Richardsfest 2009

What do you get when you cram 19 people into a 3 bedroom cabin in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho? If you're the Richards Family, you get...

...one broken tube,...appearances by: Brazilian street gang members...
...Zac Efron (yum)...
...Martha Washington...
...and DISappearances of enormous amounts of food (and self-respect.) No dress code at the cabin, by the way. If it was snug 10 years ago, it fits perfectly in Cabinland.

We started out in Moscow, gathering as many Richardses & Zirkers as we could in one place and did rather well. We were lucky enough to have our visit coincide with Kevin & Lisa's trip so got to seem them as well as Uncle Kent, Aunt Marty and Lacey which is always a pleasure.

Buddy's such a ladies' man.

Case in point. Who could resist this? What a studmuffin!

No, I wasn't a jock in high school. Why do you ask?

Then it was off to the cabin for banana-chair surfing...

...getting to know our new brother-in-law, Mat (and what better way to do that than competing against eachother in a spitting contest?)...
...sibling bonding (missed you, Shawn & Annie!)...
...and playing with new toys.
Tara & company came up first, mostly to kick us out of our room, but Buddy & I were happy to sleep in the matching La-Z-Boy recliners and to see more of Tara and the kids :) I think they just wanted an extra 24 hours to laugh at Buddy's antics, and he did not disappoint. Emma showed us her flexibility, and Buddy showed us one of the best ways for a grown man to humiliate himself, and pull some muscles in the process.

For those of you who doubted Buddy's buoyancy, take a gander at he & Tara battling it out in a Floating Competition. I'm pretty confident Buddy had four noodles under him, but impressive, nonetheless.

The water was less-than-warm at times, as evidenced by Emma's look of surprise, but it was beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, don't we make a charming pair? I believe someone swiped the towel intended for Buddy, but being the resourceful Eagle Scout he is, he made do with his mother's swimcover. We're expecting a call from the editor of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition any day now.

We got to spend some quality time with most of the Richards siblings, and something magical happens when all 9 of their children are in bed and they are temporarily relieved of responsibility. We were having a great time...then we got sat on. I think Eric took the brunt of it. What a hero.

What would a campfire be without smores, smelling of smoke and smiles? (see what I did there?)

When the whole gang got there, it started to rain, so we popped into town for some fun. Laser tag was a big hit, and it's a good way to find out how people really feel about you. Most people tip-toed around the 4 year old twins, not wanting to shoot them too much and deplete their scores. Not Uncle Brandon. He took them out execution-style, multiple times, and felt no remorse or regret. Classy.

We took the opportunity to recreate some of our favourite dating moments from 4 years and a few pounds ago. We mini-golfed on our first date, and Buddy insisted we use the smallest clubs available, which wasn't too detrimental to my game, but he looked a little foolish.
We went to Chuck E. Cheese with both of our families (my siblings both worked there) a couple of days before we got married. This time around, the carousel was moving a little slower...can't imagine why.Pat & Vanna would be so proud. I won a bonus spin on Wheel of Fortune and won "90 tickets". The machine was under the impression that I won 40, but I have the pictures to prove otherwise.
It was quite the day, and I took this one halfway through. A ball of energy, this one!
If you're still reading, I'll make it worth your while to continue. Prepare yourself for a cuteness overload. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I may be biased, but our nieces & nephews are some of the cutest kids on the planet. Here's a pictorial essay to back me up:
Ty, Jake & Jaxon showing off their muscles and post-boat-trip hairdo's. Handsome fellows, all three.

One word: Jessa. With 4 older brothers she has to be a tough cookie, but I've never seen one so cute. She certainly has Uncle Brandon wrapped around her finger, he dressed to match her. Don't be fooled by the look on her face that says "Please save me from this pink giant", she was actually having fun.

But not as much fun as when her mum takes her swimming whilst fully clothed. Tiff, you're a good sport.

What's cuter than a Ben & a Megan? A Ben & a Megan in impossibly large helmets.

Ben & I rekindled our friendship this trip. What a crack up!
I think we get along so well because we share a talent for shaking our tailfeathers. Press play. You won't regret it.

There's just something about the twins interacting that makes me laugh. We walked out onto the deck and found Zac & Caleb chatting it up on the dock. We speculated as to what they were discussing...
ZAC: "So, what do you think the repercussions of socialized health care might be?"
CALEB: "I'm extremely concerned and am considering no longer pursuing a career in medicine. Aunt Michelle's from Canada, maybe we should consult her..."
In reality, it probably went more like...
ZAC: "You've got a booger in your nose."
CALEB: "Your mom's a booger."
While this display of cuteness pales in comparison to tailfeathers being shaken and in-depth booger discussions, it's a rare sight indeed and we thought some of you might think we were kind of cute. It's more PDA than we're generally comfortable with, but we want people to know that even though we sit on separate couches when we can and I hit Buddy more than I hug him, we're still very much in love.
Well, that's quite enough sweetness for one post. Back to the funny stuff. Tara introduced us to a polite little game they play at the Limburg dinner table, called "I Can, Can You?" where you go around the table and demonstrate tricks you can do (while seated at the table) and see if anyone else can do them. The game was going quite well, but took a nose dive on the politeness scale when Tiff told us about an easier way to make the infamous "Armpit Fart". Apparently, you can place a straw under your arm and blow, producing the same noise. Not content to take Tiff's word for it, Buddy insisted on removing his shirt and putting it to the test, all while we were eating dinner (he had given up trying to impress our new brother-in-law by this point). He's a constant reminder that I am one lucky woman.
For those of you out there who aren't content either to take Tiff's word, here's a little demonstration. I Can, Can You?

This is going a little long, but I wanted to tout one of my accomplishments of the week: sleeping in the boat. I convinced Buddy it would be fun to do on our last night there, in less-than-perfect weather in a boat that sleeps one comfortably. He was excited.

He won't admit it, but I'm pretty confident he disliked me with the intensity of a thousand suns at this point. Let's just say it wasn't the best night's sleep he's ever had.
Ever the gentleman, he offered me the comfortable spot. I slept like a baby. Yes, my watch indicates that it's 1:10 AM. Now you understand his loathing a little better.
I woke up for a few seconds early in the morning and snapped this beauty and drifted back into my peaceful sleep (can't say the same for Buddy & his sojourn on the floor). I woke up for good at 7:15, and Buddy had already gone inside "to turn off his alarm clock" so as not to wake up everyone in the house. He'll be upset that I'm making him out to be a wuss, but maybe he can post in his defense...
He might kill me for posting this one, but here is Mat post-Richardsfest. All the entertaining of children, cooking & cleaning and exercising (he & Manda are much better people than us) must have caught up with him. Welcome to the family!
What a week! The cabin is Buddy's favourite place in the world, so it was really nice to get away for a week and spend some time there with lots of family and even more food. Thanks for a great time, Richards!