We are now halfway through winter and I feel like we haven’t been outside in ages. The kids could definitely use some fresh air, however, it’s too cold to be out there for me! Last Friday, though, I decided it was time to bundle up and spend some time outdoors at Frosty Fest which is held outside of Viking School in Gurnee…luckily it was a milder night!

I was surprised at the turn-out, there were a lot more people there than I anticipated. Right as we walked into the area where the festivities were being held, a horse drawn sleigh went by us which was all it took to get my family excited. There was a long line for the sleigh ride, so we decided to check out some of the other activities.

We started out roasting marsh mellows over a fire pit and then watched a professional carve a big block of ice into a horse. I never gave much thought to how that is done – they use a chain saw to carve out the design, it’s really neat. They had several other ice sculptures around this area as well. After that we checked out a big group of people participating in a snow man building contest, everyone seemed like they were having a great time.

By this point we were getting pretty chilly so we went inside Viking Dance Hall where the junior high band was performing (they are VERY good by the way) and they had hot cocoa and animal crackers for the kids. They also had some crafts set-up for the kids to work on. We thawed out for awhile and then headed back outside to see the snow sled dogs. There were a lot of dogs there and many were up for adoption. They had a dog sled all set-up and in motion. It was fun to watch. Those dogs are amazing.

We ended our night with a sleigh ride. This was the highlight of the night for us. They had three sleighs going so the line moved quickly and the ride was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed ourselves and ran into several people we knew which was fun too. It was nice to actually enjoy the winter weather a little for a change!

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