It's been a busy summer

Hard to believe that it has been over a month since our last post. So much has happened and now we just hope we can remember it all. As you know from earlier posts, Callie has a cute swimsuit that she has been anxious to break out on the Lexington pool circuit. Fortunately her parents finally gave her the opportunity and took her to a local pool.




In this first picture we find Callie frolicking in the water with her Dad. She definitely enjoyed both the wading pool and the big pool. She was especially excited to spend time in water without having to go through the whole washing ordeal.


As with many things, Callie really enjoyed playing around in the water. She and her Mom spent a lot of time whirling around. Although in this picture it looks like Callie is about to do a flip off of Sarah's legs, we are holding off on that training for the time being. Callie can't wait until her next trip to the pool.




This summer we have definitely spent a lot of time at Reed Valley Orchard in Paris, KY. If you haven't heard us rave about this place, it is a great place to pick blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and apples. The people who own it are really nice too. Not only are their orchards wonderful, but their slushes are to die for. According to Sarah, the cheese puffs they sell in their store may very well be the best she has had. We are looking forward to the fall when the apples and pumpkins will be bountiful.




It only made sense to introduce the Hallorans to Reed Valley since Fiona in particular enjoys good blueberries and has been able to make amazing sorbets with the other fresh produce. In this picture Fiona, Charles, and Iain rest a little bit on the porch at Reed Valley after picking some blueberries.



Callie is definitely enjoying spending time with Iain, especially since Iain is getting more interactive. Even more important, all of the parents involved are a little less concerned with Callie's crazy swinging arms. We are still working on the "gentle" aspect of playing with both animate and inanimate objects. Here we see Callie happy as happy as a clam showing off her love for Iain.






Unfortunately, this summer has also brought its share of illness to the Bowes household - Callie in particular. She got the croup and has recently recovered from a bout of pinkeye. You have never lived until you have been a part of a two-person team whose only goal is to put a single drop of medicine in each eye of a ten-month old. In fact, this is about as easy as giving a cat a bath - maybe. We're actually not sure about that. The point is, this serene picture of John and Callie enjoying a good read has been more of the exception than the rule lately. Such is life I guess.



We also were lucky enough to have Grammy Gayle, Uncle Zac, and Keith fly out to visit us in the Bluegrass. Callie wanted to make sure that they saw everything there was to see in the time they were here. First, as you can notice in this picture, she pulled a few strings to get great seats at the Lexington Legends baseball game. As a sign of her influence, we were only two rows behind Bill Meck, the local weather man for our NBC affiliate. If you ever visit Lexington and need to know what the weather is going to be, Bill's definitely your man.



You might recall from earlier posts Callie's love affair with rubber duckies. Much to our surprise, there was a fundraiser at the baseball game that included a five story crane dumping over 1,500 rubber ducks in the outfield. As you can see from this picture, it also included a super-sized duck. This was at once Callie's biggest dream and her worst nightmare. Apparently super-sized ducks can be a little overwhelming, and what you don't see in this picture is that Callie is not happy to be in the clutches of this big yellow bird. Oh well, maybe next year.


Our adventures also included a visit to the Shaker Village, dinner at Ramseys, and a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park. There are more things to do there than one might think. It's not surprising that you can go for a horseback ride, which we did.






But one of the cool things is that you can just walk around to all of the barns. In one of them, Keith and Callie took a moment to rest on a saddle set up to the side of one of those barns. It was obvious that Callie loves to spend time with her cousin.



At the park we attended a few different horse shows. One of these was titled, the Hall of Champions. For about half an hour we sat and heard about the glorious victories of horses like Cigar who now reside at the Park. After the show we had the opportunity to meet some of the horses. To be honest, we are not sure which one Callie is next to in this picture. But rest assured, it's a winner!


Speaking of horses, there is more than just thoroughbred racing here in the Bluegrass. The Red Mile Racetrack has harness racing a couple of days a week. Now it is not Keeneland, but it was a lot of fun and a great place to throw away some of our money. Callie was smart and decided not to bet on any of the ponies.




She was simply content to hang out and enjoy the last night the Sacramento contingent was in town. She had such a good time with all of them and was sad to see them go. But she knows that Christmas is not that far away.


We will end our post with a short video capturing Callie's love for duckies. This particular video was shot after one of her evening baths when she just couldn't get enough of her little friends. Enjoy.




Fortunately we have put this post up a few days before we embark on yet another adventure. Stay tuned for a report on a trip to New England that will include time with Grandpa Jay and Nana Taffy and the Balestraccis, a visit to the Basaks, and all sorts of other good times.