Maslenitsa Festival

We celebrated the beginning of Spring on Sunday......even though it is snowing as I write this blog and we have 5 feet of snow on the ground. The Russians believe Spring starts on March 1st and they say goodbye to Winter in grand fashion. They eat bleeny (pancakes which symbolizes the sun) all week. There were games played and Russian entertainers singing and dancing. An effigy of Lady Maslenitsa gets burned up to say goodbye to Winter! and even Father Frost (Santa) was there to say goodbye.

Skiing Niseko, Japan. February/2012

We had a fantastic snow skiing trip to Niseko, Japan last week. It was Alyssa's first time to ski, so she had 2 full days of ski school. She picked it up really quickly and loved every minute! She loves speed, so she figured out tucking makes her go faster and even went under the "slow" sign at the base!

Niseko has an amazing amount of snow! It was the best powder we've ever skied in. The summit of the mountain is above the tree line, so wide open. Spectacular views of Mount Yotei across the valley. Our hotel had an outdoor hot spring onsen which was very pretty and relaxing.

Ice Sculptures

We finally went to see the ice sculptures in town. They were really cool (ha, freezing!). There were several slides made for kids and gorgeous dragons and 2012 for Chinese New Year. The fellow in the statue is Lenin.

Walking on the frozen ocean

I walked on the ocean today! We went to Okhotskoye and saw some ice fishermen. They were catching smelt, a small fish that Russians like to eat salted and dried.