Thursday, August 1, 2013

Sharing Summer Holidays

When I was a kid I treasured my summers
as many of my summers took place at camp.

It was a place for making memories,
summer crushes,
discovering new favourite hit songs...
re-connecting with old camp friends and creating new ones.

At the end of the summer I would sit alone in the back seat on the ride home
quietly rolling over in my mind the long list of unique and personal experiences I could secretly treasure over the winter months...
until the next summer when I would be back at camp.

They were all mine and the only people that shared those memories were my friends from camp.
I felt quite satsifed with the notion that none of my school friends had that same experience.
It was unique and not something I was willing to give up or share.
I was young and naive.

Well these days
summer seems to roll by a lot quicker
and I feel fortunate to welcome family and friends to our home to share our favourite summer hangouts and activities.

The satisfaction of seeing them enjoy what we have experienced over the years
has long since replaced my childhood desire to protect and keep secret the pleasures in my life.



This summer brought us...
Grace, Abbigail and my niece Teresa.
They are from a small village in Northern Ontario.

Trust me when I say....
They were not hard to please!

We started our time together in Quebec city and then headed off to my favourite summer spot of Tadoussac.


And we all got to share some wonderful "firsts".
Starting with our first star fish spotting on the beach in Tadoussac....


their first time seeing whales...


 their first dinner party...that according to Grace, "only happens at Christmas for most people."



Their first time seeing the acrobatic wonders of Cirque du Soleil.


And... a certain somebody named Abbigail discovered that twirling your spaghetti with a spoon is a lot more fun than cutting it all up...



And hey we were all reminded that bangles also make good earrings!

So, tomorrow they will get on a plane and I will get on a train as we head back to our parts of the world.
I have a feeling that we will all be sitting quietly rolling over in our heads the last 9 days.
I also have a feeling that we will be sharing our time together with anybody that will listen.

Bon Voyage mes filles and thank you for giving me a summer to remember!








7 comments:

  1. Having grown up in a small village in Northern Ont. myself, I put myself right inside those girls while I was reading this. Everything would have been so elegant and exciting and would have been enough to keep me dreaming about my vacation for months. The extra adventure of whales and starfish would have put this right over the top of 'best vacation ever' category! They will remember this time with you for the rest of their lives, no matter how much their world expands in later years. My niece is staying with me this week, nervously waiting to go to her first summer camp. I'll have her read your impressions of camp and that may help calm her nerves. My comment is getting as long as your post. LOL

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  2. omg it was a summer vacation and I see gloves on your niece...haha....just like WA beaches....Nice pics Donna

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    1. Too funny Christine. Fortunately the mitts came off on shore. It was just that open sea scenario where they were greatly appreciated. BRRRR...

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  3. How delightful spending time with your nieces! I thought the same thing about the gloves that Christine did!

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  4. That's so neat. It looks like everyone had a lot of fun!!! The starfish is amazing.

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  5. What fun it must have been !!!
    They look adorable ( I love the line " usually only happens at Christmas lol )
    Great post Donna!!!
    XOXO

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  6. what a beautiful post. I don't think there's anything better than experiencing "first times" through the eyes of excited children. Those faces are adorable and this entire post makes me happy too.
    I'm so glad you're enjoying your summer my friend.

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