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Easter and Singing

Finally getting around to putting up the pictures from Easter, sorry for the delay, life is busy when you're chasing those small animals we call children all over the place. The kids had a very fun Easter this year, complete with dying Easter eggs, playing with cousins, and dressing up in spiffy new outfits.

First up is the fashion show, James is here sporting his new hat and dressed to impress his whole nursery class (so yeah, he really impressed those two other toddlers).

The girls were very excited for their fancy hats that they fitted out with ribbons with a little help from Grandma.

Cousins Marshall, Coen, and Atticus came over for Easter time fun. Atticus and James teamed up for some double little-boy cuteness. They're a year apart (James just turned two, Addy just turned one), but somehow they managed to be close enough in size that they occasionally interchange clothes. They're about the best pals two little cousins could be.

Laine and Eve did some egg hiding with candy filled plastic eggs. All the cousins had a ball searching those out, then piling up on each other to chomp down on chocolatey goodness.

The chocolate always seems to induce silly faces.

Then they all piled into the back yard to dye some real eggs.

It was a fun day all around, we even got to have a few minutes after the sugar high wore off to talk about Jesus and the reason we get to celebrate.

Laine followed up the Easter excitement with a musical program at school the following week. They performed three times, once for the school, once for the parents, and one more for the incoming kindergarten class for next year. There was a lot of cuteness and Laine did a great job.

Here's video of one of the songs, sorry for the audio quality, it sounded a lot better in person.

One final bonus video:

James got a new pair of shoes for his birthday. When he first put them on, he was so excited he spontaneously burst into dance, which his sisters quickly picked up on and started doing too. I only caught a little of it on the camera, but I thought it was worth sharing.

He's Two Now

The little man of the family had a big day recently, he is now officially big enough to use more than one finger when he tells people his age. This presents a little bit of a challenge for him, since he seems to only be able to show one, three, or four fingers at a time, but hasn't gotten the hang of holding down the right number of fingers for two. So he usually announces "TWO!" while holding up three or four fingers when someone asks his age.

We spent most of the day for his birthday down at the Gateway. First we ate lunch at the Dodo restaurant where James had an awesome blueberry cake for his dessert.


Then we headed over to the Children's Museum where James had the most fun of his whole little life.

We finished the outing off with some really good cookies and milk, then James thought it would be a really good idea to run out into the fountains and get himself drenched to cool off from the sweltering 50 degree weather. I carried the shivering boy back to the car as he murmured "Fountain get me! Fountain get me!" over and over.

Bluetail Bradley

Introducing the newest member of the Bradley Clan, our very own Betta, Bluetail!


This little blue buddy joined the family today in an outing to one of the last of the locally owned and operated fish stores left in Salt Lake, Fish 4U. The people there referred to themselves as the fish nazis and told us we wouldn't be allowed to buy fish if they didn't think we could take care of them. Apparently the kids' cute grins overcame the fish nazis' common sense, since they ended up letting us walk away with one of their scaly little friends.

After talking with one of the fish nazis for a few minutes, I was all set to get a twenty gallon tank and make running an aquarium my new hobby. The kids had other plans in mind and the big tank with dozens of fish was outvoted three to one in favor of a little glass bowl with a single fish. I think they would have been more inclined to vote my way, but we would have had to get the tank today and not get any fish until tomorrow when the tank water would be the proper temperature. One day was just too long to wait to get a whole school of fish, so now we have a fine Siamese Fighting Fish instead.

So after picking out the Betta they wanted and choosing the bowl and the gravel and the plant, we got a crash course in proper care and feeding of the Betta from one of the fish nazis and took our new little guy home.


We carefully washed the rocks and prepped the bowl before pouring the new member of the family into his home.

When it came time to name the fish, there was a close race between Fifi (Laine's pick) and Dori (Eve's pick), with each sister vying for James's vote to break the tie. James settled it by naming the fish Bluetail, to which both sisters quickly agreed.

We settled little Bluetail into his new home where he will hopefully last a long time.

A sampling of E males from Laine

Hi mom I am Haveing a good time in salt Lake! love laine.

Hi mommy my day was very good!what did you do today?I love you! love laine.

Hi mommy I am good at walking home from school!I love you so much! love laine.

Hi mom I am sik today but I should feel better tomorrow.you are the best mom ever!I love you much and hope you have a good day tomorrow! love laine.

Hi mom I was able to go to school today!you are the best best mom ever!I love you so so much! love laine.

Hi Mommy Eve Made it so I had to send this All over. love laine.

Hi Mommy Dad said I had to sent this note. love laine

Dear Mom,I do not ever want to Go to the dentist.I miss you so so so so so much!I love you so so so so so much!!! love laine.

Hi mommy,I am doing good today!I love you so much! Love laine

Dear mom,I got a new E male account!I love you so much! love laine.

Hi mom,james did not fly a kite.I love you so so so so so so so so much! love laine.

Dear mom,its not April Fools Day you silly!I love you! love laine.

Hi mom,I do not Have a cavity!it dose not hert at the dentist! love laine.

More Kid Pics

"I can't wait till tomorrow."
"Why's that?"
"Cause I get better looking every day."

For these monkeys, I swear it's true.

Sorry for missing last week, it's been busy lately. All's as well as can be, the kids are happy and no one's dead yet.

Why weren't parks this fun 20 years ago?

Springtime just seems to get better and better around here, with a string of balmy, beautiful afternoons this week, perfect for spending time outside in the fresh air and sunshine. We spent the afternoon the other day at one of the local parks, one where I used to play when I was a kid. They rebuilt the playgrouind a few years ago and it blows the doors off of the old slide and monkey bars rig they used to have.

The first thing the kids jumped on was like a newer cooler version of the old merry-go-round. It was shaped like a ring, spun on a hidden track underneath, and was tilted at an angle so that if you were spinning on it by yourself you'd get crazy speed-ups and slow-downs depending on whether you were on the downhill or uphill side of the thing. Laine quickly applied the principle of conservation of momentum to realize that she could walk on the thing in one direction to make it spin in the other direction. I feel cheated for being born twenty years too late to be able to ride on stuff like this without getting weird looks from the other parents.

James, on the other hand, went for a classic: the slide. He's a brave little guy these days, just climbs right up on his own and heads right down the slide with no need for coaxing, weedling, pleading, or pushing (unlike his sisters who used to like to sit there, ready to slide, blocking all the other kids for about an hour before mustering the courage to get up and walk away because the slide was too scary). I'm so proud of my little man.

The real attraction at this place was what replaced the old swingset. This thing was a work of art and a climber's dream. Ropes, hand-holds, bars, seats, ladders, and thingamajiggies all webbed together into an awesome contraption that the girls played on for the better part of three hours without a single complaint. I think that might set a record. The only time they did protest was when I tried the thing, and that was just because I was trying to take the seat that they wanted.

Side note, not park related: James seems to have some magical ability to attract and charm girls of all ages. Every time I turn around he's using his little cherub grin to enchant another female friend. Family, friends, neighbors, strangers, old, young, whatever, doesn't seem to matter. Girls love to chase James.