My boys (December 19, 2017)

The Viking heritage is showing for Ryder, Amon, and Micah

On safari at Jungle Island (Tuesday, December 19, 2017)

Explorers Fox and Mya

Otis and River, with Otis behind the wheel, of course

Driver Piper has a third hand and an invisible sidekick!

Short stop at the House of Light and Joy (December 19, 2017)

Piper on the ivories

River and Ryder.  River was fascinated with the talking Halloween Claus: "Hey, I see you!"

Hanging out (Tuesday, December 19, 2017)

Playing Asphalt 8 Airborne on Mia's ever-popular KindleFire

Fox, Mya, and Piper in the dark closet with Piper's night light, until Mia opened the door.  Surprise!

Taggers (Monday, December 18, 2017)

Guess who? (after the guys loaned us a can of paint)

River, forever memorialized

Mya reminded us that "Rats rule," complete with a drawing of her favorite pet

Hope Outdoor Gallery, before guys loaned us a paint can (Monday, December 18, 2017)

River and Ryder

Papa Tom

LaWanda

Hula Hut (Monday, December 18, 2017)

Lunch at the Hula Hut on a cold and misty afternoon

Ryder, Piper, and me.  How can you tell I'm a naturalized Austinite?  I'm wearing flip flops with my jacket!

Papa Tom hoists Mya up to feed a tortilla chip to a grackle.

LaWanda approves of the tubular taco, oh yeah!

Funny faces (Sunday, December 17, 2017)

River, Fox, Dad, Otis, Mya, Emma, and Piper

Us (Sunday, December 17, 2017)

Left to right, front row: Martha, Otis, me, Mya, Piper, Brandy.  Second row: River, Fox, Dad, Emma, LaWanda.  Back row: Martin, Ramzi, Amon, Ryder, Micah, Joyce, Al.

Funny faces.  Note that Fox and Emma are mirror images.

Otis and Mya are in the front.  River, Fox, Dad, Emma, and Piper are in the back.

Hanging out at the House on the Creek (Sunday, December 17, 2017)

Balancing animals in a sort of Jumanji Jenga game started by Micah.

Emma, River, Fox, Mya, and Otis playing the Headbanz guessing game as Brandy watches.

Target practice by Micah, River, Mya, Ramzi, and Otis

Girls night out (December 16, 2017)

Brandy, Brandy's friend Sarah, LaWanda, Sarah, and me for a girls night out on Sixth Street, starting with appetizers at the Iron Cactus followed by the Esther's Follies late show.  Thank gooness for the Uber driver who picked us up at Westlake in the pouring rain and dropped us next to Iron Cactus!  The guys, including Ryder's friends Joseph and Seth, had a guys night in at the House on the Creek with the kids.  Thanks, guys!

Peter Pan Putt-putt golf (December 13, 2017)

After school fun with Fox and the Texas fox with a saddle

Tinkerbell and the teapot

Let it snow! (December 7-8, 2017)

We enjoyed a rare snow event in Austin on December 7-8.  The December 7 average temperatures in Austin range from a low of 44 degrees to a high of 65 degrees.  The record low on this date was 17 degrees in 1950 and the record high was 81 degrees in 1966.

The deck was lightly dusted with snow.

By the time the snow melted, the zenias and rocket plants (I don't know what they're really called) registered their protest by being brown and droopy.  They've been replaced with pansies.

The Zoomer, before the snow melted

Snow day!

Last night in Iceland: December 2, 2017

We met one of Santa's very friendly elves (taking a little time off from working at the nearby North Pole) to celebrate the coming Yule season.  Actually, this guy is a snowmobile tour guide.

Light show at Hallgrimskirkja.  So weird!  Made the church look all wavy.

Before heading back to the airport to spend the night, as there was no way we were going to miss the 6:10 a.m. (!) check in time for our 9:10 a.m. flight, we drove to the end of the peninsula on which the airport is located to see the Reykjavesniti lighthouse (1878), the oldest in Iceland.  It was easy to find.  A modern lighthouse next to it was sweeping the sea with its light.  The wind was so strong I could barely hold my phone still enough to take the photo.

Back to Reykjavik: December 2, 2017

So we missed our Saturday morning flight because we didn't realize Delta stops issuing boarding passes ONE HOUR before take-off.  Non-negotiable.  Luckily, we were able to get seats on the Sunday flight.  In the meantime, we headed back into Reykjavik for lunch.  Could have had sheep-head jelly, fermented shark, and rye bread ice cream.  Kept looking.

Opted for mushroom soup and veggies at Glo, down the street.

View from our table at Glo.

We hung out in a nook at Glo so Papa Tom could nap a bit and I could sip coffee.

The Blue Lagoon: December 1, 2017

In a magnificent black lava field, the milky-teal Blue Lagoon Spa is fed water from from the futuristic Svartsengi geothermal plant.  The super-heated water (70% sea water, 30% fresh water) is a perfect 38 degrees Celcius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and rich in blue-green algae, mineral salts, and fine silica mud.  The spa facilities are around the bend in the trail.

Papa Tom amidst the black lava on the trail around the lagoon.

Oddly, there was ice on the water surface.  I just had to put my hand in the water which was, in fact, as warm as bath water.

Perlan in Reykjavik: December 1, 2017

The mirrored dome of Perlan covers huge geothermal water tanks on a hill about 2 km from city center.  The wraparound viewing deck offers a tremendous 360 degree view of Reykjavik and the mountains.

A restaurant and coffee shop are inside the dome.  Below is a museum.  The featured attraction was the recreation of an ice cave.  We could have visited a real ice cave out at Jokulsarlon (the glacier lagoon).  Too cold and too many other places to see before sunset that day.

Through the mist, you can barely see the Hallgrimskirkja (see my Downtown Reykjavik post).  Note the fire escape is a ladder next to the glass.

Downtown Reykjavik: December 1, 2017

Why does the guy on the right have no head???

Icelanders are very serious about good coffee. Was wonderful to hang out in this warm coffee shop on the drizzly, cold morning.

Statue of Leif Eiricsson (Icelandic spelling), who explored the coastline of northeast America in 1000 A.D., naming the new country Vinland (Wineland).  Permanent settlement was thwarted by the skraelings (Native Americans), who were anything but welcoming.  INTERESTING SIDE NOTE:  Icelandic tradition credits the Norse settlement of Iceland to tyrannical Harold Fairhair, a Norwegian king who won a significant naval victory over other chieftains at Hafrsfjord in Stavanger in 890.  The deposed chieftains fled to Iceland.  My family lived in Stavanger on Hafrsfjord from about 1973-1975 when my Dad worked for ODECO, an offshore oil drilling and exploration company, that was involved in the North Sea oil boom.

Iceland's first parliament, the Alpingi (there's an Icelandic letter that I don't have on my laptop), was created in 930 A.D.  After losing its independence in the 13th century, the country gradually won back its independence and the Alpingi moved to its current building in Reykjavik in 1881.  (See the Law Rock photos from November 29; that's where the Alpingi met before moving to Reykjavik).

Hallgrimskirkja, the white concrete church built between 1945-1986, is visible from up to 20 km away.  You can view the city by taking an elevator up the 74.5 meter high tower. (We didn't because it was so foggy out).  The most eye-catching feature inside is the 5,275-pipe organ.

 I was surprised visitors could walk right up to the boats in the harbor.

Thank goodness for international symbols!