With September upon us, and back-to-school in full swing, I took a look at the fun-filled Summer I had with my family.  Because my husband is a teacher and I work part-time, we are lucky to have lots of family time in July and August.  And this year we’ve been in ‘puppy training bootcamp’, so we stuck relatively close to home.

We managed to pack in 60 adventures in 60 days.

Here’s what we did, in random order:

1)  The Canada Day celebrations at Spencer Smith Park.

2)  Casey learned to walk!

3)  The GO Train to a Toronto Blue Jays game.

4)  Frequent trips to the driving range.

5)  Hand-feeding giraffes at Safari Niagara.

6)  Visiting the Pet Store to buy dog treats and say hello to the animals.

7)  Cruising through the Burlington Mall in one of the mall’s double strollers.

8)  We took my 4-yr-old to his first (and second) movie in the theatre.

9)  Got a balloon animal from Halaloo the Clown at Tansley Woods Rec Centre- this was through a great program offered by the Burlington Public Library.

10)  The Canadian Open golf tournament at Glen Abbey.

11)  Mini-SNAP camp at Brant Hills two afternoons/week.

12)  Exploring the creek that runs behind our house.

13)  The ‘Biggest Little Night’ carnival, put on by the City of Burlington’s Parks & Rec Department.

14)  Thursday night soccer with DASH Sports.

15)  My half-marathon row.

16)  Climbing trees.

17)  Drew learned to ride his bike without training wheels.

18)  Skating lessons at Centre Ice with Coach Tommy.

19)  ‘Small Oneders’ library program at BPL’s Central Branch.

20) Raspberry picking at Hutchinson’s Farm.

21)  Backyard BBQ’s with our neighbors.

22)  ‘Creep, Crawl, and Toddle’ at the Ontario Early Year’s Centre.

23)  Weekly Monday night dinners (minus myself, as I work Monday evenings!) with cousins and grandparents.

24)  Valens Conservation Area.

25)  Playing baseball at Emerson Park.

26) My friend Dale, whom I haven’t seen in 13 years, came to visit from Bristol, England.

27)  We watched him play in a Burlington Centaur’s Rugby match.

28)  Lil’ Monkeys indoor playground and Tansley Woods indoor Treehouse.

29)  A family reunion with my mother-in-law’s extended family.

30)  My cousin Lindsay (from Edmonton) came for a visit- we toured ‘Fielding Estates’ winery in Beamsville.

31)  Mountainside outdoor pool and splashpad.

32)  Nelson outdoor pool and splashpad.

33)  Valleyridge splashpad in Oakville.

34)  Bronte Park outdoor pool.

35)  Bike rides with the double bike trailer attached.

36)  The Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls.

37)  The Niagara Skywheel in Clifton Hill.

38)  Walks through the Orchard trail system, ending up at the duck pond.

39)  A Hamilton TigerCats game at the University of Guelph.

40)  Wasaga Beach.

41)  Blue Mountain Village.

42)  Hosting friends for backyard lunchtime playdates.

43)  August long weekend cottage time.

44)  Regular swims in my sister-in-law’s and in-law’s backyard pools.

45)  Neighborhood ice cream truck visits and snow-cone stands.

46)  Centre Island.

47)  LaSalle Park wading pool.

48)  Burlington Children’s Festival at Beachway Park.

49)  Fishing at my sister-in-law’s cottage.

50)  The Burlington Farmer’s Market.

51)  Going to my husband’s weekly Touch Football games to cheer him on.

52)  Hand-feeding chipmunks at the LaSalle marina.

53.  Paddleboarding at Burlington Beach.

54)  Visiting the animals at Bronte Park.

55)  Assumption Crusaders football camp.

56)  Brantford Twin Valley Zoo.

57)  Competing in the ‘Day/Night Challenge’ at Crossfit Altitude.

58)  Ribfest.

59)  An overnight getaway with friends in downtown Toronto.

60)  Grandma and Grandpa visited from Sundre, Alberta.

“One must maintain a little bit of Summer, even in the middle of Winter.”

~Henry David Thoreau