We like sparkly things!

The Ice Hotel in Quebec sparkles in the most fantabulous of ways! Almost everything in the place is made of ice and compacted snow (hard as a rock), but it's masterfully designed with sunshine backlighting ice carvings and illuminating rooms. The water that makes up the ice is pure, so it's crystal clear, accented in some areas by texture and carving to make it opaque, and highlighted in other areas by colored lights and fiberoptics that slowly color-shift. Every room is a work of art, so not only did we marvel at the technical challenges of creating a working hotel out of ice, but the creativity and ice sculpture masterpieces were a delight everywhere we turned. You can see us here (well, not me, since I was behind the camera, but Bren and Zach, Scott, Jesse and Leah, and my mom) at the Absolut bar in the Ice Hotel.

The remainder of our weekend was spent romping in Quebec City, careening down a crazy-high slope on a toboggan, and relaxing in the ultra-luxurious Chateau Frontenac. All of this because Z's teacher is doing a unit study on Canada with his class. Hey, we're all about living and learning here! ;-) Many more pictures in this photo album.

Thanks for the kind words and much excitement about the Ice Princess necklace. My Gram took that one home to Pittsburgh with her, but since you all asked, more are in the works! Scott already made the focal beads and I'm hoping to string them up today. Will let you all know when they're ready and pictures are up on the soon-to-be-updated Glastonbury Glassworks website.