Whale of a Time

We went whale watching this morning!

We saw a humpback whale! We saw it spout, and saw it dive down under the water, showing off it's "hump." Amazing!

We also saw two pods of dolphins, and lots of puffins, and I swear I saw a minke whale when no one was looking. I didn't get pictures of the whales, but I got some good dolphin pictures and a few puffin shots.

They told us that humpback whales spend all summer eating in the polar waters, then migrate to warm temperatures for the winter but don't eat at all there. The dolphins we saw are not typical bottle-nose Flipper dolphins, and you can see some white marking on them in my pictures.

The puffins are such funny birds! They're fat and have small wings, so they don't fly well. It's really funny to see them flying practically in the water because they don't get much liftoff.

There are three different whale watching outfitters here in Reykjavik, and I'm so glad we were on the one we were. There were only three families on our boat; on one of the others, I saw an entire busload of Japanese tourists get on.

Levi J and I got outfitted in some awesomely warm "overalls." There weren't any small enough for Quintana, and big Levi was too cool for them (actually, I think he likes being cold). Levi J was swimming in his, haha, but they sure kept him warm. 

There was an indoor area, too, thankfully, because Quintana cried for about the first hour. Then she was pretty calm the second hour but wanted to sit inside, then happy by the last hour and a half. I think what really set her off was the life jacket! Once we ignored safety (and the captain's instructions) and stopped trying to make her wear it, she was okay. She even got to steer the boat!

It's very sad, but they actually do kill and eat whales here in Iceland. 

It's so crazy to think that Levi saw a humpback whale this morning, then came home and went to work! Such an awesome way to spend a morning.

Voyaging to the Harpa

This morning we strolled along the Reykjavik waterfront and had a food-truck lunch downtown (lamb sandwich and hotdogs for the kids...the "famous" hot dogs are growing on me!). We saw the famous Sun Voyager sculpture (representing a Viking ship) and went inside the Harpa concert hall.

The Sun Voyager sculpture

It was really cold down on the water!

The Harpa

The only picture so far of the four of us together, ha

Inside the Harpa

Iceland is very proud that their soccer team is in the Euro Cup this year. Apparently they never make it! There is a big viewing area set up downtown on a fake soccer field. And guess what?? Levi J made the team!

Viking Turf

Today we went to the Viking Settlement Exhibition. It is one of only a few original Viking ruins in Iceland. It is a turf house dating about 871 AD. It's interesting that they can estimate the age of the house pretty closely, because a layer of volcanic ash fell in the region in 871 AD, and they can see that this house was already standing at that time.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so all I have are some fuzzy phone pictures, boo.

The museum won over the kids immediately with a kids corner just as we walked in. They could color, dress up, and play in a little make believe Viking camp.

He made so many cute Viking warrior poses that my dang phone didn't capture well! :(

Creepy puffins, or maybe we're auks?

Inside the exhibit was the walls of the Viking house, with a lot of really great interactive exhibits about the house, ancient Iceland, and the Vikings. The kids had a blast; Levi J loved the interactive exhibits (I can't believe what cool technology they used), and Q just liked running up and down the rocky slopes.

I was very impressed with the souvenir Levi J chose; instead of a sword, action figure, or rubber duck, he chose a really neat coloring book about Reykjavik. And as he looked through it, he was so excited to see so many familiar sites.

I'm going to add this cute picture of Q eating her peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, just because she's so stinking cute (and with all the fussing she's been doing so far, we are lacking in cute Q pictures!) 

Church Mice

Before church today we stopped by a different church, a very cool-looking cathedral here in Reykjavik. It was built recently, in the '70s I think, but was designed to resemble a volcano. It is also the second-tallest building in Iceland, so it has some great views.

In front is a statute of Leif Erikson given to Iceland by the United States.

Also, don't ask me the name of this cathedral because it's like 20 letters long and I cannot for the life of me remember it or pronounce it.

The sun was just coming over the cross on top; a cool sight

Levi brought a full suit for church meetings and forgot a tie

The organ pipes

From the car window