St. Paul Winter Carnival

According to the Wikipedia article about the 

St. Paul Winter Carnival tradition:

"In 1885, a New York reporter wrote that Saint Paul was "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation" in winter. Offended by this attack on their Capital City, the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce decided to prove not only that Saint Paul was habitable but that its citizens were very much alive during winter, the most dominant season. Thus was born the Saint Paul Winter Carnival"

St Paul Winter Celebration 2012

 We bundled up (layers + layers!) & headed up to the city to check it out. We wanted to see the ice sculptures and see what the CARNIVAL was all about. Due to a MILD WINTER...there was no ICE CASTLE this year...but plenty of sculptures and a really cool ICE WALL.

St. Paul Winter Celebration 2012

 This carnival is steeped in tradition, legend, and lore. Here are some photos from Carnivals of the past...notice the 'ice brick' on the bottom left--this was part of the block-long wall of ice.

 With the white lights and shiny ice, the entire scene was dazzling. We had fun finding the little scenes within the ice sculptures and watching the ice skaters zoom past us. It wasn't long before we couldn't feel our fingers so we headed inside for warmth.

St. Paul Winter Carnival 2012

It was our very first REAL FAMILY OUTING since we became a family of FIVE. Miss N stayed cozy and warm (not one part of her skin was exposed, don't worry!) and I enjoyed the perk of an extra heater as I carried her around in the ergo carrier. Jackson had fun stomping in (the very little bit of) snow on the ground and Nathan stayed under his blankets in the stroller. Next time we're bringing hot chocolate!

Also...maybe we can train our kids in the art of treasure hunting and next year be the finders of the annual Winter Carnival Treasure Hunt medallion (only a $10,000 prize...)