summer fun – Rebecca Cuneo Keenan

I know, I know. We only have one more week of summer vacation left before the school routine swallows us whole. I’ve been working myself up into a school lunches and supplies organizing frenzy as much as the next parent. But as this weekend’s weather forecast bears out, it’s still summer, and I intend to make the most of it.

I’m taking a three-pronged approach: summer reading, ice cream, and the Ex.

Nothing says lazy summer days like hanging out in the backyard with an iced tea and a paperback. Leave the Dostoevsky on the shelf, though, and pick up an exciting page turner or two or ten. My very own dad’s latest true crime title fits the bill perfectly. One Last Kiss by Michael W. Cuneo is the story of Chris Coleman, head of security of a prominent evangelical ministry, who plots and executes the brutal murder of his wife and two young sons. All personal biases aside, the book is fantastic. Richness of detail and polished and powerful prose breathe life into the characters and bring tears to your eyes. It’s like I knew the family. I finished it in two days flat.

On a somewhat lighter note, we haven’t consumed nearly enough ice cream this summer. It’s a crying shame, really. The Canadian arm of Cold Stone Creamery was running a promotion in celebration of National Ice Cream and they sent me a gift card to sample their goods. Starting on July 15th they began offering a special Signature Creation for each province. We tried the Ontario, chalk full of strawberries, fudge sauce and brownies and the PEI with blueberries, graham crackers and almonds. Ah-maz-ing. I’m not sure if the promotion is still on, but the Cold Stone Creamery is most definitely still serving up delicious ice cream. And a quick shout out to my other local favourites, if I may: Tom’s Dairy Freeze , Ice Cream Junction and Delight.

Then there’s the ice cream waffles at the Ex. Summer deserves a proper send out and I can think of no better way than visiting the timeless attractions and midway of the CNE. I love the classic carnival vibe, the games and rides, the lights and sounds and smells. The petting zoo and kiddie rides are good fun too, but the real midway after dark is a little slice of heaven.

It’s still summer! What are you doing to hold onto the sunshine until the very end?

We piled into the car last Saturday afternoon and drove toward the lake. We then drove right on past the beaches and boardwalks and picnic areas and pulled into a massive parking lot. To the outside observer it would seem that we were visiting the set of a post-apocalyptic movie, all concrete and aging white domes sprawled out along 96 acres of industrial harbour. But we are old school Toronto people and knew this was Ontario Place, “an internationally acclaimed cultural, leisure and entertainment parkland.” We’d been coming here looking for summer-time fun every now and again over the years and were about to visit for the first time as a young family. And, well, it was some sort of media day and Ed had scored us free passes.