Dagbók Hrefnu og Finns

France Day 3: Thunderstorm

2014-07-26Uncategorized Standard

[Written 21 AUGUST 2014. In ten minutes (3 pm) I need to go pick Emma up from daycare, where she’s been solo since 10 am. My baaaaaaaaby!!!!]

The mobile internet thing kept not working, so we decided to try the cell phone store One. More. Time. Failing that, there was another cell phone store nearby that was our backup. (19 images total)

We ventured out before lunch, to the same shopping street as before, and ate lunch at yet another restaurant. Yes, I admit it, eating out is one of my favorite things to do when abroad, especially when in countries with good food! Yes, eating out was a wee bit stressful with Emma needing constant care and attention, but still… new food!!

Emma getting a piece of steak from her dad.

France Day 2: Homebound Splashing and a Fancy Restaurant

2014-07-25Uncategorized Standard

[Written 18 AUGUST 2014. No Bárðarbunga eruption yet.]

Since our first full day in France wasn’t quite as relaxing we needed it to be, our second day was as relaxing as we could make it.

We basically stayed at home for most of this lovely Friday, filling up the splashing pool in the garden for some water-play, and napping while Emma napped and the big kids computerized themselves.

Around 6 pm we decided we really needed to do something about our non-functioning mobile internet, so we went back to street with the cell phone store. As luck would have it, the store was very close to a restaurant our house-owners had recommended in the guide they left us, so that was our designated dinner-place.

It was only when we arrived at the restaurant in question that it dawned on us that it was a faaaancy restaurant! So, just to be sure, I was sent inside to ask if we could a) bring kids, and b) be casually dressed, and if so, then c) could we eat there, please? The receptionist was quite positive, so we booked a table for 7 pm, and spent the time until then at the cell phone store (still no luck getting the MiFi to work). (23 images total)

Emma has the rather disturbing habit of drinking any and all water she comes into contact with, no matter the source or location.

France Day 1: Food and the Quest for MiFi

2014-07-24Uncategorized Standard

[Written 15 AUGUST 2014. It’s dark outside before midnight!]

We have a travel rule which states “after a strenuous day there shall be a quiet day”. Since traveling is strenuous, the first full day in Lyon, France was mostly quiet. Well, we tried anyway.

We desperately needed to buy groceries, so that was the first order of business. We started out by visiting the local ‘organic’ store, just to see what it looked like, and sure enough it was very organic-y, as in mostly expensive dried goods, some dairy, and fruits – which meant we needed to visit a second store to actually buy what we needed.

The organic store was close to the local shopping street though, so we parked there to begin our attempts at getting mobile internet (MiFi) so that the phone GPS maps would work. First we had to eat lunch, and I floored the kids by knowing a bit of a totally foreign language (to them). Yay for trudging through French for four years in junior college!

After buying an internet card for the MiFi gadget, we headed to the big local food store. It was called Monoprix, and we were totally saved by one very helpful attendant who gave us tokens to free the shopping carts, because we had zero coins on us.

Once we got back to the house, Emma napped and the big kids got computer time.

After a bit of hanging out later that afternoon we foolishly left the house without any maps or guidance or working internet (our mobile internet gadget didn’t work! boohoo!) but somehow made our way to a fancy shopping district downtown-ish where we had dinner. We walked around for a bit afterwards, mostly by the river Rhone.

(It would turn out a couple of days later that a) our mobile internet gadget needed a firmware update to work with the French cards, and b) our rental car had GPS navigation built in all along. Yeah.) (21 images total)

At the place where we had lunch. Emma's asking for some pepper in her hand.

At the place where we had lunch, and the server spoke no English. Emma’s asking for some pepper in her hand.

To France!

2014-07-23France, Traveling Standard

[Written 14 AUGUST 2014. In French.]

In April, we booked direct tickets to Lyon for two weeks. Because we’re crazy like that.

Initially we figured we’d stay close to our friends who were also going to be in the area, but in the end we opted for staying in Lyon, renting a house through airbnb.com, an hour away from them. Instead, we planned to meet our friends in Italy, again renting a place through airbnb for all of us. (9 images total)

Cute kids at the Keflavik airport. We ordered pizza and let them eat it in front of the tv. That was a big hit!

Family Outings

2014-07-16Family Standard

[Written 14 AUGUST 2014. In a galaxy far, far away…]

Passing time was the order of the week between our US visitors leaving, and Finnur’s summer holiday booting up again.

Since Emma naps in the afternoons, I mostly needed to figure out stuff to do in the mornings. (The afternoons were mostly Emma (and I) snoring while the big kids played on the computers.) (13 images total)

Wednesday 16 July 2014 – Laugardalur Family Park

At the family park in Laugardalur. I bought an annual pass, so the whole family can go whenever, and use all the equipment as much as we want. Of course, Emma’s favorite equipment of the day was this uninflated trampoline. Puddles are endlessly fun!

Visit to a Daycare Playground

2014-07-15Uncategorized Standard

[Written 07 AUGUST 2014. Where’s my wine?]

Finnur went back to work the week after our US vistors left, so me and the kids had a lot of quality time to cover.

We were all pretty low energy that day, but desperately needed fresh air, so I biked up the hill with the kids, and visited a nearby daycare playground we hadn’t visited before. (3 images total)

Kids on a see-saw. Emma was not pleased.

Open Air World Cup Viewing Party

2014-07-13Uncategorized Standard

[Written 07 AUGUST 2014. Yeah, yeah. Bite me.] On this lovely Sunday, I took the kids downtown to visit the main library. After the library we went to the cafe next door to drink some hot chocolate, but as we stepped out we heard some fun music which deserved investigating. Turns out a company hadRead more

And That’s the End of the US Visitors…

2014-07-09Uncategorized Standard

[Written 31 July 2014. Sniffles.]

All good things must come to an end. Boohoo. (14 images total)

Wednesday 9 July 2014 – Thingvellir

The day after we drove to visit the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, and the Sólheimajökull glacier, we packed up, cleaned, and drove back to the capital area.

As promised, we stopped by Thingvellir on the way. We hiked up to the Öxarárfoss waterfall, where Finnur flew his drone. I did not take a single picture, I don’t know why. (Well, I took a few pictures of a couple using their camera, but that was it.)

The following Thursday and Friday were quiet days. We were all plenty tired, and the travelers needed to charge their batteries for the trip back.

Thursday 10 July 2014 – Fancy Dinner

Morning computer time in session.

US Visitors – Seljalandsfoss Waterfall and Sólheimajökull Glacier

2014-07-08Uncategorized Standard

[Written 29 July 2014. C’est la vie!]

We decided to play tourists again and drive to see a fun waterfall one can walk behind, and see how much further we could make it along the southern coast before it got too late. (69 images total)

Getting ready to set out. Our first destination was Selfoss, where we planned to eat lunch before continuing on.

US Visitors – Out in the Countryside

2014-07-04Uncategorized Standard

[Written 26 July 2014. At least it’s still July!!]

After spending the work-week in the city with our US visitors, we headed out to the trusty old summer house by Laugarvatn on the Friday. We planned to stay there for four or five nights.

It took us half of forever to get going, packing everything up, and fitting it in the cars. Cleverly, we’d planned for the US-ers to leave first, which they did, so they could stop at Thingvellir (which is half way there) to sight-see a bit.

The rest of us got a slightly later start because there’s always something that needs doing at the last minute, and then we had to make a library run, aaaand pick Finnur up from work. Oh, and return back home for stuff I forgot to pack.

Anyway, we finally caught up with the gang around 5 pm as they were about to walk to a waterfall in the gusty cold wind. We told them they were out of time, and that we’d stop by on the way back when there would surely be less wind. They admitted we had a point, so onwards to Laugarvatn we all went, settled in, and made dinner.

We were super lucky in that the second house (again, Finnur’s parents’ house) was available, so Sarah’s parents could stay there and get a break from the loud and rowdy kids (and adults!). (36 images, 2 videos total.)

Friday 4 July 2014 – Finnur Flies the Quad-copter

Around midnight on the Friday, the weather was doing its 'calm before the storm' routine, so Finnur used the opportunity to test drive his birthday present: A quad-copter with a video camera, aka a drone.

Around midnight on the Friday, the weather was doing its ‘calm before the storm’ routine, so Finnur used the opportunity to test drive his 40th birthday present: A quad-copter with a video camera, aka drone.