Family Fun - Week 10

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 10 of family fun.

Before we went to France, we visited the Westfield Heritage Village for their maple syrup festival and really enjoyed it. It was 9ºC on Sunday (3 Sundays ago now) so a perfect time to go again. We had a fantastic time, my favourite family fun so far. Finian is at a great age for outings now, he is curious about where we are going ("Where we going Mummy?" times 100), and wants to do everything once we are there.

The heritage village taps their maple trees and makes maple syrup 3 ways, as the Native Canadians made it, as the early settlers made it, and as it is made in a current small scale sugar shack. There are people in costume reenacting so it really holds the kids interest. This is a bumper year for maple syrup in Ontario, yum!

The Native Canadians heated the sap in hollowed-out logs using hot rocks.

The early settlers heated the sap in big cauldrons over fires that they kept burning day and night.

This is the modern way, the sap goes in the top where all the steam is, and the maple syrup drips out the bottom. We tasted it, so good!

Westfield also has historical buildings, a trading post, general store, print shop, bakery, church, and more, all staffed with people in costume reenacting various roles. We plan on going back again during the summer.