Ah, the month of May, when all good Kentuckians dress their best because they know for at least the first Saturday of the month everyone in the country is looking at them. We are no different. The newest fashion trend is something called "the fascinator" and ultimately it is just a headband with some pretty heavy duty accoutrements. So when we showed up at the Johnson's to watch the Derby, Sarah broke out all the necessary supplies.
The girls, including Vivie Ann, were pretty excited about the craft project which included toule, feathers, flowers, ribbon, and most important of all, a hot glue gun. If you look closely you will see that Reese chose zebra striped ribbon while Callie selected more of a leopard print motif.
By the time the bugler had issued the call to post, the girls were styling and ready to root for California Chrome. In all honesty, when Seth asked us if we wanted to place a bet when he went through the drive-through window at Keeneland (yes, we have drive-through betting), we put our money on a horse whose name eludes us at the moment. In true Kentucky fashion, however, we got the horse name because that is the one Callie had selected in her kindergarten class the day before.
Mother's Day this year included pancakes in bed and a whole stack of drawings and overly stickered pieces of paper that the girls had prepared for their dear mother. Now that the girls are getting older it is definitely fun to get them involved in the spirit of the day. However, it does not last long since it only took a minute before both of them were asking Sarah for bites of her breakfast. As long as they didn't take her coffee she was willing to oblige.
Mother's Day typically falls on the same weekend as Mayfest, which is a great little fair held in Gratz Park in downtown Lexington. Last year Sarah missed the big day because she was in Las Vegas. Callie rode a pony and John didn't have a camera. This year we obtained proof of Callie's equine escapades.
Although she hasn't asked for a horse of her own at this point, Callie certainly enjoyed the ride. Interestingly, Reese showed no desire in getting on the back of even the smallest pony they had. We often talk about Reese as if she is the more adventurous one. However, that is only on her terms, and horses have yet to be a part of that picture.
One fabulous surprise for our Mayfest experience was that we shared it with Caitlin, the associate pastor at our church. It was fun spending the afternoon with her and the girls, especially Reese, enjoyed getting extra attention. Reese and Caitlin were a bit inseparable at times, as this picture shows.
At one point, Caitlin also somehow ended up taking care of both of the girls while Sarah was on the phone and John had to go pay the parking meter for the car. Reese and Callie had no clue their parents were otherwise occupied because they were having too much fun with Caitlin over at the petting zoo. All in all it was a great afternoon.
Because Mother's Day is all about what Mom wants, we decided that our next stop should be the playground at Cassidy Elementary School. We have seen the evolution over this past year, but each playground visit reminds us of how much Callie now resembles a monkey. She loves climbing, swinging, and hanging. Every now and then there is a flip of some sort thrown in for good measure.
Monkey see, monkey do, monkey hang upside down too. Reese has no problem going trick for trick with her big sister. However, look closely at the picture and you will see John standing close by. He has much less of the carefree monkey mentality of his daughters and is always preparing for a possible misstep or call for help. Those calls seldom come.
Sarah, on the other hand, provides some clue as to where that monkey magic comes from. And for now, she can impress her daughters by keeping up with the playground antics. However, those days are becoming numbered and it is only a matter of time before both John and Sarah will be limited to taking pictures of the antics instead of copying them.
By the end of the day we were all tuckered out, but we were happy with all that we had done together. The girls are very lucky to have a Mom like Sarah, and Sarah is very lucky to have such wonderful daughters.
And John is lucky because Reese and Callie didn't eat all of the ice cream sandwiches.
We started the month with horse racing and we ended the month with horse racing. But this last type of racing was a whole different animal. We had Ella with us for the afternoon and decided to take in the sights at the annual High Hope Steeplechase at the Kentucky Horse Park. It was quite a show and very different from any other horse racing we had ever seen.
The course was quite long and you only had a short time to watch the horses as they thundered by and jumped over the obstacles set throughout the course. However, we must admit that we agree with the girls that the best part of the whole day was when we got to watch the parade of the Woodford Hounds. It was a whole new experience for us, which is always a good thing.
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