Bradley Brights

(note: it's a long post, and don't forget to check out the pictures I got from the wedding in the previous post!)

Maria (bless her heart) sent me some pictures she took at the reception and at the hotel. Thanks so much, they do a wonderful job finishing the story....

Here is James holding Andrew.

And here is the Bananagrams game, at least they are between games or just finishing up. I can't really tell at what stage they are in, but there is definitely not enough concentration going on for them to be actually playing. You get the idea though- playing games during a reception. I thought it was a little tacky, but once again, the small town folk of Elsinore didn't seem to mind.

After we cleaned up from the reception, we headed over to the hotel. James and I shared a room with Becky and her kids. It was so fun because we got to hear Kira talk. She's a very shy/mellow girl when the whole family is around. But, wow! She was wide awake at 11:00 at night. As I laid in my bed, I just smiled as I heard Kira talking and singing to her hearts content.

I'm not sure who fell asleep first, her or me. It was late. But, I'll tell you that I didn't sleep much after that. I don't sleep well in the first place right now, and then to add an unfamiliar hotel room on top of that, it made for a long night. I maybe got 3 hours of sleep that night. Thank goodness we had the excitement of the next day to keep me in good spirits.

At bed time we told the kids that the sooner they go to sleep, the sooner they can get up and partake of that yummy continental breakfast and more importantly go swimming! I have rarely seen Thomas go to sleep so quickly.

James couldn't sleep so, he pulled out his phone to fiddle around with and Hailey kept sitting up saying, "Daddy! Go to sleep!" She's such a boss. But, a sweet one at that.

James got up early and went to take advantage of the the gym. Thomas was up shortly after that pacing the room wondering why no one else was awake. I finally got up and took him to the gym with his dad. He was content exploring the elliptical machine.

We later ate breakfast with the family and said our final goodbyes for the summer to Brett and Natalie. They are headed to Arizona for the summer. Have fun in that heat guys!

The next most important thing on the agenda was swimming! Why stay in a hotel if you can't go swimming? The kids had a BLAST!

Hailey jumping to Grandpa. She's recently gotten really brave in the water. It's fun to watch her turn into a fish.

Thomas, Abby, and Eric.

Hailey, Kim, and Breckan.

Hailey. Thomas and I are in the background. That water would have felt so good on my heavy tummy, but alas, I don't have a swim suit that fits. Oh well, only a few short months left.

After we got everyone bathed and dressed, this is what they ended up doing. Breckan, Zach, Thomas and Eric were zoned out watching T.V. I like how Breckan and Zach are both chewing on their fingers. Do they always watch T.V. that way Becky? It's fun watching habits from different families.

The cartoons didn't interest Abby and Hailey much. They played dress ups with some clothes that Abby had brought to play with. I love how Abby is always doing something creative. She must get it from her mom.

After the hotel stay, James and I headed off to explore Capital Reef with our kids and Kellilyn and Bryson. I am sooooo glad those two came with us! Not only did we enjoy their company, but they were wonderful help with the kids on our hike and in the car. They made our trip 100% easier.

In the car ready to go!

After the hour drive, we stopped at the visitor's center to get maps and decide on what we wanted to do. This place was made for pregnant ladies who don't want to be left out on all the fun! We decided to go on their 1 mile hike to Hickman Bridge, a natural arch. It was the perfect length for kids' little legs and my energy level.

Here are some scenic landscapes from our drive in:

The kids found lots of reasons to stop and explore while on our hike. There were plenty of rocks to climb and lizards to look at. Hailey did stop once in the middle of the trail and sit down with her arms crossed and a pout on her face. "What's wrong Hailey?" "I just want some water!" Ah, problem easily solved. Pregnant ladies always have water with them. She got rehydrated and she was quickly on her feet happily marching along.

Hailey at the beginning of the hike...still fresh and smiling.

Hailey a little ways into the hike...giving her legs a break and Dad's head a scratch.

Thomas really liked all the holes in the rock behind his head. He wanted a picture with them.

Up, up, up.

Hailey with landscape behind her. Thomas said the rock to the right looked like a pirate ship.

Hailey started narrating her life by song on our hike. She had a really cute song about hiking to the arch/bridge, but I couldn't get her to sing it again, or even admit that she had ever sung a song with those lyrics in it. This is all I got. You can hear Thomas in the background of the second video singing the song that Hailey had made up earlier.

There seemed to be an endless amount of rocks to climb up, over, and into. The kids loved it! I loved the breaks. Notice all the hand prints left behind by fellow hikers on this rock. Thomas thought that was neat.

Bryson and Kelli were such wonderful helps! They eagerly went after the kids whenever they took off to climb another rock.

Kellilyn and Bryson.

Another cove to climb into:

James tried to get Hailey to climb into the rock hole behind her in this picture. "No, too scarewy Dad! Too scarewy." She got somewhat interested when others tried to climb in, but still wasn't convinced it was such a good idea. Smart girl.

Once again Kelli followed Thomas up that rock. Have I mentioned how much help they were?

Finally we made it to the arch! (It's above our heads.)

Underneath the arch.

And then it was time to hike back to the car.

This picture is for my Mom. Apparently when I was 3 or 4 we took a trip to Capital Reef as a family and my Mom really liked the little school house. Somewhere there's a picture of us by the school house and so I wanted to add another generation to it.

We also saw some ancient pictographs, but didn't take any pictures of them. We then set off back home.

I took this video because Thomas had been playing with this small camera tripod for over an hour while Hailey had managed to go through a pile of toys. She finally settled on feeding her doll. She usually settles on taking care of her baby. Someday she'll be a wonderful mommy.

It was the perfect weekend get away.