Richardsfest 2013

The Richards are a generous bunch and actually have to book time at their own cabin because they let so many other people use it. This year they blacked out a week and invited their kids to spend it at Lake Coeur d'Alene together. Manda wasn't able to make it, thanks to an adorable newborn, and we missed her sweet, little family. We hadn't spent any decent time at the lake since 2009, so we jumped at the chance.

Every time we fly with Teagan I panic for weeks, anticipating a nightmare. I once again raided Dollar Tree and scored some sweet deals - puzzles and candy and books, oh my! And every time we fly she is absolutely fantastic. She makes me proud...for the most part. The episode where she was totally cool, calm and collected until the second we boarded with family boarding and had to parade her kicking and screaming in front of everyone we were about fly with, surely giving them the impression that she was going to be a monster and making them loath us immediately? I've had prouder moments.

I did something I haven't done in ages: check out multiple books from the library with the intent to read them. I read a little. Sort of hard to do when you have a view as magnificent as the one we had...and a toddler. That makes everything hard. The irony here is that I borrowed a book on time management and tried to read it on holiday. I didn't get very many pages in (a: because of the gorgeous view, b: because I fell asleep for an hour and c: because I don't think I have enough in common with the author to take much of her advice to heart - ie. she has a full-time job, takes her kids to daycare and claims that stay-at-home mums only really interact with their kids for less than an hour a day. The only time I really have to myself in a day I spend in the bathroom, and if I don't have the company of my 2 year old, she's pounding on the door for me to let her in. Less than an hour, my foot.)

Another of my favourite views included me standing on the deck (or better yet, sitting with my feet up and eyes closed in one of the Lazy Boys and recalling a mental image) while my awesome husband played with my adorable (albeit exhausting) toddler in the water. This was her first real trip to the lake - we don't really count the 2 days we spent there in March when she was 5 months old. The other kids were all accustomed to diving into the 60 degree water, but our poor little desert flower wasn't as willing. She warmed up throughout the week and got in more than I expected her to...or than I did.

How to begin to describe the fun? Let's start with food. It was plentiful. But so were mouths. My sweet sisters-in-law planned out, shopped for and executed a menu for the entire week for 17-23 people of varying ages at any given time. An impressive feat. Had it been up to me, we would have had sandwiches and cereal for every meal. But we enjoyed the likes of cinnamon roll casserole, pulled pork, a menagerie of fantastic salads and more. It was beautiful. When we weren't eating, we were jumping in the lake (some more gracefully than others), tubing, playing games, reading, watching Harry Potter movies, taking 4 wheeler rides, napping (Teagan napped every day we were there - what joy!), canoeing and just enjoying one another's company. We spent a day at Silverwood, a nearby amusement and water park and were shocked at some of the rides Teagan chose. Repeatedly. The kiddie area had a ride akin to the Tower of Terror, in that it pulls you up and drops you from varying heights. I won't go near rides like that (even the mini version like this one) and Teagan rode it over and over and over. Interspersed with a wild swinging ride that would have made me upchuck. She must get her bravery from her father. They had an awesome splash pad that was absolutely perfect for Teagan and Sam and we spent a good portion of the day running around there. Grandma was very sweet to bring me a chair and make me sit while she chased Teagan around, under, over and through. Love her. It was a really fun day and we were all exhausted by the time we got home.

The girls were sweet enough to take Teagan on her first tube ride and she loved it. We were reeling them in and she was shouting "Again! Again!" but she had to take turns with the boys, who were tossed around like rag dolls (and loved it) so I think she chose the right crowd to ride with. Bless Emma's heart, she had Teagan in her lap and alternated holding on herself with wrapping both arms around Teagan to keep her from flying out. What a sweetheart.

Teagan learned a lot from her cousins that week - including how funny it is to push someone off the deck. She needed a little help, and Sam made a perfect partner in crime.

Teagan's less than 3 months older than Sam and from the very first time they "met" they've been nothing but friendly to each other. It's really a treat to watch. Sam restored my faith in Teagan that she is actually capable of getting along with other children her age. That was put to the test towards the end of the week, but after that much time under one roof and sharing the same toys, there were bound to be a few "no's" and "mine's" here and there. He's such a sweet little boy and put her to shame when we all went to see Turbo at the movie theatre. He sat on Eric's lap for the entirety of the film while Brandon chased a screaming, flailing monster who closely resembled my daughter up and down the hall outside for the last 45 minutes. He's so mellow it kills me. He hugged her when she was sad, she shared her books with him and they held the most adorable conversations. We missed Camden, who's just 4 months younger than Sam. It is so fun to see the three of them together the older they get.

We attended church at a small branch nearby and learned a lot. Apparently they'd just had an addition built and are very protective of it. Before sacrament meeting even started, a member of the bishopric announced that it wasn't the appropriate place to feed your children. On the list of inappropriate snacks: Goldfish (check!), bottled water (check!), fruit snacks (check!) and prunes. If you didn't catch that last one, I'll repeat: PRUNES. Fortunately we didn't have any of those, but I wonder if that particular point was directed at the older crowd or if someone had slipped on one last week. At any rate, I was very careful when feeding Teagan. She went to Nursery no problem, and Tara & Eric traded off being in there with Sam, who hasn't learned to love Nursery just yet. I went to pick T up after meetings and asked how she did. In hindsight it didn't really matter, since we'd only be there that one day, but I couldn't take it back once I'd asked, no matter how much I wished I could. The response: "Well, she's pretty bossy. But I see where she gets it." Um, do we know eachother? I was under the impression that this was the only interaction we'd had, so I was confused as to what had lead her to believe I was bossy. Eric later told me that she'd asked if Teagan was an only child, and he told her that she had a baby brother on the way. "Well, she's going to have to learn to share" was her reply. So he seemed to think that she was referencing their conversation. Regardless, I stewed the whole way home (and still think about it) about my child being bossy and not sharing. Then I was reminded that she's two years old and all seemed right with the world. Grandma even said she was glad Teagan stood up for herself. And I value Grandma's opinion, so there you have it.

The Richards men wore their church uniforms: white shirts, ties and khakis, and came armed with iPads. Except that one of those iPads is not like the others. It's actually our sister-in-law, Annie's, who put a cute little orange cover on hers and lent it to Brandon for the picture. The man can wear a pink shirt but looks uncomfortable holding a fashionable iPad.

We had such a wonderful time getting away from it all and relaxing at the lake. And while our floating silhouettes are less-than-flattering and it's a little too easy to float these days, we embraced it.

Everyone had gone by Friday evening, so we stayed one more night at the cabin with Brandon's parents. The quiet, serene cabin that seems a lot bigger when there are 5 of you instead of 23. We tried our hardest to make it through a movie and failed miserably. But beautifully. Matt & Kimbre came by on Saturday and Kimbre was kind enough to chop my hair off. It was nice to see them - Matt (Brandon's cousin) was also his college roommate. A combination you'd think would encourage them to keep in touch a little more often than the nothing that actually happens. What would they do without Kimbre and I, I ask you? It was so fun to see their little Riley, who as it turns out isn't so little anymore. Must be those Zirker genes. We headed back to Moscow for the rest of the weekend and were treated to a night out, consisting of Mongolian BBQ and Wolverine, a better combination you'll look far and wide to find. Thanks, Grandma! Tiff, Tara and families came over on Sunday for a big family dinner (love those) and Teagan "helped" pick raspberries for the occasion. If by "helped" you mean "stained her clothes and got in the way". The weather was beautiful, the company was wonderful and we wished we didn't have to go back to Las Vegas so soon. But we wanted to make sure we got back in case no one was there in Nursery to boss kids around and not share toys.

 

{Post date: 8.5.13}