For some time Nathan has been asking us already when we will have snow so he can go play outside and build snowmen and snow fortresses. The thing is we will most likely not have any snow this year either. For the past decade or so we barely had any snow which stayed for more than just few hours or a day. Now I know from my childhood that we had enough snow here (and pictures to proof it) to go even skiing or sledging at the nearby hill. Few times even the lake here had solid enough ice to go skating. However times are changing and we have hotter and hotter summers and milder winters.
So what to do when the kids want snow? Go to the mountain areas in middle and southern Germany or do something very different such as visiting Finland during the winter time? My wife is not really fond at all about snow and she does not want to do any activities outdoor so a little skiing holiday within Germany would be kind of meaningless. However visiting Finland would most likely mean tons of snow, stay at our own cabin and visit some friends afterwards before travelling back to Germany. So yes, my wife would prefer Finland (even though she is not fond of having the long ship cruise during winter time) and the kids could finally enjoy some snow.
Now our plans are not set in stone at all but we have more or less an idea what to do and when to go. Our preferred time would be around the Chinese New Year as we have barely any work as all customers are busy visiting their relatives and that time is also more or less the snow peak time up there in Finland. For extra support we would force my parents to join us, especially as I have no real clue how to manage the cabin alone with all the heating and switching on the water supply.
I know that in Finland there are also bad winters with barely any snow in that region however from all the years (soon 30 years) I have lived or visited Finland it only happened a couple of times with a no snow/ barely any snow. Chances are pretty high for some snowy madness and at least Nathan could learn some cross country skiing, ice skating and perhaps even downhill skiing. Nathalie on the other hand will be still a tad bit too young for such activities but there is still so much to play around with the proper amount of snow. I remember in my childhood building gigantic snowmen, fortresses and snow caves. Right now I really hope this will work out and we should really order the tickets for the ship soon(ish) before the prices become ridiculous. The ship cruise is however a matter of mostly bad memories as during the winter we always had storms resulting in many sea sick people on board and my wife is handling it poorly as well.
What are your plans for the wintery season?
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That sounds awesome! Like Nathan, I want snow. We’re heading to Utah this winter to find some.
I also want snow, lots of snow! Back in Finland I got sometimes annoyed by it but then again I had to deal nearly 6 months with it and digging out the car each morning was no joy either. However by now we had already over 5 years without snow and all the rainy darkness here is getting on my nerves, especially during christmas time when we have yet again another rainstorm instead of some nice white Christmas
I hope you have a great trip and Nathan can play with mountains of snow! I’m not too keen on winter these days because it’s cold and we have no heating and besides air pollution gets even worse. Normally it snows at least once in Suzhou but very little and it doesn’t even fully cover the ground.
At least you get some snow! Last year we had nothing! All my childhood we had enough snow to go sledging and now for at least 5 years nothing at all. Hopefully Finland will offer us something in January, but somehow I know that luck ain’t on our side
Hope Nathan and Nathalie will get their snow and play in the snow 🙂 I am the opposite of you. I don’t like cold and snow, and would prefer a rainy winter. Here in Melbourne it will be summer in a few days but funnily enough next week we are back to winter temperatures. Looks like have to even pull out the big winter coat again ><
We always have rainy winters here, around 2-8 degrees Celsius with constant rain and everything is grey 😦
Everything raining can be so hard, so hard to go out and do an activity outside. Even going to a grocery store can be hard in those conditions 😦
Yeah especially when it is so cold at the same time. The cold and the rain just get into every nook and cranny of the clothing
I got a down jacket and while it is supposedly water proof, it still gets wet. So if it rains all the time like over there, probably would be so hard to dry it.
No chance for a down jacket, more like a fisherman’s jacket/ high sea jacket to survive the day 🙂
hope you get some snow for the family!
Thank you, for us here in north germany chances for snow are currently at 1% so we hope finland will offer us better chances