We returned from our Hokkaido ski trip on Sunday evening, and we all returned to the work-school routine the next day. So here are a few final thoughts and photos from our first ski adventure to Hokkaido.

In my last post I mentioned an ice village. I saw this on the website and didn’t expect much. Then we showed up to see said ice village. I was floored.

Each shop within the ice village consisted of ice block walls with a canvas roof. About half of the shops were look-at places: ice florist, ice haute couture, and so on. The rest sold fondue, adult beverages, and souvenirs. We didn’t stop to partake in any drinks or snacks–because it was absolutely freezing. Like, FREEZING freezing, and well below. Even with Arctic grade parkas I don’t know how the staff members did it.

The kids and Mark enjoyed the ice slide, while I enjoyed watching them ricochet around the sides of the chute. We thought that Mark would go the fastest since he weighs the most, but he almost got stuck because of his jeans–apparently denim and ice aren’t a terribly fast combination. We watched one girl in slick nylon ski pants bounce around like a pinball and shoot over the pile of snow acting as a bumper.

Yay, winter! We had a blast and hope to return to Tomamu.