A cool day at the beach

Saturday, November 29th

The clever and crazy castle-building crew! 

It was a cool day for swimming but did that stop the crazy Bradshaw children?  No way!  At first they were just going to "jump over a few waves."  They weren't going to get all wet!  Well, that lasted about 30 seconds before Braden was ripping off his shirt, Kate was drenched down to her undershirt, and Ben was covered from head to toe in salt and sand.

This picture tells a story without any words.  .  . just look at those smiles! 

Ben refers to the beach as his "sandbox." 

Yes, only a two-year-old can claim ownership of an entire strip of beach and label it as his own personal sand-toy!

Mom, Braden, Kate, and Ben had a fun and relaxing afternoon at Mission Beach before we drove back to Utah all night long!

The Tide Pools

While other sorry souls were standing in line for the best deals on Black Friday, we had a busy day of San Diego fun!  The tide pools were a beautiful and fun way to explore the ocean the day after Thanksgiving.

David took some amazing pictures that afternoon. The kids (including cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents) all had fun crawling on the rocks, jumping across pockets of water, peering into the pools to discover sticky sea anemones and scuttling crabs, and watching the amazing creatures that survive in the salty rocks of Pt. Loma.

This is David's favorite picture from the tide pools.

Nice shot David!

Braden, bravely poking his finger into the center of a sea anemone.  Watch out Braden!  They'll suck you in!

Josh, Paul, and Braden got themselves "stranded" on a rock with waves coming in all around them.  Luckily Uncle Tom came to the rescue!

Ahoy Cap'n Tom & 'Mate Julie!  What see you? 

Wait a minute, you're still on land.  You're terrible pirates!

Here's most of our tide pool exploring group!  There's the back row with Tom, Scott, Grandma, Julie, John, and Dagmara.  Then the front row with Paul, Braden, Josh, Matthew, Megan, Piper, and Katie. 

(Ben's down below throwing rocks on the sea anemones and getting us in trouble with the park rangers!)

Turkey Day Tales

Thanksgiving 2008

San Diego

Here's David along with a few of his siblings.

L-R Scott, David & Ben, Julie, Tom, and John

Turkey Day morning started with a steady rainfall, quite unusual for sunny San Diego!  Julie and I had a nice long run through the river-deep streets of Ocean Beach, along Sunset Cliffs and then back home where we returned looking like a pair of very wet, drowned rats.  After a shower, we were ready to help with the feast preparations!

We had the usual Thanksgiving Feast compliments of Mom & Dad Bradshaw!  It was delicious, and the skies even cleared enough that we were able to eat outside.  San Diego weather is nice, even on a rainy day!  We had a fun game after dinner, then it was time for pie!  Katie loves pumpkin pie so she was happy when the call for dessert came.  Her cousin Josh was right there with her!

Ben decided pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were easier to eat than pie.  Yummy!  

Coming up next. . . .some pics of our fun stay in San Diego from the days when we weren't stuffing ourselves with turkey and all the trimmings!

Ahoy Mateys! It's Halloween

The Bradshaw Pirate Crew is ready to set sail on Halloween for Pirate Plundering and Candy Treasure Hunting!  Cap'n Long Locks was our fearless leader.  The pirate crew included: Kate the Great Mate, Braden the Brave Basher, and Beetle Ben.  1st mate was Terrible Tommy.  (see below)

We had no idea how many wanna-be pirates would come crawling out of the ship's slime when we hoisted the skull and bones flag over our ship on Halloween night! First Grandpa & Grandma Shawcroft showed up with 8 teenagers all in pirate duds, then Tom's harem showed up and immediately joined the pirate ranks, plus a few more family members and a cute fairy niece - we ended up with a full crew of 24 hanging onto anything they could grab to be part of the pillaging and plundering adventure!

Our fearless mascot, Pirate Pete, led the way on the bow of the ship.  A tattered and torn skull & crossbones flag hung off the back, an eerie skeleton lantern lit the way, the sounds of "Pirates of the Caribbean" announced our presence, and a huge treasure chest full of spiders, skeletons, and pirate gold coins sat on deck.   Jack Sparrow never had it so good!  We even had fireworks exploding from the ship because we couldn't seem to find any cannonballs! 

As we drove around the neighborhood, the younger pirate mates would run up to doors in their never-ending quest for candy.  The teenagers and Uncle Tom kept the music, fireworks, and pirate-strutting going.  Meanwhile, any neighbor children brave enough to withstand the one-eyed glare of Pirate Pete would come up to Grandma Shawcroft for a treat from the treasure chest. 

It was a fun night for young and old!  You're never too old to be a pirate, right mates? 

ARGHHHHH!  'Til next year, when the Bradshaw Pirate Crew comes together again!

First Mate, Terrible Tommy (ha ha Tom!)

Blimey - that's one scary-looking bunch of Pirates!

Cap'n Long Locks and the ever-fearsome pirate, Beetle Ben!

Stunning Soccer Season Synopsis

It's official, the Fall Soccer season is now over!  No  more running to 2 games at the same time at 2 very different locations, or forgetting Kate's soccer practice because of Braden's game, or vice-versa.  Kate and Braden had fun the last couple of months on their soccer teams.  It was quite an eye-opening experience this year because our children are getting older.  Apparently, the kids generally know now which direction to kick the ball, they all know now not to sit down in the middle of the field during the middle of the game, and our greatest shock - they actually keep score now!  Things are getting more intense and shin guards, cleats, and soccer socks are now a necessity!

Here are a few fun pictures from their games:

Check out that kick Braden!

(Nice picture-snapping Dad!)

We call her Kate the Great Sprinter!

She could outrun anyone on her team!

Bike or Bust!

Rachel's first bike race

September 27, 2008

Rachel finally bought a nice road bike!  In order to "break it in" we went up to Heber this last weekend for the Heber Valley Century ride.  (No, I didn't make it the full 100 miles!)  It was an amazingly beautiful weekend full of fall colors and sunshine.  Part of the route included the Olympic Biathlon venue at Soldier Hollow.  We got to hop off our bikes and use the rifles at the range to fire at some targets.  (My aim isn't so good, it's no surprise that David was the one in the FBI with a gun, not me!)  Rachel enjoyed the ride, the scenery, and poor David followed patiently in the "support vehicle" with 3 grumpy children in it! 

DON'T wake me up when September ends. . .

September 21, 2008

Alpine Loop

What an amazingly beautiful world we live in!  Last weekend while David was out of town for work, we headed up the canyon to see if Fall had arrived in the mountains yet.  We found beautiful colored leaves, a bright blue sky, and most importantly, plenty of rocks for Ben to throw!  We drove almost to the top of the Alpine Loop and then twisted our way back down the canyon until we found a nice spot by the river where Ben could drop rocks in the water to his hearts content.  (And two hours later, he was still throwing rocks!)  Here are a few pictures from our afternoon in the heart of the Wasatch.

3 Little Monkeys Sleeping in the Bed!

Last night Kate saw a moth fluttering around upstairs so she ran screaming down the stairs to sleep with "Braden the Brave." Little Ben came downstairs with me to say goodnight to brother and sister and was quite upset when I hauled him back upstairs and wouldn't let him stay with "my Katie." A few minutes later I was cleaning the kitchen and realized Ben wasn't in the room. I checked upstairs thinking he would have gone to find Daddy. No Ben was there! I went downstairs and there, right in the middle of his two soundly sleeping siblings, was Ben, wide awake! As soon as I walked in he said "No Mommy, I sleep with brother, I sleep with sister." He was so determined not to be left out of the sleepover what could I do but leave him right there!

The next morning, Katie and Braden woke to find a squirmy little "bed bug" in the middle of the bed with them. They were surprised to find him there but all 3 of them slept all night long! Who needs a 3 bedroom house and 3 different beds! Not us, apparently! :)

The Bradshaw Beat - First Edition!

Welcome to the first edition of the Bradshaw Beat, instant access to the life and times of our little family! Here are our top headlines for the day:

• Bradshaw Blogging has Begun!

You'd think that being married to the "cybersultan" as I am would have meant that we would have been "blogging" years ago! Better late than never! We'll see how long I can keep this up! Now, first things first, it's time for some introductions!

• Katherine the Great

Her dad calls her "Kate-Kate" and little brother Braden loves to tease big sister "Kathy" - to mom, she's beautiful, kind, amazing, loving Katie. Katie is 9 years old and quite possibly has the largest and sweetest heart in the world! She walks around all day with a halo floating over her head! (Well, except for when mom asks her to practice the piano. That's when the halo disappears and horns appear!) Katie loves art, drawing, painting, crafting, gluing, taping, etc. etc. (I know, it didn't come from her mom's genes that's for sure!) Katie's sweet personality runs to help anyone who's hurt or sad, especially if it's her little brothers. Katie is a big 4th grader this year and has started learning Latin! She also enjoys playing Soccer and is an amazing and FAST forward for her team, go Cougars! Katie gathers friends around with her sweet smile and seems to always have someone calling to play. We love Katie so much and we can't believe how quickly and beautifully she is growing up!

• Braden the Brave

When spiders and bees send big sister Katie screaming in circles, Braden the Brave calmly walks over and squishes whatever bug has sent Katie into a panic. He's not afraid of the dark, he laughs in the face of the trickiest math problems, he'll double-dare any friend and live to tell about it! However, if the power goes out, Braden the Brave becomes Braden the Bored! One hour of power failure is enough to send him into a total panic! Braden is 7 years old (even as I type it I can't believe he could be that old already!) Braden is an energetic and determined 2nd grader who can read like the wind, fly through his math problems with the greatest of ease, but don't ask him to write legibly, it's like cryptonite! Braden is an orange belt in Karate and only occasionally has to be told not to practice on his sister and brother. :) He is an avid video game player, Star Wars jedi-in-training, lego construction specialist, and can be found flying up and down the soccer field every Wednesday night (well, for two more weeks.) We love you Braden the Brave!

• King Benjamin

When Ben came along 2 years ago, he wrapped his little hands around everyone in our family and claimed his rightful place as ruler of the Bradshaw family! To his adoring sister, he can do no wrong. His adoring brother has had enough lego ships and guns broken apart to know that Ben can indeed to a lot of wrong if he gets his hands in the wrong places! Ben is a "terrific two" with a few "terrible" moments thrown in just so we don't forget that he is allowed a few tauntrums at this stage in life. Ben loves his brother and sister and will follow them anywhere! Well, he'll follow them anywhere except near the garbage truck or the lawnmower. Each Thursday when Ben sees the garbage cans lined up by the side of the road he hovers in the doorway and refuses to go outside. He's always listening for the screeching, thumping, banging, horribly terrifying noises of the garbage truck. But no matter what day it is, Ben wakes up with a smile on his face and an empty tummy! We love you Ben!