Swimming lessons

THe kids started swimming lessons last weekend. This was Anna's second time and Jamie's first. They both loved splashing around with other kids and didn't even mind coming out into the cold after we were done :)
I swam with Anna and since I had the camera we didn't get any pics of her except on the deck.
Our little sea turtle:

Jamie is in the duck class. He loved the water but mostly the toys!

The End Of The King

Anna and I went wandering the other day to check out what was happening with the ice castle. Turns out they do knock it down so that it doesn't hurt anyone.
This is what the entrance to the ice road looks like

And here is the sad looking castle. **NOTE** We didn't walk alllll the way to the castle because Anna was having WAY too much fun splashing in all of the puddles.

A Spring Day at the Park

It has been warming up nicely (-2 or -3) in the afternoons here in YK so we have ventured out a few times to locals parks. The kids have a blast because they zip super fast down the slides when they have their snowpants on and it's still fairly snowy at the bottom so it doesn't hurt!
Here are the munchkins at Forrest Drive Park (aka "Bumblebee Park")

Kids update

I have had some complaints that my posts only show pictures of the kids when they are dressed in their outdoor gear so these pics are just some recent ones inside!
Anna dressed in princess attire:

Jamie doing what he does best...hanging out with no pants on!

Making breakfast on Saturday morning:

Diavik Dogsled Race

This weekend is the Diavik 150 Dogsled race which races over some of the nearby lakes. There were about 10 teams in it. We wandered over on Saturday for the big start, which was impressive but only lasted about 30 seconds. The kids were in awe of all the dogs and wonder why Sydney doesn't race. :)



P.S. Notice the lack of winter attire on the spectators...it's above freezing here!!!!

Ice Castle

The castle is officially open and ready for business. We happened to go over one day when they were still working on it and walked around for free...we have since learned however that it costs $5 everytime you go sooooooooooo we may not frequent the inside quite as often. Anna discovered the COOLEST snow slide though.

She flew down it at an alarming speed but LOVED it and went again and again. Hopefully it remains free! :)
Here are my Snowking and Snowqueen outside the finished castle!

It had to happen eventually...

We have been telling Anna since October (when everything officially froze!) that she can't put her tongue and lips on anything metal. Well guess what????

Hopefully she has learned not to do it again! :)

A Winter Walk!

We have done two big "treks" across the frozen lake so far. The first we just did for something to tire out the kids...the second we did while Bob and Elaine were visiting so that we could find the Back Bay Cemetary and frozen waterfall. We discovered the cemetary but gave up before we hiked in too far to see the waterfall. It was -28 after all! BRRRRR! Here are some photos of our expeditions.

For Grandma

My mother refuses to join Facebook so this post is for her :) She has wanted to see pictures of the snow castle.
Here you go Grandma!
The other day it was a balmy -5 so we were out and about. We happened to go over to check out the castle while the "Snowking" was working on it. He showed the kids a mini castle that they could go in...it was great!
Here is Anna playing Peek.

Jamie, Anna, and their friend Torrah checking out the kids castle.

The castle is really coming along.

Punta Cana

Tim and I ventured to the Dominican Republic to celebrate our anniversary and New Year's. We had a great time enjoying peace and quiet and lots of fun. Thank you once again Grandpa for babysitting!!
Here is the lobby of our resort.

The weather was warm but windy. We weren't complaining as the temperature difference from Yellowknife was about 50 degrees! :) The beaches were beautiful with lots of white sand.

We ate and drank lots and celebrated in style!

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas at Mom's house. Anna was really into it this year but did manage to sleep...thank goodness! :) We opened presents and had breakfast then headed to Chris and Kerri's house where the fun began. Four children....lots of presents...a little bit of sugar...you do the math!
Here we are Christmas Eve.

Jamie had a blast ripping open gifts.

Grandma bought the big kids Zhu Zhu pets which were a REAL hit....although the adults are certainly tired of them by now :)