Winter Weekend at Home

We often wander great distances to find adventure, but sometimes it can be found right in our own backyard...literally.

Last week we had the first snow that we'd had in a while. Friday night we received about 7 cm of snow. I didn't think much about it given that the high for Saturday was forecast to be 5°C. We took care of our Saturday morning errands and came home and our son was so keen to build a quinzee that we could sleep in. Fortunately, the forecast had changed and the high was now only supposed to be 1°C. So we decided to go for it.

We scraped the ground clean of snow and piled it into a large pile then let it settle for a few hours.

Giant Pile of Snow

Then came the hard part of digging out the quinzee. I worked on the inside while our son worked at moving all of the snow out of the doorway. It was tough at first since there was so little room for the shovel, but it seemed to get easier as we went. Before long the quinzee was dug out and we were soaked, both from the inside and the outside. I'm not sure how we'd manage all our wet gear if we were out in the woods.

All Dug Out

We headed inside for a warm meal and some dry clothes. We dug out our warmest pyjamas, a pair of sleeping bags each and a bottle of hot water to throw in our sleeping bags. Before heading out our son said to me "If we survive, we'll be able to go winter camping". I hope he realizes that I had no intention of not surviving. Once setup we were both too warm. We peeled back a layer or two and turned in. The temperature outside dropped to -10°C but we were quite comfortable in the quinzee. We woke up around 6:30 and headed in for a pancake breakfast. Our outing was a successful one and we are ready to give it a try in the wild.

It snowed all day on Sunday and the puddles had been around as a result of the rain, freezing rain and thawing from before were now buried and frozen solid. The kids decided to shovel them off and slide around them on their boots. They were having a great time so I suggested they get their skates out. So they did.

Just the Right Size

Rink-side Seating

Having a Blast

It's All About Balance

So much fun right in our own backyard! We were so grateful that winter decided to make an appearance. We all seem to enjoy winter so much more where there's snow.