I like this new statutory holiday in February. For those in the know, Saskatchewan now matches Quebec for the most statutory holidays at 11 rather than the usual 10. You see, while some Alberta businesses provide the August civic holiday to their employees, it isn't truly a stat holiday there. That is likely a little known fact by most in Alberta because it is observed in the rest of the country.

So I did spend family day with my family. My mom, dad, Cheruby, and all the kittenses. On Friday after work, Cheruby and I headed up to Nipawin, picked up my mom and drove another couple hours out to Little Bear Lake. My dad had gone out earlier in the day to warm up the cabin. A very beautiful cabin indeed.

On Saturday, Cheruby and I got a little cold heading out to the ice shack as we don't have proper winter outer wear to keep us warm, but we both caught a good fish. Dad didn't catch any keepers. His little walleye got put back and so did Cheruby's three burbot. He spent much time watching them swim in his hole in the ice willing them to be smart enough to get off his hook. They are too slimy for my dad to touch so we didn't keep any that we caught.

Burbot are a strange looking fish (borderline repulsive) that’s extra slimy to the touch, but surprisingly excellent tasting. They’re found on the bottom of deep lakes and rivers and- even though they look like they eat something vile such as carcasses or algae- are actually voracious predators of other fish. Burbot are also called eelpout, ling, lingcod, loache, methyl, lush, gudgeon, mud-blower, cusk, mother eel, or lawyer fish.

Cheruby very much enjoyed his first snowmobiling experience except the cold and ill-fitting helmet. I would have enjoyed it more too if it weren't for the cold. I get kind of (understatement) whiney when I'm cold.

The fire was very welcome at the end of Saturday and we all went to bed early. I love firelight to sleep by. It's comforting somehow. We woke up on Sunday with the intent of fishing again, but the light snow that was happening at the cabin didn't indicate that there was much heavier snow only 15 minutes away so we turned around and didn't make it up to the lake again. We were all kind of grateful except dad who really loves ice fishing. There is something kind of relaxing and neat about it, but without the warm winter gear, it's not as much fun.

Because I'd been so cold the day before, we got all kinds of new clothes for me to wear and as such, I could barely move in all the layers I had on. Honestly, they made me more of a strange discoloured marshmallow man or Michelan Man than anything else that might be considered human. So even though we didn't make it out ice fishing, mom took some pictures of me in my funny get up. And then I fell back into a snowbank. Because I had so many layers on, I couldn't even bend 90 degrees at the waist which made it a little difficult to get up from my fallen position. And then I tried to roll and trying to roll in a snowbank is hard enough without being in stitches with laughter at the whole situation.

So, dad took the snowmobile out on Sunday and got it stuck in about 4 feet of snow. Slogged through that deep snow to get to the road and then caught a ride back to the cabin. He convinced one of the neighbours to go help him get his snowmobile. All this while Cheruby, mom and I played Arkham Horror and listened to music. Later that night, we played Kaiser. Cheruby and I got walloped in the first game. Lost in 10 hands. The second game went on and on. The Lasers(tm) had a struggle, but managed to escape a second defeat. It was a lot of fun.

Monday came and it was time to go home. Dad and I went for a tour of the resort and campground on the sled. It's so much different than being in a car and I can't truly express how. Maybe it's that total layer of glass and metal being between you and the trees. Maybe it's the total freedom of vision that you can see in any direction you choose to look. Maybe it's just that you are truly closer to it all. Whatever it is, it was way cooler - both in temperature and in status.

My big brat came home with us and has ignored Cheruby's cat pretty much the whole time he's been back. I'm very happy to have all my family at home now. The fat one, little one, and dainty one.

You can see most of the pictures from the weekend here. I'll upload the rest soon except for the one that got deleted. Kaz really likes the story about the picture that got deleted.