Lava and Wildflowers

This morning we went a little ways outside Reykjavik to another geothermal area. On the way, we passed an incredible lake surrounded by lava rock and black sand. It was quite a sight.

The geothermal area was really cool also, with bubbling mud and steam blowing everywhere. It looked simply otherwordly!

It sure STUNK of sulfur! 

These mus ponds were bubbling!

Can you see the bubbles??

Every. Time.

On the drive, we were able to stop and take pictures of two things I've been wanting pictures of: Icelandic sheep and these gorgeous purple wildflowers.

I wish you could smell these flowers! They were amazing.

And of course, when you have a beautiful backdrop and a little bit of privacy, jump pictures are a must!

Our time in Iceland is running out! I love love love this country, and it makes me so sad to think I might never be back!! Trying to soak it all in while I can.

Pleasant Days

We haven't been up to much that is noteworthy lately, but it's been fun. Today we went to the Einar Jonsson sculpture garden, displaying the sculptures of a famous Icelandic artist. The work was really beautiful, and I've found that sculpture gardens are a great way to see art with young kids.

Seriously. Cannot. Get. Them. To pose normally!!

 The kids got to run around and explore, and I got to see some really beautiful works. It would have been nice to stay longer, but it was a colder morning than we were anticipating!

"The Crucible"

"Earth"

"Grief"

As we were leaving, we kept finding little army men hidden in funny places. Huh??

After that we checked out the Perlan, or the Pearl, which is a glass-dome restaurant with some lovely views.

What else have we been up to recently? We went to see Finding Dory, which was fun. Quintana sat through the entire movie for the first time, so I was overjoyed!

We've been thrifting for Icelandic wool items, rain gear, books, and vintage clothes.

One of our favorite storybooks in Icelandic.

We've been going to church at the branch here, which is tiny but fun. Primary is basically nursery, where all the kids play with toys and then sing a few songs and eat some snacks. Sacrament meeting is translated into English, and there are two Sunday school classes, one in English and one in Icelandic.

Pools are a huge recreational activity here. Reykjavik has at least four public pools! They are heated year round, have fantastic locker rooms with hot showers, bathing suit dryers, hair dryers, and more. There are multiple pools of different temperatures, and they are very kid friendly. We went to a pool in the neighborhood and had a great time. Levi J was so proud of himself for braving the huge curly slide, and ended up going down it almost a dozen times. No pictures were allowed at the pool, which I thought was strange, so you'll have to take my word for it. ;)

We have less than a week left here, and I feel so sad to say goodbye! I have fallen in love with this place, and although I know I could not live here long-term, I wish we had a little more time.

Lots of Water and Tomatoes

Amazing day today! Today was *my* Iceland bucket list day, so we hit the two spots here that I have most wanted to see. They did not disappoint!

Our first stop was Geysir, which is, as you can guess, a geyser. The English word "geyser" actually comes from the name of this place! The ancient Icelandic word "geysa" means to gush.

The whole area is full of geothermal action, and as you drive up you can see hot steam rising from the earth.

(Umm, this post is going to have about 8 bazillion pictures, sorry/not sorry!)

They actually have to warn you over and over again not to touch the water to feel its temperature, because it will burn you! It sounds silly to say that, but when you're there (and it's freezing cold outside) it's really tempting to touch it to feel how hot it really it. We restrained ourselves, though!

We saw three different geysers. The first was a little bubbler. The last was the original Geysir, which doesn't erupt regularly anymore.

The original Geysir...it used to erupt but doesn't very often anymore.

This little guy was kind of a grouch in the morning. This face sure makes me laugh, though.

The middle geyser was the main attraction. It's called Strokkur and it erupts about every 5 minutes. It's amaaaaaazing!! I could sit and watch it for hours! Five minutes never felt so long as when you're sitting watching the water for the eruption. Then, when it happens, everyone gasps and cheers!

We watched it a few times, then a few more times trying to get good pictures. Sometimes it would shoot higher than others, and sometimes it would spray everyone downwind with water.

Levi snatched my pink raincoat because he thought he was going to get soaked, haha

I think the pictures where we're waiting for the eruption are really funny too.

Poor little Q! We can't find her coat so she had to wear an ankle-length one all day!

I love the bubble of water before the eruption...I wish I could have captured it in a decent picture!

After Geysir we went to the amazing waterfall Gullfoss. We bundled up in rain gear, because not only was the spray coming off the falls intense, it was also pretty rainy!

Real men wear pink

Sharing gear, haha

Yup, we got up close and personal!

Levi was on stroller duty thankfully!

Levi J tried to take a picture of us, haha

So very cool!

So after my bucket-list sites, Levi  found us this incredible place to eat. It was called Friðmeir Farm, and it was a greenhouse where they grow Icelandic tomatoes! Of course, everything to eat there was tomato based; tomato soup, flatbread with tomato and mozzarella, Bloody Marys, you get the picture. They even had tomato ice cream and tomato cheesecake!

These three! Sometimes I swear I could take a decent picture of the three of them if my life depended on it.

They have to import bees to pollinate the plants

Cute little Icelandic bumblebee

Our waiter was actually the owner and farmer of the greenhouses, and he told us all about the place. He was such a nice man! 

All the heat and electricity used there is created using the geothermal energy of the area, so it's very eco-friendly. Due to Iceland's climate, they don't need pesticide since almost all produce is grown in greenhouses, and most pests don't survive the weather anyway. The water they use on the plants is the same water they serve us to drink: totally pure, right from the ground, barely treated. The tomatoes they serve us to eat come right from the greenhouse, and are harvested very soon before they're used, so they're totally fresh with all their nutrients.

I probably don't even need to mention that the food was totally delicious. I'm not a big tomato fan (understatement!!), but I do love tomato soup. Pair it with fresh-baked bread?? Heavenly! We did not try the tomato desserts, haha, but we left with full bellies. Gosh, I was so happy to find such a special place!

My favorite day so far!! We went so many once-in-a-lifetime places today.