End of Summer Activities

As so often happens, once we get back to Lexington after a trip we hit the ground running. The summer wasn't as full of camps as it had been in the past. In fact, Callie will in part remember this summer by the number of camps she wanted to go to that were scheduled for the two weeks we traveled to New England. Oops. But Reese still was able to go to a couple of weeks of tennis camp and a sleepover camp with Ella.

The sleepover camp took all sorts of precautions because of covid, and the girls had a great week. It was good to have some experiences like this to still make it feel like summer.

Reese's soccer team organized a team outing that gave us the opportunity to see first hand a great new stadium in Kentucky. Racing Louisville is in their first season in the National Women's Soccer League, and the soccer only stadium they get to play in is fantastic. It is easy to get to and there isn't a bad seat in the house.

At this game the girls had seats right on the field, so they were able to see professional soccer up close and personal. However, you can tell they are still 10 and 11 year-olds because they were more attracted to the treats offered off the field than by all that was happening on the field.

It was a lot of fun and also made us realize how easy it is to go to a game here. Hopefully we will be visiting this stadium many more times in the years to come.

This summer also marked a crazy transition for the families in our wine club. Three of the four families have graduating seniors, which means that at summer's end three of the kids pictured here will be heading off to college. We started this wine club over ten years ago, so to hit this milestone is crazy for all of us. We were able to host one final gathering at our house before the three college kids headed out for the next exciting chapter in their lives.

Callie and Reese were also hitting milestones of their own. Reese was heading into her last year of elementary school and Callie was getting ready for 8th grade and her last year at Morton Middle School. Callie's friends wanted to end the summer in style and so they all dressed up for a fancy dinner out on the town.

Pictures like this continue to remind us that she and her friends are growing up quickly right before our eyes. Time does move fast.

The end of summer also normally means Picnic with the Pops. Covid cancelled it in 2020, so we were excited for its return in 2021. Then a few things happened. The Chrismans couldn't make it due to their extended visit with their family in Europe. The Abrahams were still out in Oregon dropping Ella off at college. And we were having trouble just figuring out a plan. At the last minute we invited Claire along with her grandmother Linda to join us. Callie was over a friend's house so it was the two of us and Reese. Then the rain began to fall.

But it wasn't just the rain. Thunder and lightning followed, and the event planners postponed the start of the concert. More than that, they wouldn't let people go to their tables, so we had to stay in the parking lot.

After a couple of hours we learned that the concert wouldn't start until 9:00pm. The glasses of wine made our dry house seem much more inviting than a Beatles tribute concert in the rain, so we packed up the car and headed home. Seems only fitting that the only disrupted Picnic with the Pops event was when the Chrismans weren't able to make it. Better luck for all of us next year.