Thursday 01 April 2021
Bjarki’s Confirmation Day
[Photos taken 21-22 March 2021, posted online 22 July 2021. Covid-19 cases are again climbing rapidly in Iceland. Border regulations are being tightened, but no news on domestic regulations (there are currently no restrictions). Authorities are waiting a bit to see the effect of lots of vaccinations, our main concern continues to be not overwhelming the health system, and keeping deaths to a minimum.]
After a nerve-wracking few weeks, as we kept a close eye on new covid-19 cases, while last-minute organizing and ordering contamination-minimizing food for the day, Bjarki’s civil confirmation actually happened as planned!
Domestic regulations stipulated no more than 50 adults in the same room (200 in big auditoriums), so we ended up having two celebrations, first at 3pm for close family friends, and another at 6 pm for our families. The ceremony itself was at noon, so it was a long and busy day, but Bjarki thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention, so we deemed it well worth it.
Unfortunately, covid-19 cases began skyrocketing the week after, and the following Wednesday, authorities again tightened domestic regulations, and all upcoming confirmations (we were invited to two on 28 March) were postponed! (80-ish images total)
Sunday 21 March 2021
Emma’s Birthday #2, Earthquakes Swarm
[Photos taken 24 – 28 February 2021, posted online 26 June 2021. As of today, Icelandic authorities have revoked all domestic Covid-19 restrictions, but border restrictions remain in place. The reason is high vaccination rates, with about 80% of 16+ year-olds having at least begun vaccinations, and 50% being fully vaccinated.]
After our fun ski trip, it was mostly back to life as normal, except for hosting Emma’s birthday party #2, going out to dinner, aaaand a sudden rise in earthquake activity close by (that would culminate in an actual volcanic eruption a month later!). (25-ish images)
Wednesday 24 February 2021
Emma’s 8th Birthday!!!
[Photos taken 12 – 17 February 2021, posted online 18 June 2021. It’s been a rather cold June so far, but thankfully a little wet along with the dryness. Also, Finnur and I have been a couple for twenty-seven years now, eeek!]
At long last, Emma’s 8th birthday arrived! She requested breakfast in bed with a little bit of chocolate, and I obliged. With Covid-19 momentarily mostly under control, we invited people over and had a proper birthday party (part 1)! Then we moved on to cream-puff-day, eat-till-you-explode-day, and ash-Wednesday-aka-second-Halloween, while preparing for an actual ski trip (with more people!) to the north of Iceland. (30-ish images total)
Friday 12 February 2021
Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021!!!
[Photos taken 31 December 2002, posted online 22 May 2021. Attended an actual gymnastics competition this morning, there were people there. Yes, masked and sitting far apart, but still, people!]
As per instructions from the Icelandic authorities, the new year’s eve party at Finnur’s parents was a lot smaller than in past years, but good fun was had nonetheless!
We were all excited to say goodbye to the general shit-show that had been 2020, and the annual comedy hour that evening (see youtube with English subtitles, recommend 11:57, and I identified so hard with 33:52) was the best it’s been in years, in my humble opinion. (35-ish images total)
Thursday 31 December 2020
Yule 2020, Anna’s 17th Birthday & Gingerbread House
[Photos taken 24-30 December 2020, posted online 16 May 2021. The weather is stationary, but we set up two new veggie-gardens for Anna yesterday.]
Icelandic authorities encouraged everyone to plan the festivities in “max ten 16+ year-olds yule-bubbles”. This meant the usual yuletide parties were canceled, so it was a super quiet holiday season. Furthermore, the bubbles implied separation in time, so my mom and doggy came over for yule, then a week later we went to Finnur’s parents’ place for New Year’s Eve, along with one of his sisters and her family.
Anna turned 17 years old on Christmas Day, and much of the day was spent in the kitchen. We took the week between yule and new year’s off from work, and there was much chilling, at least one jog, a library visit, a few cafe-visits, more kitchen activities, a little bit of furniture and Lego building, and just before the new year, I finally worked up the mental energy to make the annual ginger-bread house. (80-ish images total)
Thursday 24 December 2020
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