Enjoyed our trip to Winnipeg earlier this year

Winnipeg Blue Bombers
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I had not been to Winnipeg in over 20 years , but this year my twins (son & daughter 12 years old and their club ) were invited to a field hockey :field_hockey: tournament on the Easter long weekend.

My children have been playing Field Hockey for 2 years and love it and are quite skilled at it & were super excited to attend their first tournament. When I looked at the weather it showed -15C for the first day we were to arrive . Luckily I soon found out that the tournament would be indoors lol .

The tournament had kids, men’s or women’s teams from BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and even Mexico .

My daughter’s team was the only girls team at the tournament. However , they were so happy and proud to beat ALL the boys teams, and win the Manitoba gold medal!

My son’s team got the bronze, and I was shocked how much he had improved from the previous year although his team had not gelled yet, as it was just the start of their season.

Many of the parents were concerned there would not be much to see and do outside of the tournament, I was more optimistic & we found much to enjoy in Winnipeg. We were too early for any CFL games however lol .

Some of the things we did and enjoyed during our 4 days :

Human Rights Museum: Amazing architecture & we enjoyed all the levels , historical learnings, the views from the top etc …

Went outside the museum to take pictures with the “Winnipeg “ sign and cityscape , walked over the Riel Footbridge, and shopped /ate at the “Forks”. Also bought my wife (member of the RCMP) some nice genuine moccasins from a store she had heard about.

Manitoba Museum : We all enjoyed a few hours here as my kids love history .

The Royal Mint : This was fantastic place to visit and tour , even the landscape & architecture was amazing. We loved the flag of nations “drive” next door with flags of all the countries our mint has made coins for , over the years .

The Leaf : This was an unexpected find in Winnipeg! A huge multi floor glass indoor tropical Botanical Garden Biosphere with a tall waterfall , elevator to the butterfly garden.

We also went to a few places that were on TV shows like “You Gotta Eat Here” , and other unique to Manitoba restaurants / breweries etc .

My kids want to come back for another tournament in the future , as they enjoyed swimming and eating with their teammates.

(Thinking selfishly) It would be great if they moved the future tournament to a weekend during the early CFL season , so I could experience IG Field and a Bombers game . I guess it may be asking too much , to have BC visiting LOL.

Many were surprised when my kids would tell people back home in BC , how much they loved their late winter trip to Winnipeg!

Thanks for the great trip !

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That’s nice to hear. I’m glad that all of you had such a good time visiting the 'Peg.

Congrats on your kids’ success in the field hockey tournaments. If they’re skilled at field hockey I’ll bet they’d soon learn ‘lacrosse’. That’s another outdoor team sport involving sticks that’s picking up steam in these parts. Maybe we’ll see you back here with your kids in the late spring or early summer after the field hockey tournaments end to compete for the lacrosse championship. That might also give you the opportunity to see a game at IG Field as well. :grinning: :+1:

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Thanks Maaax!

We will get to see a CLF game on the prairies this summer however, as in August we are doing an almost month long road trip of Western Canada (BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan) with a game in Regina. I have always wanted to check out a ‘Riders home game, as we always hear about their great atmosphere and stadium.

As luck would have it , the game we will be attending Aug 20 , is when the BC Lions are visiting !

This summer’s road trip will include 2 weeks in Saskatchewan, a week in Alberta & the rest in BC .

Our itinerary includes 4 days in Calgary , weekend at Good Knights Medieval Encampment , few days in Cypress Hills Inter-Provincial park , Grasslands National Park, Moose Jaw, Regina (3 days ) , Saskatoon (3 days) , Great Sandhills , Medicine Hat, Rockies , Hot Springs, Kelowna, River Floats, Horseback riding (hopefully a few times ) , Scenic Bike & E-Bike riding , Segway tour , etc .

I even found that we have Canada’s version of the Dead Sea in Saskatchewan!

My kids love farms and animals, so if we can perhaps find a farm with the huge combine or tractor machinery they would be ticked pink so see or perhaps ride on that.

If anyone has any other suggestions for our road trip , please let me know .

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Reading this brought back a lot of great memories.
When we visited in 2014, the border guard asked why we came from Illinois to Manitoba.
“For vacation,” I said.
“People don’t normally come to Manitoba for vacation” he replied.

We had a blast! It was Canada Day and the Forks was amazing - free concerts everywhere you turned. My favorite was The Perms.

Great time at the Bombers game. A highlight was going on the field after the game.

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my uncle came across some ticks in the bush while he was living on his farm. Hopefully the ticks on the prairies stay away from your kids.