We know it's November, but Happy Halloween!!

Once we managed to get through the celebrations of birthdays in early October we could spend the rest of the month focusing on pumpkins and costumes. Fortunately we had more than enough opportunities to do so. Our great pumpkin journey starts at Happy Jack's, a family run farm in Frankfort. It was our first visit to the place and we really enjoyed it.



The occasion was a costume party hosted by our friends the Johnsons. Callie was excited to wear her cupcake costume and Reese looked dashing as a strawberry. Apparently Sarah was hungry when she picked out this year's costumes. The food items were accompanied by Jesse from Toy Story and your friendly neighborhood chicken.


We had a variety of activities during the course of the afternoon, including a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. Callie spent a while looking for a good pumpkin and was ready to carry it wherever it needed to go. I bet you have never seen a cupcake struggling to carry a pumpkin before, have you? That day and on Halloween this cupcake was up to all sorts of tricks.




Other activities that filled the day included face painting, walking through a haunted forest, eating lunch, and horsing around. As you can imagine, the horsing around took up most of the time. One of the kids' favorite activities involved taking turns pulling around the little red wagon loaded with children and pumpkins. It was easier for some. Poor Mason had a bit of a tough time trying to make some headway with three girls and two pumpkins. But he certainly tried.


As might be expected, Happy Jack's also had a wide variety of animals on the premises. Both Callie and Reese were entranced by the sheep, pigs, and goats. Here we see the two girls and John standing by the fence after feeding one of the goats. They could have stayed there all day. It's also important to mention that as we were leaving the farm in our car, we were followed by an ostrich. They certainly are big birds.

We could not pass up an opportunity to get a good picture of Reese surrounded by pumpkins. So here it is. She is looking mighty cute here, isn't she? Truth be told, the cuteness lasted only moments and then she let us know she was done posing for pictures for the day.



All in all, it was great to find another family owned farm in the area that we can enjoy and visit throughout the year. You can just never have enough family owned farms in your life, that's our motto.

It has taken us a while to make it happen, but we finally managed to get back to Keeneland for breakfast with the works. It's funny. We always seem to pick the coldest mornings to visit the track. But this was a special day because it was the Saturday before Halloween. We not only got the treat of watching the horses go through their training runs, but we also got to witness a visit from the Headless Horseman as he made his way through the paddock. Very cool.

Callie and Reese were all bundled up so they were prepared for the attempt to capture them from all different angles. Reese definitely loved this visit to Keeneland. Her first visit, this past April, involved rain and a lost set of car keys. So this time around it may have been cold, but that was the worst of it. She got excited every time a horse came by. And Callie has never lost her enthusiasm for the ponies.


Now just because we went to Happy Jack's earlier in the month it did not mean we could bypass some of our other favorite spots. So off we headed to Evan's Orchard to get a few more pumpkins, a few more pictures, and a whole afternoon at their playground.



Callie and Reese found a smile or two to share with their parents as more opportunities arose for our posing with pumpkins segment of the blog.

Although we had already gotten our hands on a couple of pumpkins from Happy Jack's, we needed a good carving pumpkin. At Evan's, however, the wagons are all manual. And now that Reese is a part of Team Bowes, Dad needs to pull a little harder while also making sure he doesn't catapult Reese out of the wagon. And you thought this was just a picture of a serene trip out to a pumpkin patch.

This year John was not going to let another pumpkin carving season go by without joining in the fun and showing Callie how it all works. As a sign of the times, John first had to go next door to see if the Chrismans had any newspaper to spread on the floor. This is one of the effects of getting your news via the internet I guess. And for the record, John had to deny Sarah's recommendation of the pumpkin carving kit at Target. Do people not use their kitchen knives for this stuff anymore?!? What is the world coming to?

Callie was an eager assistant in the whole process. She was all set to dig out the insides of the pumpkin and she certainly wanted to use the big kitchen knife. That, however, will have to wait. Not pictured here is Reese, who spent most of the time trying to get into everything and anything. It was a fun experience to say the least.


Here are the carvers with the product of their labors. It is not the most dramatic pumpkin, but I'm sure the carving will get more sophisticated as the years pass.



And of course all of the above was simply a lead up to the main event - Halloween. When the night finally arrived we were ready and raring to go.

We'll start with our little strawberry. Obviously she was pretty bewildered by the whole experience. But she just kept her eyes on Callie to get an understanding of what the heck was going on. The high point of the evening was that Reese pulled in some additional candy for her parents. And the low point was that people kept mistaking her for an apple. Oh well.

Callie certainly looked the part as we embarked on the evening. However, she still struggled with the basic trick or treat etiquette. There were more than a few awkward moments where she stood silent, her parents tried to encourage her to say trick-or-treat, and the poor soul handing out candy just wanted us off of their porch. But we insisted on taking advantage of the educational opportunity such moments presented. We're still not sure if anything stuck. But we tried.


The final picture of this long post captures the two little girls soaking in the Halloween spirit. They are quite a pair, and with every day they bring more joy to our lives. A few challenges here and there - but joy is the biggest thing, that's for sure.



Now that we have successfully updated our blog, we are off to California to enjoy our Thanksgiving festivities with the Sacramento crew. It will mark our fifth flight to California this year. And boy are our arms tired! John thinks he's so funny. Have a great Turkey Day!

Fall Birthdays

This fall has presented the opportunity for a large number of birthday celebrations. In fact the same day that Zoey Berkeley Hannen was born, Callie's good friend Murphy turned four. And by the time Murphy's birthday extravaganza came to an end it had lasted all weekend long. We started off at the Green Tree Tea Room for a five course luncheon. Yes, this was for four-year-olds. You can see the birthday girl in the picture below with Callie and Vivie Ann.



It is evident from the looks on the faces of the three girls that they were having a fine time at the tea room. It was quite funny to watch Callie drink tea and eat mini-sandwiches and muffins. She certainly loved the idea that she was doing something big girls do.

To understand the fanciness of the Green Tree Tea Room, you can start by looking at one of the tables set up for the occasion. Each of our five courses were delivered by waiters who were incredibly attentive. This was particularly displayed by the way in which they constantly picked up the girls' napkins that spent more time on the ground than they should have. Needless to say this was an exercise in manners. More important, it was a lot of fun.

Although our pictures of Murphy's birthday events stop here, the fun did not. Ann-Phillips, Murphy's mom, picked up both Vivie Ann and Callie later that afternoon so they could all go out to dinner and then spend the night at Murphy's house. The evening included bubble baths, princess dress-up, and movies. Callie made her parents the proudest when it was reported that she asked Ann-Phillips if they could turn off the movie and go to bed because she was tired. We wish that she could show such self-control at our house. But we aren't holding our breath on that one.

Our second birthday subject arrived the first week of September and her name is Lucy Gipe. She is a wonderful addition to the lives of her parents, Alex and Sarah, and her big sister Libby. Lucy also happens to be the granddaughter of our good friends and neighbors, Sharon and Chris. We got to meet her pretty early on when she came to Lexington for her first visit.


It is amazing what the addition of two more little girls can do for a household. You can see that Sarah Gipe and Sarah Bowes are handling the additional chaos well, albeit with a glass of wine in hand.



It has been great over the past year or so to see Callie and Libby play together every time Libby comes to visit and stay with Sharon and Chris. They run all over the place with big smiles on their faces. So we can only imagine what it is going to be like in a few more years when Reese and Lucy join the fun.

But now we must move on to the main event. On October 3, Callie Alexis Bowes turned four years old. It is very hard to believe. She was so excited and it was wonderful to see how much she embraced the idea of turning a year older. Because her birthday was on a Monday she got to go to school and spend the day as the special birthday girl. This included getting to wear a sticker all day long that pointed out her new status as a four-year-old.



It also meant that we got to bring in cupcakes that she could share with her friends. Here is Callie sharing a cupcake with Maddie, who has been her best pal since she started going to daycare almost four years ago. They have an incredibly special relationship and Callie thinks the world of Maddie. Ironically enough, Callie got to celebrate Maddie's special day only a few weeks later. October is truly a great month!


Callie's birthday celebrations continued with an intimate dinner party with the Chrismans. When we asked Callie what she wanted for dinner, she requested shrimp fajitas without hesitation. It just so happens that this is only a slight variation on the tacos we prepared for her third birthday. As far as the cake goes, after perusing the options and with perhaps a little guidance from her mother, Callie chose the pink and purple castle cake. This was much better than the head of Tinker Bell or any of the other fairy princess options.



So we are now the proud parents of a four-year-old girl. Next year, however, we may have to bring in the fives by expanding the party to include a few more people her own age. We are not saying that we have made a reservation at the Green Tree, but next year may see a more traditional kids party. We shall see.

First Sleepover

One week before her birthday, Callie got to experience something we didn't think would happen for several more years. That's right, a sleepover! To be completely truthful though, it was all about Callie's parents earning brownie points with some family friends, the Johnsons. Seth and Jessica went to a UK football game so we decided to take on both their kids for the night with the idea that they will be taking on our kids some night in the not too distant future.


We had a great time with all four kids. The afternoon included a trip to the park, where Callie, Vivie Ann, Mason, and Reese played on the swings and went down the slides. All four ate a great dinner and earned their dessert. And of course what comes after dinner but bathtime. Yes, we had all four kids in the bath at once. It was quite a show to say the least.



As soon as Reese left the tub the fun really began. But all good things must come to an end and we had to get all three of the older kids out of the bath. Then it was time for putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, and reading books. But there is always time for another picture or two. We had to document every step to show Seth and Jessica that their kids had fun every step of the way. And we must say that Vivie Ann and Mason were phenomenal. Everyone was in bed and asleep by 8:30. Pretty impressive, if we don't say so ourselves. We only hope Reese and Callie are the same way when they get the chance to spend the night at the Johnsons.


Our last picture is just a status update of Reese and what she has been up to. She turned nine months in September and we have already updated you on her numbers. But the cuteness continues to develop with every day that passes. She is definitely a big fan of the swings.



In fact, all signs point to her being a big fan of anything involving flight and high altitudes. In short, she's a risk-taker and a climber. It's only a matter of time before she starts looking for the easy way out of her crib.

Zoey Berkeley Hannen is here!

We are happy to share the wonderful news about the newest addition to the Bowes family. At 9:30pm Rocky Mountain Time on October 2, Suzy and Brian welcomed their cute daughter Zoey Berkeley into the world. She was a whopping 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long.



The only thing that could have gone better was if she had waited for just about two and a half hours to arrive, because then she could have joined her Uncle Chris and cousin Callie in the illustrious October 3rd birthday club. But I'm sure Suzy has no problem with the fact that her labor didn't last any longer than it had to. In any case, we are so happy for Suzy and Brian and can't wait to meet our niece Zoey in just a couple of months. It is safe to say that Christmas in Connecticut is going to be crazy this year.

September Developments

Clearly this post was supposed to go up last month, but hey, with the schedules we are currently keeping we are just happy it is going up this year. Following our trip to California over Labor Day weekend we spent the rest of the month in Kentucky. But that didn't mean we didn't keep busy.


Reese was particularly active this month, as you can see in this picture. She wants to spend as much time as possible standing up. In fact she pulls up and cruises around the coffee table every chance she gets. Although she has been crawling for about a month, she has become extremely efficient in her movements, even though her crawl is a bit unorthodox. Reese continues to be a very cheerful little soul, and this picture captures some of the spunk she brings to our family. It is also important to note that this month she has not only learned how to clap but has also begun to make the appropriate sign for milk with her hands. And as we speak her third and fourth teeth are making an appearance.

But of course we also need to talk about the most recent numbers from her 9 month doctor's appointment. Apparently, Reese is shrinking even as she is growing. Her length is 27 inches which puts her in the 30th percentile, down from the 75th percentile she was in at birth. Her weight is 15 lbs 3 oz, which is officially labeled <5th percentile. That is down from the 15th percentile at birth. But how about the head? Circumference is 44 1/2 cm, or the 55th percentile. Now that is an increase from her 48th percentile at birth.



In short, there is a lot of love, joy, and spunk packed into a petite body with a large noggin. We love her to pieces and so does her big sister. The intense love that Callie has shown from day one has not diminished an ounce. It stays strong in the 100th percentile.


Callie has had her own special developments in September. She has started attending a ballet and tap dance class once a week and it is clear that she really enjoys it. It helps that one of her classmates is her good friend Vivie Ann. In this picture you can see Callie with Vivie Ann and another classmate Maya as they get ready to head into their first lesson of the session. It has become a great part of the week. We are trying not to get overwhelmed by whole process, especially since Callie seems to enjoy it. While we are a long way from being cast on a reality show about gung ho dance moms, we were all practicing our leaps the other night in the living room while Callie gave us pointers. The things you do for your kids.

All of those developments aside, September was like most months over the past year. It was filled with some craziness, but overall a whole lot of fun with our two growing and wonderful girls.



Although we don't get to do it all that often because of our hectic schedules, some of our favorite times are when the four of us are just hanging out and playing. This particular night Callie and Reese provided some extra entertainment by becoming real-life jack-n-the-boxes. Seldom have diaper boxes lead to so many giggles.

Auntie Pi's Wedding

On Labor Day weekend we headed back to California for yet another celebration. This time it was Auntie Pi's big day. It was a great opportunity to shower Alicia with love and affection and showcase how much we care about and are happy for her. So often she is the one spoiling those around her, so it was good to be able to turn the tables. Or at least we tried. But Alicia and Bill managed to put on quite a party.

To give you an idea of what we experienced, here are Lauren and Sarah standing in front of the castle that was the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. And this was a true castle, moat and all. In fact, all the bridesmaids, and of course the bride herself, arrived at the ceremony via horse and carriage.


Here we see the bride pictured with part of her "rainbow ladies" as she called them. The rainbow was a reference to her bridesmaids and flower girl, who all wore different colored and styled dresses. Yes, Sarah was in fact the flower girl, which was probably a little payback for Alicia playing that same role at our wedding.



The ceremony was wonderful, the company was fun, and food was pretty darn good. However, one of the highlights of the dinner was Auntie D's toast to the bride. She did a fabulous job - she captured Alicia's competitiveness, generosity, and good humor all in a toast that people who knew Alicia could appreciate and people who didn't know her as well could enjoy. Auntie D is certainly a professional.

Speaking of Alicia's generosity, only Alicia would figure out a good way to celebrate the birthday of her guests at the rehearsal dinner, including a huge birthday cake and gifts. And the gifts didn't stop there. She doled out "Pi's favorite things" themed gift baskets to every member of her bridal party. The gift baskets could probably be mistaken for ones given out to presenters at the Grammys, Oscars, or Tonys. Little does she know that none of us needed a gift of appreciation from her - being a part of her special day was more than enough.


Oh right, there was also a groom involved in this wedding. Here we see Bill and Alicia greeting their guests as they prepared to leave the reception. But no, the party wasn't over. They were just leading us all to an after hours party in downtown Paso Robles. The night was truly only beginning. Good thing that Alicia put Aleve in all of the welcome baskets we found in our hotel rooms. I guarantee that this was one of the most widely used items that weekend.


We did tell you that the bride and bridesmaids arrived in a horse and carriage. We may not have mentioned that they stuck around throughout the evening to provide romantic tours of the winery throughout the evening. We decided to share the romance with Lauren and JP.



Honestly, the props throughout the castle were hilarious. There was no way you could leave them alone. They demanded to be photographed.

For example, you couldn't just walk by this medieval device without sticking your head and arms through. In fact, it is important to note that Sarah had this picture taken the moment she arrived at the castle, which means it was two hours before the wedding ceremony. Hopefully you can see the hair and makeup done earlier that day for the occasion. This picture is a keeper, that's for sure.


John was not going to escape the shenanigans that night and was able to join the fun. Here we see pure royalty. As we are looking at these pictures something is becoming more obvious to us. It was our first weekend without kids in a long time. The irony is that without the kids present we apparently needed to act somewhat less than our age. A good time was had by all.




As the wedding weekend drew to a close we headed back to Los Angeles to check on the girls. Auntie D couldn't resist a visit to see how much they have grown in the month since she had seen them last. She especially had fun playing with Reese and watching her show off her crawling and climbing abilities. Callie and Reese are so lucky to have so many aunties in California who love them.

And that brings us to the folks who made all of the above fun possible. While we celebrated the big day up in Paso Robles, Callie and Reese spent the weekend with Auntie Gret, Uncle Scotty, and Josh. By all accounts they had a wonderful time together and it was great for us to know the girls were in good hands.



As crazy as it sounds, with this post we have completed our summer travels. We've had a lot of fun over the past several months, but it went by so fast it's ridiculous. Now we get a two month break before the family heads to Sacramento for Thanksgiving. Surely we'lll be up to a few things here or there between now and then.

Picnic with the Pops Goes Cuban

This August marked our fourth time enjoying the fine stylings of the Lexington Philharmonic and their musical guests at the annual Picnic with the Pops. This year the title of the performance was "Havana Nights" with the Cuban group, Tiempo Libre. It was quite a show. In past years although we have had done well we have never been as successful as we were this year in keeping our food, fashion, and decor in sync with the theme. This was definitely the best food we have had and everyone had their best linen on. And for those willing to take the plunge, we had a set of inflatable arm swimmies to aid with the swim from Havana to Miami when the evening was done.

This year we also stepped out of the traditional wine and started the evening off with raspberry mojitos made and mixed with style. Sarah brought the recipe back from Cabo San Lucas and it is safe to say that everyone was very happy she did. At the very least the mojitos helped fuel some of the fine dancing that went on later that evening.


We always enjoy the company of our friends at the Pops. But it has also become an evening on which we are assured the pleasure of a night out without kids. Although we have made a commitment to have more of these this year, this night was special because we cashed in our silent auction winnings of free babysitting. Well, not completely free since we bid on it. But we had paid the money months before so it seemed free by this point.



So while Callie and Reese played with their wonderful babysitters, Clara and Gibbs McKinley, we did our best to move our hips like the lead singer of Tiempo Libre. Those guys really put on a show.

The last photo captures the whole table at which are seated the usual suspects - Sharon and Chris Chrisman, Rebecca and Chad Mueller, and Tommy Glover. The spice and mystery every year comes from the question of who will Tommy bring as a date this time around. This year it happened to be Pete, who was great fun and who made a fabulous centerpiece for the table. She even contributed to the evening's shenanigans by bringing a couple of fine cigars.

A Trip to Music City

Two years ago in August we started a Lucas-Bowes family tradition. We met up with Grammy Gayle in Chicago and took in the sights of the Windy City. At that time we decided to meet up in nearby cities every year and tour the places we have never been to before. Last year we were scheduled to go to Nashville, but the trip had to be postponed due to the serious flooding they experienced. So this August we were finally able to make it happen.

Our first capture finds the whole group in the wonderful world of the Opryland Hotel. It is quite an impressive display of the outdoors brought indoors. This hotel has 6-8 restaurants, dozens of shops, and a river with actual boat rides. You can only imagine how much there is to look at. Although it is costly, we hear it is pretty phenomenal at Christmas time.



In any case, when we saw these two horses, we knew we had found the perfect spot for a group photo. Although we don't have any photos from the experience, we also had a blast on the City Tour Trolley, where we learned all about Nashville and got to visit all of the hot spots, including the full scale replica of the Parthenon located at Centennial Park. And for you history buffs, the Bicentennial Park has a detailed chronology of important Tennessee history carved into the granite walls surrounding the park area. It is both beautiful and educational.

Of course we also had our share of fun back at the hotel, where we not only took advantage of the indoor pool, but also enjoyed just goofing around. Callie and Reese clearly had fun wearing their towels just like their Mommy. It's funny the little things that kids pick up from observing their parents.




Callie always enjoys playing with our cell phones, but this reaches a new level when Grammy's around. She knows that Grammy has downloaded a special game for her to play and she's also figured out a couple of the other functions, i.e. the camera. Here we see a self-photo of all the girls. We must admit it's a pretty good shot.



The trip was a quick one overall, and we headed back to Lexington on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately for us, Grammy came back with us so that she could spend a couple of days hanging out with just the girls. They all had a great time.

One of our last meals together took place at the PF Chang's in Lexington. Callie was excited to get a special pair of chop sticks and could not wait to try them out. She was pretty good and actually outlasted everyone at the table in the traditional transition from chopsticks to forks because I'm just too darn hungry and impatient to rely on anything other than a fork.

All in all, it was another successful trip. Now we just need to decide what city we will visit next. It could be Atlanta...it could be St. Louis...you just never know.

First California Wedding 2011...Auntie Robin

It is only fitting that we provide a recap of the first California wedding of 2011 days before we fly out for wedding number two. We are just a bit behind these days. In any case, at the end of July the four of us headed out for sunny southern California to celebrate Auntie Robin's big day.

Everyone was excited. Callie was especially excited because she was promised a day of pampering with the girls to help prepare Auntie Robin for her wedding. And this pampering, against our better judgment, included her first pedicure. Leave it to southern California to have salons not only willing to give pedicures to children but also to have specific pedicure offerings for children. In fact, Kate and Callie enjoyed soaking their feet in bubbly water that had floating duckies. And as you can see here, they both dressed up for the occasion in their best ballerina outfits, which they actually wore all weekend long.


The two of them were absolutely hilarious and definitely indulged in the whole experience of the girls' day out. Here we see Kate and Callie sitting together and looking through the latest People magazine. The two of them really enjoyed hanging out throughout the entire time we were there.




Of course, it is not just about Kate and Callie these days. The gruesome twosome has now become the fabulous foursome. And with Ashlyn, a.k.a. "The Body" and Reese in the picture, the Perrone household was always a loud and active place. It was so wonderful to watch all of these relationships grow and we are very thankful that Lauren and JP embraced our presence during the time we stayed at their house. Hopefully this is just the beginning of countless moments spent together in the years to come.


So what's louder than a house of four girls under the age of 4? How about a house of seven girls under the age of 4. On Saturday afternoon, we had a little barbeque at the Perrones that included the Leshney gang - Tyler, Stephanie, and their three little ones - Nora, Claire, and Paige. The picture below says it all.



It is also important to mention that the Perrone family has accepted the fact that little girls love pink, princesses, and jumping around. You don't get the full view, but the seven girls in the picture above are sitting in front of a sizeable bouncy castle which JP and Lauren are the proud owners of. They can set it up in their backyard any time they want to. Just give them a call and they will be ready to go. As much as we wanted to mock them for this investment, it was fun watching the girls bounce and giggle the evening away.


So now on to the real reason we made this trip. It was a gorgeous day in southern California, and the setting could not have been more beautiful for Robin and Chris's wedding. The evening started out with cocktails, continued with a touching ceremony, and concluded with some great food and even better dancing. And the dancing that night was just a warmup for the four young women pictured here, who reconvened later in the week for some more dancing and shenanigans in Cabo San Lucas.


Robin was a beautiful bride and it was clear throughout the entire weekend that she was simply over the moon happy about marrying Chris. You can't ask for anything more than that for your friends, can you?



This year we have made a lot of quick trips to California to celebrate milestones in our friends and family's lives. We wouldn't miss these opportunities for the world. And as we always say, the only thing we wish is that we could spend more time during each visit.