Winnipeg, Canada

Just after Christmas, we found a unique situation, where some visitors that had planned to come to Austin, just couldn't make it.  My wife and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to travel to the Great White North, to visit my folks in Winnipeg, Canada.

My wife and I haven't visited Winnipeg since before we were married.  Each Christmas, we usually have to coordinate visits with my older kids, which means that our Christmas holidays are spent traveling to different places.  This year, as you may have seen in a previous post, all of my kids were with me for Christmas.  This opened up the days between Christmas and New Years.  We really, really wanted the two younger kids to spend some time with their grandparents.  As a bonus, I would have a chance to see two of my brothers there:

My youngest brother, K, was a saint while the kids were there.  G-Man just wanted to play, and my brother obliged him.

The kids just loved playing and having fun with everyone in the house. For me, hearing kids' laughter is just the best:

Mom pulled out some awesome toys for the kids.  Some of them belonged to my younger siblings.  There was never a shortage of things to play with ; )

Apparently, L wants to build really tall skyscraper

One thing that you should know about Winnipeg....it's cold.  I'm not talking about "hey, put on a jacket cold"...I'm talking about "this weather could kill you, if you don't prepare" kind of environment ; )

The other days actually reached -20 ; )

There are lots of fun things to do around Winnipeg, especially outdoors.  You just have to take steps to prepare.  We decided to go and see the Assiniboine Valley Railway, a miniature train that runs through an entire property of Christmas lights - over 100,000 in all. But first, we needed to bundle up the kids:

The train was really fun...an amazing display of lights from volunteers that truly love what they do.  We each sat on tiny rail cars, and were treated to a ride around this large property:

Back home, I was treated to my father cooking his famous fried chicken.  In fact, the men in my father's family have a tradition of cooking.  This started out on raches and campouts, and includes everything from cast-iron Dutch ovens to propane camp stoves.

I decided to record the whole thing, so I could try and extend the tradition ; )  Here's a short clip from the beginning of the process:

Needless to say, the meal was awesome.  There was even a little friendly competition between my brother, father and I - who could eat the most ; )

L discovered the piano in the house...after hearing my little brother play.  He's a talented piano player, and it was so cool to just listen to someone playing at random, in the house.

Mom had her own Elf-on-a-Shelf, and took some really creative pictures with her elf, over the holidays.

We were treated to another great meal - this time at my dads favorite restaurant, the legendary Swiss Chalet. They specialize in rotisserie chicken.  It was quite good...

We decided to head outdoors again, to a really fun place.  Called Fort Whyte, it's a combination of a park and nature center.  They had an awesome toboggan slide that wasn't overly complicated...but a ton of fun.  You slide down a ramp, but it ends right on top of a frozen pond, so you slide for quite a distance.  Awesome!  But first, we had to get L ready for the cold adventure:

G-Man quickly asked if he could slide on his own ; )

After some hearty sledding, we went into the nature center, where we saw a variety of local animals.  One of the most unique were these owls that burrowed underground.  They were cute, and fund to watch.  L absolutely LOVES animals...

G-Man was able to learn about native woodpeckers

I forget that the G-Man doesn't remember playing in the snow, back in Massachusetts.  In addition, L hasn't had a chance to really play in the snow.  Despite the temperatures, these two just wanted to play in the snow.  It was hilarious to watch:

Back at the house, the kids had more fun.  Bless Grandma's heart, she continued to pull out awesome things for the kids to play with.  This included maracas and bongos - which L proceeded to play ; )

We also celebrated L's 2nd birthday, while in Winnipeg.  She had a great time demolishing a cupcake, and opening gifts from her grandparents.

We really enjoyed our time in Winnipeg - it's so important for the kids to spend time with family.   On the way back, we flew through Chicago O'Hare Airport.  They have a chain of stores there that sell delicious popcorn.  The name of the store just happens to be my youngest son's name.  He thought it was pretty cool to see his name all over the place: