1st Day in Iceland

We arrived in Iceland at 6 am. After fun trying to find the gate-checked boosters, then the car rental place, and then trying to fit our luggage in the car (with a frozen door)...we found our way to our Airbnb (after getting help figuring out the outside door lock) and took a nap while Peter ran to the grocery store! When we woke, we got in the car and visited Hallgrimskirkja (largest church in Iceland) and went up the tower to see the city and hear the bells! The bells were so loud that they scared Emma and she immediately wanted to leave. Poor thing. Then we went to the Whale Museum and Emma & Dad found the red "Congratulations" treasure hunt sheet, so Emma got the

prize: a Whale book and some mints in a cute whale tin. The other girls got a little prize too. Leesie and I really wanted a sweater made from Icelandic wool, so we found a thrift store and both found sweaters! Yay! We came back home, had dinner and a little rest, and then went on the Northern Lights tour! We were able to see SO many shooting stars and even some Northern Lights! The lights showed up better on the camera than to our natural eyes, but it was fun to learn how they are made. Our guide told us they are made from explosions of the sun - and the green color is from electricity and oxygen mixing. Other elements make different colors. Pretty cool! Our guide had homemade hot chocolate, which was rich and delicious! We got home at 1:30 am. What a wonderful and huge day!

Things we each learned today:
Emma- I learned to hold Mom and Dad's hand across the street.
Clara- Sometimes it's ok not to buy things.

Leesie- I learned that the car door freezing is common here and I don't need to get mad.
Addy- I learned that one Taco Bell burrito is $30! And there are some crazy drivers!
Kathy- I learned that it's really good Peter suggests I re-check all the food labels! Saved myself several times today! And even when you're the navigator, you don't get listened to all the time.
Peter- I learned that I need to make Kathy get her International Driver's Permit. I also learned I still lose things - I lost my Costco card today, but was able to retrieve it. I learned that after 10 years of not having the hiccups, I can get them 10 times in one day!

Miracles:
-Even though our SLC flight was delayed to Denver, we made our connecting flight to Reykjavik with 15 minutes to spare! Phew!
-The plane wasn't full, so we spread out and all the kids had their own

row of seats to lay down and sleep as long as they could! They all got at least a couple hours of sleep! I also got to lay down and be off my tailbone area. HUGE blessing!!
-If we hadn't have taken so many wrong turns driving today, we wouldn't have seen the cutest little street with lit-up wreaths and decorations!
-We didn't know if we'd be able to see the Northern Lights at all because a big snow storm is coming in tomorrow, but we were able to see some tonight! Hooray! AND the girls were all champs going for such a long time on such little sleep! So grateful we worked back our clocks before the trip!!!!