From the Lens - Backyard Rink Glow

Well I am not sure what to think with this constant rain all day. I am fairly confident that it is not helping that rink as there is puddles out there… Is it spring already? 🌧️
Well done to these kids braving the cold and putting good use to the outdoor rink late into the night. 🏒
After a late night at the ER it was an early morning to wake up as the Ice Ops crew needed to resurface the ice. 🏒🥅🧊
Ready for the skaters now!
2022-2023 Ice Ops update: This weather with the other issue is not looking good for the rink conditions… 🌧️
With the temperature hitting a low of 5°F (-15°C) the rink was making lots of ice last night and has a nice layer on top… 🧊
Flooding Complete: A little over 18hrs of flooding brining my 9th year of this to a close. This year size was 54’ x 32’ and has about 14,041 Gallons (53,151 L) of water. Now I wait for it to freeze and keep my fingers crossed no leaks or sides blow out. 🏒
Now that my city upgraded our water meters and I have an app I can check it with, I realize that my calculation last year was way off. Guess I didn’t know how to read it or something but this year will be much more accurate but also with that much more shocking 😱
Flooding Update: 12 hours in.. things are progressing nicely but at this point we have not covered the base but should in the next hour.
💦 Still watching water fill my backyard rectangle up and praying there isn’t a leak… Also, testing out the beta status.lol app 😉
Flooding update: 8hrs in and still going well but the ground is not covered yet. Also, some of the snow chucks have been sticking up in the tarp so I am keeping my fingers crossed it won’t tear a hole in it. 🫣💦🏒
Flooding update: 2hrs in and things are progressing nicely as water is touching all of the back wall at this point. No leaks but at some point tonight before this gets too far along I need to put up some support braces 🤨
It’s that time of year again when the air is cold and I am going to pump a lot of water in my backyard that hopefully freezes. Let’s go! 💦🧊🏒
Doesn’t everyone spend a break in their day snow blowing their backyard instead of eating lunch or doing something else important?
Before
After… Now we are ready to flood at some point maybe this weekend
It didn’t take me this whole time as I might have ducked out for a quick run but the boards are up. Next up I need some cold weather… Sorry other Minnesota people 🧊 😬
Well.. It is now or never (for this season), if I am putting up the rink today and tomorrow are the days to set the boards up. Let’s go!
Weather is not looking good for someone who didn’t get his hockey boards setup.. I am going to still tell myself there will be warm days ahead in December. 🤨
Also, this next weeks weather will be a good test on the shed office insulation.
On one of her last days out of school due to COVID she decided to use that time to tear it up on the rink 🏒
Operation “fix the ice” is in full effect today for skating later 🏒
This sweet girl just lights up on ice 🏒. We have so many pictures where she is smiling behind her helmet as she plays 😍
The BEST skating partner! 🏒🐶
My most of the time team of one Maintenance crew finished shoveling the ice for tonight so it would be ready for another day of hockey and skating 🏒
Below 0°F today and it didn’t stop these kids from getting out on the ice to play a little hockey 🏒🥶
Even after a busy day of presents, food, and inside fun the kids wanted to get outside to do some night skating now that everything is solid again 🏒
Rink is open, and the fire is going… 🏒
Finally finished up flooding for my 8th year of doing this at 4am for a total time of 18 hrs. That equated to about 1484 Gallons (5618 L). Now we wait for it to freeze but this morning as you can see there is already a thin sheet of ice on it.
13 hours in and the rink is full. Now I need to fill the whole thing up a couple more inches to be skateable. 🏒
9 hours in to flooding and it still hasn’t covered the high side of the rink 😆. Also, the temperature keeps dropping and we are at 18°F now 👍
Finally, the day and time have come to flood the rink 👏 🏒 With 3 hrs in so far and this is all the water I have but only 1 hr of it has been 2 hoses. The wind has not been super helpful today as I have had to walk around it quite frequently so far.
What? You don’t use a snow blower to clear your backyard 🤷♂️
cooler weather is coming again and I need to prep the rink area 😁
Had a great morning at the US Pond Hockey Championships. The kids enjoyed skating around as well.
These four wasted no time this morning getting outside to skate in the New Year!
After all the hockey played on the rink this afternoon it is time for the “Zamboni” to get to work… OK it is done now 😁🏒
The season is upon us… 🏒
This year I upped our rink game by making the rink 70' x 32' compared to the last 6 years of 46' x 32' 😁. The kids are going to love it. Now let’s get colder MN so we can skate soon 🧊⛄🏒 (sorry MN friends but the kids want to skate)
Let the thawing begin as another backyard rink season comes to a close (March 2019)
With the temperature outlook for the rest of this week and the current standing water on the rink, I decided to puncture holes in the tarp… What a great backyard rink season and the kids are already wondering when we can set it up again 😂🏒
Had to get the snowblower to the backyard tonight to keep the ice clear… Now we can tackle the driveway #priorities 🏒
Look what I found on my run this morning in Ankeny, IA… Do I spy a backyard rink 👀🏒… Looks like a nice setup 👍
Not a bad afternoon for a fire and skating… 🏒
I can’t believe today would have marked my 6th consecutive year of helping out with the US Pond Hockey Championships (USPHC). However, due to my travel schedule this year I will be unable to help. Instead, I am getting ready to fly back to Minnesota this morning from a work trip. As sad as it is to break such a good streak and tradition, I figured I would reflect back on my prior times volunteering and how I came to be a volunteer 6 years ago.
So you decided to take a day off work and volunteer to stand on the ice for 8 hours in what could be really cold January weather?
Fair question, this probably piqued my interest more as I had just acquired the used materials for a backyard rink and was in the process of getting it ready for the cold. So as I was hearing about and seeing all of these pictures online of skating in the middle of a lake on an actual pond, I now wanted to see this event in person and watch some games.
Quick side story, I grew up in Iowa and have never played hockey in my life or really ice-skated in any prolonged amount of time. I used to rollerblade and play roller hockey in the street but nothing on the ice.
If you have made it this far and want to see what it looks like check out the US Pond Hockey Championships YouTube channel as they have some amazing videos from 2016 and 2017. I hope they put one out again this year as they get some amazing shots of the games and tournament. I am looking forward to hopefully helping out again next year as I always have a great time volunteering. Oh, and did I mention they give out some good hats. ?
These kids are going to make me work this afternoon… But what a beautiful day it is today at 0°F #backyardrink #hockey
Figure skating Boo… ⛸️👻 #backyardrink #skating
It was a great day to enjoy the Minnesota outdoors #backyardrink #hockey #family
Finally it’s that time of year again… #floodtherink #backyardrink
Some of you might not want to believe it.. but it is time #backyardrink
Ice is clean… Who is up for skating?
Good night to smooth out the ice…
Love his priorities after school today.. I am just glad I had a helper.
These kids were really making me work hard this afternoon
Not sure when these kids will come back inside…
That is a good looking backyard rink now that we have ICE! (again)
The weather is finally turning cold in Minnesota and that means that people are starting to think of the one sport everyone in Minnesota seems to play… HOCKEY!
For some background, I grew up in Iowa never playing or really watching hockey. Once I moved to Minnesota after college I started watching Hockey and have even taken up skating. It really must be something in the air or water here as my kids talk about hockey all the time and it seems to be on their mind all the time (Not that I am complaining). For that reason, when I had the opportunity to acquire some boards last year to set up my rink in the backyard I took advantage of it. Some of my friends outside the state of Minnesota are shocked that we actually flooded the backyard to create a rink to skate on. Honestly, it does sound a little strange but the whole family had a blast skating and playing hockey on it last year. The best part was you didn’t have to get in the car, or walk down the street to enjoy it.
Since the weather has been turning colder and there was snow in the forecast, I spent some of the weekend setting the rink up to ensure I was ready for the season. I was lucky that some family was in town to do some of the heavy lifting/swinging to get everything setup in really good time. Here is how it looked as of Sunday night with the Boards up, and the tarp clipped down.
There were two things I did differently from last year:
Below are some pictures of my helpers assisting in the setup, as you can see they had a great time helping set the boards out.