Best Beach of Summer

Yesterday, my girls and I did something we've been meaning to do all summer: we went down to the river about 3/4 mile from the house to hike the cattle trails, throw rocks in the water, splash around a bit, etc.

We had intended to bike there, but my back tire was flat and I completely didn't think about it that I could probably use The Man's compressor to refill it, so we opted for the van.  Which was probably a good idea anyway, since it was quite windy.

Pedalling there, hiking up and down the steep river banks, and then biking home again in that kind of wind might just be a little more than we could all handle!  Other than the wind, though, it was a beautiful day, and around the bed of the river was the best beach we've been to all summer!

Natural, sandy beaches do exist in Manitoba, but not around our neck of the woods, really.  Here, we mostly have rocky shorelines or grass right up to the water's edge.  So a sandbar in the bend of a lazy river is a treat!

I wish we'd gone earlier and packed a lunch.  Maybe even the girls' swimsuits.  The water was too cold for my liking, but the girls waded a bit,

and happily built sandcastles and moats without shovels or buckets.

Initially, the sky was mostly clear with just some lazy, whispy clouds ~ I love this butterfly! ~

~ but some rather evil-intention-looking clouds started rolling in after we'd been there for about an hour and a half, so we sadly put our shoes back on, hiked back up the cliff,

following the old cattle trails through this overgrown, tunnel-like section at the top of the hill, and back to the road.

And then realized the clouds had sailed right past us.

But it was suppertime anyway.

The end.