Yesterday was chockfull! We woke to a gorgeous day: sunny and the temps just kept rising. :) I had to open all the windows and doors to cool the interior! Einar put in a lot of time and effort on the yard: mowing and scraping up and sweeping away grunge on the patio, plus he fixed the run-off pipe that had become loose during the last deluge. He also worked on the Toyota: rotated the tires and fixed the rim on the tire that continuously leaked - we have yet to see if that was 100% effective.

Meanwhile, I was inside, preparing for our dinner party. Every once in a while, we two would take simultaneous breaks and sit on the bench and soak in the sun and chat for a few minutes.

Things came together and guests started arriving around 6: Andri arrived first. Ingimundur, Lora, and Bjarni arrived as a group. Brynja, Hinrik and Bjartur followed quickly. Then cousin Hlif, and finally cousin Thorbjorg, her husband Thordur, and their two little girls: Soley and Sesselja. Soley turns 6 on the 24th. Sesselja is just over 3. They also brought their clipped-wing green parrot - an instant hit with Bjartur! And a bit later, Hlif fetched her boyfriend, Einar. So we were a lively bunch. Bjartur was shy only briefly; then he was so caught up in the girls and the parrot that he forgot to be shy and just had a wonderful time. He was over-excited when they left so his parents may have had difficulty getting him calm enough to go to sleep. (At any rate, this morning's babysitting session was cancelled.)

From the crowd's noise, you'd think that there were about twice that number present! lol The 3 kids had a blast! Bjartur took an instant like to the girls and kept wanting to be in their vicinity and play and follow them. They were gentle with him, in return, but it didn't stop them from having a very lively play session with all the adults in the house, plus playing tag and sharing all the toys. Sometimes the noise was so loud and shrill that I'd bet the neighbors would have complained had it been any later. And I kept imagining how much louder it could get had there been even one or two more kids! The mind boggles! hehe

The dinner was casual - I made burritos and people sat wherever they could find a chair. Conversation was lively and interspersed with a lot of laughter. There was also a lot of picture taking going on from at least 3 different cameras. :) I'm gonna raid our camera in a little while to see how ours turned out.

I made sloppy strawberry shortcake for dessert (there was also a chocolate cake) and Bjarni contributed 'After Eight' chocolates. It was so warm in the house that the whipped cream started melting immediately. I had to urge people to start scarfing asap, but they weren't quite quick enough - 1 section of the rim developed a leak and soon there was strawberry cream running down the side of the cake. Man, that cake was sweet! Both cakes got finished along with half the chocolates.

Gifts were also given. Brynja's birthday was the day before and Bjarni had brought gifts for everyone as he had been absent during the actual days. Thorbjorg and family also gave Brynja and me birthday gifts - how sweet! And I gave the little girls some soap bubbles to play with. I always liked them as a kid and thought the girls might like them, too. I don't think they'd tried them before...

That started another round of hugs and kisses. :)

It was around 11 when only Bjarni, Einar and I were left. We were all beat. In fact, Einar drowsed on the couch while Bjarni and I talked a little bit more. We were just as tired, but this was our last chance for a chat for Bjarni had to fly home to Dublin early this morning. Einar drove him to the airport and then crashed for another couple hours' sleep when he got back. I got up long enough to put the second load of dishes in the machine and say my last goodbyes. I tried to go back to sleep but was not successful until Einar had returned.

11:38 a.m.: I just got an sms saying Bjarni had landed in London. I have no idea how long he will have to cool his heels there before going on; hopefully, not too long.

Bjarni visited his grandfather on both Saturday and Sunday. And he told me he had managed to connect with lots of his friends on this visit. His only regret was that Ewelina wasn't here to share the super weather and times with him.

It will likely be several months and maybe a lot more before we see our son again. I refrained from crying, but did hug the living daylights out of him. He will keep in touch. :) Meanwhile, he left us with some very happy memories!

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