Friday, July 15, 2011

USA and Stykkisholmer - maybe the nicest town in Iceland!

It has been a LONG time since I have written and at least for now there are no pictures to add. Life has just gotten busy as they say:)

We flew to the USA for about 10 days over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate MamaZee's 90th birthday with the whole family. It was the most splendid visit, fun, relaxing and got to spend lots of time with family that we haven't seen in ages. After the birthday weekend we had a chance to stay with MamaZee, visit more with Tobi, Bryan and families, a great treat. We then headed to Chicago to see Terri, Zelia's great grandmother and Lauren and Ian as they waited for little Hemingway to arrive.

For the first time since moving to Iceland we were sad to say goodbye to the US and our family and coming back was challenging. Zelia was back in the groove in leikskoli and I began rehearsing for my grant project during Lazer's naps. The rehearsing is going super well and I now have gotten the rights to the music I will be using and have 2 out of the at least 3 sections of the work. It is exciting.

Before too long Lazer and I were back flying across the Atlantic to meet little Emita (Heimingway) while Zelia stayed with Jacob and Terri came for a visit. They had a great time exploring Myvatn (I still have not been there!) and hanging out at home. Lazer and I were busy exploring the streets of Andersonville and then we headed to NJ for a great time with Baki, Angie and the kids. I have not spent this kind of time with them in years and the kids were SO much fun. Lazer sat with Myles, was awed by Topper and loved to pieces by the girls, he even took a few steps on his own! All in all he did a great job and even cut a new tooth while away.

Coming home to see Zelia and Jacob was SO exciting, I could not get enough of her!!!! From the bus stop we headed over to VOX at the Hilton for a delicious brunch. We stayed through Monday and played while Jacob worked and then we drove home.

On Wednesday afternoon we got in the work truck with Jacob and drove 3 hours to Stykkisholmer where he had to go out on Thursday and collect samples. We arrived into the most beautiful and sweet town, built up on a hill overlooking Breidafjordur, a fjord filled with 100's of little islands. After checking in to the B&B we walked into town for dinner. There is a really nice harbor which made me realize how much I missed walking around the harbor in Isafjordur. There were LOTS of people out and about, tourists, a full camping ground, a few restaurants, just lively. The houses are cute and over all it felt to us a bit like Maine.

Jacob left early the next morning and when we eventually got up and out we headed straight to the pool. The weather was stunning, blue skies and heading into the upper teens. We played at the pool for a good long while and then got some soup at the bakery. It was so hot in the sun, Zelia stripped while eating. Later in the day I walked to the Library of Water which is spectacular. It is built on the top pf the hill overlooking the fjord and the town with huge windows. The space is filled with towers/tubes of glacial water collected from around Iceland and the floor is filled with words in Icelandic and English about water and experiencing it. I was in there just with Lazer on my back while Zelia dozed in the stroller. Lazer kept saying ah, ah, and the echo in the space made it sound like he was singing - now that's the piece I would create in there. It is open to the public for free, offers a writing studio and holds activities like yoga for the community.

After that we headed back to the harbor and while Lazer was fast asleep in the stroller Zelia and I ahd fu watching the bi kids jump of the pier into the water. Some of them were in dry suites but not all. It looked like so much fun and Zelia was mesmerized. When we turned to look the other direction they were loading up the ferry which heads to the westfjords and it was exciting to see the cars bot drive on and be lifted on to the ferry. And then....we got to watch Jacob come in on his boat.

The day before Zelia was quite concerned that Jacob was going to go out on an old boat and insisted that he not and that he go out on the new red boat, not the old yellow boat. While we were driving Jacob was pointing out a shipwreck of an old boat and she was anxious that that not happen to him!

After helping Jacob document the sampled we packed up, went out for burgers and got on the road. It was a great trip and actually felt like a vacation.

Tomorrow I will be running my first 10k and then we will head out on the peninsula to the light house for a night of camping. Next week we leave for Reykjavik and begin the ring road camping trip for 2 weeks!