The Main Dish

The main dish of our weekend in Lake Geneva involved its annual ice sculpting competition. What made this year unique is that it was like 60 degrees that day - causing massive havoc on the final day of the competition. It is in this situation that we arrived.

We were not the only people there. Massive crowds had shown up for the judging. But what would they judge?TurtlesCooking pigs.Mad hatters.Slothful horses.TransformersAnd the winner - dragon breathing fire. Don struggled to capture the awesomeness because by the time of our arrival, many of the sculptures were completely falling apart. Any sculpture with thinness was immediately destroyed by the heat. Only the most sturdy stood strong - but still with depleted features and details. Regardless, it was pretty awesome to check out the work and see how gigantic cylinders of ice had turned into these sculptures.

It was a family event, and inside the boathouse this guy was teaching kids how to shake their money maker. That is an education children need in this down economy.

We then moved on to the next big event - kite flying on the frozen lake.This was an uncertain endeavor in that much of the ice was beginning to melt...but we figured there were still cars out on the lake, so we went with our gut instincts.I bravely walked out to test the ice. Success.Don and I walked further. On our way we realized that we could see through the ice to the water...which was a little disconcerting. But if this car didn't break the ice, either would our fat butts.Caitlin wasn't that concerned...I'm sure I needed a cold bath anyway. Regardless, we were able to get out Don's kite and take flight on this amazingly windy day.Don's kite is awesome. It is one of those trick kites that are wicked fun to fly. It was so windy that day that it took a lot of effort to not get worked by the kite.Seriously - it was massively strong wind. Watch below as Don WORKS that wind.

Because of my extreme lightness - I suffered under the brutal hand of the wind. It would nearly knock me down and drug me across the ice up to 15 feet. Check it.Liz caught me one-leggin' it as I was drug across the ice - but somehow I was able to regain control and resist my ultimate doom. Check the video below (sorry it is lopsided).

So, basically, Lake Geneva was awesome. It is a land where anything goes and honestly, not all the excitement was reported. Some things that happen in Lake Geneva, stay in Lake Geneva.