We gave Perry a passport for Christmas and broke it in on our trip to Iceland.
After a 9 hour flight and 8 hour time change, we arrived at 4am. After a mishap where the shuttle bus driver drove off without me while I was collapsing the stroller, we picked up our rental car and were on our way. John was a trooper and drove us around the golden circle. The rest of us napped in between stops.
First up was the Strokkur Geysir.
Jonah was not happy about being woken up, but we were trying to stay awake as much as possible to get on schedule that night.
This was such a cool place. There are little streams next to the roped off path with signs warning not to touch because they're boiling water. So there's ice next to the bubbling springs.
We walked over to Strokker, the big geyser, and waited for it to erupt. It was huge! I wanted to see it myself, so the picture I took of the boys watching is of after it had settled down a little.
We took a picture in front of it after the steam dissipated. I thought it'd be cool to wait another 7 minutes and get a picture with it going off, but it was freezing.
Instead we went inside the Glima cafe and John bought us all treats
and the greatest hot chocolate of my life.
We went to a Gullfoss overlook, which was exposed to the wind and so, so cold.
It was really beautiful and there were paths down that would be fun to try in the summer when they aren't icy.
Karen loved her new coat, which was worth every penny in this moment.
The whole landscape was gorgeous. I was drawn to looking and listening to it, while simultaneously wanting to go back to the car to sleep and get warm.
Our next stop was the Efstidalur Farm, where we saw cute new calves. We were going to eat at the farm to table restaurant, but it was really expensive and felt a little mean.
Instead we had the waffles with jam and ice, which were plate-licking good. We also bought skyr to try making a yogurt-like food at home that the lady working there recommended.
We drove to Thingvellir national park and walked up to Oxararfoss, a big waterfall there.
The path wasn't very long or steep, but Jonah was melting down.
I was coaxing him along and feeling unsuccessful. John and Karen were far ahead of us and I debated just staying behind and taking turns. I was defeated thinking we'd made this huge trip only to not enjoy it because we were so cold and tired.
Then I had the brilliant idea to tell Jonah he could throw a snowball at Grandma (his favorite thing about our Utah trip) if he caught up to her.
Next thing you knew, we were playing with Karen at the top.
The waterfalls in the snow and ice were amazing.
We were right by the water for this one and it was more closed off, too, so not so frigid.
John and Karen explored a bit.
Jonah and Scott played in the snow, happy to stay all day.
We went to buy groceries and went to our rental house for the week to make dinner. Then we all crashed hard.
The next morning we went into Reykjavik to Hallgrimskirkja.
It was a beautiful, but simple design compared to cathedrals we've been to, which felt somehow appropriate for the vibe we were getting in Iceland.
Jonah curled up and napped in the stroller.
We took the elevator to the top so we could see out over the city.
We went to Snaps bistro for lunch, which was French and cute.
We stopped for hot chocolate at a cafe, which was yummy and better than what we have at home, but it was not living up to our new Geysir standard.
We walked around the down town area and stopped in at stores. The train table was a welcome distraction for all three boys, who were trying to be patient travelers and shoppers.
Perry didn't love the viking hat.
Didn't mind the gnome one.
He liked the rocking toy. If only we had a bigger suitcase.
Scott and Jonah's favorite part of the day was playing in the snow outside the shops.
We flew them across the world and all they wanted was snow.
We had dinner at Eldur & Is, a delicious crepe place, then headed back home. We saw there was some unexpected northern light activity, so we dashed out to the middle of nowhere, but it had ended right before we got there. Perry didn't go back to sleep, so we had a rough second night.
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