Oh man, so much happening, so little time, and I’m so lazy!  In a rare situation, both the boys are asleep and so is Hazel and Jenn’s out on the town with a friend so I’m going to type as fast as I can to try and bring you some much needed IHJ love before somebody starts crying or something suddenly needs to be cleaned.  Anyone who has recently stubbed their toe in the dark on the suitcases still sitting next to my bed knows that the most recent news was that the entire Richards clan just made it back from an all-out Washington fiesta at the end of July/ beginning of August.  There was way to much fun had and friends seen to cram into one post, and quite honestly I don’t even have all the pictures in one place yet, so I’ll start at the end since that’s what I’ve got.

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I’m going to try and keep this short (for me) because otherwise I’ll never catch up on posting.  Personally I think that it is unfair that I have been blessed with children who are photogenic and do cute things faster than I can tell people about it, but I’m doing the best I can.  Anyway, here we go… (more…)

Today we continue our recap of IHJ past in an attempt to catch up to the present.  While Jenn and I took the chance to catch dinner and some movies as well as catching up on some reading and time with family and friends, I think it is safe to say that Jonah and Calvin’s Washington experience can be summed up in three words: Non-stop movement.

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Ok, so technically that’s two words and a prefix, but you get the idea.  I think Calvin and Jonah firmly grasped the concept that they couldn’t be sure when the next Washington trip was going to be so they decided to fully suck the marrow out of every waking second they were there.  Luckily they had a ready reserve of willing relatives to burn through.  It was like they were playing Richards family bingo and crossed off a new person every day.

First off the list were the cousins.  Since their first encounter I don’t think Jonah has ever actually stopped talking about his cousins.  When we planned our trip he actually wasn’t at all interested in getting into the car until it was explained that Washington is where Gaige and Cameron live.  While they did have some constructive activities like reading or a few adult organized games of red rover and tag, they didn’t seem to need a reason to run and laugh.  One particular evening they invented a game whose rules as far as I could tell were composed of simply running around and through my parents house, collapsing on the deck in front of everyone, laughing, and then repeating.  Like your average little brother Calvin did his best to follow them everwhere and would have failed miserably if it wasn’t for the fact that Gaige has fully adopted him and always made sure everyone slowed down for him, always protected him from harm and was constantly bending to down to ask things like “Baby Calvin, do you need a break?  You do?  Guys, Calvin wants to rest for a second!”  If it wasn’t a terrible idea I’d hire Gaige for my new babysiter.

Next on the list was Aunt Liz who was kind enough to help the boys answer a couple of life’s immortal questions including “How long does it take for a four year old and a one year old to throw all the rocks on the beach into the ocean?” and “What do you have to promise them to pry them away from the controls of an actual robot at the Science Center?”.  Although I think they were more interested in the more pressing questions like ” Why does Aunt Liz’s house have so much more cool breakable stuff then ours?”

With Liz down it was town to focus on the Grandparents.  Grandpa was easy because he made the mistake of thinking that he could outlast two children at the playground.  Suffice to say an hour or so later he was proven wrong.  Not only did they make him run and carry them all over the playground, they couldn’t figure out why Grandpa didn’t want to keep it up once they got home.  Although I must admit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jonah so surprised or run so fast once he finally got Grandpa out of his chair by running by and yelling “Can’t catch me old man!” (I may have had something to do with that)

Last on the list of major contenders in the adults vs. Jonah and Calvin arena were Grandpa Joe and Grandma Mary.  Two people so literally tied around Jonah’s finger that on our last visit they just started gving him whatever furniture he pointed at (we still have his “special chair”).  Luckily, they are completely at peace with the fact that Jonah uses them almost purely as a means to a tractor ride.  Not content with getting to use the levers and lift the scoop up and down, he personally talked Mary into not one, not two, but THREE tractor rides all the way around their farm.  The third was in question until Jonah pulled out the big guns, looked deep into Mary’s eyes while he hugged her hand and said, “Grandma, we could maybe go around  just one more last time together… if you want to?”.   Not surprisingly she was no match for his wiles and he yet again circumnavigated the entire farm with what I can only describe as the biggest grin ever (Although maybe it wouldn’t have been so big if he stopped to read all the warnings).

I’ll admit that by the time we left both the kids were in need of about a week long nap, but I think it’s also safe to say that the score currently stands Richards: 0, Little Boys:1.  They’re already training for a rematch, hopefully sometime around Christmas.  Of course by then they’ll be an unstobable force powered by both their energy AND their sister’s cuteness.

Alright, I’m willing to admit that the staff here at IHJ may have taken one or two extended sabbaticals in the past year and that many of you have given up on us doing regular posting and the rest of you have decided that you’re lucky if you get annual or bi-annual updates on our lives at all.  In our defense we’ve had ALOT of stuff going on.  After getting settled in New Mexico we figured what better way to relax than by immediately embarking on a non-stop five week interstate familypalooza.  Before we can get back to the present and more regular IHJ posts, I feel it is necessary to touch on some of the tour highlights.  First off was the 2009 Super Mother’s Day Extravaganza: (more…)

Sometimes a day can go so well that everything is literally tied up with a bow in the end. I hereby submit the following daily itinerary for this last Monday as evidence as to why IHJ posting has continued to lag even though we have no more excuses of work and unpacking out here on vacation. As you can see we have managed to pack so many good times into each day there really isn’t time for anything else. I’d apologize, but I’m making it my goal to continue to squeeze every last ounce of fun out of our families before we leave so that we can ride the good times high until we can escape New Mexico once again. So, let’s start with breakfast… (more…)

Statistics I just invented have shown that 84% of people polled believe that of all halves of months the first half of May is by far the most uneventful, followed directly by the second half.  And why not, it’s a vast bridge of ennui between the excitement of April’s Spring Break and June’s Summer Vacation.  Early scientists tried to combat the issue with such winning inventions as “Clean Up Your Room Day” and  ”National Tap Dance Day“, and were completely baffled when even the illustrious mantle of “Asparagus Month” did nothing for May’s front end.  Luckily, researchers here at IHJ have not been so easily defeated.  Now, finally after years of test and development we are able to unveil the cure for the early May blues that have hitherto vexed mankind! (more…)

So, while we were in Washington we went camping with the family.   By “the family” I mean Caitlin, Liz, Darcy, Noah, Rayna, Gaige, Cameron, Chris, Jonah, Calvin, and me.  Kim and Don came out during the day, but being the smart people they are, they opted to sleep in their warm cushy bed at night.  Tex opted to enjoy his warm cozy house the whole time, and stayed away from the great outdoors.  We were at Deception Pass for four days and three nights.  I was cold a lot (’cause I’m kind of a baby), and it was pretty crazy with all the kiddos, but it was good times overall.  Calvin hung out in his playpen and Gaige and Cameron happily played peek-a-boo and other games with him.  We played cards at nap time and in the evening, and there was even one night we had to fend of a raccoon.  Cailin, Noah and Rayna had scouted out the biggest and best campsite (right near the bathrooms, which was perfect for night time potty breaks) and it easily fit two tables, three tents and our campfire with ten chairs around it.  There was even space left over for some frisbee.  They also did all the food shopping, packed all the supplies, and all we had to do was show up and eat (a lot).  Most of us adults enjoyed the eating (yup, that’s bacon on a campfire — we know how to do things right) and card playing.  But I think what the kids liked the best was walking down to the beach and playing in the water.  Or, in Calvin’s case, throwing rocks.  The first time we didn’t anticipate the level of wetness the boys would achieve and so they were improperly dressed.  The day after, however, we went ready with extra clothes and towels.  Jonah seemed to bond with his new cousins, and they all showed off their muscles on the beach.  All in all it was good times, but I don’t think I’ll be running out to camp with a one-year-old again anytime soon.  Calvin didn’t sleep much, so neither did I.  To see the rest of the pictures, click here.

Thanks for the good times Noah and Rayna.  What a great family.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m amazed at how many people still let me call them friends even though I keep moving farther and farther across the U.S., even though they are scattered accross Washington, California, Texas, Maryland, Vermont, North Carolina and other states whose names escape me at the moment.  Besides an excellent method for massaging my own ego, IHJ has helped me feel at least a little more worthy of those friendships by keeping you all in my life as best as possible (short of flying everyone out here on weekends, still got a few promotions to get through before that happens).

That being said, I had one quick announcement and an homage.  First, you’ll find a new addition to the sidebar – Jaiden and Cameron.  If you already know them, good for you, I’m not giving out prizes.  If not, I highly recommend you check them out if you are a fine connisuer of blogs of incredibly cute little blonde haired kids (Punky, I’m looking in your direction).

Second, I acknowledge there has been a gaping emptiness lately at IHJ due to the much coveted “Blog du Wren” missing from the IHJ press box.  This is due mostly to the fact that I received my computer science degree from a school whose top degree was medicine and whose natural science lobby had an inflatable couch.  So when a script I write fails and I say I’ll “fix” it, what I really mean is that I’ll just erase the offending site and do nothing until they spring for faster servers.  Well my friends, that glorius day has arrived and I hereby demand that all loyal IHJ followers jump on the hyperlink over to BdW and enjoy all that there is to offer.  For those of you who’ve been away, fear not, BdW is still authored with the regularity and depth that only unemployment allows.

For the rest of you who are asking who this “Wren” is and why you should be interested in his “Blog du”, I submit the following indisputable facts:

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Alright, I promise this (and maybe once more) is the last time I’ll jump into the way back machine for retro-updates.  Battling through my deluge of videos may be overwhelming, but consider yourself lucky; it takes every ounce of my willpower to cut down hours of video clips into mere minutes.  Every fiber of my “Dadness” wants to upload every single second of video and every frame of pictures about my child, editing your kid ain’t easy!

Besides, who would want to with adventures as exciting as the Seattle Aquarium?  Like I said before, going places like this with Jonah is like super-sizing the experience – I mean who else do you know who can make a light look so much fun?  I’m working my fastest to try and catch up to the present, so I’ll try to keep this a little shorter than last time if you’ll bear with me and dive into the (more…)

With all this talk lately about hot weather, I thought it might be a good time to immerse myself into some colder memories.  The problem is that I accumulate pictures and video faster than I can go through it, but now that I have a little extra time on my hands and Jenn has been handling current updates, I’m going to step back out of summer and into April.  And not just April, April in Washington, on the coast, during a storm- Now that’s what I call Spring Break!

My parents, being the incredibly generous fabulous people they are (my birtday’s coming up by the way) commemorated our trip up to Washington by taking us all up to Kalaloch Beach for several days in their cabins on the beach, and since you never know when you might need the manpower to occupy a small country, we went in force with the entire clan of Richandorf House.  Now, understand, Kalaloch use the term “3-Bedroom” in the absolute loosest sense of the word, so with myself, Jenn, Jonah, Noah, Caitlin, Tex, Liz, Mom and Dad together, family bonding was really so much an option as it was a scientific certainty.

   

However (and I realize I risk sacrificing many a cool point for this admission), I’ve got to say every minute was AWESOME! With no appliances and no nearby town, I think we checked off every wholesome cliche activity short of cooking s’mores and singing Kumbaya.  Granted, there may have been some wine and or beer that wasn’t around when me and my siblings went camping ten years ago, but still it was definitely good times for everyone, especially Jonah.  If you don’t believe me, click more to check out the brochure!

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