Iceland with Kids. Part II.

Ok, Iceland Part Dos. Here we go. (Here is Part I).

Ben was obsessed with the sheep. Perhaps because we saw them everywhere.

The rams he promptly dubbed ‘butters’ because ‘they will butt me so I need to run away really fast’. Fair enough.

Frankly, neither the rams nor the ewes wanted to have anything to do with us. We had a little sheepherding adventure in Norway that I’ll talk about at a later date but for now just know that we saw a lot of sheep. And didn’t once eat lamb during our trip, weirdly enough.

For the past year Chris and I have adopted a non-mammal eating plan, which we’ve dubbed the “fish and fowl” diet. We’ll occasionally indulge in red meat when out in restaurants (I love a good leg o’ lamb) but at home we’re strictly consuming avian and pisces individuals.

I was not terribly impressed with sheep, as a whole, however. They didn’t strike me as being the most intelligent of animals, although this one gets major points for craftiness.

Enough about sheep.

Let’s talk waterfalls. You can’t throw a stone in Iceland without hitting a waterfall. This is Skogafoss.

Legend has it that there is buried treasure behind the falls. A little somebody named Benjamin was all set to start moving rocks in an attempt to secure some treasure for himself.

Or throwing rocks in the river is nice too.

Look at the pretty waterfall? Eh, it’s alright. I’d rather throw rocks, however.

And Chris was busy ogling this fine overland vehicle, garish paint job and all.

My all-time favorite Iceland activity was our hike back to Seljavallalaug, one of Iceland’s oldest outdoor pools. It’s a 20 minute walk into a deserted valley, filled with a rushing river and an ancient pool, filled by nearby hot springs. It’s not longer a fantastic secret but the experience of walking up a green valley to find a pool nestled in the hills was magnificent.

The changing rooms are nothing special and don’t for a minute expect clear (or clean) water:

But it was so worth it!!

Our little water babies.

The secret is definitely out. Yesterday Ben and I were sitting in the barber shop, waiting for him to get his hair cut when an American Express commercial came on. "MOM, THAT’S OUR SECRET SPOT IN ICELAND!!!”

Dang it, the kid was right.