Benbow Lake

When making reservations for our summer camping trips,

I quickly realized that I hadn't planned appropriately.

You really do have to book well in advance

to get anywhere close to what you want.

Lucky for us,

we're pretty flexible,

so we took a chance on...

Benbow Lake

Boy,

were we wrong.

First of all, the "Lake",

isn't really a lake at all.

It's more of a bend,

with a really, really strong current.

That's NOT good for kids. 

Though it was great for Samuel and I,

who took advantage of probably our only opportunity

to swim in nature's very own lap swimming pool

set to HIGH.

Seriously,

we were exhausted within minutes.

Because of this,

the kids were limited to within a few feet of the shore,

and like the good sports that they are,

they had fun anyway.

You'll notice the girls are all in T's. 

That's because we forget their swimsuits!

Crazy,
 since this was our big trip to the lake

where the number one thing we planned on doing all day

was swim! 

Another big mistake was diapers!

Samuel and I both forgot to pack them!

Lucky for us,

I had a random pack of Princess Pull-ups

in the back of the van that worked perfectly.

Whew!

We're smiling because we managed to find a place

away from all the lovely inhabitants of Benbow Lake.

Apparently it's a real summer destination for these parts,

and we were in close quarters with people

who brought huge TV's for their picnic tables

and generators that drummed at all hours.

Here, the beverage of choice was NOT lemonade,

which made people quickly forget the "Quiet after 10 PM" rule.

Word of Wisdom people!



But we made do,
and while back at the camp

everyone pitched in to prep for dinner.

Our funny little corn-shucking crew.

One of my favorite road meals:

Taco Salad & Refried Black Beans

with

Fresh Watermelon

Delicious!

Supping.

Look at those red cheeks! 

It was so warm here! 

A surprise since we were so far up North

and only an hour from the coast!

We love to surprise the kids with little things while we're away 

and these goggles were a huge hit. 

They wore them everywhere EXCEPT in the water!

Go figure.

My Owen.

All the way home and for weeks after he wanted so badly

to go back to, "camping".

Soon, son. 

Soon.

Just anywhere on earth
other than Benbow Lake!