Your winter home away from home (photo by Roy Wood)

Winter camping in a tent is a non-trivial undertaking, but yurt “camping” is a very reasonable alternative. Many of the parks and conservation areas we all love set up yurts for the winter season; for example, up here in Ontario, about a dozen provincial parks now offer yurt facilities. The Ontario Parks website gives a good description of what to expect from the setup:

These semi-permanent canvas-covered structures are 16 feet in diameter, mounted on a wooden deck about two feet off the ground. Yurts can accommodate up to six people. They have two sets of bunks beds, a table and chairs, plywood floors, electric heat and lighting, and a propane barbecue.

And, yes, you read that right: the yurt is provisioned with electric heat and lighting, as well as a gas barbecue. Heck, there were even heated washrooms and showers where we were (the Pinery), making this all a very civilized experience. The whole thing was an extreme contrast to the minimalistic conditions of our usual canoe camping trips or back-country hiking experiences.

As mentioned above, the yurt includes a pair of bunk-beds, and a table plus chairs. It’s certainly not four-star accommodations, but it’s appropriate for the situation:

Bunkbed #1 (photo by Roy Wood)

Bunkbed #2 (photo by Roy Wood)

As far as activities go, you’re a lot more limited in winter than in summer. Swimming, canoeing, and biking are definitely out, and fishing is unlikely, unless you’re lucky enough to be able to go ice fishing. Still, winter does offer some great activities that are impossible during the rest of the year, such as cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, and tobogganing. Finally, the hiking trails you enjoyed during the summer remain an option, and they have an entirely different feel from the sweaty, buggy versions you encountered in July and August.

We ‘made’ a little friend at the lookout (photo by Roy Wood)

For our trip, there wasn’t enough snow for skiing, so we stuck to hiking. We were “lucky” enough that there was a huge windstorm on the first night and day, which made for a dramatic experience when we headed over to the lake.

The wind was screaming in at about 80km/h (photo by Roy Wood)

As you can see, we managed to keep busy during the day, but at this time of year, it gets dark early, and there are many hours to be filled in the evenings. A campfire is always good, but the wise GeekDad always brings backup. In this case, I made sure we brought along a Nintendo DS and a laptop loaded with movies. We did end up using those electronic amusements, but I’m pleased that the kids also chose to spend some time reading the books we’d brought along (dead-tree versions even!).

Overall, our yurt experience was entirely positive, and we’d gladly do it again. We got to spend some time outdoors, let the GeekMom have a little quiet time at home, and made some memories that will last a lifetime.

The yurt was pretty cushy for a “camping” experience, and I’d recommend it to even my more urban friends. If you like the outdoors and are looking for something unusual to do with the kids this winter, consider a couple of nights in a yurt.

I wish for poetry on days like today. When I am stirred to life by the shrieks of joy from my boys waking a little early to falling snow out their windows. As they crash into my quiet dawn with boney knees and cold feet and an infectious excitement that my surgical mask of slumber does little to deflect. I wish I had the economy of words to powerfully convey the feeling I have watching them confront magic head on. To see wonder made tangible and the awe on my face witnessing the awe on theirs. I see the imprints they make on the fresh canvas, running around just to make tracks, and I wish I could get at that profound stirring the scene evokes. There is metaphor there, a deeper meaning below the surface, below the snow, below the ground even but I’m not qualified to mine it and bring it to the light. I just have this moment, this time to spend rediscovering the beauty and the majesty of snow from a little boy’s perspective. So I get down and look, really see the blankets of white on roof tops and the way it gathers on the porch light. I hear the echo of the cold quiet and the crunch of little feet. I feel the sting of the cold air on my cheeks and let it wake my lungs. I smell the necks of these boys of mine, the soap and sweat and cold gathering in that pocket of warmth as I hold them and look out. Days like this call for poetry.

In the meantime, this video serves as a reminder of just how much fun winter can be.  Clearly, there were some very dedicated parents involved in the construction of this snow slide.

And yes, my parental-safety-nannyist alert goes off when the kids come close to the upper lip of the wall. I wonder how much fine-tuning of the ramp was required to keep the kids from achieving escape velocity?

My kids and I were outside this weekend building a snow fort with a cheap sand and snow block mold. After about an hour, we had a fort that stood about 50 inches high and 4 feet in diameter. Luckily, we have plenty of snow on the ground. Without it, winter gets to be pretty long. There’s nothing worse than cold weather without snow. The snow provides for quite a few activities, without it, you just get cabin fever.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m positive that it’s great living in warm weather climates in the south. Shoveling snow into February does get old, but complaining isn’t an option because I choose to live here. Not to mention that my golf game would likely be a lot better living where I could play year round.

Basically, I like the variety of living where we do. Hot summers, snowy winters, on the shores of a big lake. We have the luxury of being able to change it up quite a bit throughout the year.

Building the fort this weekend was a blast. I made the blocks, while the kids set a few and then made a load of snowballs faster than Will Ferrell did in the movie Elf. They can stay outside for hours with this type of activity.  

Except, at their age, there is usually something that changes the mood quickly. For this activity, it was my youngest who was running into the fort and suddenly tripped over her sled full of snowballs. She went flying through the front wall and collapsed it. The snow was soft, so I knew she was ok. By reaction, my oldest and I started to laugh. That’s what I do when I see something funny. Of course, this made for one pissed off 5 year old. After throwing a crying fit, she ran off to the back yard. Didn’t seem to bother my oldest though. She started firing on me with the remaining arsenal.  In the end.  Hot chocolate fixes all problems

 I just wish there was something I could do to help my neighbor from Atlanta who uses a 12 HP snowblower when we get an inch of snow.  Poor guy.

For our first date night this year we went to the library together for a book reading.  I didn’t take the camera.  Sometimes I like to just be ‘in the moment’ and not always worried about capturing it on video/film.  But I do always want to remember her sitting with legs crossed, the only kid not sitting with the other five kids in the front row.  The awkward smile on her face that she gets when she’s nervous.  How she so badly wanted to do the hand motions to all the songs that the other kids new by heart, but she had never sung them before.  And just how much love I felt in my heart watching her as I sat on the floor in the back of the room.

After the library we went to McDonald’s and got one cheeseburger and one ice cream cone with a lid of mini m&m’s.  We talked about what she did that day with mom, how tall the flagpole was outside, and about how to eat an ice cream cone.

Today, I took her to the sledding hill I used to go to when I was a kid.  It’s right at the end of my old street and just driving through the neighborhood made me feel like a boy again.  This wasn’t her first time sledding.  When we were in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, we went with my best friend Kurt and his kids down what I thought was a very large hill, but by the end of the night Ella was charging down all by herself.  The last time down, her sled took a sharp turn just as it was coming to a stop and a wave of fresh powder shot up into her face.  Sometimes a dad’s reaction is enough to tell his kid that everything is all right.  I shouted, “Awesome, you ATE SNOW!” as I came running down the hill.  She was delighted at this new thought that quickly replaced the fear I could see sweeping over her face. “Yeah!” she replied.  And from then on it was a badge of courage that she shared with everyone.  ”I ate SNOW!”

So today it was no surprise that after only a few times down the slower hill, we now sat, my legs wrapped tightly around her in the sled, at the top of the steep hill.  She didn’t hesitate.  ”GO!” she commanded and so with a quick shove (after a few false starts) we dropped down the exhillerating descent and filled the woods with our laughter.

At the bottom of the hill the immediate response from her lips were, “Wanna do it again!”

That’s my girl.

Then on the way back up the hill out of nowhere came an arrow that struck me straight in my heart and instantly melted it.  ”I love you, daddy.”  She even said it twice.

Here’s more pics of our fun in the forest!

Click to view slideshow.

With fresh snow in every state except Florida, it’s a safe bet that many of us have been shoveling snow this week. All of that cold and snow may have gone to the heads of Minnesotans Mike Nelson and Aaron Dabelow, who let their imaginations run wild and came up with this great little video. Nice job guys – we’ll never look at a plowed sidewalk the same way.

Via LaughingSquid.

This was one of the loudest screams I had ever heard!

Earlier this year I was successful at getting her to ride in a sled.  At first she was terrified of it.  Of course.  Then I told her it was a Christmas train and found two inflatable dinosaurs that were pool toys and pulled up to them and said, “Alllll aboard!” and Ella stood there and waved goodbye as she watched me pull these two dinosaurs all around our backyard.  When I made it back to her she was eager for it to be her turn and she had her very first sled ride!

Then she took the reigns and pulled the dinosaurs around for a while.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get pictures of when she forced me to sit on the sled and I was basically doing the crab-walk while she held the rope.  But here she is making choo choo train sounds while giving the tour of the backyard to her passengers.

Now the big moment had arrived.  Saturday was here and she was so excited to make a snowman with me.  Erica showed her the carrot earlier in the day and that was almost all Ella could talk about.  After bundling her up in all of her snow gear at the back door Erica exclaimed, “You look like a marshmallow!” to which Ella cooly replied, “No mom, marshmallows are in bags.”

So off we went, carrot in hand marching to the front yard. Ella said,  ”I really like this!  I”m really excited!”  With a huge grin on her face she stuck the carrot into the snow and then we added some flair to finish the job.  I like how it looks like the snowman has his arm around her.

We finished the fun with a one sided snow ball fight.  I basically sat there while she threw snow on me and laughed her head off.  Now it’s back to work and I’ll be thinking all week about this memory until we can do it all again next Saturday.  Next week will be Pax week, and I’m going to try to get more pictures of him.  He his doing a lot of new/neat stuff now and I want to make sure I get it all on my blog.   What weekend memories do you have that you will think about all week?

Image by the creator via Reddit

Obviously after Luke got after it with the snow-speeder. Reddit, found via Nerdapproved

For us this was pretty exciting as it is only the second time in our son’s short life that there has actually been accumulation of any significance. A standard snow fall here might mean that we get an inch or two that has completely melted away by two in the afternoon the day it fell.

Like usual this snowfall didn’t accumulate on the roads, so driving wasn’t a hazard. Still, had it been a weekend I can guarantee everything would have been closed and had I felt like venturing out the stores would probably have been striped bare of milk and bread.

In any event little man and managed to scrape together enough warm-ish clothes to go out and play in the snow for a little more than an hour. Given the lack of regular snowfall here we were woefully unprepared for the event as both little man and I had to resort to wearing pairs of gloves that belong to my wife.

Still, we had a lot of fun and got to build his first real snowman. I even took the opportunity to fire up my video camera to record the occasion.

Snow Day 2010 from PJ Mullen on Vimeo.