Venice in April with toddlers - madness or fun?!

[penona]

Hi
Am thinking about a short break to Venice this April with my 3.5yo twins. DH has never been, I went years (20 years!!!) ago, and we fancy going somewhere different with the kids. Think they would be very excited about a city on the water, esp one with plenty of ice-cream and pasta
Been reading lots of the old threads on here about Venice, so have a few ideas and recommendations, but can anyone suggest a place/area to stay? Ideally we'd like a 2 bed apt so once kids have gone to bed we can still sit and watch some TV or something, and we have some flexibility with meals etc.
Any tips happily received!
Thanks

We took our sons when they were 2 1/2 and 7 months old and we had a ball! They loved the boats and canals and icecreams and pizza. Top tip though, dont take a double pushchair!! We did, and it was a bit of a killer lugging it up and down those stone bridges. But the Italians are fab with kids and if you socialise in the piazzas in the afternoons after 4pm, your children will find lots of playmates

Have you thought of Barcelona? More parks/open spaces for kids?