A Farewell to Summer

The temperature starting falling yesterday. Last week was a mixture of humidity and unbearable heat. I found myself staying indoors, venturing out only in the early morning hours to get my run in before the heat made it impossible and unadvisable.

We walked out of church yesterday and felt it. The heat was leaving. The breeze was refreshing and it seemed to carry the hint of the season to come. A fitting way to celebrate this last weekend of summer.

School started here on August 22. Summer for us has been over for more than a week. Growing up in Ontario, I dreaded Labour Day. It didn't feel like a holiday but more like a death sentence as school started the day after. After moving here and finding out that school started before Labor Day, my first reaction was that school kids were getting cheated out of summer. I feel differently now.

Kids around here are finished up with school usually by the end of May depending on the amount of snow days they have. Kids from Ontario are still in school through most of the month of June. Labor day now feels like an official holiday, a break from the craziness that is the beginning of the school year. By the time this last weekend of summer rolls around, the kids are into their new routine, all of the school parent meetings are over, and kids, parents and teachers are all ready for a holiday weekend.

All that being said, I'm going to show you more pictures of our summer.

I simply feel it has to be done.

Niagra Falls! Farmer boy and the kids had never seen them. It had been years for me so this year we decided to drive about an hour and half from my parent's house and take them in.

We rode the Maid of the Mist, a boat you pay to board ( I can't remember how much it was!) and that takes you as close as you can get to the bottom of the Falls.

We got really nice blue coats to wear while we were on the boat. Not only are they beautiful and flattering, but also very practical. The closer we got to the Falls the harder the mist fell. It was like rain. Without our beautiful blue overcoats, we would have been soaked.

Of course we went to the Canadian side of the Falls. The Canadian Falls are bigger, more beautiful. That is simply a fact and has nothing to do with me being Canadian. I honestly have no idea why the American Flag was on the Maid of the Mist but I'm not shocked that Farmer Boy took a picture of it. He likes to bug me.



Speaking of Farmer Boy's teasing disposition......this truck was parked at Chesley Lake close to where mom and dad's cottage is. Farmer Boy was completely taken in by it. He wondered to himself how anyone could advertise such a thing and not get arrested. If they weren't getting arrested perhaps they were a different kind of crack specialist. I imagine it is all still tumbling around in his head and that sometime in the not too distant future it will all come back to haunt me.

Back to summer vacation pictures.

My friend Janet from growing up days, happened to be up at Chesley with her family the same time as we were. She told us about Pike's Bay. It is located on the Bruce Peninsula and is part of Lake Huron. Normally we spend a day or two at Sauble Beach which is also Lake Huron, but this year we decided to drive a little further north and do some exploring.

Pike's Bay isn't a proper beach. There is no sand. It is simply rock, than water. To get to the 'beach' youwalk, climb and jump up and over some rocks until you are at the water's edge. Then simply walk to the water and jump in. The kids were given strict orders not to dive. They were also wearing water shoes which helped.

With their goggles, Farmer Boy and the kids could explore and swim between underwater rocks. I stayed wrapped up in my sweatshirt, took pictures and did exploring that didn't involve getting my head wet. We were able to set up camp on a area of flat rock close to the water's edge. We laid out our towels and the kids would come and soak up some heat and eat gobs of junk food before heading back into the water. The water was cold but they assured me that once you're body was numb, it felt great. It's the period of time that it takes to get numb that persuaded me to stay wrapped in my sweatshirt.

A local girl hung out with us while we were there. She told us that this is the place her and her dad come to simply because not a lot of other people do.

We loved it and will probably visit again.

So, with that, I say farewell to summer and hello to all the new adventures that a new school year will bring.

Happy Labor or Labour Day.