Cabane-a-Sucre take 2

When it was announced that there would be a school outing to a cabane-a-sucre, I hesitated to sign up. After all, we had recently tried maple taffy and had a tour of a sugar shack, albeit a small one. In the end, I let my girls decide. Did they want to take a school bus with Mama, and their school friends? They answered Yes, and so it was that this Monday we set off to a sugar shack on a school bus. The girls enjoyed singing "wheels on the bus" while actually on the bus, and the 30 minute bus ride seemed like 5.

When we got there, we got a quick tour outdoors, as it was still well below 0. We did learn a few new things: that native americans had actually been the first to tap into maple syrup. While waiting for their lunch, the school kids danced, played with wooden spoons, and watched in awe as a single musician played several different instruments. They had their first look at a bagpipe, and gleefully dance along to traditional Quebecois, and Irish music.

Papa's Birthday

Papa's birthday was on Tuesday, and the kids were very involved in the party preparations.  S1 and S2 spent the morning making birthday cards. S1 wrote a lovely message on the fridge with magnetic letters. As for S3, she, along with her sisters, helped eat Papa's delicious chocolate birthday cake:

March Warms Up!

This week saw the local weather finally climb over 0 degrees Celsius, and subsequently our girls spent some time outdoors. We had been cooped up for almost two months, and it felt good to enjoy the warmer weather.  This last week, the girls and I headed outdoors on three occasions. We did not go far, and we were sure to bring along our sleds. We found a few little hills, which  S1 and S2 climbed and sled down repeatedly. S3 preferred to run as far away as possible, and have me chase her.

March Break success with the little ones

I started worrying about March Break back in February. What would I do with the kids while pre-school was out for the week? Most of the activities I thought of were going to be over-crowded, and as a consequence, not much fun. I considered registering them for a one-week ski school, but decided that S2 and S3 would be a little too young, and that if January and February were any indication, the weather would be too cold. In the end the weather was pleasantly warm, but it was too late to register.

Here is how our week went:

Monday: a trip to the local farm. This included a tractor ride to a Maple field, and a brief presentation on tapping a tree for sap (both the old bucket method and the newer tubing method were explained.). There were only ten kids for the first ride over, and the kids were very interested in the presentation. At the end of the presentation, they thoroughly enjoyed a few helpings of maple taffy on ice. And we didn't have to endure the not-so-appetizing meals usually associated with sugar shacks. Success!

Tuesday: Swimming lessons were still on during March Break. Thank goodness!

Wednesday saw their father take them skating and to the Eco-museum. He took the day off while Mama was at work.

Thursday: Thank goodness we signed up for twice-a-week swimming lessons!

Friday: We headed over to a local bookstore that was hosting daily events for March Break. Story time was followed by arts and crafts stations. Our first station involved wand making. We did not stay for the 3 other craft stations as it was quite crowded. We headed over to the local hardware store for some drill bits, and discovered that they too had some special March Break activities. There were less than a dozen children, and our girls got to use a real hammer and screwdriver. They also got to paint the cars that the proudly assembled. Unexpected success!

Friday evening: My favourite part. S1 and S2 went to Grandma's for a sleep-over for the first time this year. And my sister came over to babysit the baby for 2 hours while Papa and I enjoyed our first date night this year!