Banks Lake 2020 (The Covid Curse)

We just returned home from our annual trip to Banks Lake.  As usual, it did not disappoint.  5 days of sun, fun, calm water, tubing, cliff jumping, swimming, day drinking, fishing and friends.  Our friends Elisabeth, Sherman, and their two boys Ronan and Theron joined us again this year.  Its always a good time with them.  They are our very favorite vacation friends.  They are laid back, go with the flow, up for anything friends.  My kind of people!

The first day we always spend in one of our favorite little coves close to the campground.  Since we usually only have half a day after unpacking and setting up the campsite, its nice to have a close spot to hang out.  The first evening was warm and calm, so we took a sunset cruise.  It was fun watching and the bats and listening to the crickets.

We hung out at our favorite beach, "Waikiki" one day.  The sand was perfect and the water was warm and shallow.  Two reasons why we love this beach!

Lance caught a big carp and the kids went nuts.  They all wanted to hold it and give it a kiss. 

The kids spent so much time tubing.  They fell off a couple times and were a little nervous to get back on, but they all did and had a great time!  

The kids had so much fun playing together in the water and sand.  They spent a lot of time exploring new beaches and "snorkeling" in the water looking for shells, fish and other treasures.

We did a lot of cliff jumping and diving.  The kids got braver every day!

Carson wanted to dive off the higher rock like Dad, but mom wasn't quite ready for that.  Jumping is all I can handle!

Rylee wasn't ready to take on the higher rocks just yet, but had fun on the smaller one.

Campfires and smores are some of our favorite things!  Yummm.  We also found lots of new bugs this year, including this giant striped beetle.  The deer were abundant and so brave!  These two were eating grass right behind our tent one night.  They didn't even get spooked when I got close to take the picture!  

We discovered a new beach one day when Waikiki was taken.  We named it "Banzai Beach" after the cool banzai looking trees that were all over.  The beach wasn't quite as nice as Waikiki, but the water was shallow and there was a great sand wall that the kids played on all day.  This ended up being the most relaxing day.  The kids were busy adventuring so the parents had lots of time to float.  

Another day we hung out in one of our favorite coves, "Boulder beach/ Deer Cove."  The boys fished while the girls floated on the relaxation station.  The kids did more rock jumping and exploring.

The last day was spent relaxing on a new beach and then meeting up with our friends Kristin and Andy and their two little girls, Ashtin and Peyton.  The kids had a blast playing together and the parents had a great time catching up.  These are awesome friends that we do not see nearly enough.  We had so much fun that we didn't get on the road until 8pm.  Oops!  😆

All in all, it was another great year.  Despite the many casualties (hole in the tube, relaxation station, and 3 floaties... we are calling it the covid curse!) we had a fun and memorable trip.  Can't wait for next year!

Crescent Bar getaway

We had heard so many good things about Crescent Bar from friends, so we finally decided to check it out.  It did not disappoint!  Sunshine, sand, water (although cold!), and friends.  All of my favorite things.  There were so many things to celebrate while we were there- Christian and Jason both had birthdays, and Lance and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.  Such a great place to celebrate!

Our friends Tania and Jason invited us this year, so we stayed in the condo complex that they stay in.  It was great.  The pool wasn't open yet due to covid restrictions, but they had a bounce house the first couple days we were there which was awesome for the kids.

The first day we spent exploring the river by boat and finding new coves and sand areas to check out.  The water was really high this year, so there wasn't a lot of sandy beaches, but we found a couple!  The kids had a blast riding the tube.  They become more and more daredevils every time they ride.

We bought an aqua lily pad this year (a floating foam mat) which turned out to be a big hit, especially since the water was so cold!  The kids had a blast running, jumping and doing flips on the mat.

The first night we went to eat at Tower Pizza.  We ate outside in the sun, it was perfect!  Good pizza too.

The next day we decided to venture out and find the famous "sandbar."  I gotta admit, it was pretty cool.  There were already a bunch of boats there when we arrived, so we anchored up near the end.  It ended up being the perfect spot.  The was a huge hill of sand behind us that the kids ran up and down and played in.  

 

We spent the day relaxing and floating.  The girls even made friends with another little girl their age.  So much fun!

The last full day we spent on a tiny little beach we found down the river.  It turned out to be a great spot with lots of sand for the kids to play in.  We even got to catch up with my friend Denise who I hadn't seen in forever!  It was so great reliving some of the fun times we've had over the years!  That night we ate at a restaurant on the golf course in Sunserra.  It was a perfect way to celebrate everything and end the long weekend!

We had such an amazing and relaxing time.  The kids made so many memories and really bonded with their friends.  I absolutely love going to new places and exploring new things.  We are hooked and will definitely be back again soon!!!