Winter Break Trip to the UK – Part 2 of 2
[Photos taken on 29 – 30 October 2017, posted on 30 June 2018. The weather is demoralizing.]
For our two remaining days in the UK, Finnur took the kids to a trampoline park (my Achilles tendon wasn’t up to the task) while I went shopping. Then we had a good time at the local playground. This page contains quite a few animated gifs which might need a while to load. (36 images total)
Sunday 29 October 2017
Cute photo of the siblings on the playground close to where (grand)dad lives.
Winter Break Trip to the UK – Part 1 of 2
[Photos taken on 26 – 28 October 2017, posted on 19 29 June 2018. It’s been a VERY cloudy June so far, and Finnur’s just landed in arrived back from Russia to attend where he attended two World Cup games.]
We used the opportunity of a two-day long winter break to skip on over to the UK to stay with my dad and Shirley for a few days. Finnur had set out the weekend before, and used that week to work at the Google office in London.
On the first whole day we visited the local ski center and tried the toboggan run, and on the second I took the big kids up to London to see family! (63 images total)
Thursday 26 October 2018
The kids by the departure gate in Keflavik.
September 2017
[Photos taken on 13 – 30 September 2017, posted 27 May 2018. It’s muggy out there. May’s been record-breaking wet.]
I had barely returned from my work-trip to Northern-Ireland when Finnur took off for Japan and California for work. Here are photos from life which still went on, somehow. (71 images total)
Wednesday 13 September 2017
Me in downtown Reykjavik, at 18:51. The days had started to get shorter. I vaguely remember being downtown to eat dinner with some work-related visitors from abroad.
August Becomes September
[Photos taken on 20 August – 5 September 2017, posted 10 May 2018. The erratic May snow/hail/wind weather lasted for a whole week, but now we’re back to spring. Yay!]
August brought with it birthday parties, the start of the school year, lovely calm weather, walks, and football (soccer)! Life went on, and started settling down into the schedule that would extend through the winter. (55 images total)
Sunday 20 August 2017
The weather played nice, while Anna and I played Pokemon Go… Some raid or other brought us to a church in Garðabær! Then we had to wait for others to arrive.
Bjarki’s 10th Birthday Celebration
[Photos taken on 02 July 2017, posted online on 17 October 2017. The days are getting noticeably shorter.]
We’ve come a long way from the Night of Extreme Drama, some 10 years ago. Yes, that means, Bjarki’s now 10 years old!
To celebrate, we held a customary birthday bash for family and friends. Just to see how it would go, we sourced almost all the food at Costco, which went fairly well.
On to the photos (18 images total)!
The birthday cake. We got it at Costco, and Anna added the personal touch.
The Groundhog Days of June 2017
[Photos taken on 06 June 2017 to 01 July 2017, posted online on 14 October 2017. Fall colors everywhere!]
In retrospect, we spent June in large part waiting for July to begin, with its summer vacation. To pass the time, the big kids went to horse camp, while Emma continued on in daycare, and the adults kept showing up for work.
Aside from meeting friends and family, and Finnur breaking his collar bone, it was all a bit Groundhog Day-y! (111 images total!!!!)
Tuesday 06 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.
Work-Trip to Spain and Ireland
[Photos taken on 22 May to 31 May 2017, posted online on 4 October 2017. So. Far. Behind. Myself.]
I decided to combine two work-trips into one. I began by flying to Madid, Spain, and working there few days with a colleague, after which I flew straight to Dublin, Ireland, and worked a few days there with another colleague (98 images total!!!).
Monday 22 May 2017
Goodbye Iceland, for now!
A Tale of Two Trips (Laugarvatn & Paris)
[Photos taken on 28 April to 1 May 2017, posted online 7 August 2017. Bjarki’s room has been rearranged!]
In opposition to all the social research which indicates that looking forward to trips for a long time is good for the soul, we sprung Anna’s confirmation trip to Paris on her, giving her less than a week to anticipate it!
Mostly this was because we had the hardest time deciding what to give her that she would like, especially since mostly she wanted a horse! But, as it was becoming apparent that we would not be visiting Paris during our upcoming trip to France this summer, Anna was sad, so to Paris she got sent!
Now, as Finnur and Anna were going to be away, I decided to utilize our designated weekend at the Laugarvatn summer house, but worried about Bjarki and Emma arguing nonstop. Therefore I borrowed two kids as playmates, the middle kid of my oldest brother, and the son of my brother Pétur, who also tagged along, but avoided the camera somehow! (39 images total)
Friday 28 April 2017
Anna and Finnur stopped by my workplace to hand over some misplaced car keys.
Mom-Morning, Dinner, 2nd Birthday, and a Walk
[Photos taken on 24 April 2017, posted online 5 August 2017. Emma’s room has been purged of unwanted things and tidied!]
The week after Anna’s confirmation:
Emma’s daycare had a mom-morning, my dad and company came for dinner, we celebrated my nephew’s second birthday, and I went for a late evening walk. (13 images total)
Monday 24 April 2017
Daycare likes to ask the kids questions in preparation for certain days, like when moms or dads stay with them for an hour in the morning to socialize and look around. Here are questions regarding “mom”.
Anna Sólrún’s Confirmation & Party
[Photos taken on 23 April 2017, posted online 30 July 2017. Since the last post we’ve spent 10 days in France, and a week at a summer house!]
Anna’s civil confirmation day was a beautiful one.
The civil confirmation, held by Siðmennt, the secular ethical humanist organization of Iceland, is a version of the religious confirmation/Bar & Bat Mitzvah/Rite of passage concept, and consist of a 12 week course where various topics are covered, while encouraging critical and philosophical thinking.
At the end of the course there is a ceremony where some of the kids perform, a speaker holds forth, and the kids get certificates for completing the course.
Afterwards there is traditionally a celebratory party! (A large majority of kids in Iceland still get religiously confirmed, but the secular group keeps growing every year.) For the kids, it’s all about the gifts, but for the parents it’s a chance to show off their awesome kids, surrounded by friends and family.
Here are 66 photos from the day. Click here to see ALL the 124 photos!
The proud parents outside Salurinn, the auditorium where the ceremony was held. It was the third and last such civil ceremony of the day.