Winter-peg, Man-its-cold-here

So, upon arriving back in Winnipeg we were greeted with snow and much colder temperatures than our visit to Southern Ontario over Christmas.

 It's basically been -20 to -30 for the past three weeks, give or take a few degrees!  At that temperature, the inside of your nose freezes almost immediately.  Getting enough exercise can be difficult, especially when it's -27 and they kids have indoor recesses all day!  We tried cosmic kids yoga videos for the boys. 

We managed to check out the Festival of Lights in Winnipeg.  Next year, we'll bundle up and try skating on the pond there. 

 We did manage to get out skating at a local rink at Lindenwoods Community Centre.  It's a double rink, one for public skating and the other for stick and puck.  The boys are way back in the left corner of the photo with others taking turn shooting on the net. 

 Jackson and Mommy headed out on an adventure at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) to check out the Olympus exhibition.  There were a great many statues, vases and artifacts on display and Jackson was excited to be the "teacher" and have me for his "student" as he explained all that he's been learning about Greek Mythology through the Percy Jackson series of books by Rick Riordan.  

 Then it was off to Stella's Cafe (near the training college)  for a fancy dessert and hot drinks!

Last Sunday afternoon found us bundling up for an adventure at Fort Whyte Alive called "Snow Trek" with free family fun!  We didn't make it there early enough for cross-country ski lessons, but we got to enjoy the big toboggan slide ....

 that takes you right out onto the lake where we had watched all of the geese gather in the fall! 

 When Mom insisted on going for a little hike, we made our way around near the bonfire pit and found the snowshoe rentals (also FREE for the day, but usually only $3 to rent). 

 

This ended up being a great adventure, as the boys who were not at all happy about going for a "hike" were ecstatic about waltzing off the beaten path right and blazing their own trail right through the trees and across the pond.  

 

 A quick stop at the teepee ...

 And we managed to see a couple of deer along the way.  I was quick enough to catch this one on camera before my battery died. 

Back on the home front, Dave made a point of BBQ'ing some burgers last week when it was about -40 degree Celcius, just to prove that he could.  

 

 Lastly, this was happening in our apartment as I was beginning this blog.  Ninjas, Jedi's and magicians?   Not much chance for serious homework  and study today, but a blog update in the middle of chaos is always possible!  Happy Saturday!