When discussing what vacation we would take around kids birthday/spring break we knew we wanted it to be an adventure...and it sure was! We have traveled a lot with our kids, but usually to relaxing tropical places. They have always done so well so we went for a totally different type of vacation this time...ICELAND! It checked all of our boxes- cold, beautiful, adventurous, renting a car, not too far and just totally different. So once we picked the place we started the research and planning. Our first big uh oh was the only flight left NYC late and landed in Iceland at 6 am (2 am our time), but we got the tickets and crossed our fingers they would sleep and then be so excited we would be ok the first day.
They had no problem sleeping. I didn't sleep...at all, and pretty sure Ryan didn't really either.
When they announced for us to prepare for landing I woke the kids up and started to pack up. Then the pilot came over speaker saying there was a fierce snow storm and they were clearing the runway so we would circle around...and around...and around until they informed us we had to go to nearest airport to gas up and wait it out. Well there are not a lot of airports around Iceland so the closest available was Scotland. Of course the plane was buzzing at this point and non of us went back to sleep.
The entire plane was under the impression we were going to refuel and head back, but they started deplaning us...and put us through customs. We then find out the flight crew couldn't fly anymore hours that day and our flight would head back to Iceland the next morning. I'll be honest Ryan and I were like WTH, but the kids were so happy and excited to be in Scotland. What else can you do, but make the most of it! Ellie even came up to us at one point and said "I just heard they have castles here!!!" I still can't believe how well the twins did through all of this craziness. They truly make life more fun.
After hours of waiting in line and trying to rearrange our plans we checked into our hotel for the night and set out to find a double decker bus to ride. 
This one took several cat naps this first day.
We walked around a ton and found the Edinburgh Castle. It was absolutely stunning. We could not get over how high up it was and built on the side of a mountain.
Another nap....love how she is holding on tight to the receipt from her new dress.
We may have only had a day here, but we had a blast. I love history, cobblestone streets and the fact that there are bagpipes on every corner!
After hours in the cold rain we found a local pub and grabbed some beers and thawed out a bit.
It is funny what we notice in other cultures that gets our attention, for Bobo it was the bathrooms.
We walked around and got some candy before heading back to our hotel.
The following morning we woke up super early and got back on the same plane with the same people and same crew to try to go to our original destination.
The first thing we did when we landed was pick up our rental car. This is definitely one of the things we were most looking forward to. Not only is this our dream car, but it allowed us the freedom and the adventure we wanted.
Poor thing had slept maybe 8 hours over past 48!
We drove straight to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.
After some exploring we were all starving so we went to a local kabob place we read about.
We all warmed up with the lobster soup and then shared a bunch of different fish kabobs.
You can kind of see Ellie's nails in this pic. We get mani/pedis before all of our big vacations. She got "horse sparkle brown" on her nails and you will see later what was on her piggies.
This restaurant was small, but delicious and it had this cute kids play room that of course the kids loved after days of travel and no toys.
One of my favorite things to do in a new country is grocery shop. I know it sounds silly, but I love it.
I can't tell you how many times the twins would ask "whats this mommy" and I would try to pronounce the item and we would just giggle.
After we loaded up on food and fuel we stopped by the church. Hallgrimskirkja is a beautiful church and definitely a must see if you go into the city.
Now for the good stuff! Over the first hour I think we stopped 5 times. We could not get over where we were and how beautiful it was.
In our originally itinerary we were supposed to ride horses and go to the tomato farm on day one. Luckily over the course of the week we saw more horses than people so Ellie didn't care. We would stop and pet them and feed them often. Something I learned was that there is a strict law with Icelandic horses. They are such a rare bread and you can not take horses in or out of the country so they will stay this beautiful way forever. They are so fuzzy, shorter than our horses and the sweetest kindest animals.
We parked and hiked to our first waterfall after lots of driving around the Golden circle. Bruarfoss is so unique. There is a bridge that goes across so you can look straight down on its milky blue waters. There was one other person on our hike that we passed and that was it. It is crazy to be amongst something so magnificent and in the middle of nowhere by yourself!
We also made our way to the Geysir. I'll be honest it was freaking cold here! We waited and waited and finally saw her blow! Not a great picture, but I did get to see it with my own eyes and not through a cameral lens so I'll take it!
Next we went home. Our rental was heaven! The actual house wasn't huge, but three bedrooms so we could all catch up on some much needed sleep and it had heated floors, a hot tub, swing set, sauna and views that were to die for!
We spent a long time in the hot tub dancing and playing.
We made our favorite dinner of salamis and cheeses and ran back and forth to the water.
After showers and bedtime for the kids, Ryan and I stayed up late watching the sunset and crossing our fingers we would catch the Northern Lights.
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