OTTAWA -- It's the final weekend of the 51st edition of Winterlude, celebrated virtually this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Ottawa family decided to keep the spirit of the popular winter festival alive, by building some of the most popular activities in the backyard of their Kanata home.

Who says grown-ups cannot have fun?

Richard and Barb Wiens do, and to prove it, they made a quintessentially Canadian winter play park.

"I am a kid at heart," laughs Barb, as she climbs a ladder and prepares to slide down the luge track she and her husband built.

"We were so disappointed that Winterlude is online, so you can't do the things that we used to go with the kids to do."

That was their inspiration, to bring the winter festival to their Kanata backyard. Barb grabbed the snow blower to help make a Jacques-Cartier Park inspired mountain of snow to form giant slide.

The track is one of the many activities the couple created since December. Richard spent many hours creating the perfect slab of skating ice.

"We've built a rink for probably 15 of the last 17 years and we stopped doing it because our kids kind of outgrew it," says Richard. "But we decided to resurrect it this year and actually made it a little bit smaller than it had been before."

However, it's not small, it's actually massive.

It was likely to make way for the igloo, which is complete with a clear-ice skylight and an area where they coloured ice blocks to build Inuksuk.

There are decorative lights that string across the length of the yard, and more powerful spotlights around the rink if you plan for a late-night skate or curling.

Richard fabricated some 'rocks', just in case the family desires a quick curling bonspiel.

The couple say working from home allowed them to have the time to work on their Winterlude park set-up, as well as get some exercise and have a little fun.

"It took many, many hours in the cold but we enjoyed being out and it was great for us," says Richard.

Barb adds, "We get outside every day and do something and even when it's really cold you can still get out into your backyard for a little while."