Painting Walls

Camping

A few more pics from our July camping trip.

Best Dentist

 We lucked out in the pediatric dentist department (besides the long drive).  I happened to meet Dr. Sean in a spin class (not realizing he was married to someone I already liked and had met in baby yoga).  We all became fast friends, but he also became our dentist, quickly.  I think LT was 18 months and I didn't realize I should have already taken him in by that point.  He has now seen each kid, every 6 months of their lives.  He's thorough, funny and gives out great schwagg.  Plus he has three boys who are our boys buddies, so its more like seeing a friend.

He got them all to smile by telling them to say, "poop".  It worked. 

Canvas and Cocktails

 With our move/remodel, we have been getting ride of So. Much. Stuff.  And it feels so good.  A few things are hard to get rid of, but I figured with the blog, I could keep them alive despite the tossing.  The boys and I went to Canvas and Cocktails one day and they did these Harry Potter scenes.

And when B was a tiny baby I went with some friends and did this one of him.  I should have used black and white, I'd probably have kept it.

Lair o' the Bear Field Trip

 I drove on the 3-4-5 hike day this week for both boys classes.  No one (in our car) "hiked", but they sure loved playing in the water all day.  In the morning they did boat building and in the afternoon, water play.  Both equally fun, and quite similar.  

Food in Iceland

 I didn't know what to expect when it came to food in Iceland, except that I was sure it was going to be all fish and pretty terrible and extremely expensive (the expensive part was true).  My brother would tease me about the fermented shark (we came to find out this was just for tourists, not a native food) and sheep head (which we only saw on one menu).  The food there was not only edible, it was seriously some of the best food we've ever had in our lives.  It was an easy place to eat Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free etc.  Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of all our food (because in all honesty, it drives me crazy when people post pictures of their food), but I did take a few to remember the most amazing restaurants.  Above and below was a restaurant called Gott, in the Westman Islands.  We went twice, for each dinner.  I got vegan meals both nights, a stew the first night and this spicy bean burger the second.  

 We didn't get donuts while we were there, but these were just at a stand near a waterfall.

 We stopped at Mia's fish and chips food truck.  Again, literally a food truck on the side of a road (I had read about it) that only serves fish and chips.  Neither Brian nor I like fish and chips but I wanted to have them while we were there.  It was really yummy!  But... given that I don't eat heavy fried food (like, ever), I had a horrible stomach ache that night while ruined what would have been an amazing meal.  

 This was in Hofn, at what looked like an old run down pizza hut from the outside.  Brian got some combo of meats and potatoes.

 I got friend feta cheese and soup.  

And our beloved soup bowls.  

Iceland-last few hours plus a flight home

 I slept in on our last morning, Brian didn't.  Both typical.  He wandered out to get some coffee for us and came across a second location of the bakery I mentioned in our first Iceland blog post.  This was the main location.  The place where you could see all the baking in action and get numerous pastries not offered in the smaller location.  I took this picture of the cinnamon roll roll to show the boys since that's one of the things we make annually together.  It was probably 10 feet, and so yummy.

 After breakfast, we wandered the streets some more.  This sign made me laugh.

 I also mentioned earlier that Rejkavik, despite being relatively small, is a bit confusing to get around.  Multiple times we were lost, walking for a few hours when our destination was only a few minutes away.  The first time this happened, I remembered being close to an orange crane.  We eventually found an orange crane and thought we were back to our car, but came to realize there were many many orange cranes in the city while we were there.  

 Our last lunch was soup in a bread bowl, again.

 We didn't have high school exchange students on our flight home, but we were in the back, the very back of the plane.

 Greenland was so fun to fly over.  I remember flying over it as a kid and being amazed.  It was just as amazing as an adult.  The east side is covered in snow with huge iceburgs floating in the sea.

And an hour later, you fly over the west coast, which is actually green.

Iceland-last day

 We had planned on staying in Hofn for 2 nights and then driving the 6 plus hours back to catch our flight.  We changed plans because: 1) Hofn, besides the food, wasn't really that great.  2) The place we were staying wasn't that great.  3), 6 plus hour drive, plus an 8 hour flight sounded like too much sitting for this active girl.  But the most important reason is that somehow my desire to go to the bathing river didn't translate in Brian's brain.  It was my number one request and it was well worth abandoning our plans and changing course.  We made the drive back to Rejkevik after breakfast in Hofn.  It was a LONG drive, beautiful, but long.  Eventually we got to the hike/river bathing I had read about, Reykjadalur.  I thought I had read about a remote, unknown spot, but I was wrong.  We pulled up and the parking lot looked like that of a 14er in the summer in Colorado.  I was second guessing my demand, but since we were there, we began the hike.  I also thought the hike was short, but I was wrong about that also.  It was a steep climb (3miles each way I'd guess).  

 Eventually it plateaus and you walk along the edge of a cliff for awhile.  

 And then hot spots begin appearing.

 Hard to see, but the sheep in the steam of the hot pot was such a cool sight.

 After awhile on that flatter trail along various hot spots, you round a corner and see bunch of people, soaking in the river, or naked, changing on the side.  I had also read that's just what you do, change in front of everyone.  We were both a bit hesitant, but ultimately just went for it and hopped in the perfectly warm water to relax.  The whole trip had so many highlights, but this was in the top 3 for sure.

And we ended our last day with yummy soup in a bread bowl, of course.