What are Trees?

Today we told Stefán about our trip to Bandarikin (U.S.) coming up in just nine days. He jumped around like mad, smiling, giggling, and of course, he is very excited to see some of his family and friends. A bit later, I was looking out the window at the all white landscape, commenting on how nice it will be when the construction cranes are finally gone. Then it hit me. Trees! I will get to see lots of trees, comparitively speaking, when we go back to Arizona. Stefán then looked at me and said, "What are trees?". Árni and I laughed so hard, we cried. I´m pretty sure he didn´t hear the word 'trees' correctly, and was just asking for clarification, but the glimmer of truth in his innocent comment was certainly not lost on me.

Finnur is recovering from a gross bug. I'll spare you all the details. It wasn't pretty. These are the moments of parenthood you are never quite prepared for, but attend to with love (and a suppressed gag reflex)nonetheless.

Someone was commenting to me via email that they were looking forward to hearing about "all of your adventures in Iceland". I am afraid I might disappoint! Beyond trips to the farm, it's been all about trying to keep sane during the most awful weather anyone can remember in a generation, and enjoying time with the boys. But, the light is coming quickly now, and I can see that once spring comes (which can be late May), we will enjoy being outside all summer and going on a few island adventures. Remember, it will not get dark at all here in July!

We missed two amazing photo/videos opportunities this weekend, I'm sorry to say. Yesterday, it was sunny and felt warm all day (it was all of 32 degrees). The sun, along with reflection from boatloads of snow and the nearby sea, made for spectacular views of the city. Stefán and I could see the entire city from the deck of Perlan, a gorgeous circular building/museum/restaurant near downtown. Today was as ugly as yesterday was gorgeous. Cloudy, arctic wind, and snowing with major snowdrifts. Árni watched as it took me three attempts to get our little van up the hill near our building to get to a gym class. I guess they don't move snow on Sunday mornings. In fact, now that I think of it, no one ever seems to be awake or outside on weekend mornings. Crazy Icelanders.

A weekend to remember

A little art and culture at the downtown library
Originally uploaded by Diana Wilson

Finally, some great new discoveries this weekend. We must be getting more settled in. Stefán went to his Saturday morning English class, with his much-loved new teacher Russell from London, and I hit the gym. Árni took Finnur to swim at the pool. Stefán and I then headed downtown and fed the ducks at the huge lake (it was frozen the last time we were there and we could walk on it, but a heat wave with temps. in the 40's the last few days have melted it for now). Afterwards, we stumbled onto an amazing exhibition called 871 A.D. It's a 2001 discovery of the remains of a Viking longhouse from that year and they´ve carefully preserved what was left and built this high-tech, hands-on museum around the house, which is right in downtown Reykjavik. We spent over an hour there and it´s just two rooms! We then made our way to the downtown library. What a find! The kids' floor was just that, a whole floor. See the latest pics for more views. Árni and Finnur joined us after nap time and we spent hours there, looking at books, playing with all the toys and oh, the dressup. Stefán was in heaven, of course. We managed a rare dinner out after that and then yesterday, we all went swimming together. A very fun family weekend!

It's getting light by the time we walk Stefán to school now and it stays light until after 6:30. The increase in light is coming in huge chunks, thankfully. Finnur will be 18 months tomorrow and he's recently decided he prefers to WALK everywhere we go, stopping to view every little rock or piece of ice/snow/wet grass. You know, the usual toddler drill. Life has slowed a bit, but it's fun to watch him learning about the world. I could do without three more months of winter, but hey, this is Iceland!

Bollurdagur - "Ball Day"

Stefán proudly displays his 'spanking´bollur, made at school.
Originally uploaded by Diana Wilson

A day where it's all things ball-related. The kids made the ball-on-a-stick toy you see in the pic. The face looks a bit devilish, don't you think? The idea was to wake up Mama and Pabbi by spanking them yesterday. Where did THIS tradition come from? Lucky for us, it got left at school last Friday! They ate fiskurbollur (fish balls) for lunch and then the crowning glory for snack, a round pastry with chocolate on top and creme in the middle. Stefán leaves before afternoon snack time, but the director was kind enough to put one of the decadent pastries in a pokka (bag) for him. I was actually surprised they served them, as his school has a "health" theme and they never have sweets, but I suppose there's always one exception. A tasty one, too!

Balcony boys

Life on the second floor can get a bit dull in the midst of a real Icelandic winter (yes, now they tell me this is more snow than they've had in a zillion years). So, we came up with our own fun on the seldom-used-of-late balcony.

Þorrablót

Pronounced "Thorabloat", roll your "r". Sheep´s head (including the eyes and teeth), ram´s tongue, ram´s testicals, shark meat with the strong smell of ammonia....all this and a couple of similar traditional icelandic yummies – rather odd for American tastebuds, including mine – are being relished during this special time of the year starting in the middle of January and lasting for a month. I am pretty sure most teenagers and their younger counterparts balk at most of it nowadays.

Stefán had some of this menu at school today. He claimed that he spit the shark out after tasting it, but then told his Pabbi that he swallowed it. I'll have to ask his teacher on Monday! Viking hats were also made by the kids. They asked the kids to wear 'natural wool colored' sweaters and socks. When I arrived for pickup, the kids were sitting quietly, listening to two older women explain their traditional Icelandic dresses (very similar to the beautiful dress Elsa made herself and wore at our wedding). At the end they all sang a song and I carefully watched Stefán, who sang right along.

Going for a spin

Gimme more!

Árni herding cats, um, I mean horses

Stefán and I were so fortunate to watch the horses, 11 in all, coming down from the highlands to the barn for the first time this winter. Side note: they are equiped to survive outside all winter but they keep all but the oldest two inside when they plan to ride them and/or train the two newer additions.

It was truly a magical sight, especially in the bright sun; sun that shone on the farm for the first time in TWO months (it doesn't rise high enough to make it over the mountain where they live during the darkest part of the year). The horses were very willing participants, that is until they got to the first gate. Then, it became comical. I think it was another half hour before they got them all inside.