Operation Stay Home: 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.