Out Cold

Small confession: I hate winter. It’s nothing against the icy sports or the holidays or anything like that; it’s just that I truly can’t handle the cold. So, being an Ontario girl, I’ve always shunned skiing, avoided skating, turned my nose up at tobogganing and stayed happily, if slightly bored, indoors.

Then I had children and everything changed. Kids love snow and ice, sliding around until their hands are stiff and their cheeks rosy. And thank heavens because as any parent knows, kids need to get out in the fresh air and run around like puppies at least once a day just to keep in balance. So you can imagine, a hibernating mom with three kids come the heart of winter – a disastrous combo. Clearly, I needed to face my fear of freezing and discover what it is that many families find so bracing about frolicking in the frost.

So, I grabbed my all-season son, Riley, and headed to a place where they actually celebrate winter – Quebec City. For three days, Riley and I took in the chilly delights of Carnaval; plus we ventured further afield to do kid-friendly sliding and mom-friendly touring. Here’s how it played out:

Taking the plunge

Soon after we arrived at our hotel, Riley reminded me of my promise to swim with him at the Hilton’s advertised year-round outdoor pool (supposedly heated to 30ºC). So, reminding myself that I was here to try enjoying winter, I agreed. The verdict? Well, let’s just say that pumping 30ºC’s worth of heat into a pool does not translate into a pool that is, in fact, 30ºC. It wasn’t even tepid. Keep moving, advised the pool attendant. Lucky for me, part of the pool was indoors and partitioned with plastic flaps that reached the water’s surface. Guess where I stayed? Riley, meanwhile, braved the icy wind on his face as he swam back and forth twice before declaring it too cold.

We went to our room, hopped into flannel PJs and watched the hockey game. That I could handle.

Salut, Bonhomme!

We kicked off our big Carnaval day with breakfast 750 feet up atop the Observatoire de la Capitale – a stunning view of the historic city. Then we set off to get up close and personal with Bonhomme’s famous ice palace and all things Carnaval. Before lunch, we managed to walk through the ice palace, slip down the little ice slide and check out some spectacular snow sculptures. Not a bad way to spend a few hours on a wintry morning – especially since the sun was out.

The second half of the day brought a brief chill to my heart: We watched group after group of snow bathers – brave (or crazy?) bathing-suit-clad souls who trot up on a little snow mound on the Plains of Abraham and dance, roll and toss snow at one another for five minutes. Not my kind of thing.

Neither was the tornado run down a toboggan hill. It wasn’t the speed or the slope – it was the spin they put on our big round raft that turned me (or more accurately, my stomach) off.

Surprise of the day: Mom can zip-line. Now I can check propel yourself on a pulley along a heavy wire 100 feet above a crowd of partying Quebeckers off my life’s to-do list. Chalk up a victory for me as I not only hate the cold, I’m also kind of afraid of heights. I conquered both, however briefly, before the day was done.

We capped off Carnaval by taking in the night parade – an enchanting display of eye-catching floats, unique costumes, upbeat music and dance. I’m usually not one for parades, but the darkness and European flavour to this one made it seem more magical. Good thing, because standing outside for an hour, no sun, no moving around, gets pretty darn cold. Needless to say, I was happy to get into those flannel jammies again.

How cool is this?

Our last day was spent at (or rather, up and down) Village Vacances Valcartier, about a 20-minute drive from downtown Quebec. Here’s the set-up: The place has 42 runs for some 5,000 inner tubes which you get via one of 17 lifts – also inner tubes on a kind of conveyor. We had a blast careening down the playground’s steepest and longest runs – the Himalaya and the 33.5 metre high Everest – over and over again. It was Riley who finally begged to go in. His feet were cold.

After lunch, we rented skates and spent about an hour skating outside around what in summer is the property’s water park. By the time we were heading back to the hotel, I was both sweaty and invigorated. That was fun! I enthused, much to my surprise.

That evening, we visited the Quebec Aquarium. I was worried that after such busy fun on the hills that day, Riley would find it a little dull looking at fish. But I was wrong. In fact, we were awestruck by the massive 350,000 litre tank with its 10,000 watery creatures – all from the St. Lawrence. Plus, we went to their coastal zone area where everyone can touch hermit crabs, sea urchins and starfish, among other watery friends.

Old habits

We had a couple of hours before we had to catch our train back to Toronto, so we did a little Mommy-style sightseeing through Old Quebec. And even though Riley initially gave me his disapproving sneer when I said we should stroll the historic streets, he ended up having a great time. There’s nothing like seeing your grade school history lessons coming to life all around you. We even practised our French a little.

In the end, it seems both Riley and I did things that were out of character for us – and had a blast in the process. But I must give credit where it’s due: It’s my kids who make me go outside in chilly February, but Quebec City showed us how to make it fun.

By Jacqueline Kovacs

Originally published on Today’s Parent