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:

We had another fun camping weekend at “Buggs Island” (aka Kerr Lake, or even more officially John H. Kerr Reservoir).  We have been camping and boating here every summer since before we got married.  We always stay at the North Bend Park, which is just outside of South Hill, VA and about 4 hours (plus potty breaks) from DC.  The campground is run by the Army Corps of Engineers.   We like it because the sites are big and roomy, and many are lakefront, allowing us to anchor our boat right out in front of the site.  I use the term “our boat” loosely, Grandad has been graciously allowing us to take his boat, “Miss KBM&M” (named after the initials of his kids and their spouses) year after year.

This year, Mike & I took the boat down  (Barrett & Mel share this duty with us), which meant we borrowed Grandad’s truck to pull Grandad’s boat.  This meant we were traveling three-wide across the back, and the dawg was relegated to the floor underneath Wendy.

Back in our single and DINK days, we would bring as many friends as we could cram onto two or three campsites and try to log as many hours as possible in and behind the boat, either tubing, skiing or wakeboarding.   Now that we are old, married and laden with children, the weekend takes on a slower pace.   We still get out on the boat, but the time is much more focused on relaxin (am I too old to say chillaxin’?) and enjoying the moment.

This year’s Fun Bunch:  my college pal Kimber + her mysterious-he-who-must-not-be-named hubs J + their “baby” –  water-loving pup Kaiya.  Next is my college pal Randy (also Kimber’s bro) + his lovely wife Michelle (great with child) + their cutie pie munchkin Zach.  Next to Michelle is longtime friend Steve, aka “Mr. Love”.  Then there is our unruly brood, on the end is brother Bear +  his lovely wife Mel + their two year-old redhead Owen.

It was a great place for the kids to ride bikes.   The sites were on a paved loop – Sam, in particular,  had a blast riding his.

And while the playground wasn’t that impressive, the kids still had fun on it.

One of the things I like about our particular camp area is the nice beach-like waterfront.   There are a few rocks you have to watch out for, but it’s a great place for digging, splashing and lots and lots of swiming.

In addition to biking and swimming, we did get our fair share of boating in.  I got very few pictures on the water, but did manage to snag some of Uncle Bear showing off his mad wake boarding skills.

And of course we ate.  And ate.  Another camping tradition is that everyone seems to bring 3xs as much food as they need, so if we’re not swimming or sleeping, we are most likely eating.  Our Saturday night meal was a yummy Shish kabob meal (I’ll try and post the recipe soon).

Weather-wise, it was one of our best weekends.   The middle of the day was hot, but could be managed by swimming or finding breezy shade.   The mornings and evenings were much cooler and comfortable, with a great breeze blowing.

Sleep-wise, everyone also did great.  The big kids were exhausted and slept like logs.   I worried about Adam, who has wonderful sleep habits at home, thanks to his blackout curtains and white noise machine.   However, he did fine – he woke a time or two, but for the most part was easy peasy.   He did, however demonstrate a newly acquired skill: climbing out of  the pack-n-play.   I was sleeping on an air mattress in front of his PNP and on Sunday am, he woke early.  I tried to ignore him, hoping he’d go back to sleep on his own.  Instead, I felt a thud and rolled over to see his smiling face on my air mattress.   Apparently, he hitched one leg over the side, then catapulted himself right out.  Thankfully he got a soft landing.

Enough of my blathering, here’s the rest of our pictures –  brother Bear will supply more.

This past weekend we had our annual Fun Fest trip. For the past 10-15 years (it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten how many now), we’ve gotten together with friends to camp and boat down at Buggs Island Lake (officially known as John Kerr Resevoir). We tent camp at North Bend Park, and boat and swim and wakeboard to our hearts delight.

This year was a little different, for a couple of reasons:

1) We scaled back the guest list dramatically. Typically, we go with 12-18 of our bestest buds and have a great time. Friends from my college days, friends from church, friends from B & Ms circle of friends, etc. This year, having 3 kids under the age of 5, I just didn’t feel up to hosting a big crowd. Hopefully next year we can invite more friends again, but this year, simpler was better. It was just us and Bear & Mel & Owen and one new guest …. Grandad!

2) Grandad not only decided to join us on our camping adventure, he decided to kick it up a notch by bringing his swanky RV along. This definitely redefined our notion of “roughing it” and it turned out to be most fortunate because …

3) I came down with mastitis the day before we were supposed to leave. If you’ve never had it, be glad. It felt like a bad case of the flu and left me in bed with a high fever and alternating between chills and hot flashes. This meant Mike had to care for the kids and pack everything. I was useless until my antibiotics kicked in.

Mike did a great job getting everything ready, with two tiny exceptions: a pack ‘n play for the baby and an air mattress for me. When I realized this Friday evening, I quickly played the “sick momma/baby needs to sleep” card and hightailed it for the RV, leaving hubby to fend for himself with two wild jackals children in the tent.

So, I enjoyed a climate controlled night of sleep on the Select Comfort Sleep Number bed. Now, the baby did wake just about every 3 hours to nurse, which was quite painful, but I knew better than to complain.

When I woke Saturday morning, I felt much better and enjoyed our weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend … right up until Sunday morning when we were getting ready to leave. What was going to be a leisurely boat ride quickly turned into a scramble to get the boat on the trailer before the downpour got worse.

Of course, the minute everything was hooked up and cinched down, the sun broke loose and shined upon us.

We wrapped up our weekend with a interminable brief stop at Cracker Barrel before heading back home.

As we approached the perimeter of Northern Va., traffic came to it’s typical slowdown. We decided to take a detour in Fredericksburg and introduce the kids to our good friend, Carl. It had been a while, but Carl still knows how to make the best soft serve around!

Due to my sluggish nature, I didn’t get to many pictures of the weekend, but hopefully Uncle B will fill in the blanks. Here’s the few that I did capture:

Chillin at the campsite

Enjoying some lake swimmin

Wendy was a fish all weekend – she loved swimming!

Hanging with Grandad on the floatie

Cousin Owen’s books were a big hit

Trying to escape the rain by hiding under the dash

Adam had to rely on a towel

Waiting for a table at Cracker Barrel

Checkers – preschool style (very loose rules)

On the road .. in a caravan. Boat in front …

RV in back (don’t mind the dirty windshield)

The best ice cream around!

The sign of a successful weekend

We continued our camping tradition with another weekend trip to Buggs Island Lake, VA. In addition to some of our regular crew, we were joined by the Fishers, who brought their boat along – it was nice to have two options to ride!

The kids had a great time and loved camping. Wendy went tubing for the first time and even tried waterskiing behind Jay’s boat. It was a little scary for her and she didn’t get up, but I was so proud of her for trying! Our pictures are up in our Photo Gallery, and Barrett posted his pictures as well.

We returned to Buggs Island this summer to resume our “Fun Fest” tradition of boating & camping. I was seriously dreading the evenings, based on Sam’ past history of NOT sleeping well in new places. But praise the Lord! He was great! He slept just as well as he does at home (just a few fussings, no all night screamfests).
We had a great time and hope to be back there next year.
Here are the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/rardnek/200608AugustCamping

Update: Barrett just uploaded his pics, check them out here, they’re great!

http://mbhill.net/g2/main.php/v/recreation/2006_08_26_FunFest/

That’s right, another fun Fun Fest happened last weekend. This was FFIX – 9 years, can you believe we’ve beeing doing this for that long?

We spent it (as usual) down at Buggs Island Lake (aka Kerr Lake Resevoir for all ya’ll North Carolinians). The weather was absolutely perfect – probably the best we’ve ever had. Mid to lo 80s during the day and cool at night (40s? not sure).

Wendy did great and loved the great outdoors, except for that 4:45am waketime Sun morning (sorry!).

Here’s the link to the Fun Fest Fotos:

/gallery/2004-08-funfest9