What I did this Summer! (Part 1: July Shenanigans)

Hello, readers of my blog! Long time no see, and there are MANY things to update you on. With the start of the school year, I wanted to reminisce on some beautiful memories I had this summer. And let me just tell you, the summer of 2026 was really, really, REALLY incredible. I went places, started a business, and had a blast 🤩

It was my LAST summer as a high schooler, which is really crazy, but you know what they say: Save the best for last! (It really was the best summer ever).

Below I've compiled some of my summer highlights from JULY🌞. If you're included in this blog post, thank you for being such an important part of my summer! Part 2 about AUGUST will be coming out shortly.

July 4-5: A Weekend in Stouffville

The first weekend of July started off with an incredibly fun weekend in Stouffville! This summer, our family was watching the FIFA World Cup, so we left he house just as the Round of 16 Canada vs Morocco game started. It unfortunately ended in heartbreak as we arrived to our little abode.

Our team did their very best! 🍁

ALL 5 girls were sleeping in this bunk bed!

The cottage was tiny for the 8 of us, but it's a good thing we're okay with being squished together!

After setting our bags down, the very first thing we did in Stouffville was head out for a swim in the pool 2 minutes walking from our cottage. The water was cold but the sun was shining brightly!

We ended our first day in Stouffville with some delicious popsicles.

The next day, we went to Mass at St. Mark's, ate lunch, and I tried playing tennis! My siblings have been taking lessons for some time but I have never ventured into that area of sports, so my attempts to play were failing miserably😢. I kept hitting the ball over WAY too high or not being able to return it over the net... but it was fun!! (When you're not running for all the tennis balls, that is...)

Statue of St. Therese of Lisieux at St. Mark's Parish

That marked the end of our weekend in Stouffville!

July 10-12: Kingston

That very next week, we spent a long weekend with our cousins in Kingston. We set out in the evening after my dad finished working, and geared up for a long 3 hour car ride with some burritos!🌯

We arrived in Kingston late at night, where we found our cousins Lyanna and Leia soundly asleep. It wasn't long before my siblings woke them up and started playing in bed!😖 Me, however, started snoozing as soon as my head hit the pillow.

It was good that I got as much rest as possible, because the next morning, we headed straight for the beach! Well, less of a beach, and more of just a couple square meters of sand and then water! I got to paddleboard and kayak. The water was freezing but I summoned up all of my courage to jump in and swim.

The water was so clear and so beautiful!

After swimming and spending some time at the beach, we had lunch and headed back to our home for the weekend.

We chillaxed until our dinner at a fancy hotel restaurant in downtown Kingston! The food was delicious and we had a private room where we could be as loud as we wanted 😂

If you're wondering, I was cheering for England🦁

The next day was Sunday! And what a beautiful day it was because we went to St. Mary's Cathedral in Kingston and then downtown Kingston to walk around and eat lunch before it was time to go.

me and my cousin Leia

Sunset on the way home!!!

Sanctus Summer Camp!

The very next day, Athan and I went to volunteer at Sanctus Summer Camp, a camp run by St. Joseph's Parish in Mississauga. Our sisters Audrey, Anne, and Amelia were also campers there! So our hardest challenge every morning was waking them up on time so we could all be there early 😂 

Sanctus was a blast, and I had a lot of fun making memories with all the campers and the team. 

Week 1 Theme: Finding the Lost Treasure (the Eucharist) 

Week 2 Theme: Project Hail Mary (full of Grace) on Our Lady

Best team ever💛

Some of my favorite memories this summer also happened because of this team. After camp, we went to daily Mass together, went to the mall, played basketball, and Roblox😅! The friends you make at church are the friends you'll keep for life.

my Sanctus week 2 nametag 🙃

July 24-26: Cottage with the Cousins!!!

Every summer, my cousins (on my dad's side) and my family try to meet up to go on a little cottage trip! If you remember, I made a blog post about my cousins way back when. Now we're all grown up, but still trying to meet up every summer for at least a weekend 😎

This summer, we went to Flesherton! Where's Flesherton, you may ask? Well, that's irrelevant because it's not the place that made it special, but the people.

Right on the first night, we went out to see the lake which was a ~3 minute walk from our cottage. We also created a campfire, where we sang songs and roasted marshmallows. We spent a couple hours there just admiring the stars and having fun with each other!

The next day, we went to the beach! The water was pretty cold, but we all had fun swimming and playing games. To top off the coldness, it was also cloudy and breezy. Brrr 🤧

lots of seaweed

That night, after the beach, we watched Ryan Gosling's movie Project Hail Mary until 2am in the morning... was it worth it? YES! Were we tired the next morning? Also, YES! 

We went to Mass that morning at St. John the Evangelist in Glenelg, which was really nice. It was a Traditional Latin Mass, which I've only gone to once before this. Overall, it was really beautiful, and the choir was angelic. 

When we got back home, we decided to go hiking at Euphoria Falls, near our cottage. I thought it was going to be a long, 5km hike or something but it ended up taking only 10 minutes! It was just a small loop with a lookout to the waterfall lol. I was a little disappointed, but it was pretty hot so I wasn't too upset.

the waterfall!!

Memorial of fallen soldiers

That night, we had our very last campfire of the trip, and we finished our time in Flesherton! I'll always hold cousin trips close to my heart, especially this one being my LAST one as a high-schooler. Time passes by so quickly (I feel old...)

So, that's my recap on July! The first half of the summer was filled with small little trips and a whole lot of joy. If you enjoyed this blog post, make sure to keep your eyes peeled for part 2 (and maybe 3) of What I did this Summer!

God bless you all!