Algonquin Park

I don’t think I have ever shared with you a little story about hubby and me. We met in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada when we were counselors at summer camps there. I spent every summer from the age of 11 as a camper at a small camp for girls with no running water or electricity, sleeping in canvas tents on cots and taking multiple day canoe trips out of camp throughout the summer. The first trip I ever went on as an 11 year old was a 4 day canoe trip that I only recall a few things about. The counselor on our trip forgot our toilet paper, bread and tent. It rained the whole 4 days. We slept under canoes one night and found a place to sleep under a pavilion on picnic tables another night. And I loved it. I couldn’t wait to go again (this time with the necessary accessories). I loved getting dirty, paddling canoes all day long and making friends to last a lifetime. It was only fitting that as the years went on, I met the love of my life. Our first date wasn’t dinner and a movie or talking over a million other voices in a loud bar. Our first date was paddling around in a canoe one summer night under the stars.

It just so happens that hubby’s family has a cabin in that very park where we met, so we have good reason to return from time to time – though not often enough, if you ask me. While we were in NY, we were only a few hours from the park so we made the trip up there to visit his family and to say hello to the familiar sights and sounds of a place very near and dear to us.

One of the best parts of going this summer was that our now 3 and 6 year old children could really enjoy it, and make memories there. All my daughter remembered from the last time we went was that there were Archie comics by the potty. We were hoping for something a little more meaningful this time around!

We spent our days hiking trails, teaching them to paddle canoes, swimming in the beautiful blue water, and soaking up the simplicity of this amazing place. The cabin has no electricity and is quite rustic. We were truly getting away from it all.

I decided it would be good to teach my 3 year old son how to paddle a girl in a canoe. Just in case.

We enjoyed foggy mornings and gorgeous sunsets

We saw old friends, loving family and had a wonderful time introducing our kids to a place that means so much to us and we hope will be just as special to them as they grow older.