On Sunday, we left the kids at home with my parents, and headed to The Forks. We were very much looking forward to having a late brunch at Raw Almond, and wanted to walk around and enjoy the sunshine first. Last week a new game was unveiled - crokicurl! It's a combination of crokinole and curling, and while I definitely can't claim to know all the rules of either, it looks like a lot of fun!

We didn't have time to skate - something we'll have to save for next week-end with the kiddos. Another fun winter sport was taking place, dragon boat racing on ice. I'm not sure if it has it's own name, but the participants all looked to be having a great time, and wow are they fast!

Our reason for coming to the forks was to experience Raw Almond, a fine dining experience set on the frozen red river. Tickets to their dinners are next to impossible to come by, and expensive, so we were stoked when my girlfriend managed to get six tickets to brunch. The food was a combination of two of our favourite places in Winnipeg, Clementine Cafe and Tall Grass Bakery.

Mike had to show off his skates... there are not many times you can skate to brunch! The building structure is unique each year - this is their fifth year operating. From the outside, it looked like a non-descript white tent. The inside, however, was beautiful and cozy. Two long tables make up the seating areas, and diners sit next to each other and often share plates of food, family style.

The food was fantastic, from a hearty porridge with white chocolate and mango puree, to maple glazed pork bellies, to the amazing caramel donuts pictured below. I think everyones favourite was the smoked arctic char, served on top of crispy potato pancakes and served with a beet puree. Yum!

After we filled our selves to the brim with delicious food, we headed back outside to bask in the winter sun. The river trail was packed with skaters of all ages and abilities, and we heard lots of languages - something that sometimes takes Winnipeggers by surprise. Tourists? Here? Sometimes Winnipeg gets a bad rap, but when we stopped to think of what this would look like to out-of-towners, it totally makes sense why we have been featured in everything from Vogue to the New York Times. It's pretty spectacular to get to skate to brunch, eat on a frozen river in a beautiful seasonal structure, with food prepared by some of the best chefs around.

Reading the newspaper and sharing current events with kids

Pretty much every day of the week we have the same routine. Get up, get dressed, come downstairs, make coffee and breakfast, and read the paper. We are still stuck in the dark ages, and get the newspaper delivered. My husband reads all his news online, and I do as well, but there is something about a hot cup of coffee and opening the paper that just screams morning to me.

Soren is now at the age where he is very interested in the news. If you ask him what he thinks about Trump, he'll give you an earful:) Poppy is only three, but she'll pick up on what we are discussing and sometimes ask a few questions or throw in her own two cents. We never have the tv on during breakfast, nor do I check my phone. It's a nice start to our morning to talk, and usually events reported in the newspaper will lead to some interesting conversations.

I'm a little more reserved on what I think the kids need to know about world events, while my husband will pretty much talk to them about anything. A couple of days ago I read about sugar and how it's added to pretty much all packaged foods. This morning when I offered Soren a bowl of cereal, he protested - telling me that cereal is a packaged food and sugar is bad for us. He often understands complex issues that we just brush over, thinking that he's too young to understand.

When I was in high school, I had a world issues teacher who expected us to read the news everyday. He ran his class like a university lecture, and would often start by calling on someone with a question like 'What is your take on the big merger that happened this morning?' If you didn't know the answer, you lost participation marks. At first, I'm sure some of the tenth-graders were a little put off by his tactics, but I had a university prof later operate his class in much the same way. It's good to be aware of what's going on around you. In the work place, so many meetings or conference calls start with 'small talk' about a current event. If I have no clue about what's being talked about, I feel like an idiot.

We do get the occasional raised eyebrow when Soren will join into an adult conversation, but I don't worry about it much. Knowledge is power, and he knows he can talk to us about anything - because we do! As he gets older, I suspect our conversation topics will easily transition into 'serious' talks about drugs and sex and all that fun stuff. Hopefully, since we are well-versed in talking, these talks will occur naturally without the stress that is sometimes put around them. Of course, there are a few things that we would not share with him, and in those instances it helps that he cannot read yet!

Tobogganing - The best way to ensure your kids will sleep well at night

While we like to play outside in the winter, we surprisingly don't do a lot of tobogganing. It may have to do with the fact that we don't own a proper toboggan... or perhaps the idea of walking up and down hills isn't always high on my priority list. Anyways, we were in luck at Fort Whyte, because not only do they have toboggans you can borrow, but they also have an amazing wooden slide! No need to worry about rocks or steering around trees.

We found ourselves sledding on a beautiful winter day over the holidays. The snow was falling and there were surprisingly few people around. That seems to be one of the special things about Fort Whyte, its usually feels like you have the place to yourself. Soren, Poppy and I climbed the wooden structure for the first slide, and I must admit, it was a little nerve racking! We whooshed down onto the frozen lake, and had barely come to a stop before the kids were calling to do it again. On the second slide, Soren almost chickened out, but then continued for as long as we would let him - eventually going all by himself!

We even convinced our resident photographer to take a slide... and I got to snap a few pictures! If you are looking for a fun family outing, tobogganing takes the cake. We all got some fresh air, exercise, and some excited screaming in before we headed for hot chocolate.