Sapporo Snow Festival

One of my big bucket list things that I wanted to do before we left Japan was to go to the Sapporo Snow Festival. With this being our last winter here and Jake being gone, I wasn't sure I was going to swing this trip. But I had some great friends talk me into going with them and some great friends who were willing to watch my kids. The first evening Tara and I were on our own we decided to go to the ice sculpture side of the festival. There were some very intricate scultures and it was fun to check them out.

That night we found a little Spanish pub and we had a really yummy dinner of paella. Then we found a crepe place for dessert.

The next morning we checked out the underground mall and then saw some of the snow festival. It was snowing pretty hard, but the snow came down as little balls of snow, not normal flakes. So it reminded us of dippin dots.

We met up with Leigh for lunch and had soup curry...pretty sure this is my favorite Japanese food ever (a specialty in Hokkiado).

Then we took a very expensive taxi ride to Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival. This was a really cool festival where the basically made a castle out of ice (imagine "Let it Go!" playing through my head our entire visit).

The next day we checked out the more of the snow festival. We ran into a US Navy snow sculpture and got to talk to them about how they made it. We also found a lot of other unique scultures. Then we relaxed in a hotel top onsen. It was nice to warm up and relax.

For dinner we ate in Sapporo ramen alley and ate the butter corn version that Hokkaido is known for.

Then we had a peaceful evening in the temple as we did temple work for sisters (Leigh's ancestors). It was a great evening.

In the morning we finished seeing the snow festival and tried our hand at curling before we headed to the airport.

So thankful for Tara and Leigh, glad we made this trip happen. I love these ladies. I'm also so grateful for Erica and Jana stepping up to take my kids. I have been so blessed to live in this wonderful neighborhood where I have great friends who I trust with my kids and are just a pleasure to have around.