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!