Dagbók Hrefnu og Finns

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

2019-07-18Friends, Us Standard

[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

2019-07-13Us Standard

[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

2019-07-05Friends, Us Standard

[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

2019-07-01Us Standard

[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

2019-06-28Us Standard

[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)

Friday 28 June 2019

Bjarki in the car about to head to the horse camp with his yummy cake!

House#2 Progress, Endless Walks & Finally RAIN

2019-06-16Hrefna's family, Us Standard

[Photos taken 16 – 26 June 2019, posted online 20 January 2020. The weather is unstable. Very unstable.]

June was such a strange month. The sun would not stop blaring, and the weather was continually awesome, which seemed to render me unable to sleep, which made me anxious.

Nice progress was nonetheless made at House #2, particularly in getting the guest-house operational, and Finnur volunteered to drive up there to start staining the huge deck (which can only happen with zero children around).

I took a ridiculous amount of walks, as it felt impossible to just sit around at home in the evenings with all that sunlight going on. We bought a new car (!!!) after waiting patiently for a sturdy enough electric car, the kids went to their camps, and practices, and life just sort of stumbled along. (65 images total)

Sunday 16 June 2019

The kids at their favorite cafe in Borgarnes, Kaffi Kyrrð. We’d driven up that way in the morning to meet up with Finnur who’d stayed overnight at house #2. My brother Pétur, and his family then joined us a bit later in the day.

Dinners, Gymnastics, & Staining in the Sun

2019-06-06gymnastics, Us Standard

[Photos taken 06 – 15 June 2019, posted online 12 January 2020. It’s been a over a week of storms, they just keep coming, with wind/rain/snow.]

We kept having crazy fantastic weather, with barely a drop of rain. It was very conductive to walks and staining wood, and there’s So. Much. Wood.

Bjarki competed at a gymnastics meet, dinner was outsourced, we visited the farm animal & family park, the guest-house at house #2 got some attention, and Anna prepared starting her first ever summer job (45-ish images total).

Thursday 06 June 2019

Anna Graduates 10th Grade

2019-06-05Anna, Us Standard

[Photos taken 05 June 2019, posted online 27 December 2019. The rain is taking all our snow away. New Year’s Eve fireworks weather is not looking promising. ]

After eight fine years at our local school, it was time for Anna to graduate from 10th grade. Two days prior, the whole graduating group (70-ish kids) had gone on a graduation/team-building trip to the north of Iceland.

The trip was a roaring success, and they arrived sleep-deprived and weepy with emotion a few hours before the formal ceremony. At the graduation ceremony itself, hardly an eye was left dry in the house, as parents and past-and-present teachers talked, gifts were given, hugs were exchanged, lovely words were written in yearbooks, photos were taken, and food was eaten. (35-ish images total)