Home Thoughts From Abroad

When our kids were young we spent many summer days on the beaches of southwestern Ontario and winter days and evenings skiing. Our kids were never happier than when they were surrounded by water and sand and would play contentedly for literally hours on end. Since we lived only about ten minutes from Lake Erie, picnics on the beach were almost a daily activity.

Since the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and we had all of our water baby grandkids with us in Ontario, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to spend a day at Port Stanley. Mackie’s fries and orangeade were the first order of the day, of course, and then we headed to the water, which after the warm Caribbean seemed a little chilly!

The beach was ridiculously packed and the waves were frisky but it was so much fun watching the next generation enjoy the beach as much as their parents did. It was such a joy to see our grandchildren have such easygoing fun with their cousins, despite all the months they haven’t been together. Russell thought his cousin Ben could do just anything, and Layla was inseparable from Abi.

Russell happened to celebrate his eighth birthday during this week of travel so he ended up with multiple small celebrations rather than a traditional big birthday party. We had to stop for ice cream at Shaw’s on the way back to town as that also was a regular part of our summer traditions. It seemed appropriate to place a candle on Russ’s ice cream sundae.

We sat on a nearby picnic table and when we were finished cleaning ice cream goop off our faces, we finally let Russell open his gift of Super Mario Maker 2, for which he has been longing for months.

After that it was off for the inevitable photo with Jumbo, St. Thomas’ iconic sculpture that for some obscure reason has to face the town instead of the incoming tourists who are greeted with a nice view of Jumbo’s enormous backside as they drive into town.

All together a happy day for Grandpa and Grandma who waited a long time to see their children and grandchildren and were not disappointed. Thanks to Liz and Jon who travelled many miles to be here and make this all possible.