This is our first official spring break since Edmund is in his first year of elementary school. Since I am just getting over the sick pregnancy stage, I did not have any desire to really travel. Plus, we just had a lot going on with potty training Clara, buying a new to us car, getting ready for baseball, swimming lessons, and just living life with three kids.
I decided to try to come up with some fun ideas to do with the kids to make spring break fun and memorable. It's not often that I have all three kids for an entire week. At first, I had some great outdoor parks to go to, but it became apparent that the weather was not going to cooperate. It rained the entire week! With that in mind, here is what we did:
Day 1: Columbus Zoo
With there being one sunny day the entire week, we decided to use the weather to our advantage and hit up the zoo. We went with my friend Melanie, her son Sammy, and sister Lynn. While being a bit chilly in the wind, we enjoyed touring around North America and Asia. We stopped to eat lunch. The highlight was seeing the polar bears. They were swimming in the water, jumping off of rocks, and just being funny. It was a great way to spend the morning.
Day 2: La Chatelaine, Magic Mountain
The morning began with the great idea to go to Sassafrass Bakery in Worthington. I had heard they had great cookies and scones. We got there only to realize that it was closed on Tuesdays. It was raining so we quickly ran over to La Chatelaine since I knew they had pastries. The boys both got chocolate mousse while Clara got a jam filled sugar cookie covered in powdered sugar. We found a comfy spot to sit in the back by the window and watched the rain fall. I asked the boys what else they wanted to do on spring break and they both said that they wanted to go to Magic Mountain. I slightly groaned inside but after we were done at La Chatelaine, I told them we could go to Magic Mountain for a bit. They were so excited. They played games, won tickets, and then sat and contemplated what prizes they wanted to pick out. They had a great time.
Day 3: Dad's Work and Lunch with Dad. Car Shopping
We spent most of the morning cleaning and picking up since we had been gone the past few days. We organized the boys' room a bit because they kept bringing toys up from the toy room. We met dad at his office where the kids got to see where he worked again. They also got hot chocolate in the break room and saw his desk. We then went out for burgers at Flip Side for lunch. Burgers and french fries are right up their alley. It was great besides mom having to take Clara to the bathroom 5 times. We then drove down to a Buick dealership where dad was looking at a used car he wanted to buy. I got to drive it around. It was so much nicer than either of our current cars. Eric made an offer and ended up buying it. I drove the kids home, but Eric came home early from work and we drove back to the dealership so Eric could pick it up.
Day 4: Crafting, The Bare Bowl
The boys had a ton of ideas of things they wanted to do at home. They drew pictures and Edmund made a book on how to draw. The boys wanted to create things out of clay. I helped them make small baskets and Edmund made a watering can looking sculpture. They had a great time making things. We then went to The Bare Bowl after lunch to paint pottery. All of the kids picked out different types of candle holders. Nathaniel's was a house, Edmund's was a large orb with flower cut outs and Clara's was a small lantern with flower cut outs. The kids loved picking out whatever colors they wanted to. I limited them to 3. Clara was done early and kept trying to wander around. I helped her put on a few coats, while the boys painted theirs carefully. We hope they turn out nice!
Day 5: COSI
We met up with a bunch of friends at COSI to hang out for the morning. We spent most of the morning playing in the kid's space. The boys rode scooters around and played in the fire truck while Clara splashed in the water table and insisted on going into the bathroom about ten times. I also helped Clara paint and create a mosaic. We ate lunch together and then headed down to the dinosaur exhibit. It was getting really busy, which made it hard to look at everything. We zipped through the exhibit and will try to go back another day when there are less people. We then headed back home to hang out with dad, since he had taken a half day off of work.
Overall, it was a lovely but not too busy spring break. We had lots of fun hanging out together, there was minimal fighting, and we did some new things!
-Anna
I decided to try to come up with some fun ideas to do with the kids to make spring break fun and memorable. It's not often that I have all three kids for an entire week. At first, I had some great outdoor parks to go to, but it became apparent that the weather was not going to cooperate. It rained the entire week! With that in mind, here is what we did:
Day 1: Columbus Zoo
With there being one sunny day the entire week, we decided to use the weather to our advantage and hit up the zoo. We went with my friend Melanie, her son Sammy, and sister Lynn. While being a bit chilly in the wind, we enjoyed touring around North America and Asia. We stopped to eat lunch. The highlight was seeing the polar bears. They were swimming in the water, jumping off of rocks, and just being funny. It was a great way to spend the morning.
Day 2: La Chatelaine, Magic Mountain
The morning began with the great idea to go to Sassafrass Bakery in Worthington. I had heard they had great cookies and scones. We got there only to realize that it was closed on Tuesdays. It was raining so we quickly ran over to La Chatelaine since I knew they had pastries. The boys both got chocolate mousse while Clara got a jam filled sugar cookie covered in powdered sugar. We found a comfy spot to sit in the back by the window and watched the rain fall. I asked the boys what else they wanted to do on spring break and they both said that they wanted to go to Magic Mountain. I slightly groaned inside but after we were done at La Chatelaine, I told them we could go to Magic Mountain for a bit. They were so excited. They played games, won tickets, and then sat and contemplated what prizes they wanted to pick out. They had a great time.
Day 3: Dad's Work and Lunch with Dad. Car Shopping
We spent most of the morning cleaning and picking up since we had been gone the past few days. We organized the boys' room a bit because they kept bringing toys up from the toy room. We met dad at his office where the kids got to see where he worked again. They also got hot chocolate in the break room and saw his desk. We then went out for burgers at Flip Side for lunch. Burgers and french fries are right up their alley. It was great besides mom having to take Clara to the bathroom 5 times. We then drove down to a Buick dealership where dad was looking at a used car he wanted to buy. I got to drive it around. It was so much nicer than either of our current cars. Eric made an offer and ended up buying it. I drove the kids home, but Eric came home early from work and we drove back to the dealership so Eric could pick it up.
Day 4: Crafting, The Bare Bowl
The boys had a ton of ideas of things they wanted to do at home. They drew pictures and Edmund made a book on how to draw. The boys wanted to create things out of clay. I helped them make small baskets and Edmund made a watering can looking sculpture. They had a great time making things. We then went to The Bare Bowl after lunch to paint pottery. All of the kids picked out different types of candle holders. Nathaniel's was a house, Edmund's was a large orb with flower cut outs and Clara's was a small lantern with flower cut outs. The kids loved picking out whatever colors they wanted to. I limited them to 3. Clara was done early and kept trying to wander around. I helped her put on a few coats, while the boys painted theirs carefully. We hope they turn out nice!
We met up with a bunch of friends at COSI to hang out for the morning. We spent most of the morning playing in the kid's space. The boys rode scooters around and played in the fire truck while Clara splashed in the water table and insisted on going into the bathroom about ten times. I also helped Clara paint and create a mosaic. We ate lunch together and then headed down to the dinosaur exhibit. It was getting really busy, which made it hard to look at everything. We zipped through the exhibit and will try to go back another day when there are less people. We then headed back home to hang out with dad, since he had taken a half day off of work.
Overall, it was a lovely but not too busy spring break. We had lots of fun hanging out together, there was minimal fighting, and we did some new things!
-Anna
