Life must be lived. The words scribbled in French on the railing looking out at the lake.
It was the final Saturday of summer break, four days before T’s second grade journey began.
We were at beautiful Presqu’ile Provincial Park, located a little over an hour from the City.
We left the day before, right after work. We began T’s summer with camping and we were ending nine weeks of happy memories doing the same.
We stumbled upon Presqu’ile in 2020 during a detour home and I’m glad we came back to take more time to explore it.
We arrived after sunset and it was our first time setting up our tent in the dark.
T was awesome and helped hold the flashlight so we could set up. Afterwards, we started a fire and roasted marshmallows and looked up at stars.
We got up early and enjoyed two morning hikes, starting with Marsh Boardwalk Trail.
I am a sucker for boardwalks, especially with overgrown plants on both sides.
It was sunny and warm but not scorching.
The walk was calming and my mind went into autopilot and felt clear and light.
I loved watching T explore and get curious at the different plants and bugs at the marsh.
We admired the beautiful flowers that grew in the muddy waters. There’s a metaphor about life somewhere in this moment.
T enjoyed having the vast space to run around in, to explore and to climb.
We did a second shorter hike to the Lighthouse before lunch.
I love how nature playfully creates experiences, like these trees creating a whimsical walkway…
… that reveals something awesome beyond it.
It was around the corner from this Lighthouse that I found the words of wisdom scribbled on the railing looking out to the scenic lake.
“La Vie Il Faut La Vivre.”
I asked the hubby, who is fluent in French, to translate.
Life must be lived.
I thought about these words throughout the day.
After lunch, we swam at the nice sandy beach.
The water was refreshing and we soaked up the moment, because we knew these days are dwindling away as we near autumn.
T is at an age now where we could leave him unsupervised to play on his own on the beach – digging up and throwing sand to his heart’s content – while we stayed in the water.
After two hours, we headed back to camp and packed up for home.
To T’s disappointment, we decided to leave a day early, because rain was expected at night and into Sunday. It’s never fun packing up in the rain.
When we got home, the rain started. We quickly unloaded everything from the car into the house.
T helped carry many of the items inside. We smiled and praised him for his good teamwork.
It was a wonderful way to end summer break with our curious, adventurous and up-for-anything boy.
This summer flew by and I’m thankful for all our memories. Yes, there were many meltdowns and challenging moments that made us want to poke our eyes out.
But whatever.
Coming out of the 2.5 years of the pandemic – and other challenges – has changed my perspective on life and on parenting a neurodiverse child.
Life will always be filled with ups and downs, but we’ve got one life to live and it flies by so quickly.
La vie il faut la vivre.
Absolutely beautiful photographs Ab, what a lovely day out to remember (and hopefully repeat). That cottonwood tree bark is quite something!! 💛
Thanks Cheryl. This is our first real week of frosty winter weather over here so we’re looking forward to those warm summer days again. It’s a park close to home so we hope to be back again next summer! 🙏
What a great way to end the summer. I remember packing up in the rain and then you have to go home, set up the tent again and dry it to prevent mold, not fun! I am guessing the night vision setting is on the new iPhone? I don’t think I have one on mine. I am so inspired by this “ Life will always be filled with ups and downs, but we’ve got one life to live and it flies by so quickly.” Thank you Ab for such an uplifting post!
Thank you, Diane! It really was a great way to end the summer.
We had to do that dry the wet tent afterwards once and never again if we can help it. 😆
We recently updated our iPhone after 5 years, to a more recent model, and it was worth it just for the Night setting on the camera alone. 😊
How beautiful! You had and amazing summer and seeing the same places through the eyes of a growing child is very special. It’s so hard to let summer go, isn’t it?
Thank you! It really is special seeing things from a child’s eyes. Today was the first day of school and yes, it is hard to let go of summer! 😆😆😆
LIFE MUST BE LUVED! this post gave me chills. Beautiful ❤️
Thanks Vickie. I know you can certainly understand and relate! 😊 Hope Jess is feeling better!
Lovely! But I need to know, how did you take such a great photo of the stars?
Also love “La Vie Il Faut La Vivre.”
Thank you. It was a wonderful scribble to stumble upon!
The starry night photo was pure luck and zero skill. 😆 I used the night setting on my iphone camera and it did all the work!
Going camping is always a great way to start and end the summer. Even though the Marsh Boardwalk is short, it’s my favourite trail in the park. I’m such a fan of boardwalks and wetlands too (except in the spring when the bugs are out of control). It’s too bad that you had to leave a day earlier because of the weather, but I would have done the same. It’s never fun to pack up in the rain and everything gets so damp and dirty. That’s very true about life flying by so quickly. We might as well make the most of it and live our best lives! P.S. Best of luck with T’s first day of school!
Thanks Linda. We were very lucky that the bug situation was almost non-existent this past weekend. It was wonderful! Today is a PA Day so first day of school is on Wednesday. At least it’s a short week for the reentry. Enjoy your week as well and have a great time out East next week!
La vie il faut la vivre. I couldn’t agree more with this. Life is too short to focus on the bad things. It’s too precious to let every single moment just fleet away. This looks like a really great excursion before T starts his second grade, and before autumn arrives. And speaking of boardwalks with plants on both sides, count me in! Hope you have a nice week ahead, Ab!
Thanks Bama! It was a nice way to enjoy our last weekend before school. 😊 Boardwalks really are a wonderful way to enjoy a hike! Enjoy your week as well!
Lovely memories here – and what a great starry night photo! I’ve tried taking night sky pics and they never turn out right – something to do with the camera settings I think – maybe I’ll figure it out one of these days.🌌
Thanks Cheryl. This park is located in a small town also called Brighton. Probably not as busy as the one you visited but it’s right by the water. If I ever have money one day, I’d love to retire here. 😆
The starry night photo was all my phone. Zero skill on my part. I just used the “night” setting. 😆 My goal is to get a proper nice full moon shot one day that doesn’t look like a big white dot of light. Good luck nailing your night shots!
Thanks Ab, I’ll have to try the night setting as well ✨ Your Brighton looks like an idyllic place to retire 🤞💫
Love this, Ab! Especially “But whatever.” Exactly – life must be lived. And you are so good at doing exactly that – with perspective, humor and intention! Thanks for taking us along this wonderful camping and hiking trip to bookend the summer! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Thank you, Wynne. It is, as you noted, about the perspective and intention and doing so with some good humour. 🙂 Weekend has been great so far and so glad there’s still one more day tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of yours as well!
Your photography is amazing. I love this post. I cant believe our district returns on Tuesday. A high schooler and a 5th grader. I am so in awe at how well T helps you out and amuses himself. He is such a great kid. I know he will have an amazing start.to school! I look forward to the posts!
Thank you Rebecca. Good luck with your return to school this coming week. It will be an interesting year for us – my next post – as it’ll be his first without a dedicated support in the classroom. All we can do is take things one day at a time. Thanks as always for visiting and take care!
What a wonderful way to end the summer. It looks like a beautiful spot with lots of places for T and for you two to explore! Those are always the best places!
Thank you! It really was wonderful and we are thankful for this lovely way to end our summer. And are already counting down to the next! 🙂