2017 Winterlude is up and running, and what a pretty perfect opening weekend. It wasn’t too cold, the entire stretch of the canal was open to skaters and Sunday’s swirly snow made it feel like we were walking around in an actual snow globe.

I hope you guys got a chance to get out and enjoy some of Winterlude, but if not, there is still two more weeks left to soak it all in.

On Saturday, we took the kids and skated the canal. We started at Dow’s Lake, where we rented a sleigh ($20 an hour). We put the two kids in there and bundled them up with blankets and off we went. We made a stop at the Bronson rest area where we enjoyed hot chocolates and Beavertails. It was going really well until my daughter decided she didn’t want to ride in the sleigh anymore and instead wanted to walk on the ice holding my hand. That kind of brought our time on the canal to an end, and I had to climb in the sleigh to convince her to get back in. My poor husband ended up pushing all three of us back to the Dow’s Lake Pavilion. It was really busy, especially as we were leaving around noon. We had a long wait just to get out of the Dow’s Lake parking lot. If you can avoid those crazy busy weekend times I would suggest it. I’m still so glad we went, it certainly was gorgeous.

On Sunday, we went for a stroll around Confederation Park. The ice sculptures are lovely and there certainly is a lot going on for kids on the weekends. There were two live entertainment stages, and a number of activities for the kids including an area where you could place coloured ice cubes on an ice maze to build up the walls.

I also dropped into the Metro Ice Cafe, which is set up like a giant igloo. They have ice block tables and chairs and they had chefs whipping up hot curry stew and giving out free samples.

Confederation Park is worth the visit, and even better when combined with a skate, either on the canal or at the Sens Rink of Dreams just next door. While most of the entertainment runs on the weekends, it is open all week long and you can enjoy the ice sculptures with smaller crowds.

Next up for us… the Snow Kingdom at Jacques Cartier Park. Stay tuned! 🙂

For more info on all the great family activities at Winterlude, check out my blog post HERE