A Good Friday

Because of my week-end work schedule, there are few opportunities for family road trips. Good Friday happened to be one such opportunity that we had been considering for some time. I had avoided spending too long on the road with all three kids as hearing "are we there yet" every five minutes can be tiresome. Especially with three kids repeating the same thing over and over again. So we hatched a plan:

We would buy behind-the-seat iPad holders for the three iPads we own, and set up some kid-friendly movies. As our girls generally get almost no screen-time, we knew this would be a special treat. Our plan worked out well until part way there, the girls realized they weren't watching the same films...and one had no film at all as the iPad in question did not contain enough space for a full length movie. We did make it to Ottawa, our destination, roughly two hours after our departure, without a single stop.

We had a lovely visit with an aunt and cousin in Ottawa. They were very hospitable, and managed to feed our picky eaters a wholesome lunch. We then all headed off to the "Canada Agriculture and Food Museum." They had a special set-up for the long week-end, which included a visit of several barns, and a hands-on session with chicks, baby rabbits, and ducklings. The girls received some tasty egg-shaped chocolates as we headed to the car. 

Thankfully, on the way back,  our youngest fell asleep. Our oldest, however, woke her up after about a half an hour because she was upset about the movie she was watching...she wanted to watch the same show as her middle sister, and complained quite vocally. But we did eventually make it home,  and our girls have asked when we will next return to Ottawa.

Overall, as our cousin in Ottawa put it, it was a good  Friday...

Winter Carnival

The week after March Break was called "winter carnival week" at my kindergartener's school. The plan was as follows:

Monday: Jersey day: kids can break from the usual school colours and wear a jersey from their favourite team
Tuesday: Kindergarteners build a snowman
Wednesday: Kids bring in the large ice cubes they had frozen to build a castle
Thursday: Crazy hat day
Friday: Musical show entitled la Diva Malbouffa

Our daughter missed the two first days with yet another virus, this one most likely influenza

Wednesday in photos:

Thursday, we didn't really know what to expect for Crazy Hat Day. I had already chosen a funny looking hat from our dress-up trunk. Luckily my sister, a teacher working at the same school, gave me the heads up: The hats should by handmade, and the kids parade their hat sin the gymnasium in front of the others. There is one winner per class. Thanks mostly to Pinterest and a hot glue gun, I was able to throw together a cupcake hat, stuffed with a balloon that my daughter had blown up on her own. She came in second in her class, not bad for a last minute crazy hat!

On Friday, my daughter  could not tell me much about the show, except that she had enjoyed it, that she sat on her teacher's lap the whole time, and that there were "googly eyes" in the show.

When the carnival committee planned the Winter Carnival Week, little did they know that there would be spring-like weather, and the snowmen and castles would melt before the end of the week...

My Three Little Princesses

A few weeks ago, I decided that it would be nice to take the girls to a Disney on Ice show. We had considered it in the past, but deemed the youngest too young to attend. By the time I begun my search for tickets, I could only find four seats together. Should we leave the "baby" home with grandma and attend with the older two, or perhaps should I attend with three girls, and their Papa would join as at the end of the show (as his workplace is a few blocks away)?  In the end, we opted for the latter...

So it was that on the last day of March Break, I drove down with the three girls. I had been advised by my cousin that the girls should dress up. They gladly donned some princess costumes that had been gifted to them, and my cousin loaned them the matching wigs.

From the beginning to the end of the show, the girls were rapt in attention. I was particularly impressed by our two-year old that clapped on cue, and waved good-bye to all of the on-ice characters.

Their favourite, hands down, was Olaf the snowman. 

Overall, we had an incredible time. We did not buy any merchandise, but did share a box of popcorn. The girls are already asking to return next year, and I think we just might look early enough to purchase five tickets...

March Break and Their First Ski

Well before our first snowfall, I had planned on signing the girls up for ski school. Initially, I was aiming for a once weekly class, but they would have missed 1/4 of the classes due to our January trip to the Turks and Caicos, so we opted instead for March Break ski school at our local ski hill. Only 35 minutes away, and with no traffic, it was the right choice. The weather cooperated, and the classes were small. In fact, our two older girls were paired up, and met their very enthusiastic instructor, Katia, on the first morning.  Our youngest stayed home with Grandma as ski school at this particular mountain starts at age three.

Our girls had a wonderful week, and enjoyed the skiing as much as the hot chocolate by the fire that awaited them at the end of their class. They were very excited about their first trip on the ski lift, and throughly enjoyed going up the "magic carpet". We are already talking about season passes for next year, and returning for ski school during next March Break...

On their first day with their cousins

Snow Plow on their first day

A larger run later on in the week...

Last day with their wonderful instructor Katia