Gathering of the Girls

Vicky and Jenn were supposed to arrive sometime Thursday afternoon. They were flying stand by and arrived sometime Friday afternoon. They spentmost of Thursday in Charlotte, NC.  In the airport.  Not fun. I mean, how many Cinnabons can you eat before you feel Death coming for you? Julie (and Ms. Greta) and Andi were at my mom’s already waiting for them. They ate some pulled pork sandwiches while they waited for me (the party) to arrive. Me and Koley got there around two and sat and chatted with me seesters. There was some Bradley Trivia, some faces on the Wooly Willy Game, and some Easter candy! Which was my fave. My mom had a whole bunch of jelly beans and Robin Eggs and peanut butter eggs and she just dumped them into one big huge clear bowl. It was a free for all and a real feast for the eyes to get your sweet tooth going. Vicky and Jenn brought presents for all the kiddies. Kole got a sun/gear/rattle toy. He loves it. Drags it around with him everywhere he goes.


Teener (Krissy) got there with her kids a couple hours after me and the weekend began.

First on the itinerary was the photo shoot. I love that my family calls it a “photo shoot.” Is that normal? I think almost everyone else says they are “getting their picture taken.” I guess that’s just a little too hum drum for the Bradley Girls. After dinner we all donned our high heels and favorite jeans. We glammed up our eyes and our hair and headed down to the Innov8 Studio. Josh Peterson has been a part of Andi’s life since high school. They are incredible photographers and he was the Chosen One to take our pictures. It was a blast. There was a huge ballroom for the stage. There were those big umbrella flash things. He had an assistant that helped with hair and how to stand to look the best. There was music. There was dancing. There was laughter. There was me--- always in the middle having to stand facing forward feeling like the chubby plum in the middle. But I think we are all becoming familiar with my thoughts on that. “Every game needs a loser and every group needs a chubby friend. I fill both those roles.” Plus! Once I voiced that concern Josh and his assistant were incredibly accommodating.

 www.josh.innov8studio.com

I came home right after “the shoot” to welcome Ken home from SLC.  But as soon as our chores were done Saturday morning,  but we headed back up on Saturday. We got there just in time for a bowling tourney! It was a big surprise. Now, me? I love bowling. I could bowl like 6 or 7 times a week and not be bored with it. I’m not a great bowler- but I break 100. And to me that’s pretty good. I got 105 on Saturday. I threw one round of gutter balls and that just wrecked it for me and then I didn’t know it was the 10th frame and it was and I missed out on all the extra turns. Anyway- fun was had by all. I would say fun was especially had by Jossy. Krissy’s little girl. She’s 3 and really really got into the game. She wore bowling shoes (that were way too big for her) and everything. She even started cheering for other lanes. And Jenn somehow got really cool looking bowling shoes. They looked like Adidas. I almost thought she had packed them and brought them from Pittsburgh. We are all tromping around in our clown shoes and Jenn was sporting really hot looking bowling shoes. If there is such a thing. And I can testify that there is.

Mom cooked and fed us so much good food. Oh I was stuffed. But not too stuffed I couldn’t hop on the two seater bike with Andi Girl and laugh our way around the neighborhood. Have you ever been on one of those? It’s really hard to get started. Especially when you are giggling. And the seat is way too high. And people are watching you as they pass in their cars. It was funny. We were riding around the neighborhood and all the sudden this huge dog starts barking and jumping and we couldn’t tell if it was tied up or not and Andi just starts sca-REAming like the dog was already attacking her. Her screaming made me scream we were both making the bike all wobbly and then we were trying to correct ourselves. Oh, it was fun. The dog was tied up which made us laugh even harder. The evening ended in the hot tub. Nothing like a good soak to let all the fun sink in to your muscles. Fantastic.

Ken was incredible with Koley all day.  Being the best dad.  Ken’s idea of a relaxing weekend does not include a photo shoot, bowling, lots of food, bike riding, and hot tubbing with 5 overly excited girls.  (Well maybe the food and the hot tub part) (Mine does.) But he was up there and in the best of moods and smiling and laughing and carrying on with the rest of us monkeys. I love that man.