My kids worked their tails off this weekend.

It is Science Fair season and we’ve got a busy January, so we were all in agreement:
time to get cracking.

Tall One partnered with a friend and launched a labor-heavy experiment comparing the rising capacity of various bread flours (white, wheat, spelt). Small One created a scientific template for comparing key characteristics of potential pets (habitat requirements, food needs, cuddliness, etc.). Needless to say, our house was all yeast, scissors and glue sticks, from Friday afternoon ’til last night.

There were hiccups —  Papa Bear had to make a panicky run to Whole Foods when the scientists ran out of spelt flour…  cats were continually banished from the poster boards… Google somehow lost "the perfect Red-Slider Turtle site."

But all in all, it was productive and pretty jolly — musical soundtracks on the stereo, quite a few ah-haa moments, and some really good fresh toast on Sunday morning. By last night, both girls had nearly complete presentation boards with facts, photos and fun fonts. Science Fair 2010 — pretty much in the bag.

Still, I did not expect what I heard this morning — that this weekend felt "like a mini spring break".

"It was so much fun doing our projects," said Tall One.
"It’s almost like we went on adventures," echoed her sister.

Seriously.
You could have knocked me over with a baby corn snake.
Science Fair Projects=Spring Break???
Dang.
I want some of that kool-aid.

But, really, there are work days that feel not just gratifying but exhilarating.
I’ve had them and now, so have my girls.

So the question is, how to bring them on with some degree of regularity?
How to make work feel a little bit more like an adventure every day?

I’ve got no controlled methods, objective deductions or hard data, but my hypothesis goes something this: 

Do the work you love…
Believe it can be joyful…
Go all-in…

Spring Breakish feeling will follow.

I’m on my way to test it out now.
Peer reviews of this study are welcome.