Iceland-Day 2

 After getting a good nights sleep (until noon or one!) we got in our rented car and began what is known as the "Golden Circle"  It consists of 3 sites (with multiple other detour sites) and is all drivable from Rejekevic.  We actually skipped the first one and headed straight to Geysir.  Supposedly it is what all other Geysirs are named after.  It was pretty amazing, but very small in comparison to Yellowstone.  There is one active Geysir as well as many other small thermal pots and an inactive geysir.  Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place to stretch our legs and take a hike.

 The first of many cliffs we would see on our trip.  I mentioned to Brian that I felt like the city was safe and his reply was, "I think the dangers to toursists here are falling off cliffs and driving off the no shoulder roads".  

 We got back in our car and continued on to Gulfoss.  Again, the first waterfall of many we would see in Iceland.  This was the largest we saw and one of the most beautiful for sure.  There wasn't much hiking, you basically get out of the car, walk a ways, look down steep cliffs at the waterfall and get back in the car.

 On our way back to Reykjavik, we noticed a parking lot with lots of tourists and decided to check it out.  It was an old volcano, Kerid,  that now has a beautiful lake inside the crater.  There is a path around the entire upper part as well as a path down into the crater and one around the lake.  We took the upper path and then walked down to the lake.

 Given that our planning didn't pan out the day before for the Blue Lagoon, we had made reservations for our second day at 8PM.  Our late start to the day didn't allow us to complete all the detours on the Golden Circle, but we were very glad to have the chance to enjoy the Blue Lagoon.    After walking down a long path nestled between this volcanic debris covered in this green moss, you come across a milky blue water.  I've never seen anything like it.  Its probably the most touristy thing we did while there, but well worth the $150 we spent on the tickets.  You line up inside a building while a "host" gives a little speech about how to use the lockers, gives you a wristband that allows you to lock you things as well as order anything you'd like from the bars around the pools and explains how to take care of your hair inside and out of the pool.  Once inside, men go into their locker rooms and women into theirs and you meet outside.  The pool is a perfect warm temperature, naturally heated.  You cannot see the bottom due to the milky nature of the water and so they suggest not bringing in cell phones for photographing.  There is a mud mask bar as well as a regular bar, one each included in your ticket.  You are allowed to soak as long as you want.  We stayed for 2 hours and took the photo below afterwards (at 11 PM!)

Mt. Democrat

 Last summer LT expressed interest in climbing a 14er.  We did a few big hikes, but then with our trip to Croatia, we just ran out of summertime and never got around to it.  This summer, we set a date with some friends, rented a place in Fairplay and set out to do either Democrat or Lincoln.  We were only a few miles from the trailhead and so we set our alarms for 6 to get an early start.  The four of us piled into my friends minivan and off we went, GPS guiding us.  Or so we thought.  We got to our last turn, which was a turn onto a 4 wheel drive, steep, rugged "road".  After many times nearly getting stuck, we turned the minivan around and headed back to find a different path.  For those of you who have done 14ers, you are never the only car heading to the trail and the fact that there were ZERO other cars anywhere to be seen, should have been our first clue that we were on the wrong path.  We were out of range for our phones, but were determined that we had to be close.  Eventually we ended up on private property and found some Germans who had just moved to Colorado.  They basically told us they didn't know where it was, but that we weren't on the right path and to go back to Alma and ask.  We, once again, turned around and headed to the only store that was open in Alma.  Literally at the end of the block of the store was our turn up to the trailhead.  By this point it was 9:15 and we had to park .85 miles from the trailhead.  Eventually we made it to the map at the trailhead and headed up what we thought was the right trail only to be told by some hikers that we were in fact on the wrong trail and needed to go back down.  At 9:45, we finally found our way on the right path, nearly 3 hours after these kids had woken up (after going to bed past 10:30 the night before).  They were troopers through the whole ordeal and summited Mount Democrat with no problems.  

expressive vocabulary of the youngest child

"Oh my God! Mom and me forgot to get Spoonfuls at target... Awe, that sucks!" - 2yr old B

Cheers!

To my dad for his birthday!

Iceland-Day 1

 After an overnight non-stop flight from Denver to Rejekevic, complete with 30-40 non sleeping high school exchange students from France, we landed at 6:15 AM.  Our plan was to explore the city for the day, beginning with the Blue Lagoon, which is between the airport and the city.  Unfortunately, our plans were faulted when we got there and realized that you need reservations.  They had no reservations until late the following evening.  We made reservations, took some pictures and headed into the city.

 We started our day at Braud and Co, which had the most delicious coffee and pastries.  We then walked up and down the main street for several hours, wandering in stores and trying to keep ourselves awake.  We couldn't check into our hotel until 1, and the hours seemed to creep along slowly.  Eventually we came across one of the iconic places in the city,  Hallgrimskirkja.

 Dreary eyed, we decided to get some lunch at a recommended soup restaurant.  Svarta Kaffio ended up being one of our favorite places to eat in the city.  We went four times.  Each day they offer a vegetarian soup and a meat soup, each served in a delicious bread bowl.  There is nothing else on the menu (with the exception of drinks).

 After a short (ish) nap in our adorable VRBO, we headed back out to wander around the city a little more.   Its not a big place, but surprisingly quite confusing to get around.  We ended up walking down to the ocean and when we tried to walk the same path back, we quickly realized we were lost.  However, we came across some interesting things and ended up walking quite  ways, which was nice (especially without kids). 

Reverse

Cooies Bingo

 We met some friends for ice cream one night and realized they have free Bingo games for two hours every Tuesday night!  it ended up being a really fun evening, even for B.  Each kid also won a game with the prize being a coupon for a free ice cream.

So sweet

Car Ramps

 LT gets very serious about his projects.  We had an amazon box delivered and I made a very basic car ramp out of it for B.  Before I knew it, LT took over and made an elaborate one with parking lots and homes for each of our family members.  It now takes over our dining room, but it far surpasses anything you could buy in a store.  B is so lucky to have such amazing brothers.

Swim lessons and League Championships

 Many areas of our lives are divided right now, one being swimming.  The youngest flops in the baby pool and is in his first round of lessons while the eldest is competing in the state swim meet this weekend.  This week the older two competed in the league championship meet (which required qualifying for) while B had his baby swim lessons.  

Occupational Therapy

 A goes to his weekly OT, but I think the other two like the time with Erin equally.  There is always the fun lycra to play in, and playdough (and many many other fun things to do).