![\"Bjarki](\"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_0625.jpg\")
<\/a>Bjarki and a friend chillin’ on our loungers.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
<\/a>Inside, Emma was having something to eat behind the smashed up remains of the ginger bread house.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Once darkness fell, we put on our fancy clothes, and made our way to a party! Our hosts were Herd\u00eds and Halli (not pictured here). Herd\u00eds is the daughter of T\u00f3mas (they’re the ones wearing the aprons), who is Finnur’s uncle (\u00de\u00f3rarinn’s brother). \u00a0The two brothers (\u00de\u00f3rarinn and T\u00f3mas) usually alternate hosting the new year’s eve party, but this year T\u00f3mas’ wife was nursing a broken elbow so their daughter stepped in as hostess.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Food, food, glorious food!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Table from the other side.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Couch-girls. Emma was on her best behavior, until it was time to go to sleep that is. I optimistically put her in her travel cot and left her to ‘go to sleep on her own’, except she (not surprisingly) totally freaked out, and ended up vomiting. \u00a0I guess she was a little too full for such an exercise. Oops!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Bjarki fell in love with this huge rocket!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Anna trying to get Bjarki to Put. It. Down! He had trouble listening that night. He may have been a tad bit excited…<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Finnur took the kids outside around 20:30 to fire off some rockets.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Shortly before 9 pm, I packed the older kids in the car and drove a few minutes to attend the bonfire in neighboring Gar\u00f0ab\u00e6r. We parked a ways away from it, and had to begin our hike by sliding on our butts down this icy slope! \u00a0Thank goodness for solid, slightly plastic-y pants!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>After stumbling through a large snowy field of tufty grass (thank goodness for hiking shoes!!) we finally made our way to the bonfire.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The upside to arriving from that direction was being upwind from the bonfire itself. We also had a good view over a part of Gar\u00f0ab\u00e6r, as well as neighboring K\u00f3pavogur where…<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>… the local rescue squad started the annual dual-firework show. K\u00f3pavogur and Gar\u00f0ab\u00e6r are two adjacent towns (think tiny versions of Mountain View and Palo Alto) and they try to out-do each other every year.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>After K\u00f3pavogur had finished, Gar\u00f0ab\u00e6r got going and put up a fancy show.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Here be fireworks!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Big fireworks are especially fun up close!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Anna kindly looking my way.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The bonfire was roaring!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Anna and Bjarki holding starlights after the big shows were over.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Standing pretty darn close to a big fire. The main crowd was located on the other side, where the proper access road is.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Starlights are always fun!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>After we’d had our fill of fire and fireworks, we walked all the way back to the car.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Back at the party, it was time for homemade ice cream and the most ridiculously addictive chocolate ice cream sauce I’ve had in recent memory.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>At 10:30 pm it was time for the hour-long retrospective annual comedy show, which was actually funny this year!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The show ended at 23:30 at which point everybody went outside to shoot up some fireworks, and look at the neighbors going crazy with their explosives. \u00a0Thankfully the weather was peeeerfect!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Fancy lights going off.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Shooting up from a small hill.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Sisters.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Gu\u00f0ni adding a little light to the world.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Rescue flares are fun too!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Margr\u00e9t and her dad, Vignir, with flares.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Hilmir also got a flare.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Fireworks over the row-houses.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>It took a while but I finally managed to take a not-terrible long-exposure of Bjarki swinging a starlight.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Anna with a starlight.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>All around us people went totally berserk shooting up stuff, but we were a tad low down to see it properly.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Two minutes before midnight.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Bamm, bamm, bamm!<\/p><\/div>\n