Winter Carnival

Yesterday we drove almost 3 hrs up to McCall for the Winter Carnival. It exceeded expectations. One the way up, we marveled at the river-turned-winter-wonderland. We even pulled over to watch a family of otters playing in the snowy bank. "Adorable" doesn't even come close to capturing it. And neither did Matt's camera, since they slipped into the water as soon as he pulled it out. Once in McCall, there were many spectacular snow sculptures, but our favorites were definitely the giant angel and the Egyptian pyramid. The most amazing thing about the pyramid was the detail inside. There was a sarcophagus, two mummies, two god/goddess statues, and hieroglyphs carved into the ice inside. The kids also got to play in a mountain of snow, coast downhill on plastic sleds (next year we will know to bring our own!), and walk on the solidly frozen lake. Yes, the whole entire lake was frozen. It was a sight! And Matt and I got to sample the beer (and wings) at a local microbrewery so that rounded out the fun for us. The kids decided that this trip will be a family tradition, and we agreed.

The snow mountain in one of the parking lots was as tall as the supermarket roof next door.

A snow slide

Payette Lake, frozen solid

The pyramid is built of blocks of ice cut out of the lake.

Characters from "Finding Nemo"