Dagbók Hrefnu og Finns

Long Weekend at Laugarvatn

2019-08-04Finnur's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 04 – 06 August 2019, posted online 25 March 2020. Gatherings of more than 20 people per space are forbidden, and Emma is the only one actively going to school, the others are doing school work from home.]

Back in innocent times, we spent a long weekend at Finnur’s parents’ summer cottage by Laugarvatn. I will admit that it was a bit of a relief to not be hostess-of-the-house for a bit, just a guest.

We had a lovely time in lovely weather. Finnur kept busy helping his dad tear a part of the deck down, while I took the kids hiking, and practiced general chilling. (65-ish images total)

Sunday 04 August 2019

Up on the mountain that overlooks Laugarvatn.

So Much Weeding & Staining

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[Photos taken 01 – 03 August 2019, posted online 22 March 2020. Covid-19 is on a rapid rise, 568 cases confirmed in Iceland as of today. The news from all over the world is scary.]

We took advantage of the amazing weather to work in the garden (me) and stain the woodwork of house #2 (Finnur). As it happens, Anna had to work at the horse-camp and there is no staining decks with kids around, so it worked out quite nicely.

To enjoy the last remaining weekend on vacation, we then drove to Finnur’s parents’ summer house at Laugarvatn for the long trade-holiday weekend. (30-ish images total)

Thursday 01 August 2019

Horse-Rental & Hot Springs

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[Photos taken 25-31 July 2019, posted online 14 March 2020. Covid-19 is pushing more and more people into self-quarantine, among them three teachers at the local school. Large gatherings forbidden as of Monday, Anna’s school is moving to online-only, and the elementary school is trying to figure out how to partition into 20-kids per non-intermingling groups. ]

Although Anna had spent weeks working at horse-camp, she’d not gotten to ride the horses much, as she spent most of her time walking alongside them. She therefore kindly asked if we could visit a horse-rental close to house #2 while we were there, which we did.

We also visited a nearby powerful hot spring, and a new (for us) swimming pool, before heading back to town, after a week in the country, to see family members that were visiting from New Zealand before they flew back. Then Anna went back to work, and we tried to find things to do during the daytime.

Finnur’s 45th birthday happened on a lovely day, and we went out to dinner to celebrate with friends. (55-ish images total)

Thursday 25 July 2019

Myself and Emma on horseback by a pretty waterfall. Photo by our guide.

Waterfall Trolls & Glacier Trip

2019-07-23Friends, Iceland, Us Standard

[Photos taken 23 – 24 July 2019, posted online 08 March 2020. Very chilly but gorgeous day outside.]

Our second set of house #2 visitors, aka Adda, Halli and kids, were in an adventurous mood, as this summer was a stay-cation for us all, after we’d spent 10 days in Florida together in February.

We therefore used the time we had with them to check out nearby tourist traps and go snowmobiling on a glacier (!!!), as well as just trying to relax and enjoy a few days away from life as usual. (50-ish photos total)

Tuesday 23 July 2019

Emma by a troll family picture, a troll-sized seat and pretty waterfalls in Grímsá (Gríms-river). The house in the background is the Fossatún hotel/restaurant/cafe, and they maintain this fun troll-themed area.

Staycation Continues

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[Photos from 18 – 22 July 2019, posted online 07 March 2020. I took the kids skiing yesterday!!!!]

The days passed relatively uneventfully during our stay-cation. We hung out in town as Anna kept working, and the other two each spent half a day at horse camp, and stocked up on things needed for house #2.

As Anna finally had a week off, we drove to house #2, and hung out there with friends, managing to finally get the guest house into a usable state!

Oh, and there was also a cat-story! (45-ish images total)

Thursday 18 July 2019

This photo belongs to a somewhat long story. Notice the cat Anna is stroking? Well, Bjarki called home after dinner asking for instructions on how to hold a cat that looked like it needed help getting home. He’d called the owners, found out they lived across the new big road, connected to that area via a walking bridge, and that the cat hadn’t returned home for a few days. The owners were mighty surprised that the cat was that far away, and asked Bjarki to try and get it home. But the cat wasn’t in the mood to be held. So I recruited Anna to drive up to the church with me to help out, which is when I discovered it was the same cat I’d walked past on 03 July 2019 (see photo!), so it most likely wasn’t lost at all! But, then the owners called again, and let us know they were coming to fetch the cat, so Anna took it upon herself to keep kitty happy for a bit. And thus this image was born.

Horse Camp for All & Housing Progress

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[Photos taken 13 – 17 July 2019, posted online 29 February 2020. Snow on the ground, and we have our first local Covid-19 case.]

We drove up to house #2 with some friends who live in California for a change of scenery. As they only have young children, we only brought Emma along, leaving the older ones to fend for themselves for a night.

I tried being good about gymming, but hurt my foot assembling a bed (!!?!), and then it was all over for a while. Both Emma and Bjarki began attending horse camp, but not at the same time, so that involved quite a bit of driving. I did also succumb to Emma’s request to go to the farm animal park, where we saw a four day old calf! (40-ish images total)

Saturday 13 July 2019

“Mood” as Ms. First Born would say. Taken as we were driving north to house #2.

Summer Vacation Begins/Bjarki’s 12th Birthday Party

2019-07-10Bjarki, Finnur's family, Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos from 10-12 July 2019, posted online 28 February 2020. Lots of snow falling lately, driving Anna to school in the mornings has been a bit adventurous.]

Emma finally truly graduated from daycare, as it shut down for its summer vacation. We were rather stuck-in-town though for the work-week because Anna kept working at horse-camp. Happily we finally managed to celebrate Bjarki’s 12th birthday, and even go out on a date night! (25-ish images)

Wednesday 10 July 2019

Hiking & Kayaking Weekend

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[Photos taken 05-07 July 2019, posted online 22 February 2020. The days are getting brighter, finally!]

We spent an active weekend at house #2 on a gorgeous weekend in early July. There was trampolining, hiking (without water or food, silly us!), a water-balloon fight, and kayaking! How lucky we are to have such good friends! (55-ish images)

Friday 05 July 2019

Bjarki and a friend on the tampoline by house #2 in the evening sun.

Outdoor Activities as July Began

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[Photos taken 01 – 04 July 2019, posted online 15 February 2020. Yesterday saw such high winds that most of the capital area closed down in the morning, and all schools were closed! It’s calmer today.]

We’d made the decision to not travel abroad for our summer vacation for the first time in many years, so this was an unusual July for sure. Horse camp played a big role, with Anna working there, and the other kids attending.

For the first week, the weather was super nice, which meant time spent outdoors. (15-ish images total)

Monday 01 July 2019

Our summer revolved a lot around this horse camp. Anna worked there through the city-work-school program, and Bjarki and Emma both attended.

Bjarki Turns 12 Years Old, Anna Bakes & Emma Plays

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[Photos taken on 28 – 30 June 2019, posted online 24 January 2020. I’ve lost count of the ‘yellow’ weather warnings since December. Tumultuous weather indeed!]

Lo and behold, somehow it was Bjarki’s 12th birthday!! He opened presents in the morning, and then Anna had very kindly baked a cake for him to take to horse camp.

The following weekend was calm-ish, with Anna going all out making macaroons from scratch, and myself and Emma visiting the farm-animal-and-family-park yet again. (20-ish images)