My favourite parts of this summer

At the in-laws cottage in Temagami, Ontario

Summer is rapidly coming to an end so I thought I’d post the highlights of our summer in no particular order:

Purchasing a little piece of heaven up north and being lucky enough to spend nearly all our weekends this summer up there

A big milestone for the 5 year old - Learning to swim in the deep end of the pool with no life jacket or floatation device

Weekend morning canoe rides on the lake and dreaming about living on the lake full-time

Mid-week trip up north with my best friend while she was back from Edmonton and laughing until my stomach hurt

Monday library date nights with my biggest guy

Spending a somewhat surprisingly relaxing long weekend at my in-laws cottage – both boys slept like a charm and were easily entertained all day long

Seeing the littlest beam at the sight of any boat or boat ride

Getting together with friends whether it was hosting dinners, quick coffees, or having visitors up north, friends were never far away this summer

Attending the beautiful wedding of two friends and celebrating and catching up with some old university friends

Having a ton of interesting projects on the go at work and watching the pieces fall into place with my career (still no permanent job yet but working on that!)

At the beginning of the year I had really hoped to take a one-week vacation and spend some much needed family time. We didn’t take that week off this summer but we spent so much more time together, uninterrupted family time, just us - up north on the weekends. We are really so blessed to live in such a beautiful country and province with opportunities for cultural and outdoor experiences at our fingertips that we often take for granted.  A friend, Sarah, recently posted on her 10 year anniversary trip to Niagara Falls . Not Europe but amazing nevertheless and only 2 hours away. Our own backyard has so much to offer.