My Watermark is Mississaugua Lake, an hour north of Peterborough, and just north of the Trent-Severn.

My family and I have a cottage on the lake and I have young kids, 6 & 8 years old. We are sort of in the stage where we are on the water now and the kids are able to go as well because they are great swimmers. So we spend a lot of time on the lake, paddle-boarding, kayaking, and doing stuff like that.

In the last few years, a series of moments we continue to have is all four of us would kayak and paddle-board on the shoreline. I think doing that for us, is a great family thing to do. First of all, we are outdoors, and when you are on the water, especially a body of water like that, you feel a lot more connected to the space, the water, the shoreline, and what’s going on around you.

In one of our little Bay’s, we have a male and female loon that come back every year, on this little island, to have babies. Every year, we go and check, and now we call it, ‘Loon Island.’ Just last weekend we were paddling by there, and saw some broken eggs. So you know you got some baby loons out and about. It’s these moment’s that really resonate with you, and also in the morning when you wake up and see how pristine the water is.

I think when you’re on the water, it make you feel closer to it and more appreciative of the beauty, and the area you are in. You also see a lot of water life, such as blue herons, fish, and all kinds of stuff. For us, it’s a great thing to experience the natural environment.

On day’s like this (Evergreen-Muskoka Brewery Beach Clean-up), when you’re out here trying to clean up the beach and when you’re also telling your kids to not throw their wrapper out on the lake, it just really enforces it—to take care of things.

Every weekend we have memorable moments on the water, and we try to repeat them. And when you keep repeating them, then your kids will want to come back as well.