This was the first Father’s Day Weekend in the past few years where Melissa was not working. It was also the same weekend as Stephanie’s wedding shower. So, what Melissa did was to book us in at the Holiday Inn in North Bay for the Friday & Saturday Night so that we could have a little family getaway.
Friday Night
We left Mississauga right after work & headed straight for North Bay (dogs were boarded for the weekend). We did not hit nearly as much traffic & we arrived a little before 9pm. We checked into the hotel room, read the newspaper, jumped on the bed, had a pillow fight & then went to bed.
Saturday
On Saturday, we celebrated Father’s Day (since the shower was going to be on Sunday). We started our day with a free breakfast (pancake maker is always a hit), followed by a swim in the pool at the hotel. The swim didn’t last long since the heater in the pool was off and the water was a brisk 67 degrees. After our cold swim, we returned to our room, where Melissa made a the bathtub into a hot tub with bubbles & had the kids leave their suits on so that they could soak in the tub together while watching a movie. They absolutely loved the fact that they were watching TV while having a bath.
After that, we headed out for lunch & found a great restaurant in downtown North Bay that served many Vegan dishes.
After lunch, we proceeded to the lakefront and went for a ride on the mini-train and the old-fashioned Merry-Go-Round
Following that, we carried on over to the beach, where we went for a swim in Lake Nipissing, which was a first for Aiden.
We then proceeded to Aaron & Chantale’s for a BBQ dinner in honour of Father’s Day. Before the BBQ though, Aaron took Melissa out for a ride on his Motorcycle. She absolutely loved it!!!
Our day wrapped up with us, renting Star Wars: The Force Awakens in our hotel room and watching with popcorn, candy & chips in bed. This was the first time any of us had ever rented a movie in a hotel.
Sunday
We started our Sunday with me opening my Father’s day presents from the kids. Abby made me a World’s Best Dad Certificate and paper plate ribbon. Aiden made me a scroll with a poem and pictures that he cut out of magazines to go with the poem. Both came with their own hand-made cards. We then, had went down for a free breakfast and a swim. This time the swim was quite comfortable as the heat was back on in the pool. We then all got ready and packed up to check out.
After check-out, I dropped Melissa off at Chantale’s house for the wedding shower and the kids & I were headed for Callander Bay Beach.
On the way there I missed the exit ramp and I took the next one. While pulled over on the side of the road, I heard my phone ding. It was Aaron asking if we wanted to come out to Marten River to go tubing with his new boat. We said yes & headed straight out there. Unfortunately when we got there, the boat had had a mechanical problem and did not run for the afternoon.
We did not let the breakdown dampen our mood or slow us down. The kids & I decided to go swimming, paddle boating and canoeing. While swimming, Abby was joined by Andy, which was Jill’s dog (As a side note, we met Steven’s new girlfriend Jill for the first time). When the kids went paddle boating, it became cleat that even though their was only a slight wind, it was too much for the kids to handle so we grabbed them and brought them back in.
Canoe Rescue
Afte paddle boating, I decided to take the kids for a quick ride in the canoe. After being out on the river for about 2 min, I quickly realized that it was too windy for me to safely steer the canoe (I was paddling the boat so that it would turn left, but the wind kept pushing us right). After several unsuccessful attempts to get back to Joyce’s I had resigned myself to the fact that we would have to steer to Rockpine & get picked up by someone. However, Steven and Jill got into the second canoe and came out onto the River and tied a rope to our canoe and toed us all back to Joyce’s. And that my friend’s is why you always wear life jackets when canoeing. It was those life jacket’s that helped to keep both kids calm as we floated further away from Joyce’s house.
Return home
After the rescue, we went & picked up Melissa from the shower, visited for little while and then went to Greco’s for supper. We then hit the road at 8:30, arriving back in Mississauga a little before midnight.
It was probably the best Father’s Day we have ever had so far!!!!!
The Cain Family 