Maximizing Summertime in Lexington

We always try and stay busy, but this summer's heat has made it just a little more difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. And even as the summer begins to draw to a close, we find the time to hang out with friends, have fun, and stay cool.


The best way to beat the heat is to jump in the pool. We never realized the happiness a five dollar investment could bring to our household. But there you have it, a five dollar inflatable pool and hours of smiles. Here we see Callie splashing around with Libby Gipe, the Chrisman's granddaughter.



After we took a dip in the pool we enjoyed a few pieces of fresh watermelon. Overall, Callie has spent a lot more time outside playing the yard this summer, and it has been fun to watch her enjoy the great outdoors.



Although this summer the humidity has definitely undermined our normal patio time with the Chrismans, our outdoor pool has provided new opportunities to get together and have some fun.


What should we say about a picture like this? Sassy? Attitude? Trouble? Callie has certainly fallen into each one of these categories at various points over the past couple of months. And her outfit and pose in this picture capture it all. She is a lot of fun, but she is also pretty darn feisty.






One thing we enjoy about the summer in Lexington is the Midsummer Night's Run. This year we entered Callie into the real event of the night, known as "The Fastest Kid in Town". In order to get prepared for the big evening, we bought Callie her first pair of non-slip-on, non-velcro, a.k.a. big girl shoes. She still has some growing to do before she'll fit into John's boats, but she's on her way.



Pictured here are the two runners representing Team Bowes. John has spent the summer taking Callie to daycare in the jogging stroller, so he was well prepared for the big 5K.




The question was - would Callie be ready? We did what we could to let her know how the event would go, and all signs pointed to her being excited about it.


Then Sarah and Callie got to the starting line with the other 2-year-old girls. The announcer said, "On your mark, get set, go!" At that point, Callie looked at Sarah with a frozen look on her face and started crying. You may not be able to tell from this picture, but the race turned into fifty yards of pure determination by Sarah to get Callie to the finish line without having to carry her. Our goal for next year is no tears.



Even unhappy, or perhaps especially unhappy runners deserve a prize for reaching the finish line. In this case, Callie was tickled with the prize of pink ice cream. Yes, that is correct, flavor is not the issue. Color is the key. And that is a great picture to end our post with, because John didn't look half as cute when he was done with his race.