Minderlein Pond

As many of you already know my husband built the very first "Minderlein Pond" this year. We call it that because it seriously has the equivalent of that much water...It really is our own (not so little) frozen pond.

Building it has been an adventure like no other - when it comes to building backyard rinks. It was back in September when I first ignited my husband's imagination. I went on and on (for days) about how great it would be to have our own rink..."just imagine all the fun we would have and how convenient it would be". Together we envisioned the kids coming home after school and heading outdoors to go skating on their very own rink, just a few steps from our back door. Inviting our friends and family over almost every weekend to enjoy it with us and finally being able watch Jack, Georgia and Hudson all improve their skating skills...It was definitely a wonderful thought, but it certainly didn't come easy.

We had several people tell us it wouldn't work, it was impossible and it would cost a small fortune. While they were right about the money, my hubby (with some financial help from our wonderful aunts) managed to defy all odds and built a skating rink even the pros would be impressed by. That's not to say he knew exactly what he was doing (it was his first time)...instead he went with his gut feeling and had a determination and vision like no other. It was nearly two months in the making, countless hours almost every evening after work and even having to wake up in the middle of the night to check it's progress (on a few occasions). If ever you've built a backyard rink, you might be wondering why it required so much effort. One look at our rink and you would understand. Although at first glance our yard looks fairly flat, we actually have a pretty large slope...so much so that our rink only has a few inches of ice in one corner and almost 3 feet in the other! Which would probably be fine if we lived in Northern Ontario (like really far north) where the temperature doesn't go above zero until the spring. But unfortunately we live in central Ontario where spring sometimes likes to make an early appearance, stay a few days, rain like crazy, melt all the snow, just enough to make our yard look like a swamp, then winter comes back, everything freezes again (including all the water that leaked out through the holes in the liner which was caused by the gigantic screw popping out of the boards) and now our entire backyard becomes a skating rink...making it really hard for our poor dog to go to the washroom. But that's what happens in this part of Ontario and although I love living here, building a rink can sometimes be challenging...

But so worth it...once you see your entire family and their friends outside skating (on even the coldest days) and absolutely loving it! Yes, we've currently had more days spent repairing it, rather than skating on it, but fingers crossed the forecast holds true. We're hoping for a very cold February and endless hours of skating enjoyment. This weekend we are looking forward to having friends and family over to watch Super Bowl, go hot tubbing and skating...it doesn't get any better!