So Many Cars

We had to take dad to the car show again. How can a classic car enthusiast skip out on a show just a few blocks away?


We also checked out some antique stores and got some hometown pizza, but wherever we went, dad would duck over to a particularly interesting car to get a better look.


Dad also informed us that this was a manure truck. Lovely.


Liam picked this as his favorite car.


And Dash picked this one. He's doing his "I'm strong!" pose. I guess cars just bring out the testosterone in everyone.


Wouldn't you know it, Grey picked the same blue car as his favorite. Imagine the odds!


We finished off by feeding Lil' Sebastian. That's probably not his name but it should be. Grey didn't get to feed the pony because he ate the treat himself. [shudder]

Dragon Festival

My mom had suggested we find out if there was a place to rent canoes so we could go on a little jaunt. I looked things up, made a call, and was told our desired rental location was closed that day for the Dragon Festival. Dragon Festival? Let's go!

The festival celebrates pan-asian heritage. But there was normal fair type stuff too. Like face paints! And we got some asian lunch... and corn dogs. Everyone wins.


We saw some fun asian dances, like this dragon dance. At one point a dragon tried to eat Sean's foot. I'm glad to report all toes are intact. But dude, those guys leaping in the dragon costume were sweaty.


Here's some Hmong dancers. I very proudly identified them by their traditional garb. Go me.


(they like it when dad's around)


And we saw dragon boat races! The boats are rented from Canada so most of the teams only have the morning to practice. That's okay with me, they get to race off their pure, innate skill.


In action! The chanting is awesome.


To win, someone reaches out to grab the flag. Nice job, team!


Then it downpoured and we caught the bus back to our remotely parked car.


When asked what was his favorite part of the day, Liam replied, "the bus ride!" So. There you go.

County Fair 2014

So guess what. After I spent a week in Orlando with my folks, they flew back with me to spend a couple weeks in Minnesota! It was a the Month of the Family.

We went to the county fair. So great. Do you like fairs? I like fairs. But I don't like big, crowded, hot fairs. This was none of those things and so was perfect. I saw cute animals, ate fair food, and rode fair rides.


All the kids got a little cup of feed to share with the animals.


Grey... well, it took a little work to get him to let the animals lick it instead of dropping it over on the grass.


He was good at watching the animals, though.


Liam and Dash were a bit more daring and confident with their food shares.


Dash carefully portioned out small morsels to share with the animals. He aint gonna lose it all to no persistent goat, nu uh.


Liam made sure to share with all the animals big and small. No Livestock Left Behind.





That a wet nose.


Cuuuute baby cow.


There was a camel!


Oh did his lips tickle!


Farm boy, fetch me that pitcher.


Goats be crazy.


A little fair food.


Dash's happy fair face.


Liam's happy fair face.


Grey's happy fair face. Still eating.


And some silly fair moves.


They met Olaf. The cardboard version (which doesn't melt in the sun!)


And we rode the ferris wheel! I love the ferris wheel.


My kids love the ferris wheel.


The Bradleys are a ferris wheel kind of family.

East Coast

We'd spent the previous week on the West Coast of Florida, why not try out the East Coast? We spent a morning on the shore near Cocoa Beach. The sand wasn't as lovely as Destin's (I'm pretty sure no place is better) but the water was warmer. And it was plenty fun! Take a look:

Orlando Pool

We played in my parent's pool every day during our visit. Since there was no Sean around, I was being ultra aware of kids at all times, so I didn't take much time for photos. But, you know, some.


Aw, sometimes it's no fun being short.


Liam and Dash got so comfortable in the water. If they had their floaties on, they'd "swim" from wall to wall.


And they got real comfortable putting their faces in the water. In fact, we shed our floaties, dropped pool weights in the shallow end of the pool, and Liam and Dash would go get them. I was totally impressed.


Grey would mostly hang by the stairs or halfway pretend to get in at various points down the wall. He was adamant about me not touching him when he got in the water so I did a lot of very close hovering. I'll tell you one thing, the pool with kids is not one bit relaxing.

Orlando's Science

We took a visit to Orlando's Science Center. The first area we explored, featuring Curious George, was "proudly brought to you by the Minnesota Children's Museum." Ha! Travel across the country to get a piece of home.


We saw a cool movie about Monarch butterflies who all migrate to a tiny piece of mountain in Mexico.


It was in a domed theater, so... that was cool.


Grey did pretty well until the last few minutes, spending most of the time pointing out the butterflies, which were plentiful.


Now we've got Excavator Liam,


Excavator Dash,


and Excavator Grey.


"Watch out, Orlando, this storm's coming at YOU!"