Wow, there is absolutely no way I can fit into one post all the amazing things this woman has brought into my life in last eight years.  You can see her there with three of her finest works, but they’re just the beginning.  I am so happy that I get to spend every day of my life with my best friend that I can’t imagine what it would be like trying to do any of it solo.  Thank you for sharing your life, your dreams and your fears with me all these years.  You have given my life purpose and made me feel more useful than I ever thought possible.  I’m thankful for our past,  in love with our present and excited about our future.

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.

After some breakfast with the cousin’s we started the day out with some pottery painting.  After spending almost three weeks trashing Auntsie’s house, the boys decided that the best way to repay her would be with a couple priceless pieces of art.  As you can see the boys took their work very seriously.  We had to leave before the works could be fired so we’re still waiting to hear from Auntsie how the finished products came out.

  At nap time it was time for some good old fashioned sitting outside, drinking beer and do-it-yourself Loaded Questions.  The game went quite well until the question “What would be the most epic fight matchup of all time?” came up.  Although the final options were quite well thought out (Matrix Neo v. Yoda, Gandalf v. Dumbledore, and Satan v. Superman) by the time everyone had an answer everyone had wandered off.

As for our last night in Anacortes was spent over at my brother’s house and was an awesome time for everyone.  There was trampolining madness, nephew football, crazy cousin NERF gun wars, and an outstanding BBQ spread (including Veggie Burgers, Salmon Burgers, Hot Dogs, Chicken-Apple Sausages and all the sides and condiments you could want including pesto!).  As you can see from the pictures above, cousin Gaige led the way by pretty much stepping up and making sure all his cousins had a good time whether it was playing on the floor or brushing up on some much needed Mario Kart skills.

How do you finish off the perfect final night for the perfect trip?  Well, what you are witnessing above are the makings of the greatest outdoor cinema known to man.  With a couple speakers, a ladder,  a projector and a bunch of cute kids full on toasted marshmallows I was finally able to fulfill my childhood dream of a backyard drive-in!

The feature for the evening was Diary of a Wimpy Kid and while it was enjoyed by all, I think no one enjoyed the whole setup more than Aunt Rayna.  I think it was a full hour or so before she finally stopped saying “This is sooooooooooooo cool!  Do you guys realize how lucky you are?!?  You’re like spoiled rich kids or something!”  It was a late night but totally worth it for all the fun that was had.  I also think I should see a finders fee or a commission from whatever electronics store Rayna eventually forces Noah to buy a projector at.

Although that was our last night in Anacortes, it wasn’t technically our last night in Washington.  Since we had an early Friday morning flight at Sea-Tac, we decided to spend the night at a nearby hotel.  Not only did we get in early enough to have some seriously fun jumpy/splashy time at the pool, the fun just refused to stop as  Aunt Liz and #1 cool guy Kaushik came buy to judge the aquatic  events and then drive out to get an awesome spread of Indian food for dinner.  Not fully realizing what he was getting himself into, when Jonah asked Kaushik if he wanted to have a monster/ninja fight he took his hand and followed him away to his doom. 

Suffice it to say it was another full hour before anyone was even close to their bed and poor Kaushik and Aunt Liz looked like they were both in need of a shower.  I think by the time everyone calmed down, was talked into bed, and actually fell asleep we got a good solid thirty minutes or so of sleep before we got to start our multi-stop no food break adventure all the way back to Albuquerque.  We already miss all of you guys and can’t wait to get some of you down here.  In the meantime I’ll just keep up with my plan of getting promoted as quick as possible so that I can become a powerful enough general to build a military base in Anacortes and get stationed there.  Until then, Hazel’s keeping an eye out for you!

The boys took swimming lessons while we were there (I got the idea from reading sirmaxalot when Christen took her boys to swimming lessons in WA.)

Jonah is the one floating.

Calvin and I did a class together.

The last day of the class the kids were offered the chance to jump off the diving board. The boys were so excited to do it. There were not many kids that wanted to, so they each got to go a few times.

While the boys swam Hazel hung out with my mom and snacked it up.

I took my bike with me so I could ride with Dad. Thanks to him I am getting much less timid on it, and I even pulled Calvin around in the trailer.

I got to see a lot of my friend Kelly, she is my oldest friend (in that I have known her the longest, not in age) and every time we get together it is like no time has passed, which is the best kind of friend. And if I get busy and don’t call her for awhile, she is never mad. And she knows me really well, which is great and also frightening. Hopefully the embarrassing things she’ll keep to herself. Anyway, everyone should have a friend like Kelly, I don’t know how I deserve her.

This is Ellie in Sara’s backyard. She looks like she’s in some jungle or forest or something. Like my dad (who took this picture) caught a shot of a dog in the wild. Well, except the fence in the back. Anyway, I like it.

Hazel got to hang with her new cousin Max a lot. He’s pretty cool.

Max and his mom, my sister Sara. She’s pretty cool too.

The boys really liked flossing with Nona.

We went to the zoo. We found this weird kangaroo, so my dad took a picture.

Chris and Hazel having a conversation.

The boys being cute.

Ellie wanted to sit on Hazel’s lap. Turns out babies don’t have much lap to work with, but she found a comfy spot.

I like this one because Hazel looks so serious and you can see her little toes sticking out from under Ellie’s collar.

So excited!

Sometimes there are ninja fights before bedtime. Naturally they must wear their goggles.

We’ve been swimming as much as possible. Hazel gets tuckered out. (So do we!)