Happy Family Day, Ontario (And Everyone Else)

Happy Family Day to all my peeps in Ontario (Canada)!  First celebrated in 2008, Family Day takes place on the third Monday of every February and is intended to give working parents a day dedicated to spending quality time with their families. Today marks the third annual Family Day in Ontario (Alberta and Saskatchewan also recognize the holiday) and I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the day.

My family doesn’t have a whole lot planned for Family Day this year. We’re in the midst of a major home reno (work began a few weeks ago and walls on the main floor start coming down on Friday), so we’re a little limited in what we can do at the moment. Moving is always a pain, but I’ve discovered that this is possibly worse -much of the house still has to be packed up so it’s not really accessible, but there’s a generous smattering of drywall dust everywhere. My poor hard drives… It’s snowing right now, so I think we’ll grab the sleds and walk to the local toboggan hill for an hour or two. I also have a LEGO Millenium Falcon set sitting in the van (no, not that one) that we might tackle. Maybe some assemble-your-own nachos, a roaring fire, hot chocolate and a movie will round the day out. If I have enough energy and I can find the cookie sheets, I’ll bake enough cookies to be able to throw a few containers in the freezer and keep me going through the coming “no oven or stove access” weeks. Then it’s back to packing up what’s left of the kitchen and looking forward to a few weeks of nightly BBQing…

Family Day at the ROM. Image from the Royal Ontario Museum.

If you live in Ontario and you’re looking for some last minute ideas for family activities today, here are a few possibilities:

• Ottawa: The Museum of Civilization and the War Museum are offering free admission for kids under 18 (one child per adult) today. Winterlude is also underway.
• The Toronto Zoo is offering free admission on Monday for kids under 12 who bring a valentine for their favorite bug (one child per adult). The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto is including Mesozoic Monsters with museum admission
• Victoria Park in London is offering a free Family Day Skate, all day on Monday and Circle R Ranch is holding an open house with free hay rides and hot chocolate.
• Waterloo Public Square in Waterloo has a free family skate along with a food fair, magician, music, face painting and additional activities.
• Geeky dads and moms in Hamilton might want to check out the Family Day Toy and Collectible Show/Sale that promises Star Wars toys, action figures and plenty of other interesting ways to spend a little money (admission $2, kids under 10 are free).