Baby It's Cold Outside!

Winter is Definitely Still Here!

So far, we have enjoyed a relatively mild winter. It hovered near freezing since November, that is until about two weeks ago.

At the very end of January, right when we thought we might be lucky enough to have the bitter cold bypass Münster, the cold hit us like a brick.

We have been riding our bikes to school, the gym, the office, and the grocery store with temperatures around 6 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 Celsius). Apparently, this is the normal temperature for winter.

The lovely lake we ran around during the Autumn froze hard enough that people dusted off their ice skates, sleds and other toys and hit the ice.

The day we went to play on the ice, it was frozen to about 10 inches thick. Here is a picture that shows a deep crack in the ice to give you an idea of how thick it is.

We don't have any ice skates, so we had to settle with just walking around on the ice and people watching. It was just as well because there was plenty to look at.

The lake is pretty long and somewhat narrow. We started out just walking across the narrow expanse first. After adjusting scarves and coats, of course. It was so cold.

As we walked along we kept seeing interesting bubbles in the ice. Maybe this is trite for a lot of you, but I grew up in Houston where it is not uncommon to not really even need a coat or jacket for going to your Christmas or New Year parties

I told Pr that I thought the bubbles in the picture below looked like an old fashioned tug boat. He did not agree and let me know in a way that reminded me again that he is becoming a teenager.

I could only think of the Charlie Brown Christmas Movie when I saw the figure eight.

We saw several people on bikes.

Without a sled, I suppose pushing your baby in the stroller while ice skating is the next best thing.

This is one of the two pedal cars we saw on the ice. You can just see the person sitting inside while another person is catching a ride on the back.

Eisrettungsstation means Ice Rescue Station. We didn't see any broken ice, but there were several stories in the news about people or animals falling through when the freezing weather first hit. People had been on the lake for about two weeks, but the locals warned us not to go out "until the fire department says that they can't guarantee anyone's safety." Then it is okay.

Some enterprising people set up a Bratwurst and Glüwein booth just outside a restaurant and business was hopping! 

Pa was thrilled to be able to jump on the ice.

While we were walking we kept hearing this spooky sound that reminded me of sounds you would hear in an aquarium. I assume it was the sound of ice as it shifted and people walked on it. We enjoyed our little frozen lake outing, but I will be so happy when warmer weather arrives. I think the next week is supposed to be around freezing again. That is practically balmy compared to the last few weeks.