Summer is short – real short. And I don’t just mean the 8 weeks of school holidays. I mean heat. Real, sweaty, hot, proper heat. That only lasts for 8 weeks too. May and June can be cold, and by September it starts to get chilly. So that means you’ve got to maximize the heat, and get to the beach as much as possible while you can.

For us, that also means camping at our favourite provincial park, Awenda. I’ve extolled its virtues in previous posts but to summarize, it’s an amazing park because it has four beautiful beaches, its own lake, hiking trails, and big, private campsites. This time we went with two friends and their kids, which was awesome, and the kids had an amazing time even though for some of them this was the very first time camping!

Happy campers!

The waters of Georgian Bay can be very cold but in the summer they’re just perfect – either that or I’ve fully adjusted to the water temperatures of Ontario and no longer find it too cold to swim. Nonetheless, the beaches were absolute perfection, the water was warm and lovely, crystal clear, and I could have almost tricked myself into believing it was the ocean. I could have soaked in the water all day, but unfortunately we only had 2 nights there.

This was also cool – while kayaking at the Kettle Lake we saw a ginormous snapping turtle. The park rangers said they think based on its size that it is probably about 50 years old. Older than me!

This year unfortunately we only managed to go camping once. Ever since covid began the provincial parks have been unbelievably packed and fully booked and it’s been a problem getting sites because nothing is available. To book this camping trip for 3 families we had to book it more than four months in advance. See what I mean about summer being too short!