I wish I had a really funny joke about ice sculpture/sculpting at the ready but the truth is this stuff is no joke.  Josh and I got around to checking out the World Ice Art Championships here in Fairbanks this weekend.  I have a ton of pictures, and we are definitely going back once more at night, so this will likely be the first in a series of posts highlighting some of our favorite sculptures.  There is a children's section that is hands-on and luckily I'm child-sized so some of these are going to be hilarious.

Of course nothing is as hilarious as Alaskan signage, which never fails to amaze me:

Ah, brevity.

These are both in the main area of the sculpture displays, where individual projects/statues are roped off.  Because of the "warm" temperatures lately, some of the delicate and multi-block sculptures were showing signs of damage - most of the "one block" carvings (like the Eskimo above) were holding up well. 

I'm totally blown away!

No tongue, doesn't count.

The next Oprah.

This is for all of you assholes who asked if we were going to live in an igloo.

This is one of several carvings (along with the one I kissed, above) that was part of an ice maze in the children's section.  This area of the park had several carvings that doubled as slides that the kids could go on.  Lots of parents pulled their kids around on sleds.  Cheaper than a stroller!  Just buy rope.

These are enormous slides that are set off to the side of the ice park.  We are definitely doing this next time.  It looks like so much fun!

I rocked the maze, leaving crying children in my wake.  No mercy.