SO MUCH ICE

Back in December Christy and I were thinking of something fun we could do together for New Year's Eve. I thought about visiting the Ice Castles, something I've been meaning to do for a while now. You have to buy tickets in advance so I went ahead and bought them. Christy's grandpa got ill unexpectedly and they decided to go to California to see him on New Year's. Our tickets were non-refundable but you could change the date. I messed up and changed our tickets to the wrong date, so by the time I figured that out most of the time slots for the day we wanted--Saturday, January 28th--were sold out. We decided that since we couldn't go at dusk when we would be able to see the castles all lit up from inside, the second best option was to go first thing when it opened so there would be less people around.

The whole thing is pretty amazing. They build this whole world of icicles and it is crazy cool. The day we went was absolutely freezing, but the sun was shining bright, and it was interesting that the longer I was there the less cold I felt. I guess just moving around and exploring kept us warm.

I got so many adorable pictures of happy Stella with cold, rosy cheeks. She LOVED it there, and I know if it had been up to her we would have stayed another hour. As for pictures, this was the hardest lighting I have ever dealt with ever. The bright snow backdrop and bright sun were really hard to balance. The blue in the shady spots kind of washed everything out and in the sun it was all just way too bright. It was very hard to take pictures, and I am afraid it very much distracted me from just enjoying how cool it all was. I honestly didn't know how long we would be there so I wanted to get pictures, pictures, pictures before everyone called it a day and said they were too cold. In the end, I got more than enough.

They have these really fun slides where you are sliding down a tube of ice. It is pretty crazy, and I only went down one of them. Stella absolutely loved them. She was giggling and laughing at every turn. I love this first picture of her face as she first walked in...

We had so much fun with the Douglas crew. Having them with us made for a memorable day. They had so many cool little spots to explore and enjoy. Anyway, I found it all very fascinating and slippery.

Pretty soon Em and Aedan were too cold to continue, so they took off to wait in the car while we hanged out a little bit longer. Stella loved hanging out with her girl Cali. And they were able to go on more ice slides while the lines were short as a last hurrah before we left.

Overall, it was a super fun and memorable day for us. I'd totally go again.