Mornings by the Lake

One of our favourite activities to do this summer has been to spend the morning on the shores of Lake Ontario. We've done this at least once a week all summer, packing the kids into the car by 9am and driving 20 minutes south to the town of Oakville. 

Once there we pick up coffees, and maybe a snack, from either Kerr Street Café or Tribeca. Sometimes my parents would join us, but most of the time it was just the four of us. Earlier in the summer, when the playgrounds were still closed, we'd usually start with a picnic on a flat, grassy area overlooking the lake. It was a great space to spread out and the kids could run around together while we chilled out.

From there, we would take the kids down to the rocky beach. Ollie could spend hours just throwing rocks into the sea. Ella preferred to take off her shoes and splash around... sometimes in the company of a Canadian goose or two!

There are some flat, wide paths along the lake which were great for Ella on her scooter. Ollie usually rode along in the wagon.

Walking down the pier to the lighthouse was also a highlight.

Now that the playgrounds are open, we usually start the morning there and then coax the kids to go for a walk with us. 

Many of the houses along the lake are heritage listed, and have signs outside listing what they used to be: the post office, bank, shipbuilders, etc. 

This is also where you will find the Oakville Museum. We've never gone in, but there are sculptures outside the property, which depict three wolves facing off against a singular moose. We spent one of our mornings exploring the sculptures and the grounds of the museum.

On another day out we discovered some nice gardens along a hill, from the back of museum to the harbour. The kids loved running, rolling and kicking a ball down the hill. 

At the start of the summer we would see paddle boarders regularly in the lake, so we decided to have a go at this ourselves. We contacted PSP SUP Specialists in Oakville and arranged a lesson with the owner, Derek.

We ended up doing two sessions with Derek. The first time Andy, our friend Nikki and I went out on the paddleboards while my parents watched us with the kids. Lake Ontario, which is the 14th largest lake in the world, can be calm and gentle one minute, and then rough and dangerous the next. On the morning of our lesson the lake was on the rougher side, though not so bad we couldn't go out. 

We started in the harbour, getting our balance and learning how to turn. Andy and I had gone paddleboarding in Australia, bu the last time I did it I was pregnant with Ella, so it was good to get a refresher. After learning the basics we headed out into the open lake. As soon as we hit the waves Nikki was in the water, followed closely by Andy. Feeling competitive, I tried hard to keep my balance (and nerves) while getting into a position where I could surf in the direction of the waves. We spent the majority of the lesson going back and forth towards shore and then back out again. The hardest part was turning the board around in the rough water, and sometimes I knelt down on the board to keep my balance. My legs were pretty shaky by the end of our lesson, but I managed to stay out of the water the whole time! For our last 15 minutes or so we went back to the harbour and paddled up Sixteen Mile Creek for calm finish to the session. 

We all had a super fun time and Ella was dying to try it out. Derek told us he had taught 5 year olds before, so we decided to book a lesson for the next week with her. My dad also wanted to join us, so this time my mom stayed with Ollie, watching us from the pier. 

Ella was reluctant to stand on her board, and only did so for a very short time at the start. Her ability to paddle properly was pretty non-existent, so Derek had to push her forward most of the time. 

This time the lake was very calm, so we were able to take her and my dad out there without any issues. Ella ended up just wanting to swim in the lake, so most of the lesson she was jumping into the water and swimming from board to board. Not a lot of paddling happening, but I was happy that she had fun and was not scared to swim in such a big body of water. 

This has been such a happy place for us to spend mornings over the past two or three months. Now that I am back to work we won't be able to have mornings like this again for a while. There are always weekends, but there is something really  nice about being a teacher and doing things during the week while everyone else is working! It was also not busy during the week over the summer, which is a big deal during a pandemic. I will always look back on these summer mornings with fondness, of the special time spent with my children while they were young. I leave you with a few more of my favourite pictures from our visits to Lake Ontario.