As has happened several times in our child raising experience in Lexington, we faced an unfamiliar southern tradition. In this case it was Cotillion, which in our house is referred to as "Coto," pronounced Coe-toe.
Cotillion consists of four dances held during the course of the year for eighth graders throughout Fayette and the surrounding counties. Callie and her friends were excited for it even as we were just trying to figure out what we were supposed to do. Taking a picture of this young lady and her dad seemed like a good first step.
John was also learning about some of his new duties as Dean during the fall. Turns out there are a variety of advantages beyond the weekday experiences. One advantage is getting great tickets to the football game. We were in the very first row at the 50-yard line.
The whole day was a lot of fun and the energy on the sidelines was great to experience first hand. Sarah and Callie had to leave at the end of the third quarter but John and Reese saw EKU through to a fantastic victory. Reese turned heads with her engaging spirit and the volume of her cheers.
It just so happened that their visit coincided with a huge moment for the UK football team. Sarah took Zac to see a Saturday night home against the hated University of Florida Gators. It was a big game because UK was 4-0 and Florida was ranked #10. The stadium was packed and loud.
As we have mentioned before, one of the great things about 5th grade are the various events the kids get to be a part of after years of watching from the sidelines. In this instance, Reese was a shoemaker for Colonial Days at her school. She ran Bowes Knows Shoes, a shoemaker shop, as her contribution to the event. She was very excited about it and in the days leading up to it couldn't contain herself. We thought she looked pretty cute. (She even had a matching colored mask for the outfit - so 2021)
Prior to the game, John also had the opportunity to meet and chat with a number of donors who had been invited to the game because of their generosity to the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences.
The first weekend of October brought Brandi and Zac out for a visit to the Bluegrass. Brandi had never been here and Zac's last visit was when Reese was two weeks old. Sarah enjoyed getting the chance to show them around, and even took a day off of work to go hiking at the Red River Gorge.
It's always fun to introduce out of town visitors to the Kentucky we have come to grow and love. This also includes introducing them to the spirit of the BBN.
After an exciting 20-13 victory by the Cats, fans rushed the field. Although there was no concern that Sarah and Zac were going to follow the crowd, they certainly got caught up in the excitement of the moment.
It's fun to be part of a crowd of 70,000 plus during a victory like this. Less exciting is being part of that same crowd trying to get out of the parking lot and drive the 2 miles back to your house. It took an hour, end of story. But we had a fantastic visit with Brandi and Zac and can't wait to see them again soon.
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