Autumn Colors at Laugarvatn
[Photos from 01-02 October 2016, posted online 8 January 2017. Whoa, a new month!]
We spent a weekend at the Laugarvatn summer house with Ragnar and Agnes, and their four kids in calm weather.
The kiddos mostly hung out inside some computer world or another, but the mothers did manage to wrangle them outside for a short walk, while the men were out procuring food, as the weather was lovely.
Once we arrived in town on the Sunday, we attended Fannar’s 6th birthday, but only a couple of photos got taken… (36 images total)
Saturday 01 October 2016
Siblings, not terribly happy over being made to go outside.
Northern Lights
[Photos from 28 September 2016, posted shortly after midnight. UPDATED ON 8 JANUARY 2017 (2 photos added).]
So, the northern lights have been going strong this past week, and tonight was forecasted to have a good show. When something showed up, Anna and I hiked up to the Buddha stupa up on the hill, and hung out there for a while.
Of course, the biggest show came on practically on top of us as we were walking there (zero chance of photographing it) but it was probably the pretties that I’ve seen in the city, lights falling down on top of us.
A couple of arches went by as we hung up on the hill, and a few photos were taken. Here’s an animated gif of one of the passes, not processed otherwise.
Animiated gif of Anna sitting on the Buddha stupa, watching the light-show.
Edinburgh Day #3
[Photos from 25 September 2016, posted online 7 January 2017. THREE posts in one day?! Nooooo waaaaay!!!]
Our flight left that afternoon, so we checked out of the hotel, walked to town to eat what was supposed to be a late breakfast but turned into lunch, because the place we wanted to visit was closed.
We then walked a little ways to Dean Village, that is a quaint little peaceful spot. We walked around there for a bit, before ending up at the hotel lounge as the plane was delayed a bit, and then our couples vacation was over! (25 images total)
This is where we lived, on the top floor.
Edinburgh Day #2
[Photos from 24 September 2016, posted online 7 January 2017. Two posts in one day? No way!]
On the Saturday we walked around downtown some more, did some more shopping, then ventured up to the castle hill, but didn’t stay there very long. In the evening we took a taxi to an opulent restaurant in an old manor. It was delightful! (47 images total)
Totally awake, waiting for breakfast. (I’m amazed we made it there by 10 am!)
Edinburgh Day #1
[Photos from 23 September 2016, posted online 7 January 2017. Wondering if I should have a doc listen to my lungs.]
Adda is the opposite of me when it comes to traveling, as she likes to have things planned out in advance, whereas I usually don’t start planning until I’ve already arrived. Thus the trip was mostly planned out before we arrived, with breakfast and evening restaurants spotted/booked, so there was no time wasted! (42 images total)
Halli and Finnur in front of a church on our short walk from our apartment to downtown.
Couples Trip to Edinburgh (Day #0)
[Photos from 22 September 2016, posted online 6 January 2017. The family (-Anna) was felled by the flu this week.]
Our good friends Adda and Halli both turned 40 years old last year (in 2016!). To celebrate they wanted to weekend-hop to another city, and kindly invited us along.
After much discussion, we decided to visit Edinburg, and splurge a bit on a hotel, because we’re adults now. Finnur’s parents kindly agreed to keep the kids alive and get them to and from school, which made everything super easy for us.
Thus it transpired that I arrived from a work-trip to Canada in the wee hours of the morning, went home to sleep and do laundry, and then hopped back on a plane around dinner time, and flew to Scotland! (10 images total)
Thursday 22 September 2017
Emma by her artwork at daycare at pick-up time.
Hallgerður Katrín Named
[Photos from 11 September 2016, posted online 22 November 2016. For completeness.]
As I mentioned in my last post, Finnur’s now the brother of a grandmother! Yup, Eyrún’s older daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl earlier this year, much to everybody’s joy.
It took the parents a while to settle on a name, but they got there in the end, and invited everybody to a naming party. I took a ton of photos, you can see them here. (Below are 26 of them.)
The star of the day.
September Begins
[Photos from 3 to 16 September 2016, posted online 20 November 2016. Foot seems to be healing up nicely. Famous lasts words?]
September is always a tricky month. It means finding a new rhythm as school and after-school schedules get locked into place. We tried to use the nice-ish weather to be outside, and go here and there, we also hosted people for dinner, and I took a lot of photos at an event or two, tried a new meeting place at work, and etc. etc… (29 images total)
Saturday 3 September 2016
Please look at this image with the eyes of a garden owner, who’s husband has just put a weed-stopping cloth along the whole hedge, and dressed it with lots of gray sand. To a weed-less future!
August Ends With School Starting, Multiple Birthday Parties, Being Outside, and Haircare!
[Photos from 22 to 31 August 2016, posted on 13 November 2016. I’m stubborn to a fault. Also, Finnur just returned home from a two-week stay in California this morning. He spent a week+ before that in the UK (we came along for the ride for 5 days). It’s been busy. 16 November 2016. My ankle got cut up today to remove all the hardware from the breakage last January. Hello painkillers!]
Finally, school started up again! This year Bjarki’s in 4th grade, but Anna’s up to 8th grade, meaning she now a teenager according to the school system. Emma continues in daycare, and started in the room she’ll be in for the next three years.
The last week-and-a-half of August was apparently spent: Starting school, going to a concert, attending multiple birthdays, going out for walks/jogs/biking, working outside, food procurement, and hair-stuff! (47 images total!)
Monday 22 August 2016
Mr. Bjarki, about to begin 4th grade! I didn’t accompany Anna to school, she’s just too old for that now!
Late August Visit to Laugarvatn
[Photos from 20-21 August 2016, posted online 25-ish October 2016. We had a little bit of snow this morning, a first this winter. Haha, very funny! It’s now 6 NOVEMBER. The snow stuck around for 15 minutes, it’s been borderline warm since then!]
Our friends, Holla and Óli, tend to be such busy people in the summertime that the only way to meet up with them is to drag them off to the summer house at Laugarvatn. So we did! (38 images total)
Saturday 20 August 2016
Picking blueberries in the blazing sun!