Fire and Ice 2011 - Day Two

Well, Day Two of Fire and Ice turned out a little differently than we had expected. After having such a frigid New Year's, the weather got warm and it rained for two hours Sunday morning. The rain, coupled with the not-so-thick ice, meant that the venue was flooded. The ice sculpting contest was canceled!! We were still allowed to walk around the lake, so we got out the sled and put the kiddies in it.



The pathways out on the lake were quite slushy, and in places the water was two or three inches deep. The sled was great for transporting the kids. Emma eventually learned that although it was really fun to drag her hand in the water, it was cold.

Here was the truck sinking in the lake. It was originally meant to be sinking (I think), so it looked just right!

We decided to head down to the other end of the lake, where ice fishing was the big activity.

We wanted to figure out a way to harness Henry to the sled, he had plenty of energy!

We saw a fish being caught, and several anglers had caught multiple fish.

Then we headed back through the slush to the ice sculptures. The clouds were coming in, making us glad we had our rain jackets.

We approached our ice sculpture, wondering how it would look. The donuts were still in good form, although all the snow around them had melted.

It was hard to walk away from the ice sculptures, I really wanted to do more! We had packed up the van for a full day on the ice, with a table, chairs, cook stove, and plenty of food.

Farewell, Snowbucks. Perhaps we will recreate you some other year.

Across from us was the Shoe Tree, which was recently cut down along Highway 50. They had a gravestone that said R.I.P. I think this entry would have done really well, probably in the top 3. Next year the topic will be old, and it won't be such a good entry.

This is Tea for Two. It was getting fairly flooded. That packed snow weighs a lot!

This was the path to the dump truck and mine. These guys had worked four days on it and invited us to come take a look.

I think they would have gotten in the top 3, too. At least we got a cool photo by part of their sculpture.

Where would our Snowbucks sculpture have placed? Definitely in the top 20.

The concessions tent was open, so we went over to have some hot chocolate and lunch. They had purchased food for lots more people, so we felt bad for them. We just needed one more day of cooler weather.

Oh well, there was nothing to do but try to find the silver lining. We didn't want to wait for the fireworks that night, so we went home, and I caught up on some much-needed sleep. And I ate some donuts. We had bought a dozen donuts to help inspire our team during the carving, and now someone had to eat them. Desert Girl was very eager to help, and even managed to snatch one on the way home without us knowing. She might be small, but she knows what food is!