It’s March break and you’re kicking yourself for not booking that beach vacation, right? Me too, but let’s make up for it by having an awesome week filled with family fun right here at home in Ottawa. Here’s eight of my favourite March Break staycation ideas!
1. The Log Farm sugar shack
All you can eat pancakes, eggs and sausage, and then an old fashioned maple experience? Heck yes! We look forward to visiting this cabane a sucre in Barrhaven every year. Check out the Lone Star Ranch Facebook page for times and details.
2. Bake rainbow cupcakes
My kids love this one! Help spring to hurry winter on its way with these ridiculously easy and kid-friendly cupcakes.
3. Visit the Diefenbunker
The most quirky museum experience in Ottawa, and one of our favourites – the Diefenbunker in Carp.
4. Take a tour of the Parliament Building and the Peace Tower
When is the last time you visited Ottawa’s most iconic site? Have you brought your kids up the Peace Tower? It really is a memorable experience!
5. Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo
We have had birthday parties where Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo has brought critters to our house, and they’re a regular attraction at our school’s events. Even so, we still go at least once a year to the zoo out on the south end of Bank Street, and every time we do, we see something new. Little Ray’s is definitely one of our Ottawa family favourites!
6. Downhill ski as a family
I used to think of skiing as a family activity for people who were more athletic, and honestly, more wealthy than us. Turns out skiing is both more economically feasible than I imagined, especially thanks to the SnowPass for Grade 4 and 5 students, and more viable for even clumsy old first-timers like me. We’ve enjoyed a few trips to Calabogie, but we’ll be trying Mount Pakenham next time.
7. Big balls and little balls
The last time we visited Merivale Bowling just after Christmas, they had both blacklight glowy things going on and bumpers in the gutters to help the littlest bowlers out a bit. Or if you like your balls a little smaller, how about an indoor putt-putt?
8. Feed the chickadees on the Jack Pine Trail
Feel like getting some fresh air after a long, cold February? Stop at the Bulk Barn for bird seed on your way to enjoy the fresh air (and with any luck, sunshine!) on the Jack Pine Trail off Moodie Drive. When we were there last week, we saw everything from woodpeckers to porcupines, and the kids could spend hours feeding the chickadees.
What will YOU be doing on your Ottawa March break staycation?