Summer in Manitoba is always so beautiful, and there are many great activities you can take part in throughout the province. Many of us get away to the phenomenal lakes and beaches Manitoba has to offer.

I’ve grown up at the lake and still enjoy going to this day. I spend every free weekend I can there, just as I did as a child, enjoying the sun and playing in the water whether its swimming, water skiing, wake boarding, tubing, or knee boarding.

I look back especially fondly on the summer I learned to drop a ski and slalom, cutting through the water and waves like a fish. In fact, after spending so many hours on the boat and in the lake, I’m shocked that I’m not half-fish by now. 

Over the years, my brothers and I have tried new watersports, adventured into the wilderness, and explored creeks and rapids.  We spent hours in the water together, whether we were tubbing, doubling on wakeboards, or just plain swimming.

I was always fond of my older brother. He had no fear in his eyes as he practiced for hours doing jumps and flips on the wakeboard. I took a lot of pictures of him in midair, and some funny ones with him wiping out after a crazy flip.

The greatest summer experience of all was meeting my best friend of 16 years. We went on countless adventures, always a duo on the tube or doubling behind the boats pulling us. 

I have one memory that’s so vivid, it feels like it happened yesterday—even though in reality it was almost ten years ago. My best friend and I were doubling behind my dad’s boat—she was knee boarding and I was wake boarding. Standing tall already, I was a giant. I jumped the wake on the right and she was right there beside me, so I cut hard out, leading back and making a huge spray from under my board. Soaking her completely, we laughed for many hours—and still laugh about it today looking at the picture.

Get out on the water, enjoy summer, and stay healthy!