a peek inside the fishbowl

I don’t know about you, but this is the time of year we start looking around for some big ways to cap off the summer. I figure it’s good to go out on a high note, kind of like a salute to summer.

One of the things we did last week was take a day trip to the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park.

Sandbanks is in Picton, Ontario… about a 3.5 hour drive from Ottawa. Our chosen route included a very nice (and short) ferry ride too:

We’ve camped at Sandbanks before, but it was so long ago I can hardly remember. Perhaps it’s time to return for an overnight or two.

The big draw here is the beach. It truly is the perfect place to bring a young family. Imagine giant sand dunes, soft white sand as far as you can see, and shallow water for swimming and wading … with no rocks or weeds or yucky things to step on.

Just look at that beach:

I wish we could have overnighted (there are lots of resorts in the area), but it wasn’t in the budget this time around. :(

A couple of tips if you’re heading to Sandbanks:

• Leave early if you’re heading from Ottawa. Pack a lunch in a cooler and don’t forget to bring LOTS of water. There are snacks and drinks available at a nearby store, but we should have packed our own (not very smart on a hot summer day).
• Bring buckets and shovels too. The sand is the perfect building material because it’s so fine.
• There are shaded spots near a stand of trees that skirt the length of the beach, but they go fast. I was very happy that we remembered to bring our beach umbrella.
• If you’re driving home the same day, consider leaving enough time to poke around Kingston. I wish we had! It’s a great place to visit, and not far from Ottawa at all.
• We had dinner at a restaurant in Kingston called the Raging Bull Chophouse near the waterfront. Mark declared their burger to be the best he’d ever eaten. (Which is saying a LOT. Trust me.)

All in all it was a really great day. The girls nodded off in the car and we had a peaceful ride home.

Have you been to Sandbanks? Did you love it or what?

I have a backlog of things to tell you, but first I want to write about a recent trip we took out to the Bonnechere Caves outside of Renfrew.

It was on our List of Things to Do This Summer, and since we were looking for something unique to do on a Sunday (the last day of Mark’s holidays) we decided it would be a good time to go spelunking.

Sidebar: little did I realize that as I get older, my ability to deal with things like fairground rides, people who pick their teeth, and small dark enclosed spaces have dwindled to an all time low. I guess I’m turning into an old lady! More on that in a bit.

The Bonnechere caves are a scenic 90-minute drive from Ottawa, and claustrophobia aside, it’s worth the drive. I was so glad we took the plunge (no pun intended).

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Last night was a first for me. I was invited to attend the wedding of a couple I’d never met before. Julie and I were invited to be official bloggers and tweeters at the Project Priceless wedding. You may or may not have heard about this endeavour but there’s been quite a lot of buzz about it in the blogosphere this past while. One gal (Jordan) and one guy (Brian) decide to harness the energy of their friends and family – and the power of social media – to help plan their wedding.

It was a major social experiment (and you know how much I like social experiments, right?), one that hung upon one big question: Can a community come together and create a priceless wedding? It’s pretty bold, isn’t it? But think I can safely say yes, yes it can.

It took months of planning, some degree of worry, and the wrangling of many little details. I read the blog and followed their adventure on Twitter (@prjectpriceless) but to witness the culmination of their hopes, dreams, and hard work in person, well, it was pretty awesome.

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