Iceland Summer Travel

Captain and I went to Iceland for New Year’s this year and enjoyed a beautiful wintry landscape. We loved it so much that we decided to visit again this summer!

In January, we rented an SUV and drove counterclockwise from West Iceland to the southern coast, ending around Jökulsárlón.

This July, we set the loftier goal of touring the whole island by car. So we continued our counterclockwise agenda and left Reykjavík the moment we arrived.

Old turf house/storage

We nicknamed these areas “Troll Dunes”

Beautiful Icelandic horses at every turn

One of the many falls we came across

Little hidden waterfall in Skaftafell – Vatnajokull National Park

Svartifoss

Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon

It is possibly the most beautiful sight in all of Iceland 💙

Diamond Beach

East Iceland – random stop along our drive

Hverir – geothermal spot near Lake Mývatn

Fishing for brown trout at River Laxa

Charming guesthouse at Blönduos

Seal watching commonly done from Hvammstangi

Hólmavík

Western fjords

Wildflowers everywhere! Heydalur Country Guesthouse

Soaking in a hot pot is heavenly

Ended our trip in the lovely city of Reykjavík

We had an amazing time and loved every town we visited. Icelandic folks are kind and welcoming… and made of steel. I don’t know if there are tougher people around!

Eight days is ambitious to drive the whole country but since it was our second visit, we avoided some of the spots we’d visited already. If we return one day, I would love to take my time in the western fjords. So much to see and not enough time to do it all!

Many bloggers helped influence the decision to visit this magical country. So thank you for sharing your travel photos and stories! Feel free to share more Iceland recommendations and thoughts…

Bless, bless!

💙 Athena

Too Quiet?

My kids have been on vacation with their father in the northeast for a week and there’s one week left to go. I’ve had a hard time being without them. You’d think I’d be thrilled and make the most of my alone time and appreciate the quiet, right? Ugh. Kinda.

I have enjoyed spending the week in the Keys with Captain. Snorkeling, biking, walking, reading, etc. Alone time with him. We rarely get uninterrupted time so it’s been fantastic. But holy hell is it a quiet life without kids! Too quiet.

I have the summer off and spend loads of time with the kids. So having them gone for so long is rough. And not just because I enjoy them but also because I am neurotic and worry endlessly about their safety while they’re gone. I hate to even put it into words but I have nightmares about kidnappings, trafficking, drownings, car accidents, etc. I try to keep it under control and not be crazy… but man. I’m crazy.

I am not crazy enough to not recognize that I’m lucky they have a father that’s involved. His new girlfriend is with them and she’s been fantastic keeping watch and updating me about them. And at 6 and 9 years old, my kids are very fortunate to visit New England and family all along the northeast US. All good stuff.

So I’m just having a moment. One of those self pitying moments where I hate what comes with divorce with young kids.

On another note, I have realized that I need (A) some other teacher friends that are chilling this summer or (B) unemployed and adventurous wealthy friends, to hang with while Captain is out working. Day drinking is no fun alone. (I kid. Kinda. But, seriously, any volunteers?! 😜)

On a positive note, Captain and I will take a road trip tomorrow! We’re going to drive up to Charleston with several stops along the way. Lots of good eats! I’m currently working on my southern drawl. Saying “reckon” just doesn’t sound right yet with my Miami accent. I’ll get it!

xo

Athena

Splendor in the Beach

Recently got back from vacation with my lovely boyfriend, Captain! We had a wonderful time in the Turks & Caicos. Spent five days there with pretty excellent weather. We swam, snorkeled, fished, and relaxed. 

While I was gone, the kids went with their dad, Grayheart, around New England for some good ole fashioned fun. (Seeing my kids leave for a plane trip without me was pretty tough. It worked out well that I left 3 days later!)

Anyhow, thought I’d share some pictures of our fun. Hope everyone’s having a great summer. Sending you all some sunshine! 
I’m counting down before I get back to work in a week! ☀️🌴💛

Our sunset walks 🌛

Island hopping!

Happiest of hours! 🍹 Salud!

Spot the wild donkeys?!

Daily walk in South Caicos

I “conch” believe how beautiful it is here! 😉

City of Siblings

I was in the City of Angels last week with my sister visiting our brother and his husband. (The kids stayed backed in Miami with Grayheart since it was his weekend.)

It was a fun and relaxing trip. We hadn’t gotten together like this since our Europe trip in Sept/Oct of last year. 

I figured I’d share some of the fun things we did while here. 🙂

How we were greeted! 😍

Palm Springs living!

Being silly on Venice Beach

TMZ tour

90210

Chinese Theater

My fave actor/comedian’s star

Nutella French toast for breakfast

Bachata dancing

In-n-Out Burger! Yum!

My sis at Sweet Candy Store

It was a nice little getaway and
really great bonding time with my siblings.
Makes me proud that even in our thirties we still make time for each other. I hope my kids are just as close to each other as we are. It’s really a special thing to have siblings. 

I can’t wait for the next reunion! ❤️

xo

Disney with the Kids

I took my 6 yr old daughter and 3 yr old son this past weekend to Disney World. By myself! 

  

And I survived! 

  
A little crazier but I came back in one piece!

  
The parks were busy but we maneuvered well. This was my first trip with the kids to Disney without my ex. They missed him but we were plenty busy with everything around us.

  

We kept Grayheart updated with pics throughout the weekend but it did feel a little strange to not have him there to participate in such a big adventure. 

    
One of many firsts I’m knocking out of the way. 🙂  

  
Here’s to many more new adventures with my rugrats as a single mom!

Cheers!

XO

My mantra throughout the weekend:  I got this!

Grayheart went to…

Delaware.

 

Delaware

  
Not sure why but it makes me feel better that it wasn’t some amazing destination. Lol.

Not that Delaware isn’t nice but it’s not Costa Rica or St. Lucia (we always wanted to go) or Hawaii (our honeymoon spot).

Either way, I still can’t stand him. And we got into a texting war this weekend. I decided to throw some cheap shots in after he pissed me off about something. So I reminded him how he abandoned his family and shouldn’t be critical of me.

That went over really well, obviously. So we have basically not spoken since. I’m sure it’ll blow over but it’s annoying.

I’m not quite sure why I’ve been so angry lately but I’m growing tired of hearing myself bitch about it.

By the way, the pics in this post are of Dogfish Head Brewery and the beach that he sent me to show the kids. He also brought them some polished clams, which the kids really enjoyed.

Hope you all have a Happy Wednesday! xo

Grayheart on Vacation

Grayheart is on vacation with Raggedy Ann at some beach place. He’ll be gone over the Labor Day weekend. For some reason, when I thought he was just driving to some beach in Florida, I was pretty okay with the idea. Then I got a text from him that he landed and wanted to say hi to the kids.

What.the.fuck?

All of a sudden it pissed me off. I pictured him off on some Caribbean beach having taken her on an all expense paid vacation. Spending money on her.  Bleh.  Or worse. Going to a place we’d dreamed of going together. 

I know it’s not reasonable. I know I’ve traveled now a good bit with Captain. I just can’t help but hate on him and her. The idea of them having fun on some exotic vacation just irks me. 

And today I’m subbing for a music class.  These lil punks have recorders and are playing music on dem things as well as the piano. Kill me now. 

Happy hour anyone?