Banks Lake Trip 2

The very best part of our summer is always our Banks Lake trip. We got to go twice this summer and we were really looking forward to going with my parents and my brother’s family. When we arrived at Steamboat Rock State Park, we were greeted by mosquitos. Hundreds. Pounding at the glass of the truck, wanting to get in and suck our blood. (If you think I’m exaggerating, I’m not. It was like a horror movie!) We should have known then that it wouldn’t be the perfect trip we dreamed we’d have. Let’s see…

Mosquitos + 100 max repellant with deet + Ivarest lotion = irritable campers
Lost the boat anchor when the buoy line snapped the first day
Sewer line at our campsite got clogged; had to switch sites after a day of no bathroom
Favorite Mexican restaurant closed the night we went into town to eat there
Haley got a virus and spent three days hovering between 101 and 103 degrees
Went back to Mexican a different night; both kids threw up at the table
Got a phone call midweek that our dog had busted through our fence and spent the morning barking at our neighbor’s dog… from their own backyard
Haley got her second tooth while we were there and so we ran the humidifier in the tent for a few nights. Tent sauna.
Our friend hurt his shoulder tubing
Our nephew hurt his back skiing
The air conditioning in our truck didn’t get fixed after all

I feel like I’m forgetting something. Anyway, my sister-in-law kept saying “We’re making memories!” and truly, we did. We also had a fabulous time, actually, when we weren’t getting eaten alive. The weather was gorgeous and hot, and the water was great. I skiied every day but two. Jim skipped a few more days because he was busy biking and running in the early morning hours and got sore legs and a nasty blister.

We had a bunch of friends and family visit while we were there, which was fun for JT. He was a little host: when new kids showed up, he would invite them to play and show them around. Very cute.

I took over a thousand pictures, kept 800, and have narrowed it down to a mere 70 to post online. I’ll post ten here and you can click to the rest if you like.