GTA Beaches

We have been enjoying an extended extremely hot summer and have been loving every minute of it!  I wish the weather was so hot (and even humid) 365 days a year.  Of course, if I had no air conditioning or if I had to work without it, that would not be the case!  My air conditioning runs through the night as I have such a hard time sleeping when it is warm.  We pay the price but it`s worth it, to me.  We tend to save trips to wonderland for the milder temperature days that are below 30 degrees.  Even though there is a nice big water park there, it`s crowded and a long walk to get to the water.  We`ve been spending a lot of time at the beach this year.  We`ve been to Kelso three times so far, with plans to go twice more before the summer is up.  We went to Wasaga once with plans to go one or two more times this summer, and we`ve been to Professor`s Lake beach with plans to go back one or two more times as well.  Ryan and I both LOVE the water - swimming and splashing around in it.  Most kids we go with spend a lot of time in the sand building sand castles and digging trenches.  Ryan prefers to spend most of the time in the water swimming around with his swim ring on and though I am over protective about him in the water, wanting him to be at knee level water or with me right by his side, I love having a water baby as there is no other place I`d rather be.

I`m thinking of putting him in swim lessons this fall as he really wants to take them.  I took swimming lessons for years but ended up learning how to swim on my own - self taught at Kelso day camp.  The lessons when I was younger were mostly a big waste of time.  That is the reason I have been hesitating putting Ryan in swim lessons till now.  It`s not like we have extra money floating around to put him in lots of extra curricular activities.  He is already very comfortable in the water, blows bubbles, is able to swim on his own in a life jacket or swim ring, has no fear at all, he has put his face in the water briefly a couple times, etc...   I would love for him to learn how to float and swim without a life jacket on but wonder if the lessons at his age would help at all with this or if it will mostly just come with practice and age.

The three beaches I mentioned are all really different from one another.  The closest to us is Kelso.  It`s most convenient for us, with no worries about traffic coming home at 4 or 5 in the middle of rush hour.  The farthest is obviously Wasaga, however, it`s only about a 20-25 minute drive away from my parents so it`s a great thing to do when we are visiting them.  In order to get to Kelso beach you have to either walk down a very steep hill, walk down a large set of stairs, or walk a very long time along the boardwalk from the entrance.  We usually take a stroller in order to carry all our stuff (picnic, sand toys, swim ring, towels, change of clothes for Ryan, drinks, sun screen, etc...) and I usually opt for the steep hill as it is quickest.  Going down is the easy part, and I`m not as hot (wet from the water) for the walk back up - I figure I need the exercise anyway, and if it`s bad I stop and take breaks. :)    The sand at Kelso is very pebbly and rough on my feet.  I much prefer the sand at Professors Lake and Wasaga.  Kelso has a nice snack bar where you can buy hamburgers, popsicles, ice cream treats, etc... for reasonable prices in July and August.  There are LOTS of picnic tables and you can usually find one in the shade no matter what time you arrive (on a week day anyway).  The beach is rigged with little wires above it to prevent birds from flying on to the beach or in the water.  The water is very shallow and Ryan is able to touch the bottom even at the divider rope that he is not allowed to go past with life jackets or swim rings on.  Professors Lake got deeper which I kind of like as it is hard for me to swim in water that is less than waist deep.  The sand was soft and ideal for sand castle building and walking on without pain.  There is a large water slide for anyone 39.5 inches or taller.  Ryan was SOOO excited to go on it.  It was the first thing he did.  Unfortunately he lost his balance and ended up on his back instead of sitting up and he said he hit his head somehow on the way down which scared him so much he would not try it again even after watching his friends and myself go down numerous times.  Of course he wanted to spend the whole time in the water.  There weren`t as many picnic tables at Professor`s lake, esp shaded ones.  Next time I will eat lunch BEFORE going.  There were a lot of bees and wasps there and I didn`t see as many at Kelso or Wasaga.  I am terrified of bees so eating at Professor`s lake is a bit of a challenge for me.  We also tried paddle boating with a friend for the first time ever.  I was a little nervous being in the middle of a lake with Ryan in his own seat without a seat belt trying to help us pedal but it was a good experience.  We had a whistle in case of an emergency and the kids sat in front of us so we could see them all the time.  We all had life jackets on.  It was a good price at $2.15 per person (4 of us were on the boat).  The cost of Kelso and Professor`s Lake is basically the same (approx. $6.50 for both myself and Ryan).  Wasaga is more expensive - $16 per vehicle.  Wasaga is very shallow for a very long time.  But if you go too far you risk the undertow of the currents.  A boy just drowned there this week.  He drowned in beach area 1 which is the most dangerous beach to swim at due to the currents.  We normally go to beach area 4 or 5 which are more family oriented and safer.  Beach area 4 had a playground right next to our picnic table which was probably a mistake as the kids wanted to play on it constantly and there were some really high ladders and edges to fall over.  We saw several kids fall on their heads on one of the slides which we told our kids not to go down.  The beach is HUGE and the nice thing about wasaga is the waves which are so much fun to ride over on floats.  The sand is beautiful and the picnic area is shaded though MUCH farther back from the beach (lots of walking back and forth).  There are washrooms at all 3 beaches.  Professors Lake had a snack bar as well with drinks, popsicles and I believe some sort of hot dog or pizza as well.  It was very reasonably priced - we got a slush puppy for $1.  Wasaga does not have a snack bar - at least at beaches 3-6.   All three beaches are good.  I think if you live in Brampton your best bet is Professor`s Lake, especially if you don`t mind wasps.

There is my long review of the three beaches we have visited this summer.  Happy summer!  :)