Christmas and New Years on the East Coast

Having celebrated Christmas in Lexington it was time to head to the beach for the next round of festivities in Madison.  Whenever we visit our respective families we always try to fit in some ocean time regardless of the season.  So we headed down to Hammonasset State Park and walked out on the jetty.  Callie and Sarah were having a great time until Callie lost her footing and her whole entire leg went into the water.  Surprisingly enough, there were no tears and she quickly recovered.

One of the big events of this year's holiday visit was a road trip to Bethel, NY to spend the night at John's Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry's house in the country.  The whole Bowes, Balestracci, and Hannen clans descended on their place for what turned out to be an absolutely fantastic time.  Needless to say, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry were extremely generous hosts.

It's always fun to take your kids into the homes of people who don't often have visitors under the age of 20.  For much of the night we had our eyes on Callie, Reese, and Zoey as they ventured near and looked at all of the incredible glass figurines that Terry has throughout the house.  We had to remind Callie on several occasions that you can't just do a cartwheel as you are going down the hallway in this particular residence.  We are happy to report that all glass figurines were still intact when we left.

The evening flew into high gear because Tommy was the bartender. As we said, he is a very generous man, and not only with his time and love.  Katie and Suzy were not the only ones who had to be strategic about their night based on the drink they were poured.  Fortunately these drinks were also accompanied by a vast amount of appetizers spread out along the bar.

It was great to see Tommy in such good health after he had a challenging year to say the least.  He looked great, and that is in no small part due to the efforts and love of his incredible wife.  The two of them have been together for over forty-two years and they are still the same lovebirds they have always been.

As should be the case with any good meal, we didn't rush through the evening and spent quite a bit of time just hanging around the bar, eating, drinking, and enjoying each other's company.  It was certainly a fun night with the idea that we had unlimited time and no one had to leave so they could drive home.  That made Tommy's generous pours even nicer.

Once we finally turned to dinner we got the girls set up at the kitchen counter.  The three of them had a great time and couldn't get enough of each other.  It is so much fun to see both Callie and Reese laughing and playing with Zoey.

Of course this home in Bethel is not simply a vacation home.  Tommy and Terry spend most of their time there which means Tommy is also connected to work.  The morning after our great night he showed his set up to all who were interested.  Mike Balestracci, who is now a college freshman studying business, was particularly interested.  And of course Chris, now twenty plus years removed from his days as a broker, enjoyed taking a peek as well.

We were able to get a picture of the whole gang, but unfortunately this is not it.  In our photo collection we have a picture that includes everyone except Sarah and Brian, who were trying to manage a self-timing camera and the smiling faces of their respective children.  So while this photo is good, it's not perfect.

Because we had so much time to get comfortable at Tommy and Terry's, the good-bye process was a little more painful for the younger kids.  Reese and Zoey needed to make sure that they showed their great-uncle some love before they headed out the door.  It was a wonderful visit overall and hopefully we will be able to do it again soon.

For our New Year's celebration we spent the night with Mike, Kristen, Ella, Ethan, and Eli Skonieczny.  It worked out well because the kids got to hang out for a bit and the adults had some quality time to catch up.  Callie and Reese are always excited to spend time with Ella once they warm up, and Ella is absolutely amazing with both of them.  She is beyond sweet and we wish we could bring her home with us.

But enough about the kids, because we all know this is really about John and Mike getting to relive the glory days and take ridiculous pictures.  Here they ponder how much life has not changed for them while using the Chewbacca hand koozies.  Jason McBean also joined in for some of the shenanigans, but he missed this particular photo op.  A great time was had by all.

In between all of the hijinks we managed to get a pretty decent family picture in the last hour of 2015.  It was another great and crazy year for the Bowes family and this photo highlights the willingness of the girls to take everything on, even if it means staying up way past their bedtime.  Hey, we have taken pictures in far worse places this late at night.

As 2016 entered we tried to capture the moment in grand style by acting out the year.  Reese wanted no part of it, however, so the 6 in 2016 ended up being disproportionately larger than the rest of the human scribble.  Eli's 0 is also a little abstract, but if you squint you can see what he was aiming for.

On this trip we stayed at the Balestracci's house, which also meant we got to venture into the woods around their neighborhood.  For the most part we didn't see any wildlife, though there are stories of big red bears that used to roam the lands.

As usual, Reese managed to convince an adult that her legs were too weak to carry her any farther.  And Katie, being the wonderful aunt she is, was more than happy to play along with her niece.  The walk was quite fun and a new experience because we had not realized just how extensive the trails were around their place.  We'll remember that for the next time we are in town.

Another memorable aspect of the entire trip was Callie's last minute assignment from her teacher that entailed taking a Flat Gingerbread Man on the trip and documenting his adventures.  We got pictures of him all over the place, and on the last day he got to get in on this photo with Nana Banana and Sport down by the Guilford docks.  It was another amazingly quick visit, but we packed in quite a bit of fun.

We must admit that the Flat Gingerbread Man assignment was more intensive than we had imagined.  Or perhaps we were just the only parents who had their child write up a two page narrative describing the stories behind each of the ten photos we took.  In any case, this was the last one, as the Big Blue Horse, a.k.a. Big Lex, welcomed us back to the Bluegrass.  2016 was off to a great start!

Christmas Traditions both New and Old

Our church always does a good job of kicking off the season of Advent with a craft fair and pancake breakfast for kids and their parents.  This year the main focus was ginger bread houses and pancakes with all of the fixings.  And by all of the fixings we mean whipped cream and chocolate chips.  There may have been some strawberries and bananas as well, but we all know what went first.  This Sunday is one the girls look forward to every year.

Another event that marks the holiday season for us is the Nutcracker.  It has become an important girls tradition in the Bowes household.  This year was extra fun because we got tickets to the Nutcracker that included Katherine Bracken, the daughter of one of Sarah's colleagues.  She is a beautiful ballerina who has previously appeared on this blog in the Ballet Under the Stars post from this past summer.

Although this tradition is only in its second year, we think it is a keeper.  The Abrahams were heading out of town over Christmas but we had them over for pizza and tape ball before they headed out.  As usual the game was competitive and the younger ones in particular got pretty heated up, forgetting in those moments that the gifts they were fighting for could be anything from a jar of pickles to a pack of gum.

In the end, of course, everyone won because we had a great time together.  And once all the ripped newspaper had settled to the floor the Abrahams could smile and pose for the camera.  We have probably said it a bunch of times, but we are very fortunate to have them in our lives.

We were pretty proud of our family's competitive spirit as well.  Callie certainly took more initiative this year to rip through the tape ball for numbers and glory.  Reese is still tentative but we know it is only a matter of time with that one.

For the first time since we have lived in Lexington we through a little Christmas caroling into the mix.  The Prestons invited over a bunch of folks and we had the kids practice some of their favorite songs before we hit the streets.  And then we simply sent the kids to each door to belt out a carol or two to an often unsuspecting and a bit frightened homeowner.  All in all the kids had a blast and the homeowners didn't call the police.

Reese is very aware of Christmas and all that it entails.  She could not get enough of the tree, the stockings, and the presents that slowly began to appear as the days went by.  This picture came to be when John just happened upon her one morning sitting and admiring the tree in silence.  Sweetness personified.

Since we have made a point to be in Lexington for Christmas we always attend the Christmas Eve service at our church.  It is beautiful and we particularly love the way it ends with Silent Night as everyone in the church is holding a lit candle in the darkness.  This year the weather spiced things up because it was so hot that we had to have doors opened to get some air in.  And then we took advantage of the wonderful temperatures to walk down and take a selfie in front of the bourbon barrel Christmas tree near the farmer's market pavilion downtown.

Christmas morning never gets old, and we love snapping a picture of the girls before we let them downstairs.  They have been good and don't wake up very early.  This year they didn't wake up until around 7:30.  And although they are excited they are very much under control and enjoy the whole morning without being crazy.

There were a variety of special gifts this year, but Santa did well by giving the girls a joint gift.  It is a soccer goal that they can practice with in the backyard and they were both pretty happy about it.  I guess this is the "surprise me" gift that Callie asked for when she sat on Santa's lap earlier in the month.  And don't worry, Reese got Shopkins and a Beanie Boo, just like she asked for.  Once again, Santa's gifts were a hit.

A new and great twist to this year's Christmas festivities was a visit from Sarah's Arkansas cousins.  Gary, Debbie, and their son Cody joined us for Christmas brunch, along with Sharon and Chris.  The Matteri's were in Kentucky visiting their other son Jackson and made time to fit us in.  It was a wonderful visit and we hope we get to see them again soon.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

A Santa, A Tree, and A Christmas Pageant

Santa at the Mayfield-Ingle house has never gotten old, and with every passing year the girls have gotten more and more comfortable talking to him.  This evening sets the tone for the month and lets us know that the holiday season is in full gear.  Callie was happy to talk to Santa, but didn't give him anything to work with, noting that she wanted to be surprised.

Another reason the evening is always fun is that we get the chance to see so many of our friends and their kids.  It is amazing to think that these guys have been together since they were only a couple of years old.  And they all look pretty dapper here as well.

The older they get the more they are willing to engage with Santa.  More to the point, they tend to have a ton more questions for the guy.  And to give credit where credit is due, this Santa is on top of it all.  He has an answer for everything they throw his way.  And they really do throw a lot his way.

Callie and Reese were willing to pose for a picture or two in front of the tree.  They still aren't willing to do a family Santa picture, but perhaps next year Reese will come around to the idea.  We will get to work on her to see if we can make it happen.

Next on the list was getting our own tree.  We went to our usual place on an unseasonably warm day and managed to find a few good trees we thought could work.  It actually didn't take that long to make a final decision, and before we knew it the selection had been made.

This is a full-service kind of place, so they bagged the tree and put it on our roof in a matter of minutes.  This is just the right speed for Callie and Reese, who were eager to get the tree home and start the next phase of decorating.

The annual unpacking of the Christmas tree ornaments never gets old.  And with the addition of new ornaments from our trips we get the chance to relive fun moments from the previous year.  This time it meant telling stories about Yosemite and Callie's birthday at the Great Wolf Lodge.  Of course, while all of this is happening John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas plays in the background.

After ten years of putting up Christmas trees together we were probably due for our first catastrophe.  This one happened on Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church.  We all heard a big bang and came downstairs to find this.  Fortunately we only lost a few ornaments and were actually able to repair some that had broken.  It is important to mention that the ones completely lost were some of the Christmas balls purchased by Sarah for our very first Christmas together - the very same Christmas balls that John rated a 4/10 when Sarah asked his opinion.

For the very first time we had the opportunity to witness the Christmas concert put on by Central Christian Childcare.  What an incredible experience to say the least.  The first group to "sing" were the two-year-olds, and we were fully entertained by two of the kids who spent their time on stage pulling their Santa hats completely over their faces.  It was hilarious and had the entire audience in stitches.

Reese had been preparing for this concert with her class for weeks and she had been singing the songs at home and in the car that entire time as well.  When her class hit the stage it was clear that they were the oldest class and were a bit more prepared to put on a show.  As an added bonus of the evening, Reese's drawing of baby Jesus in the manger ended up being the cover of the program.  Reese thought she was pretty special.

After the concert the school had a dessert reception in the assembly room of the church, and we had a chance to meet many of the parents of the kids Reese talks about so much.  They are a great group.  A little crazy, but a great group overall.  We were all definitely in the Christmas spirit.

Reese is an Official Handful!

As always, once December hits things start happening quickly.  For starters, we were approaching Reese's fifth birthday.  We have a picture of Sarah and Callie on her last night as a four-year-old so we wanted to capture the same moment with Reese. There is a lot of excitement in this picture.

For her birthday dinner Reese requested spaghetti and meatballs.  Apparently this is not because she knows how to eat it neatly but because she loves the taste.  And with Sharon and Chris in the house she certainly wanted to ham it up.  That is without a doubt something Reese has mastered in her five years.

After dinner Reese had the opportunity to open up presents from family and friends sent from all over the country.  This magnetic map of the United States came from Kate and Ashlynn, which provided a great visual aid when talking about where all the uncles, aunties, cousins, and grandparents live.

In the Bowes household you get your first friend birthday party at the age of 5.  Because Reese's birthday is in December we coordinated an indoor party at The Mad Potter here in Lexington.  Reese's birthday extravaganza included Olaf, hot cocoa, and all the fixings to turn a cupcake into a snowman.  On top of that everyone got to paint their own mug.

This was also the first time that Callie got to help out her little sister and all of her friends at a birthday party.  She did a great job making sure that everything was ready and that the little kids had the help they needed with all the different projects.

We had reserved the room for two hours, because we figured it would take an especially long time for the kids to paint their mugs.  Much to our surprise/dismay, they tore through this activity in about 15 minutes.  Apparently 4-5 year-olds don't exactly take their time to make sure every area is covered, and you can forget about the recommendation for 2-3 coats of paint.

Thankfully we had another activity planned for the group so that we didn't have to call for an end to the party after 20 minutes.  Each kid could pick from marshmallows, candy corns, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips, and icing to use to form their ideal snowman.  There were quite an amazing array of interpretations of this theme.  The kids did seem to enjoy the project, but enjoyed even more that they got to eat their creations.

The party seemed to continue at warp speed until we were looking for anything that might extend the celebrations to at least an hour and a half.  Sarah decided it was the perfect time to use the slo-motion video function on her phone to capture the kids jumping together.  So in the picture here she is showing them the video, not taking a selfie.

The good part about ending early on this day was that it was during basketball season and UK was playing.  In other words, most parents did not mind that they could head out early and catch more of the game.  And that meant Reese and Callie had more time to put the finishing touches on their mugs and reflect on the fun they had had over the previous two hours.

Another Bowes tradition is that when you turn five you can finally have chewing gum.  Outside of that one time in Chicago over the summer, which was certainly a special circumstance, Reese had not had any gum.  But here, on Saturday, December 12, 2016, upon finishing her swim lessons, she finally achieved gum chewing status.