In Amsterdam / King’s Day Avoidance / To Iceland
[Photos taken 27 – 30 April 2024, posted online 30 August 2024. Lots of rain incoming. Hello fall.]
Amsterdam turns into a party-town on King’s day to celebrate their king’s birthday. People wear orange, there are orange decorations everywhere, and partying crowds, particularly downtown. I’m not a person that runs to where there are crowds, preferring to stay very very far away, so I pulled my “I’m an introvert”-card, and declared that I would be not be joining the group going downtown.
Instead I wandered towards a cafe that was listed as laptop-friendly, and hung out there for most of the afternoon. Classic me.
The whole group then went out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant, which are very prevalent in Amsterdam because the Dutch colonized Indonesia for almost 350 years.
The following day we traveled back to Iceland, and life resumed as normal.
Saturday 27 April 2024
In Amsterdam / Walkabouts / 17th Century Dinner
[Photos taken 26 April 2024, posted online 28 August 2024. Yesterday a third (150 people) of the remaining workers at my last company were laid off. Oooof! The eruption has now created a baby-volcano cone.]
The following day the plan was mostly to visit downtown, perhaps do a bit of shopping, before heading to dinner at a restaurant that is housed in a collection of 17th century rooms. To get our coffee fix, a sister-in-law and myself started they day with a walk to a cafe a little ways from our hotel.
Friday 26 April 2024
To Amsterdam / Cheese Tasting / Canal Dinner Cruise
[Photos taken 25 April 2024. Posted online 26 August 2024. Volcano is still going, and it’s the first day of elementary school. The weather is finally nice enough to stain wood!]
Finnur’s parents had both turned 80 years old in the past year, so the siblings decided to replicate previous big-birthdays, and go abroad with them for a long weekend.
Miraculously, they managed to agree on a location and dates, although Icelandair did its very best to throw them off. Both of the flights that we had booked ended up getting cancelled (probably didn’t sell enough seats), and we were instead re-booked on same-day flights, but with less optimal departure times.
We got up at the crack of dawn (which is quite early in late April), fetched Finnur’s parents and drove to the airport. This was a child-free trip, and I was one of two spouses.
Thursday 25 April 2024
Confirmation / New Bed / Office Move
[Photos taken 13 – 24 April 2024, posted online 25 August 2024. Last night, we drove past the active volcano that erupted this past Thursday, as we had dinner with friends that live close by. Was cool, erm, fiery!]
The second confirmation party of this season was lovely. (We had invites for three others, but were traveling for all of them!?!). I took a few photos of the newly-confirmed-one before the party started, which is always so much fun.
The following days were busy with Emma finally getting a bigger bed, some spring cleaning, haircuts, moving offices at work, and goodbye events, although I still had a good month to go at work.
Saturday 13 April 2024
Partial Eclipse / Ego-Lifting / Fireplace Arrives
[Photos taken 07 – 12 April 2024, posted online 24 August 2024. Last night the wind howled, and it felt like winter had arrived, minus the snow.]
I managed to scope out a jogging route amid trees on a windy Sunday, but had to admit that my left heel wasn’t enjoying life as much as it should. I therefore focused more on weight lifting, but then managed to strain my lower back during an “ego-lift” (defined as: “It’s when you lift weights that are too heavy for you, without proper form or technique. It’s about prioritizing your ego over your physical health and strength-building goals.”) Oh well: you live, you learn.
At one point I just barely remembered there was an ongoing partial solar eclipse, but I think I still managed to sort-of score cool-points with the kids. I took Emma mattress-shopping, and a new fireplace arrived for the summer house (Finnur’s project). Due to “the fireplace-guy” being swamped this summer, the fireplace was only just installed a couple of days ago (22 August 2024).
Finally, I went in for a very informal job interview (result: no job for me), and prepped for a confirmation photoshoot. I guess it was a pretty busy week?!
Sunday 07 April 2024
Post-Move Deep-Clean / Sarah Millican Show
[Photos taken 01 – 06 April 2024, posted online 23 August 2024. The elementary school doled out the schedule today, and the weather played along with blustery chilly autumn winds.]
After the last of my siblings moved out from mom’s place, a lot of space opened up, and the opportunity to deep-clean in “peace and quiet” before mom returned from Sweden was too good to pass up. (Mom’s health isn’t quite up to deep-cleaning any more, and she’s done more than her share of cleaning in life so far!)
My sister-in-law and myself showed up, ready to remove some dust-bunnies, and move some furniture, leaving the children with their fathers. (For jobs like this, it’s easier just to get on with things, rather than rope other people into it, if they need to be instructed what to do. Instructions take mental energy!!)
Aside from getting dusty, there was a birthday party, gymming, my workplace decided to move the offices to a new building, a Sarah Millican show, picking mom up from the airport, and dinner with friends!
Second Day of Easter – Monday 01 April 2024
Easter 2024
[Photos taken 31 March 2024, posted online 19 August 2024. This might be a week without rain!?! Fittingly, the big kids start school today.]
We arrived back from Sweden in time for a very traditional Easter Sunday. Chocolate eggs were hidden at home, before we headed over to my in-laws for an Easter feast and social whist.
Easter Sunday 31 March 2024
Sweden / Paradox & Vasa Museums / To Iceland
[Photos taken 29 – 30 March 2024, posted online 18 August 2024. Last night was decidedly chilly, fall is approaching.]
Black Friday is a public holiday in Sweden so everybody was available for a trip into Stockholm. We found a fun museum to visit, and once that was done, I dragged the kids and my brother to the Vasa museum, just because it’s cool.
The following day, we cleared out of our AirBnb, drove to the airport, and flew back to Iceland.
Friday 29 March 2024
Sweden / Technology Museum / Viewing-Farm
[Photos taken 27 – 28 March 2024, posted online 17 August 2024. It’s my father-in-law’s birthday, which means the weather will be good!]
One of the staples of our city-trips, is visiting technology museums. We’d visited the same museum eight years before, but it had changed a whole lot in the intervening years. There was really just one area that I recognized!
The following day we explored a bit around where we were staying, which included visiting a “viewing-farm”.
Wednesday 27 March 2024
Sweden / Mini-Golf / Uppsala / Electric Go-Kart
[Photos taken 25 – 26 March 2024, posted online 16 August 2024. Seems like we’re in for a lovely day after heaps of rain. School starts next week.]
Our first day in Sweden was a quiet one. I hadn’t really given myself time to formally organize the trip much before we arrived, much to the consternation of some of my “we like a schedule” offspring.
Looking around, it became apparent that the Swedes are fairly “mall-oriented”. Weird entertainment things lurk in the basements of malls, so on our first day we went shopping and mini-golfing! My brother and his wife were both working while we were there, so we mostly met them in the afternoons/evenings.
Monday 25 March 2024
