After relaxing for a week with the Grands, it was time to head out for our annual “Fun Fest” camping trip to Buggs Island, aka John Kerr Lake Resevoir.  Buggs Island is Virginia’s largest lake, with over 50,000 acres of fresh water and 800+ miles of shoreline.  It’s owned and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and the majority of the shoreline is undeveloped.  The dam was completed in the 1950s to provide flood control and hydropower generation.  It is a popular boating and fishing destination, and takes approximately 4 hours to get there from the DC area.

We’ve been coming down here for years – there are several campgrounds around the lake, but we always stay at North Bend Park.

You can get campsites right on the water and while the facilities are somewhat primitive, it’s a pretty nice place.  Some sites also have electric hook-ups, but since we are tent campers, we just get the regular ole sites which are super cheap at $15/night  (electric is only $20/night).

So that’s the skinny on the area.  But what about our weekend?  Well, the forecast was calling for temps 100+° and frankly, I was dreading it.

Our group, which has been as many as 18 at times, had dwindled to mere 10 (half of which was our crew).  The heat definitely played a role, as did our picking a July date instead of our usual August.   We arrived Friday evening and tried to get settled in at the campsite.

I was pleased to see our site (C-162) was quite spacious and shady.  It also got a good breeze from being close to the lakefront.  The site next to us, 161, (also ours by reservation, but unused due to our depleted numbers) was right on the point and offered gorgeous views of the lake.

We got things set up as quickly as possible then got the boat in the water and got the kids in the water.  Everyone was happier in the water.   We took a break for dinner, then went back to play in the water til about 8:30pm.

Then it was time for bed.  Mike and the big kids decided to sleep out under the stars, while Adam, the dog and I occupied the tent.

We were a little worried about how Adam would do, but apparently, if you wear a kid out enough, he’ll sleep anywhere, so long his beloved Lammie is nearby.

Saturday was hot as the dickens, but thankfully never too miserable.  We spent as much time as possible either in the water on the boat, enjoying the breeze.  Lots of swim breaks and sunscreen helped keep everyone happy.

We got some tubing and wakeboarding runs in, but no one was as gung-ho as we’ve been in years past.  We mostly just enjoyed hanging out having fun together. So, for as miserable as weekend as it could have been, we survived and managed to have a great time as always.

Here’s the pics, click to see more detail:

Every minute of Memorial Day Weekend seemed to be packed with activities.  On Sunday, it was the annual neighborhood block party.  Not sure how many years we’ve been doing it now, but it seems to get bigger and better each year.    This year we invited Grandad, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Bear and Cousin Owen to join us so we quadrupled our fun.

We had delicious BBQ, there were moonbounces of all varieties, there was water fun, tattoos, Science Experiements, the Great Zucchini! and even a band!  I was exhausted from everything else we had been up to all weekend, so I pretty much fell in bed and passed out by 9pm, but we all had a blast.   Here’s some of the highlights below.   Uncle Bear took even more photos, so check out his shots as well.

Grandad graciously invited us to join him this Sunday for his Yacht Club’s Annual Power Cruise and Brunch.  The plan was travel from the club to the National Harbor by boat, then have brunch at Pienza, an Italian restaurant located in atrium of the Gaylord National Hotel.  Well, the weather was not ideal for boating, and I didn’t think my crew would remain cooperative for the boat ride to and fro, so we opted to drive over by car.

In addition to hosting our family, Grandad also invited Aunt Melissa & Cousin Owen (Uncle Bear was racing cars), and friends Ryan & Karina and their little guy.

We had a lovely, low key Easter.

We dyed eggs the night before.   We almost skipped it, but the kids had a blast, so I’m glad we made the time.  I never got around to buying the PAAS kit, but it turns out that the food coloring dyes I had on hand worked just fine.

It was a beautiful day to celebrate the risen King!

In the beginning of October, Cousin Owen spent a couple of days with us.  Our daily routine is pretty busy, so he just came along for the ride with whatever activities we had planned.  One day, that meant going to Mainly Music with Adam.  This is a great music and movement program run by McLean Bible church.   Before the class starts, they blow bubbles while waiting for kids to arrive.

Both boys loved the bubbles.

Then class started and we had a time of singing, followed by snack and playtime.   Both Adam & Owen were all about the snack.

Then they had fun playing with the toys.

It was great having Owen with us for a couple of days  – all the kids had fun playing with their cousin.  A few weeks went by before we got to see Owen again.   Finally, last Sunday, after church, we met up with Owen and Bear & Mel for lunch at Panera.  We attempted to have a “kids table”, with limited success.  They were pretty amped up and needed some supervision.   However, I love this picture of them enjoying themselves together around the table:

This past two days, we’ve been hosting cousin Owen.  He got to hang our wild brood while his daddy worked and his mommy was on a trip.  The cousins had a blast playing with each other.  Owen was a very easy-going toddler.  He pretty much was happy to be swept along with the group activities, especially if I kept his snack trap and sippy full.  Here are a few pics I managed to take from our time together.

We started our time together Thursday morning, doing one of Owen’s favorite activities – reading books.

Then we did a bunch more stuff on Thursday  – “Mainly Music”, lunch @ McDonald’s, gymnastics for Wendy & Sam – but I wasn’t clever enough to have my camera on hand.

Friday we spent a morning at one of our favorite local parks – the one referred to in our family as, “The Park Sam Bonked His Noggin At“.  I love Madison Manor b/c it’s relatively small, fenced, but there’s plenty for the kids to do.  Plus, it has nice blacktop right there for riding bikes, trikes, and gliders.

Somehow, I managed to keep up with four kids,  3 “bikes” (one bike, one glider, and one trike), and one stroller.  Thank goodness I had my favorite backpack!

Riding the purple dinosaur is always fun.

Now matter how you ride him.

I can take no credit for Wendy’s hair today (nor do I wish too).

Sam had fun playing with the trucks in the sand & mulch

Snacktime was a hit with everyone.

Everyone had fun on the swings.

After the playground, we came home for lunch and naps.  God was gracious to me and all 3 boys went down easily for naps, giving me an hour or so of peace and quality time with Wendy.

After naps, we headed up the street to check out the high school’s Homecoming parade.  The kids had fun watching the fire trucks, floats, and marching band.  If you ask them their favorite part, they will tell you it was when the cheerleaders gave them candy.

All in all, we had a good two days with cousin Owen and can’t wait to play with him again!

“Funham”: a whole lot of fun and mayhem all mixed together.

(I just made that up).

We just had a great 10 days with the “Montana Cousins.” The MT Cousins, formerly the San Diego cousins. We used to fly out yearly to visit them in Cali, but then they moved to Montana and I wasn’t sure when we’d see them again. Well they made the trek east and we had a great time together. Karen is Mike’s sister and she and Brad have five kids, ages 12 to 5.

They spent the first week with the Grands in Alexandria, and then the last few days, they spent down at the “country house.” Our kids had a blast with them, and vice versa. While up in the DC area, we hit some monuments and museums. While out in the country, we made like country folk and spent plenty of time out in the fields and on tractors.

I’ve uploaded a ton of pictures in our Picasa Gallery. My dad also uploaded some in his gallery (my folks wanted a chance to visit with everyone too, so Adam & I caught a ride in their RV . Nice way to travel!). Hopefully Karen will blog about their trip too and maybe even Grandma R will upload her pics to the interweb ;)  Here’s a small taste of the fun we had: