ice castles

 You've got to get up to the ice castles in Midway- they are super cool, unlike anything else!

 Last year we saw them at Zermatt, but this year they've been moved to a bigger park- the same one used for Swiss Days.

You can walk underneath and through them too...

A guy named Brent babies these things night and day to get them to grow. You can usually see him working (he's usually up on top) and he likes to chat. He told us that next week they'll be even bigger and better- sad for us- good for you. 

 wedding cake?

 Just be sure NOT to break ANY icicles off... ahem...(they said they found these on the ground...)

 We went on a FREEZING cold, snowy night. Just remember it's in Midway where the temps are a little lower than the valley.  We were glad the boys had all their snow gear, although people were walking around on dates in their ballet flats.

It only takes 10-20 minutes to walk through- just fyi.

 Your family would love it- mine did. The boys haven't stopped talking about what it would be like to live in an ice house and have ice furniture and have ice... everything. :) I want to go every year!

Important info:

To make it a really cool experience, I suggest heading up the beautiful canyons while it's still light, so you can take in their beauty, and then stop in Midway for something to eat. My favorite Mexican restaurant is Tarahumara- located just east of the park at 380 East, Main Street. You'll see it on your right. (You've got to try their carne asada tacos and their fresh salsa bar- yum!) There's also a delicious pizza place across the street from the park. And of course you can head into Heber for the Dairy Keen- but I say it's overpriced and not that great- although my kids go crazy over the trains zooming around on the ceiling. Then you can hit the ice castles when it's dark and they're all lit up.

Delicious Carne Asada Tacos- Tarahumara

(The boys love the rice and quesadillas and having their own bottle of soda.)

DIRECTIONS to the Midway Ice Castles:

From Provo canyon- Take the 800 North exit from I-15 and head east. Drive on Provo Canyon Road (it changes into US-189) about 16 miles. Before you get into Heber, turn left onto Charleston Road (Highway 113) and go 4 miles to Midway. Turn West or left onto Main Street turn right at the stop sign onto 200 West. You will see the castles on your right.

From Salt Lake City, take I-80 East approximately 32 miles to US Highway 40 (Heber Exit 146). Travel South approximately 14 miles to the Midway and Wasatch Mountain State Park turnoff. Turn right at the stop light onto River Road and follow the road approximately 2.5 miles to the round-about. Take the first right turn onto Burgi Lane (1050 North). Follow the green directional signs that take you to the Homestead, approximately 2.1 miles- you'll pass by Zermatt and The Homestead, and drive another 2.1 miles. Turn right at the stop sign onto 200 West. You'll see the castles on your left.

P.S. They look really neat in the day too... And, if you don't want to fork out the big bucks, you can see them clearly from the road. (But then you don't get to touch and walk through them, and what fun is that?)

snowboarding

We finally got out snowboarding!! This is big for me because some winters I'm either pregnant or have a newborn that I can't leave all day. But not this winter! And we decided to take our boys this year- Elliott was excited and Ollie was... not. So we left him and Linc with a sitter and headed up to Brighton.

We were pleasantly surprised at how un-busy it was. NICE!

We put Elliott in a beginner snowboarding class that went from 10:15-12:30, so while he was there, Adam and I hit the slopes. I love snowboarding! It was great to get back out there!

The further up the mountains we went, the foggier it got and all the trees were frosted. So pretty.

It was perfect weather on Saturday too- partly cloudy and warm with no wind.

We looked off the backside after we got off the lift to see this- AMAZING.

Click below for more pics from snowboarding at Brighton!

night sledding

There our  backyard snow sat, clean with no tracks for a good week. I tried to get the boys out, but they would rather be warm inside and play video games. I'll give them that much- it's been freezing cold out. And of course there's the chore of getting everyone's snow gear on... But it turns out, they get a little crazy inside... I get a little crazy inside. So one night I told the boys- (no asking involved) "We're going night sledding in the backyard!"

They were actually excited. Even Linc didn't complain when I put his snow stuff on.

The backyard is a different place at night- especially in the snow.

This was the day of the sparkly snow. It looked fake and was so powdery and shimmery. (Magical!)

We have two nice sledding hills in our backyard- one short, steep one, and a longer less steep one. The boys prefer the steep one.

 We even discovered an ice waterfall. 

 We found an icicle forest hanging from the playhouse. (They were a hit.)

(My big, bulky glove got in the shot.)

 My adventure boys.

That's more like it- played in snow! 

Too bad there were no pics of Elliott and I going down the slide on the sled, or me sledding down the long hill over and over and Elliott jumping on halfway, sometimes landing on my head, sometimes my feet or anywhere in between. My arms and ribs are still sore two days later...

winter stepping stones

 The Crafty Crow hooked us up with another fun craft idea... How to make colored ice!

First you get all your cake/pie pans. They suggested flimsy disposable pans so you could just pop the ice out, but I found it just as easy to just use what I had... (the glass was a little harder to work with.)

First you pour water in the pans- half full is good...

(Linc wanted to fill his belly first...)

Then you stir in food coloring or paint if you want them a little brighter. We actually had paint on hand! Yesss! We found mixing the color with a whisk works better than a spoon.

Linc was trying to eat it, maybe we should have used food coloring for his?

Then, you just put the pans anywhere outside and within minutes they will start to freeze. (If you live in Utah where it was in the single digits last night...)

We left ours out over night and they were nice and frozen in the morning- and brighter than I thought they would be.

To release them from the pans, put a dry cloth on the ice to hold it while you flip it over. Run warm water over the back of the pan for a few seconds and when you feel it come free, flip it back over being careful not to let the water run on the ice.

Place them wherever you want. They're so fun to see amongst the white covering everything. And they should last a while in this freezing weather.