Hwacheon Ice Festival

 Yesterday was a US holiday so we decided to take another little road trip, this time to a small town called Hwacheon.  Hwacheon is home to "Korea's representative Ice Festival."  Since this winter has been pretty weak with regards to snow... we were all excited to go out and play in the cold.  So we jumped in the VOLV and about 3 hours later we had arrived.

 Going on a US holiday was a great idea since the crowds were smaller, we could find a parking spot, and the traffic was not too bad.

 Cool trout...

 The kids loved the ice tunnel, Logan couldn't believe he was walking "through an ice cube."

 Little Sadie's nose and cheeks got a little rosy.

 The snow sculptures were really cool.

 This is one of many ice slides. 

 Next... four wheelers on a frozen river... yes, those are cracks in the ice... it was a rush.  We had a blast building up speed then spinning out on the corners.  Logan and I practiced turning right to go left just like Lightning McQueen.

 Addy looked like a snow princess patiently waiting her turn.

 Thank goodness we had a tire and some bike helmets to keep us safe from the other riders...

 Now it was Addy's turn.  What a trooper, she kept telling me to go faster...

 So we did:)

 I think Amber was jealous of our extreme fun.

 Next was the huge ice tube hill.

 Pictures don't do this justice, it was really steep.

 In Korea it is not uncommon to see special areas for the foreigners... I felt bad for the Koreans because they were fishing in a much bigger crowd.

 Back to the hill... did I mention it was steep?

 Next was ice fishing.  Addy got the first bite right after she put her hook in.

 Unfortunately, it got away...  How about the awesome fishing gear... It almost felt like flying a kite.

 The river was probably about 6 feet deep and we could see the bottom through the hole.  It was frustrating to see the fish swim right up to the lure look at it and swim away.  Luckily as we were fishing, trucks full of fish kept arriving to stock the river with fish.

 Amber couldn't resist getting in on the action.

 Here is the hole.

 Logan is a fishing machine... thanks to Uncle Ryan.  He caught 3 huge trout.

 Logan told me that one fish came up to look him in the eye to see who was trying to catch him.

 Addy likes fish almost as much as she likes frogs.  She wouldn't kiss it though...

 After sleeping through most of our "vacation" little Sadie began to stir.

 What a cutie.

 Back to the tube hill... what a blast.

 One family picture.

 A snow dragon for the new lunar year.

 The drive home took about 3 hours and boy was I hungry for some trout.

 So I showed the kids how to clean them, fried a few up and had a delicious meal.

 

Amber tried a bite (this is a big deal since she could hardly stand the smell of them cooking).  Sadie ate half a trout by herself, she loved it.  We have a few more for a later date.