Summering Hard

Anyone else feel like this summer is flying by like a streak of lightening?  I know I'm not alone in that feeling!!  A late start following a particularly crappy spring has led to me trying to cling to these summer days for dear life.  And yes, I do still love fall, and winter is still my favourite season, but I'm just not ready for that yet. 

Here's a quick bullet point list of what's been going down this summer:

• Pool days, and lots of 'em!
  
  
  
  
• Beach days.  Several!  Every summer I swear I'm going to spend more time at the beach, and this year I can say I've been successful.  I've had two of them at Aunt Marion & Uncle Eric's, and an evening and a day in Norway Bay.  And I'm hoping I'm not done yet.
  
  
• Reading on the deck.  And most recently, in my new GLIDER!!  A surprise birthday gift from the Woermkes that has become my new favourite spot to settle in with a good book. :)
• Side-note: I started reading The Tonight Show Summer Reads book club choice (if Jimmy Fallon starts a book club, you know I'm in!!) - the fans voted for "Ask Again, Yes" by Mary Beth Keane.  I am about half way through it and I CANNOT put this book down.  I'm so hooked.  And I can't even pinpoint why.  I just can't wait to get home to read each night.  SO good.
  
• Speaking of birthday... I celebrated my birthday! First at the Tractor & Truck pull the day before, then with a BBQ and cake with the fam on the day of, and lots of celebrating on my week off.
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of my week off... it was marvelous!!  Filled with fun activities, yet relaxing all the same.  It needs several bullet points of its own to cover it all. lol!  So here we go:
• An unexpected day out with my sister and her family.  I had planned to just veg at home that first day, but instead we went glow-in-the-dark mini putting, then went down to Landsdowne (I had never been!)  We had dinner at place called "Local" (best fish tacos I've ever haaaad), strolled around, bought chocolate at the Lindt store ($25 worth in fact lol), ate gourmet cinnamon buns at Cinnaholic, played in a park, and just had a fun casual afternoon/evening.  
  
  
  
  
• We went to see The Lion King (and LOVED it!!), then had dinner at the Chelsea Pub and ice cream at La Cigale.  (This was my one birthday wish, and it was delightful!)
  
  
  
  
• A relaxing day at the pool at Donna & Eric's with Kara, Chris & the kids, including a picnic lunch of snacks.
  
• My mom and I went on a road trip with my Aunt Marion to Newboro and Westport.  We shopped, had lunch at The Stagecoach Inn (NOT the best fish tacos I've ever had), shopped some more, then ended the day in beautiful Almonte where we dined at Cafe Postino... it was absolutely delicious!!  
  
  
  
  
• On the Friday, we had a beach day at Aunt Marion & Uncle Eric's.  All the fam-jam gathered, my cousin Dave roasted a pork loin, and we had a wonderful dinner of pork on a bun with a wide array of salads. Yum!  Beach days are the best days!!
  
• I attended a Celebration of Life for my friend's uncle.  This might sound like a "downer" thing to have to do on vacation, but despite it being a sad occasion, I actually had a great time.  It was held at the local Legion, and it was nice to visit with all of the friends and family that were gathered there.  Casey was also playing music which I really enjoyed, and it was just a really good afternoon and evening with friends.
• On Sunday, the church was closed for the long weekend but instead the Sunday School hosted a walk/bike-a-thon to raise money for their new program being implemented this fall.  It was a gorgeous morning, and I had a great time walking with family and friends.  It was a not only a very successful fundraiser, but also probably the only time I've had close to 10K steps before noon on a Sunday! haha!
  
  
  
  
• The Civic Holiday Monday was my last day off, and I spent it at the beach with friends.  We were a smaller group that we originally thought, but had such a nice relaxing day.  Not even a snake sighting scared me off! ;)
  
  
  
  
• A trip to the Carp Farmer's Market.  This trip yielded me: a delicious box of scones, a jar of pepper jelly, a basket of fresh strawberries, bath bombs, and butter tarts.  We also had lunch - homemade perogies, a falafel wrap, and gelato.  So good!
  
  
  
  
• Summertime Book Club... which we just had this past Friday at Jenna's, which was lovely.  Sitting out on her screened-in porch, enjoying snacks, drinks, and lots of laughs.  I missed the one in June so I was glad to be there with the girls for this one.
• MVT Golf Day!!
  
• I sunburned half of my face.
  
• Watching Big Brother.  My summer guilty pleasure!!  
• Trips for Ice Cream - more than I can count!!  
  
• Banana Popsicles... another of my summer favourites!
• Easy summer suppers on hot days... I've been enjoying these simple no-oven-necessary suppers on hot nights quite often. Nachos (in the mircowave), or plates of crackers and cheese, veggies and dip, and a handful of nuts.  
• One night at the ball field!  And I admit I almost didn't go, but I'm glad I did.  It was a fun evening, and I can check that one off the ol' summer bucket list.

It feels like "back to school" time is creeping up FAR too quickly, but I'm trying not think about that yet.  It gives me that icky feeling and I'm not ready yet.  There's still a few summery things I'd like to do in the next few weeks before Shawville Fair and school time.  

• At least one more evening at the beach... Danica is at my mom's this week, so maybe we can get there one of these nights!  And I'll make sure I have enough cash on me this time to get us some of the cool ice cream they have in the Bay!  lol!
• Hike to the Carbide Ruins.  Truthfully, this may become a fall adventure, but we'll see.
• Dinner at Red Lobster... My mom has never been and we've been talking about it all summer, so I hope we can plan a date in the coming weeks.
• Summer Movie Marathon - I have the movies The Sandlot and Rookie of the Year lined up to watch, but so far I haven't found a rainy, dreary, free Saturday (and that is a good thing!)
• See Little Bones (Hip tribute band) play at Summerfest in Campbell's Bay - plans in the works for this Saturday!
• Cottage day?  There's been talk of us going up to my friend Brenda's family's cottage on Otter Lake but no solid plans in place yet.  If it works out, I'll be a happy kid... I so enjoyed our day up there last summer!
• Camp day?  We didn't go to the Draper Camp this summer because the floods this spring left the property in a bit of a mess.  However, my cousin is there this week and might get a chance to do some clean-up.  My aunt has hinted that if he's successful, we might squeeze in a night at the Camp before the summer closes out.  That would just be a cherry on top!

I hope you have all been having a fab summer!!  Hang on tight, don't let these summer days slip away yet!!