Birthday trip to Caddo Lake

Conveniently, my birthday often happens to fall right at the beginning of Waco and Baylor's spring break.  So whatever we do for spring break doubles as birthday celebration for me.  I'd like to think this means I get an extra bit of say about our plans.  This year JB and I got to bring the kids to Caddo Lake in East Texas.  The last time we were there, we were not yet married.  I can't say I didn't know what I was getting into when I married someone who's idea of a romantic getaway is camping in a swamp!  

The point of this trip, when it comes down to it, was taking Benjamin canoeing through the swamp.  We had a few setbacks on the way including pouring rain the evening we drove out, flooding on the bayou which meant the state park wasn't renting canoes, and arriving too late and on the wrong day for any restaurants to be open for supper.  But we made the most of it all and bought Benjamin some rain boots (they light up!), rented canoes further into the swamp, and ate peanut butter and banana sandwiches for supper in our little heated cabin.    

And we got to canoe in the swamp.  Ben loved sitting in the middle, learning the rules about riding in a boat, pulling water plants from the swamp, and asking endless questions about the cypress trees and the spanish moss.  We even found a baby turtle he tried to bring back in the canoe.  We decided the turtle would be happier right there in the water.  

Without grandmommy and granddad's help, we would not have been able to do this at all of course.  They came out for the day and played with Eliza Jane while we went canoeing.  A bit of a long trip out just to babysit, but we all had a good meal together on the way home, and we hope it was worth their while.  Eliza had a great time being a "big hiker"--her face just lights up when she sees her grandparents.