Day 115-April showers.....

   April 28-We will see if the rest of the saying holds true here, because the rain finally returned today after a lengthy absence.  One thing that the April shower did bring back rather dramatically was greenery.  As is obvious in the left-hand picture below, the moss on the lava rocks outside our back door had looked rather grey for these past few weeks, but all it took was one day of rain and they greened right up.  It was a great opportunity for the kids to learn about the importance of water for photosynthesis.  It was also an opening to talk about light-harvesting complexes and the disassembly of water into electrons, protons, and oxygen in the oxygen-evolving center.  Alas, that was a step too far, but hopefully the kids started to gain an appreciation of the importance of photosynthesis, not only for the beauty it imparts to our surroundings, but also for the interesting chemistry that underlies it.

   One side advantage of the rain was the accompanying clouds, since they block the sunlight in the early morning.  We all took advantage of the darker morning and slept in today.  Spencer was still up earlier than the rest of us and was kind enough to make breakfast "in bed" for his parents.  Since he has finally learned that we do not want him waking us up in the morning, though, he left the breakfast on the table for us to eat when we got up.  His selection of skyr, juice, and candy provides a telling insight into the six-year old mind.


Sally finished knitting this wool cap
today. It is the first one that she
has made for herself.



           The rain confined us to our quarters today, so we hung out in the apartment getting work done and playing games. After a month of being behind, Shan finally got caught up with the blog!  He was very excited. 

Alex, Imba, Kristín, Þorgerður, and Brynja
out to eat before going to the see "The Avengers." 

   Alex called around 11 pm to let us know that she was having a great time.  As we suspected, they have mostly been watching TV and movies.  One of the main advantages of having the birthday party in Keflavík was its close proximity to Reykjavík, where most of the Icelandic cinemas are located.  They went there in the afternoon to watch "The Avengers."  It was her first trip to a theater in Iceland, so the short intermission halfway through the movie, which is still standard practice in Iceland, was new to her.  We don't understand why Disney released this movie a week early outside the U.S., but it may be the only time in her childhood that Alex gets to see a movie before most of our big-city friends.  In any event, Sally and Shan are jealous of her, because we are very interested in seeing that movie.