Ex-CA-ans Sewing Club
[Club held on 04 June 2015, blogged on 08 June 2015. Instantaneous!]
I’d committed way in advance to hosting a sewing club for the ex-CA-ans on 28 May, but as it turned out I had to postpone it because I was sick… and I remained sick all through the weekend. (Finnur departing for CA that Friday the 29th was less-than-perfect timing, but we all survived. Barely.)
Anyway, I decided it was one of those now or never things, so a week later I did host a sewing club, sans the help of Finnur who usually picks up a lot of my planning slack, and takes care of the kids upstairs while the girls chat and nosh.
No such luck this time, but it all worked out ok (and as an added bonus, the lower floor is clean and tidy for once!). The only thing to go “wrong” was Emma discovering a jar of vaseline which she smeared all over herself and our sheets, and Anna calling down around 9:30 pm to ask if she should give Emma a bath to clean her off. (I decided no bathing, just a rub down and back to bed. She finally succumbed to sleep soon thereafter).
Other than that I think a good time was had by all! (2 images total)
The ex-CA-ans who could make it.
Quick Recap of May
[Written 28 May 2015.] So, May’s essentially come and gone. It was unusually crazy. Here are the highlights: Weekend #1 saw our first weekend trip to the summer house at Laugarvatn, where we erected the big trampoline, along with Holla and Óli. On 7 May I visited my little nephew for the first time, andRead more
Still Here
[Written on 28 May 2015.] So many long-time bloggers I’ve sort of followed are falling off the cliff and not blogging any more. Is it the 15 year ennui? (Ennui = a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.) Yeah, it’s been almost 15 years, if you start countingRead more
Passport Renewal
[Appointment on 27 May 2015, put online 08 June 2015.]
The US passports of our US citizens (Anna and Bjarki) have expired, so we decided to get them new ones. This marks the first time we apply for passports at the US Embassy here in Iceland, so I figured we should document the occasion. (3 images total)
This is what the US Embassy in Iceland looks like. The have big stone blocks in front of it so there is no parking (it’s a very narrow street) and nobody enters without having an appointment and going through a security check.
Breki Jarl Nökkvason
[Happened on 25 May 2015, posted on 29 May 2015. I hope.]
Nökkvi and Jóhanna’s newest was Christened this past Monday. It was a public holiday (second in Whitsunday), so downtown by Fríkirkjan was quiet.
Finnur and the big kids were in an airplane, returning from England, so they missed the whole shebang. Finnur was also in possession of both the new camera (70D) and the wide lens, so I was stuck with the 50 mm lens, and the old camera (40D… slow! loud! no video!). Hence the slightly weird photos.
Now, the name was a secret until the priest said it out loud, and it was…
Breki Jarl it is! Jóhanna did a beautiful job decorating!
Breki Jarl is an amalgamation of the middle names of two of my brothers, Pétur Breki and Nökkvi Jarl. This completes the naming of Nökkvi’s children after his and his siblings’ middle names (Ylfa Marín and Hrefna Marín, Iðunn Heiður and Bjarni Heiðar).
But, back to the pictures. ALL OF THESE PHOTOS AND MORE ARE HERE! CLICK! (If you don’t click, you’ll find 43 images total on this page)
Emma and I at Laugarvatn
[We departed on Saturday afternoon 23 May, and returned around noon on Monday 25 May 2015. Photos posted on 30 May 2015. Just missed the 29th by minutes! ]
Since I didn’t feel like scowling at my big ToDo list at home while Finnur was away with the big kiddos in England, I decided to avoid doing a darn useful thing, and fled the house with Emma to Laugarvatn, where Finnur’s parents were staying.
Also, I always feel a little better when I have more eyes available to track what she’s up to!
Here are some photos from the trip. (43 images total)
Saturday 23 May 2015
Emma uses every opportunity to climb into the driver’s seat these days.
Girltime
[Happened on Friday 22 May 2015. Posted on 30 May 2015. Which is a Saturday.]
Finnur and the big kids left for the airport for their trip to England shortly after 7 am. At 8 am, Finnur calls me to ask if one of the bags got left behind. This is what ended up being posted on Facebook:
Fun times this morning. My dearly beloved (aka Finnur) took it upon himself to educate the older kiddos in the ways of football (aka soccer) by taking them on a weekend trip to the hallowed grounds of Goodison Park to see a Premier League game. Except, as he was parking the car at the airport (35-40 min driving distance) he realized he’d forgotten the bag with the passports (and the computers and tablets and the…). Operation Bag Transfer was initiated, which involved jettisoning Ms. Last Born off at daycare, and then doing furious mental calculations to see if the electric car would make it there and back again on a 80% charge. Lo and behold, by initiating the eco+ mode (no air conditioning or fast accelerations), I made it to work with 20 km to spare, which should get me home easily. Phew!
So yes, exciting! Also educational that the km-meter is pretty on the dot in the eco+ mode, especially in pretty flat terrain. (10 images total)
After fetching Emma at daycare and driving home, I still had a whopping 15 km/9 miles left on the battery.
Hrefna in Edmonton, Canada
[Departed on 9 and returned on 17 May 2015. Blogged on 03 June 2015.]
I traveled to the Edmonton area (specifically Spruce Grove) for a week-long work-trip this past May. Since the area is a flatland, and could be pretty much Anywhere North America, we didn’t go any specific tourist trips – except to the local mall, which happens to be the largest shopping mall in North America!
Some photos from the week that sped by (40 images total)
Good old Keilir, we meet again! Turns out Keilir has a wifi, which I neglected to buy into until very late. It did make up for the fact that Icelandair has barely updated the contents of their entertainment system in a very long time.
A New Nephew!
[Photos and post from 07 May 2015. Because he’s worth it! 🙂]
I went and saw my newest nephew for the first time tonight! He’s the third child of my oldest brother, Nökkvi, and his wife, Jóhanna. He just turned 11 days old, and he was wide awake and super alert pretty much the whole time I was there. Such a cutie!!
Here are a six pics, but THERE ARE MORE PHOTOS HERE.
Well, hello there!
Easter Day 2015
[Easter Sunday was on 05 April this year. This is being posted on 30 April 2015. Praise dark chocolate! ]
We had yet another classic Easter Sunday. The kids got up at their usual 7 am time, and dragged us a along downstairs for breakfast. After they’d put on some clothes, all the big people searched for their big chocolate egg. Most of the eggs got demolished and partially eaten. Around lunchtime we went over to Finnur’s parents’ place, where we met most of Finnur’s siblings and their families, and ate excellent easter lamb.
Post-lunch, and egg-hunting we played 12 rounds of social whist and Finnur and I came in first and second! It was Finnur’s first time winning the family tournament (I’ve never won, boohoo) and he got a cup to take home!
Afterwards, we had ice-cream for late dessert, before heading home and shooing the kids to bed. Good times! (56 images total!)
The kiddos with their chocolate easter eggs. The big kids got #5, while Emma had to make do with a smaller #2.