Marching right along

Not surprisingly, we aren't going anywhere for March break. Hubby's work and school schedule are starting to get hectic, and the weather has only just turned mild, so it's a great week for a staycation. I had a number of things in mind that I wanted to do with D off school this week, and the girls have been really enjoying themselves! Here's what we've gotten up to.

Friday: Playdate with a friend of D's from school, who conveniently has a sister the same age as M (and was actually in M's swimming class, which wrapped up on Thursday). They played indoors and outdoors a bit after lunch, and M fell asleep in the car on the 10-minute drive home!

Saturday: Amazing day. My family will laugh their heads off over this, as I was never a big fan of downhill skiing. After not being able to ski up at my parents' cottage in February, I was keen to get D out at least once this year. There's a ski hill only half an hour from our house, and kids under 6 are free, so we went with my dad on Saturday morning. It went incredibly well. Both girls ended up skiing, I think, close to 10 runs. Last year D made it down the hill twice, it was so cold. On Saturday, it was just above zero, which was perfect for all of us to be outdoors. We did have to get rentals, so that took awhile. It was so worth it to see how much they loved skiing! We went inside for hot chocolate and snacks, and I was expecting them to be pretty much done. My dad asked D if she wanted to go back out, and she did! And to our surprise, so did M! That was lucky, because that was when the ski hill's mascots came out, and M got to hug and high five them, and ride up behind them on the magic carpet. On D's last run, she skiied down next to my dad, holding his hand. I cheered and took video of almost every run.

Once we got home and had lunch, everyone went down for naps. Hubby was kind and allowed me some extra sleep by taking the girls down to play in the basement after they woke up. So then I could be kind and make black bean quinoa burgers with honey oat buns and sweet potato fries for dinner. I had already started the elaborate two-hour prep when Hubby came upstairs to ask what I was making. When I told him, he said that was exactly what he was going to ask for! Despite the long prep and cooking time, it's one of our favourite meals. Surprising for a picky eater.

Sunday: Hubby stayed home for the day to work on one of his courses; the girls and I went to church, then met up with my parents and drove to a local horse farm where they had a buffet breakfast and sleigh rides! They only run this on Sundays from February til Easter, and again the weather was perfect.We went back to my parents' for the afternoon and stayed for a lovely steak dinner. The girls were so delighted to have Grandma home! And of course to see Grandpa again.

Today: We took our sweet time getting up and ready for the day, and the girls even slept in a bit! That was due to the time change, I think, or maybe the later bedtimes recently. We had baking powder biscuits and kiwis for breakfast, and headed out to a nearby mall for their free March break kids' program. The girls decorated paper Egyptian necklaces and bracelets with markers, glue, and sequins, ate fortune cookies, and D participated in the group yoga exercises. They're doing different activities every day this week, but this was the only morning we could have made it, so I'm glad we did. After quiet time, we'll be going over to my parents' again, this time for a sleepover! Our March break is off to a solid start.

Getting started

Magic carpet selfie

D collapses from exhaustion/silliness; M assumes a judgy expression

Aaaaand she's out

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

I am usually an enthusiastic participant when it comes to Shrove Tuesday, although I don't follow it up by observing Lent. I mostly enjoy the breakfast-for-dinner aspect, and the proximity to Easter and spring. (Do we still get spring in this part of the country? It seems unlikely at this point in time, but that may be the daily walks to the bus stop talking. I so preferred hibernating!)

My lucky mom remains in Toronto with the new grandson, who we met this weekend and is absolutely perfect and gorgeous and gaining weight at an unbelievable speed and didn't pee on me once during the three diaper changes I administered. So, tonight we will feast with my dad. The usual spread includes fruit salad, sausages, orange juice and pancakes (plain or blueberry). Gourmande that I am, I wanted to eat pancakes more than once today, so we had Smitten Kitchen's carrot cake pancakes for lunch! They took a little while to cook, but were they ever worth it. I then made the mistake of perusing her site a bit longer, and now have several cravings to add to the growing list.

That's cream cheese icing, and a little bit of maple syrup for dipping. I may have eaten a cookie for dessert. No one will be surprised if I birth another giant baby.

The other thing I appreciated about today was that, for the first time since she started school, I did not have to pack a snack for D today. (I know, I know, I haven't even had to pack daily lunches yet!) They had pancakes at school. I love the Catholic board!

Another recent special event at school was Crazy Hair Day, which D explained could also be Pretty Hair Day, and she asked me to curl her hair. By the time she got off the bus, the curls had settled into waves. In case you're wondering, she does dress herself.