Too. Much. Sun.

John and his digger, busy at work at Long Point beach on Father's Day.

We did a few more days of outdoor activities this week. Mike has been really determined to get in more exercise and outdoor activities this summer - he finds now that he's back in school, he spends too much time sitting and reading. It's made him feel kind of blah and tired, and he feels he's been putting on too much weight. So we've definitely been doing more stuff outside as a family, which has been fun for everyone.

This week, I paddled a canoe for the first time in my life. There's this tiny little pond-lake, called Christie Lake, where you can rent canoes for a nominal fee. So we rented one for a couple of hours, and did a circle of the lake. If it was just Mike and I, I probably wouldn't have been that nervous. But I had Joan on the floor of the boat in front of me, and John was hanging onto the boat for dear life behind me, and I was worried I'd lose them both if the canoe tipped. Obviously, they were fully padded up in properly sized and tightly strapped life jackets, as was I, and the lake is completely calm and virtually self-contained, and about two feet deep for most parts, but that fear was still there. I think the hardest part was getting used to the movement of the boat itself. Just the way it wobbles around all the time. And I had to try to stay brave for John, who was just as worried as me.

Apparently, John actually jumped out of the boat before the rental guy could send us off. Once back in the boat, and on the water, he fell completely silent. As many of you will experience this summer, that is not a good sign for John. He's a talker, to put it mildly. He talks ALL THE TIME. And he doesn't just talk to hear himself talk - he's genuinely interacting. If he feels my attention is wandering, he'll say "Mommy! Talk to me!"

Anyway, so he was back there, white knuckling it on the side of the boat, in stunned and stoney silence. We'd ask him how we was, he wouldn't say anything. We'd ask him if he was OK, he wouldn't say anything. It took about half an hour before he finally let go of the boat, and touched the water. It was probably another half hour before he finally spoke. He said "Mommy! I looking at the water!" From that point on, he was totally himself, commenting on the grass and the birds and the ducks in the duck houses, and the stumps and the bugs. Afterwards, he said he'd had fun. And it was pretty fun. It was probably the best lake we could have started on - it was extremely small, calm and shallow. We'll probably go back again sometime, or maybe we'll try a slightly bigger lake next time. They had a small beach, and because the water was so shallow, the water was very warm. It was early evening, so there weren't many people, so we stayed to swim for a while. We actually got John in the water, having fun. He rode on dad's back, while dad swam around, so he got the sensation of swimming, and the security of dad's back. We assured him there were no crabs, and no lobsters. He seemed to buy it, and had lots of fun. But for the most park, he dug in the sand, and ran up and down the beach scaring flocks of lake gulls, which he thought was really funny. Joan had a good time, too. She really does love to swim.

Yesterday, Father's Day, Mike wanted to go back to the beach, but to scope out a different beach. Jer wanted to tag along, and suggested Long Point, near Port Dover, so that's where we went. I wasn't too keen on the idea of swimming in Lake Eerie. All I know is the humming fish in The Lorax didn't want to go there, because it was rumoured to be just as bad as their glumped-up pond. But other people were there, and they weren't breaking out in rashes, so I figured it was probably safe.

It was actually a really great beach. The shoreline was a series of sand bars, so you could either stay in this very hot, shallow area, between the bars, which was great for kids, or head out and swim in an actual great lake, which was a little freaky. It was surprisingly shallow - we had to go far out before the water was up to our necks, and out there, the waves were really huge! But if you jump just before they reach you, they'll kind of pick you up and carry you towards the shore. It was definitely an interesting sensation. Obviously, we didn't take the kids out that far. Jer watched them while I went out, and I watched them while Jer went out, and Mike stayed out the whole time, even though his initial plan heading to the car was to sit on the beach and read philosophy most of the afternoon. Oh well. He figures a day of swiming will help his school work more than spending all that time reading, anyway. He definitely seems a bit more cheerful and energetic lately, so I'm not complaining. I agree that he's been doing way too much sitting lately.

On the way home, there were fireworks at Ivor Wynne - some sort of Catholic festival - so we stopped to watch. By the time we got home, and got the kids through the tub, it was 11:30. I phoned my dad, who's a night owl. But our apologies to Mike's Dad, who we knew would have been asleep by then, so we couldn't call. But you weren't forgotten.

Anyway, Joan is up again, so I'd better head up to get her. Mike's at school today, catching up on the reading he was planning to do yesterday, and I have a full day of stuff to do. So I'd better get on it.