Banks Lake

We just returned from 5 nights, 6 days at glorious Banks Lake in Eastern WA.  One of my favorite places of all time.  We went with family this year, including my niece Mira.  We were missing our friends (Elisabeth and Sherman) who have been a staple for years, but they are off living a dream and traveling the country.  It's hard to be mad at that!

We spent most days at "Waikiki beach."  Our normal sandy beach behind Steamboat Rock.  The water is shallow and warm and the beach is sandy and big.  Perfect for relaxing and playing games!

Kennedy loved the water this year.  She was in the water nonstop trying to keep up with Rylee and Carson.

The relaxation station was a hit as usual.

We went to La Presa one night for some delicious Mexican food and margaritas.  Always so good!

The kids went tubing every day, multiple times a day.  

Kennedy even went tubing for the first time.  She loved it!

Rylee was all about the water sports this year.  She did some kneeboarding and even tried wakeboarding!  

We played holy balls quite a bit.  It's a perfect beach game!  Carson and Grandma ended up winning the championship.  Who would have thought?!?

Harley (Jon and Mandy's new dog) came along for the first time.  She is a great beach dog!  She was pretty chill for the most part.  She loved napping in her beach chair!

The kids spent lots of time with the Grandparents.  💙

They ate a lot of ice cream from the campground store.  

Coulee got to come on the boat on our last day.  She loved it and did great.  She even went swimming!

The kids did some cliff jumping in the cutt.

Banks Lake is always an amazing time!  Every year brings new and special memories.  Can't wait for next year!

Visiting family in Minnesota

 

We just got back from a quick trip to Minnesota to visit family.  There were lots of fun events in town while we were there and we did them all!  We started with the rodeo on Thursday night.  It was a hot but beautiful night.  Always fun to watch the bull riders!

Friday night Carson went with the boys (Lance, Papa Mike, Uncle Brad and cousin Barry) to the races in Montevideo.  They had a great time but got very dirty.   There was even dirt inside the folds of Carson's ears!

While the boys were gone, Papa Willis and Grandma Arlyss took us to a winery for some wine and pizza.  It was delicious!  Then back to the house for some card playing!

We had to check out Uncle Brad and Aunt Barb's farm and ride the 4x4's and play with their dog Max.  Later they took us to a local bar and the kids fell in love with playing pool!  Carson won 3 games out of 4.  My little pool shark. 😊

We participated in a parade on Saturday.  Carson and Lance got to drive one of Papa Willis' tractors, while Rylee and I drove Papa Willis' little car.  We had fun throwing candy to all the kids watching.

We found some snow cones at a food truck downtown so we had to try them!  After the parade we went back to Grandma's house for some lunch and bean bag.  Papa Mike and Grandma Marcia ended up winning the bean bag tournament.  

Sunday evening we all went out for dinner at a golf course.  Grandma Arlyss brought dessert to celebrate Mom's upcoming birthday.

After dinner we drove to the small airport in town to take a ride in Shannon's plane (Papa Willis' son).  It was a gorgeous night.   And a beautiful plane!

We had a great visit.  Lots of stories were told and lots of cards were played.  If only they lived closer so we could do it more often.  I don't think I could live the small town life, but it's fun so to visit! 💗