The Bradleys Go to Europe- Week 2: Germany

While in Germany we got to stay with 2 amazing host families. I have known the ladies of each household for 15 years but this was my first chance to meet their families. In Munich we stayed with Claudia and Alex. Their home is way out in the country but worth the drive. We only had one full day in Munich and we spent it at Oktoberfest, without kids. Alex was a domestic machine and cared for 6 children all day. He stunned me by taking them all out to dinner, bathing them all, and doing 3 loads of MY laundry. What a life saver.

(Kate and Anna in the top pic, Leia and Lena in the bottom pic.)
While Alex slaved away we went off to play (along with Claudia). We sent Scott and Ben off to find their own fun in the Oktoberfest tents and we met up with my sister Michelle and some other great ladies to participate in her Bachelorette party. She had a basket full of goodies that she had to sell and then the money earned was used to buy beer at the end of the evening. .

She earned plenty of beer money.

The next morning we headed out to Dresden with the intent of catching a football game. Tickets were tricky to get so we ended up exploring the city and none of us were disappointed. Plus we found a beer garden with a play structure for the girls so everyone was happy.
The next morning we headed to Berlin for the anticipated historical part of our trip. The history is very heavy which made for a depressing but interesting visit. We hit the top sites:

Checkpoint Charlie and the museum.
The Bradenburg Gate.

The longest remaining portion of the wall.
A giant pretzel.
And a relatively new Holocaust Memorial. "The stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason." This is one description we found of it and the most accurate.
We spent the following day at Sachsenhausen, the original concentration camp that the others were based on. It was also used as a training facility for soldiers.

Now off to Dresden to stay with our other excellent host family and to meet up with my sister, parents, and aunt and uncle. A much happier part of the trip. We stopped at the host family's house first. Julia (the mom) was our exchange student when she was 16 and I was 12. It was great to see her again and meet her children and husband. She insisted with leave the girls with her while we met up with my family for the Beck's brewery tour. That was a great idea and date number 3 for us!

After 2 hours of touring we were taken to a private lounge and given an hour to drink as much Beck's beer as we could. Now that's a tour.
The concludes the Germany portion of our tour. Next stop: Denmark and the wedding!

The Bradleys Go to Europe- Week 1: Ireland

We landed in Ireland bright and early (and exhausted) to find out that it was a big day in Dublin. The top 2 Gaelic Football teams (Kerry and Dublin) were facing off at 3.30. There's nothing like a big game to add energy to a city. We took a nap and then headed out to the pubs to catch the game.

Dublin won and there was lots of celebrating to be done.

The rest of our stay in Dublin included touring the Viking museum,

and visiting Kilmainham Gaol, a famous jail. We did plenty of walking, getting lost, and being thankful for GPS on our phones. Then it was off to the country.
Our week in Ireland continued with daily meals in pubs and multiple pub crawls. We spent a night in a castle,
and met a knight.
Ensuring it was an educational trip the girls learned about canons while exploring castles.
We stayed in Galway for the last two nights of our visit and took day trips driving North and South. While driving out to see the Cliffs of Moher we stopped to play on the rocks and enjoy the scenery.

(Yes I know my eyes are closed but it was the best scenery shot!) That evening we left the girls with a sitter and went out to celebrate Arthur Guiness's birthday. We ended up on pub row in college central. It was mayhem but a lot of fun.
The next day we stumbled upon a gorgeous castle (turned fancy hotel and golf course),
and then explored an old Abby and graveyard in the nearby town.

After some more driving we got a true Irish experience. Rain, and lots of of it. We stopped at Kylemore Abbey looking forward to exploring the castle, it's gothic church, and walled garden.
It was sprinkling when we left the car, lightly raining heading into the castle, truly raining on our walk to the church, and full on downpour on our way back to the entrance. At this point we were soaked so we decided to visit the garden as well. Why not, we were already as wet as could be. Then the wind started up and we were wet and cold. The garden visit was impressively short (on a sunny day we would have spent a good hour there). We managed to keep up the smiles.
The fun wasn't over, we still had an hour drive home in sopping wet jeans. An added bonus, we got to pack all that wet clothing into our suitcases the next morning for our flight to Munich. Hooray for being a tourist. On to Germany!

4 Years Later

9 days ago my big kid got even bigger. She is officially 4 now and is blazing into this new age with ferocity I did not expect. She is loud and proud about being 4. Every day she asks daddy "Do you have any more 4 things for me?" By this she means things she had to wait to do until she was 4. We're gettting creative. Buckling her own seat belt, showering on her own, and unbeknownst to her..chewing gum. We're saving that gem for a moment that counts.

In a moment of poor planning I committed to a camping trip with friends on the weekend of Kate's birthday. For a bit I stressed about her not having a party and being hurt that we weren't celebrating the way she wanted. Turns out, she's more mature than I gave her credit for. And turns out, camping was pretty much all about her hanging out with friends and expanding her independence (a gift for all of us!). We did manage to throw in a little birthday fun. Kate loves the Rainbow Fairy chapter books. I bought her the Pet Fairy set and scavenged our Playmobil bin to find the pet featured in each book. Using bento boxes I hid the pets with clues around the campsite for a magic filled treasure hunt. It went off better than expected and Kate was pleased with the "treasure" of books at the end. She had a couple of pretty great clue helpers (nice work Claire and Abby). With cake pops for dessert around the fire and an outdoor theater setup to end the day it turned into a birthday to remember.

A few pics from the happy day:

Mexico Xmas

We spent a week in Puerto Vallarta Mexico celebrating Christmas with our family from Florida. It was a wonderful week of sun, sand, and zip lining. We had a great time and made sure to hit our favorite beachside bar as well as discovering two new restaurants worth going back to. By the end of the week Kate had decided we should move to Mexico. If it didn't sound like a good idea at the time it sure did when we hit the cold weather back home!

Hitting the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went on an excursion with Leia's friends Sophia and Shea to find pumpkins. We chose The Farm in Snohomish. It was a great choice. The kids loved all the farm had to offer. It was a great Fall morning outside.

74/365

Today you get Kate photography as well as mine.

My shot:
The best seat in the house.

Kate's shot:
Obviously this kid cracks me up.

59/365

Yes, I realize I posted 59 and 60 in the wrong order. I was living in the moment of today and pushed yesterday aside. Also I will note that I took no pictures yesterday so this photo is a stand in from two days ago.
Even though this pic isn't from the correct day I thought it was important to document the first time I buried my child up to her neck in sand. She requested it, Leia tried to help, Willow was baffled. I love Kate's willingness to grab silly opportunities and run with them.

49/365

When the big kid is away....mommy and itty bitty will snuggle in her bed. Kate has the best bed in the house and since she is off camping with the auntie and cousin Leia and I took over. It was great to have a "just Leia" day and know that I get another one tomorrow (with a brief Scrivner invasion as an added bonus).

37/365

Let's go Sounders! We took the girls to their first Sounders soccer game last night. Kate sat and paid attention to at least the first third of the game. It was a late night but the girls handled it well. Plus they came home with lots of loot.

Park City 2010

We spent a week in Park City, UT with the FL Bradleys and made the most of our time. We took lots of walks, went to the Sunday Market, went to a couple outdoor conerts, hiked at The Canyons resort, mountain biked at Deer Vally Resort, and of course played on the rides at Park City Resort. The girls got to experience Pop Its and Sparklers for the first time, and they went in the hot tub a lot. There was a slight mis-step (or pedal) while mountain biking but otherwise it was a great trip.

Once I get ahold of Papa Scott's photos I will make an additional slideshow.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Wipe Out

Today was "date day" where Laurie and I got to go out on an adventure while the kids stayed with Papa Scott and Gigi. Our plan was to downhill mountain bike at Deer Valley Resort for 3 or 4 hours. Neither of us really had any real downhill mountain biking experience, and this place's easiest trail "starts right out at intermediate" according to the chair lift operators.

We rented our bikes and helmets, got our lift tickets and headed up the mountain. It took about 10 or 15 minutes to get to the top.

Before - On the chair lift

View from the chair lift

The first run down had us a little freaked out at the first few steep drops. Steep, fast, loose rock, tree roots, and sharp turns. But we made it. Laurie had a few detours off the path into the bushes, but nothing major. We had a blast and decided to go again on the same trail. A little too cocky this time...Laurie cruised right into the second steep, sharp turn and wiped out hard. I didn't see the fall since I was in front of her, but I heard it and saw the aftermath.

She bailed pretty hard on her right side destroying her helmet, bashing her head, scraping her arm, and messing up her shoulder. We walked back up the hill to the top of the chair lift and got some first aid attention.

After - Happy she made it.

Forearm Scrape and Hydrogen Peroxide Fun

The first aid guy said she might have a mild concussion. Then he looked at her helmet and saw how destroyed it was and said "you definitely have a mild concussion". They wouldn't let us ride the chair lift back down, so we called Papa Scott and Gigi to come pick us up (luckily at the top of this lift was a resort that had a windy road leading up to it). The worst of it seemed to be her shoulder. It took some pretty good slamming and she couldn't raise her arm. The first aid tent got her all setup with a sling and sent us directly to the emergency clinic in town.

Emergency clinic waiting room

The clinic got her fitted with ice and a real sling. Took some x-rays, cleaned and treated all her wounds, and gave her some mental acuity tests. Laurie's got some scrapes and a good lump on her head, but the x-ray was clean and the worst of it was diagnosed as major bruising in the shoulder and some possible rotator cuff strain. OTC pain killers seemed to be pretty effective and after a short rest she was ready for me to take her shopping and out to dinner. Laurie's not gonna let a little wipe out get in the way of shopping and a dinner date!

31/365

A little monkey business to complete the day. We spent the afternoon at Park City Resort having a great time being kids with the kids. Kate was in it for the rush. The faster the better and the louder the giggle.
We rode the Alpine Coaster (which carts you up the mountain and then lets your body weight determine how fast you zoom back down) and Kate decided we were like Buzz Lightyear and Woody on the rocket at the end of Toy Story 1. She said "it's like when the rocket explodes!" Then as we are twisting and zooming down the mountain she gives me a lecture on Toy Story and ends it with a pretty good "To infinity and beyond!" as we hurtle around the last corner.

29/365

Enjoying an outdoor rock concert at one of the ski resorts around Park City. The band was Big Light and the crowd was full of bikers (of the Harley variety, not bicycle).

16/365

Happy 4th of July! We ventured out to the Kirkland Parade and the girls had far more fun than I had anticipated. I had forgotten how much candy gets tossed out during a parade. We adpoted the "eat what you can, nothing goes home" policy. Those two girls ate candy faster than I have ever seen them eat it before.
Curbside (with the first of the candy loot).

Favored float. I thought Leia was going to run and climb on it.

Perfecting her wave.

Candy glee.

There was an added bonus of my good friend Stacy joining us for the parade. The Turner crew put in an appearance as well. We rounded out the afternoon with a good long nap. Now we just have to kill 4 more hours until fireworks! Kate and Scott are heading back to Kirkland for the show tonight. It will be Kate's first big fireworks event. She is stoked to say the least.

Favorite Things: 24

Holding Hands. Personally I think it is one of the most romantic parts of being a couple. I love the first hesitant time that hands connect. I remember shoving my hands in my pocket on a first date with my hubby so he couldn't hold my hand. I wasn't ready for that yet. I love that we have a special way of holding hands and I love that Scott recently taught it to our daughter. I also especially enjoy when one of my little ones reaches up their little hand to grab mine. While that usually happens so they can pull me somewhere it makes me smile when it is just because.

Favorite Things: 19

Denee. I know it's not fair to list a single person but I'm doing it anyway. Denee has been my best friend since I was 10. I have been friends with her longer than anyone. We did not live more than 5 minutes apart until we were 22. We've had our ups and downs and definitely have some memories that are funny now but weren't at the time. She has shown me the meaning of unconditional love. No matter how many mistakes I make or wrong turns I take she has always been there supporting me for who I am. Now we live farther apart and talk once a month and see each other less often. There is not a single day that passes that I don't think of her or am reminded of her by something. My idea of an ideal evening right now is sitting down in a quiet house with a glass of wine, this lady, and having some good conversation.

Favorite Things: 18

Being a Coug! I spent 4 years at WSU and I am glad I did. I can't say I loved every moment but I appreciate what I learned and what my experiences there taught me. I always joked that Pullman was in a bubble and was its own little universe. Being at least an hour from a major city and surrounded by farmland that's not far from the truth. But that distance created an atmosphere concentrated on WSU and Cougar pride. I met some great people, had some great opportunities, and came home proud of my 4 years in college. Every time I see the WSU logo my heart beats a little faster and I am reminded of that small little town that changed my world. Many of you know I am married to a Husky (the major Cougar rival). This is not a problem however because he has no pride and I have enough for two. My children have never worn Husky clothing and they both own Cougar shirts. I joke with people not to waste their money on Husky souvenirs for my kids as they will just end up at Goodwill. I'm not actually joking.

Cougar Football at Qwest Field with Kate 2007

Who wore it best?

Kate Cancun '08
Leia FL '10

Florida Adventure

The girls and I took a trip across the country to visit Gigi, Papa Scott, and Aunt Skyann. We had a great week and really got to experience Skyann's world. She is a talented busy girl and we got to see her show off her talents. Between basketball, soccer, cheerleading, and piano we got to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert. Aunt Raf and Uncle Andre made a surprise appearance.
We swam everyday, hit the beach, made friends with butterflies, and visited the Playmobil Funland. I will now bombard you with photos!

Gigi and Leia at the soccer game.

A Kate-sized Playmobil Chariot.

New friends.

Busy girls.

Some other busy girls.

Yay beach!




Using a "pusher" to get food on her fork. It's a Bradley past time.

Butterfly World. They were big and colorful.

Kate didn't want to hold the butterfly but she let Corky (the stuffed animal) have a turn.

Helping Papa Scott feed the birds.

Jumping on the suspension bridge with Papa Scott.

There must be more photos on my phone that I will find to share. We had a great visit and traveling alone with two kids under 3 was less daunting then expected so a repeat visit is open for consideration.