Iceland Transatlantic Flight!
He knows the way to the planes by heart! We’re riding the train to the planes!
The trip started off adventurous - we had three separate flight itineraries. The plan was to all meet in NYC and board the plane to Iceland! Sophia went to NYC earlier to see her friend and had a 7-hour layover. My parents went from Green Bay to Detroit for a long layover, then Detroit to NYC! The boys and I met up with them in the Delta club for some snacks and drinks before our transatlantic flight!
I'm not sure what I was expecting. When Drew was 18 months we flew to Hawaii, and that flight was tiring, but ultimately perfect! This time I had two kids, unclear seating arrangements (because we did the cheap tickets on Delta!), and we had a larger crew of people to coordinate. I was totally prepared for the flight with food, drinks, toys, snacks, headphones, iPads, back up toys, phone charges, blankets, PJs, diapers, wipes... so, MUCH STUFF!!
Sophia and Dad settling into the transatlantic flight!
Eye mask + headphones – silly on our international flight!
Well, I didn't need much. The kids kept themselves entertained with two $1 foam puzzles from Dollar Tree and our oldest went hog wild on the airplane TV. We don't do TV in our house really, so he dove in with two feet, ahah!
I was trying to sleep while holding my baby, and my mom was trying to sleep while being concerned about me holding my baby - hah! Can you tell we're moms!? So neither one of us slept. But the boys did a great job on the flight and we were in Iceland in no time.
Mom covered in kids, loving this traveling life!
Arriving to the beautiful countryside of Iceland!
My favorite moments on the flights had to be when:
(1) I was told I wasn't allowed to bring more than one kid into the bathroom at a time on an airplane. Our baby had a full diaper, so we had to change it! I was flying alone with both boys so they came with me. All three of us took turns going to the bathroom in that tiny, tiny space. Apparently, as this was going on my kids hit the call button - haha! So she was knocking on the door and told me the rules - ONLY one kid! Where are you suppose to leave your other children? With strangers, afraid? It's an oxygen mask thing. I guess not as many people travel alone with their children like I do!!?!
(2) When my mom took Drew to the bathroom and they announced on the overhead speaker "IF you are responsible for a small child and are using the bathroom, you need to return to your seats, the seatbelt sign is ON!" haha!?! Okay, it's pretty easy to figure out who they were talking about. Also, 4 year olds cannot hold urine, what are our options?!? You can come and show my kid how to pee his pants in his seat. So wild!
Moral of the story: we were breaking all kinds of rules regarding the airplane bathrooms. But, we laughed off the scolding and enjoyed the flight.
Such a gorgeous bakery in Reykjanesbær Iceland! Energized by caffeine + confectionary.
Once we got to Iceland, the countryside starting coming into view. I was so excited because I saw nothing. No big city lights, just beauty and openness. I couldn't wait to start exploring. We woke the tired crew, walked through the nice new airport, got our luggage and by some miracle found our rental car company. Our rental car was a budget operation, but we got an automatic car that could fit 6 people + luggage on a dime! A driver picked us up and drove us to a garage 5 minutes away and gave us a beat up old french van/car combination. Haha, it was a treat and had close to 180,000 miles on it - rental car miles that is!! Overall the car was great (except when the trunk hatch stopped working and we had to drive back to the dealer with the trunk open - hah!).
The views driving around Grindavik near the Blue Lagoon. The water is insanely blue…
We loaded up our things very strategically since we had so much luggage, and started off to our first destination - the grocery store. We arrived early in the morning, so most things were closed and we decided to spend some time refreshing at the sweetest coffee shop and bakery. The pastries looked spectacular and the smells went on for days.
Grindavik views! So happy to be in Iceland!
Grindavík, Iceland
This destination is near the KEF airport, making it a nice first stop on your trip to the Southern Iceland. You drive right past the famous Blue Lagoon spa on your way to Grindavik. It's a good spot to avoid the touristy Blue Lagoon and get settled and get into the countryside. We stayed at a cabin on the Harbor (Harbour View) which was the perfect spot for the nice. It had a warm shower, bedroom, pull out couch, kitchenette, and best of all - the most amazing window views into the harbor of Gindavík. It was perfect to sleep off out jet lag. We slept so hard that we almost were late for check out, eek.
A beautiful, compact home – perfect for your first night in Iceland or a cabin outside of the Blue Lagoon madness!
That first night we went out to a restaurant. The food was fine, but the currency was confusing. We knew tipping was different in Iceland and Europe, so we were doing all the calculation in our head. However, when we converted it to the new currency we all missed the fact that we missed a zero. Instead of a $8.00 tip, no one picked up not he fact that my dad left an $80 tip!! He figured it out the next day while digging through his wallet and wondering where all his big bills when, hah! We were banking that Karma would come through, and it did. It was the perfect start to an awesome trip full of more views and adventures!
Fish House, Grindavik. Mom & Dad as my fearless travel companions!