Friday 22 June 2012

The Summer Essentials Blog Tour

So today I have a nice, fun guest post as part of The Summer Essentials blog tour put together by Sourcebook Fire. There is also a giveaway at the bottom of this post for a chance to win the feature titles,The Girls Ghost Hunting Guide and Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath.


Top Five Summer Splashin’ Activities



Discover Hélène’s favorite summer activities – all involving water of course. Make sure to get your swimsuit ready!



I grew up on a small island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean so splishy-splashy summer activities are some of my favourite things to do.  Here are my top five summer splashin’ activities!



1. SURFING



I am so bad at surfing and have only ever managed to stand on my board about three times in my life but it is so much fun to get out there and catch a few waves even if you’re like me and all you can manage is getting up on your knees. This day, it was only 13 C/ 55 F and the water was even chillier. Thank goodness for wet suits!



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2. SAND CASTLE BUILDING



My family and I stay at an ocean side cottage every summer and try to schedule our stay during the annual Sandcastle Building Competition. We came in FIRST last year and plan on defending our title again this summer. Jade the mermaid has even been known to make an appearance!


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3. WHALE WATCHING



Creatures of the sea have always amazed me (obviously!) so if you ever get the chance—don’t pass up an opportunity to go whale watching. It’s so magical!


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Last time, we even discovered a sea cave. I wonder what’s hiding in there…


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4. RACE!



I joke that I once came in 141st in a race with 140 competitors and that’s not very far from the truth. I am slow. VERY slow. But I love competing in races at least once a summer. These days I usually do walking half marathons (my best time is 3:01 hrs—a glacial pace) but I’ve also been known to do short triathlons. Swimming is probably my worst leg of the race but it’s a great way to cool down for the biking and running part. This is my ‘I’m so glad THAT’S over’ face.


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5. SNOWBALL FIGHTS



Yup, you read that correctly. When you live within driving distance of a dozen hockey arenas like I do, there’s nothing like loading up the back of the truck with Zamboni snow and dumping it in your front yard for an instant pile of chilly summer fun. Snowball fight!


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ADDITIONAL INFO:

You can find Hélène on Twitter, Facebook and on her Website.

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Sourcebooks has offered up one copy of Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath and The Girls Ghost Hunting Guide to 2 lucky winners ( 1 winner per book) who live in CAN/US. This giveaway will end on July 5th. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

  1. I grew up at the beach and now live in a mountain valley. Sometimes I sure miss the ocean. Thanks for reminding me of the fun summer fun! I think our snow has all melted now, but hey I can make you a snow cone treat for the hot valley days.

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  2. I have NEVER been to the beach...:( I've passed it many times, but have never stopped to enjoy the scenery. It's about time the family and I've paid the ocean a visit. Great guest post!

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  3. I love the photos on the post!!! Thanks so much for offering a giveaway! I'm a new follower!

    Danielle
    http://knowntoread.blogspot.com/

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  4. Those all sound like so much fun! Especally the zamboni ice in the front yard - except I don't think it would last longer than 5 minutes outside where I live and it gets to be over 100 F on a regular basis.

    I live in San Antonio, Texas - 2 hours from the Gulf coast and about 30 minutes from the Texas Hill Country. I love to go tubing on the rivers - just sittin' in a big ol' inner tube, lazily floatin' down the river, occassionally hitting mild rapids, with your cooler tube in tow, watching the scenery and other people enjoying the river, go by. My other favorite thing to do is drive down to the coast for the day, hit the beach, maybe tour the Texas State Aquarium or the USS Lexington docked in Corpus Christi, and then go for a gulf coast style seafood boil (shrimp, crawfish, crab legs, andouille sausage, corn & potatoes boiled, seasoned, and dumped on butcher paper in the middle of the table for all to share) for dinner.

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  5. I really want to go whale watching. That has been on my wish list for ever.

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  6. As hot as it has been this summer, I would love to have a snow ball fight, so I'm going to have to go to our ice rink and see what I can do about getting some snow! Thanks so much for the very fun guest post and the awesome giveaway:)

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  7. I started a race in primary school, I'm still on the 7th lap 30 + years later.

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  8. I'm a major fan of the beach, and that's usually where you'll find me in the Summer!

    Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
    elizabeth @ bookattict . com

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  9. Greetings! I've been following your weblog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the great job!
    Feel free to surf my website read more

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  10. Snowball fights in the summer. Awesome. I never would've thought of it. Great post.

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  11. I love building sandcastles, but I haven't done it in years! I'd also love to go whale watching, but I'm in the middle of Canada and don't think I'll be getting to the coast anytime soon, although I had hoped to this summer.
    Thanks for the giveaway! :-)

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  12. I love the beach, the ocean, and mermaids. Thanks for the post and giveaway.

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  13. Sand castles! I love that mermaid - it looks like it was made of stone! Thanks for the giveaway :)

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Feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts! :)