Winter Fun with Friends

The new year started off well for us and we were excited to see what 2015 had in store.  Fortunately, the first thing the new year brought us was more time with good friends.

Since at this point it appeared that it was going to be a mild winter, we were happy when the Johnson's called and suggested a scooter outing to our local ice cream shop.  Everyone had a scooter and a helmet.  The excitement level was high and we were interested to see how the Bowes girls would handle the challenge.  Callie did well.  You can draw your own conclusions about the other Bowes girl.

There was another child on the journey, but little Emerson wasn't quite ready for a scooter yet.  Mason, however, saw no problem with catching a ride on his mom's back during the last part of the journey.  Jessica is an incredible woman in many ways, and this picture highlights her ability to balance all of her family's needs.

We also had the good fortune to see Libby and Lucy when they came to visit their Birdie.  Even better yet, Sarah Gipe and Sharon asked if Callie and Reese could go with them to the movies while we stayed home.  We had to think about it for a second or two.  Who are we kidding, we didn't even have to think.  We said yes, and the girls went off to enjoy a fun day with Libby, Lucy, Sarah, and Birdie.

Here is the motley crew in their seats and ready for the start of Paddington. Callie and Reese loved it!  When they got home they couldn't stop talking about different scenes from the movie.  And by all accounts they certainly had their fair share of movie treats to help make the experience even better. Once again it showed us how lucky we are to have the Gipes and Chrismans in our lives.

Although it was a month late, Callie finally lost her second front tooth.  Sarah had promised Callie an extra present if she would lose the tooth prior to Christmas.  Sarah wanted to reenact the song, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth," but Callie failed to comply.  Still, better late than never, and Callie was clearly excited to have a huge gap at the top of her mouth.

In early February we benefited from the generosity of a friendly couple we attend church with who gave us two tickets to a show at the Lexington Opera House.  These weren't just tickets, but front row seats to the show, Peter and the Star Catcher, which is based on the Peter Pan story.  Sarah and Callie enjoyed a day together and thought the show was a lot of fun.  Callie was less excited about posing for this picture, but she has to learn to roll with the punches.

Hello 2015

Because we were at home for the holidays we wanted to make the most of the New Year festivities and decided to host a family fun countdown to 2015.  If you know Sarah, you know that this means a fair amount of prep work was necessary.  And by a fair amount we mean a lot.

The prep work began with the countdown chart.  Because we were going to have quite a few kids and did not know how long they would last we needed to know when 2015 arrived around the globe starting at 5pm our time.  We began with Greece and worked our way across the time zones from there.  Sarah, Grammy, and the girls had a great time identifying the country and the symbol we would use to represent that country.

To the right you can see the finished product.  We had flags, towers, Easter Island statues, and everything in between.  Every hour from 5pm to midnight had not only a happy new year but also a planned activity.  Activities ranged from family game time to decorating your dessert.  There was so much planned that there would be little time to notice how quickly the last few hours of 2014 were flying by.

As mentioned, we had quite a few kids present.  The three Johnsons (Vivie Ann, Mason, and little Emerson), the two Abrahams (Claire and Ella), and of course the two Bowes (Callie and Reese in case you are keeping score).  We are happy to report that they had a very good time.  And amazingly enough, not one of them, not even Emerson, fell asleep before midnight.

Here is Jessica and Emerson at dinner.  You might notice that Jessica is sporting a lovely tissue paper crown and a set of beads.  Both were prizes from her dinner popper.  Seriously, we did this party right and are not afraid to talk about it.

Perhaps nothing showed off the commitment to the celebration more than our homemade Times Square ball.  It was a styrofoam ball with sequins that were attached individually with small pins.  No kidding, Sarah probably put a good 5-6 hours into making this thing.  John ensure that every hour as a new country celebrated the new year that the ball descended a little further. By the time it reached midnight in Lexington our glittery ball of sequin fun had finished its descent.  We were pretty proud of this and can't wait for another opportunity to break it out.

Even Grammy Gayle stayed up until midnight, that's how much fun we had.  However, truth be told, it really was just 9pm her time, but she still has bragging rights for years to come.  It was just so great to have Grammy here to interact with and get to know the families who have become such an important part of our life here in Lexington.

Mason's favorite activity of the night involved the poppers.  We had to think twice before purchasing them, but we wanted to make sure that we sent 2014 out with a bang, and this was as good a way to do it as any.  For the most part all the kids had a fun time with it.

We ended the night with a dance party that started at 12:05am, and all the kids took part.  However we must mention that Reese was the one leading the pack and shaking her booty.  All good things must come to an end, though, and so before our guests left we made sure to capture each family as they started the new year.  The Johnsons certainly look ready to tackle everything that is going to come their way in 2015.

And it appears that 2015 better keep its eyes out for the Abrahams.  In this picture we realized how great it would be to take the shot in front of the sequin ball to capture the night in all of its glory.  It certainly adds a special something to the scene.

Last, but certainly not least, we have our special family photo.  These are the kinds of experiences we figure the girls will look back on and say one of two things.  Either, "Wow, we are so lucky to have such awesome parents who are incredibly fun!", or "We can't believe our parents kept us up so late, made us wear ridiculous glasses, and then put the pictures up on the internet.  Seriously, who does that?"  As we look forward to a great 2015, we are very much hoping they are going to say quote number one.

Celebrating Christmas with Grammy

Due to the ridiculously high prices of airplane tickets this year, we figured we would not be celebrating the holidays with family.  However, Grammy Gayle was not going to let that happen, and when we told her we would not be traveling to California she said she understood and wanted to know if we would like her to come to us.  We jumped at the opportunity and Christmas got that much better.

For the first time we turned to the internet to track Santa's progress across the globe on Christmas Eve.  The girls were definitely interested in seeing just how fast Santa was traveling and how far he still had to go before he reached Lexington.  Fortunately they did not want to stay up all night watching his progress.  After church we checked on his progress a couple of times, put together a dish of cookies the girls had made with Grammy for Santa, and sprinkled the reindeer oat/glitter mix that Reese had made at school on the front lawn.  We were ready.

Christmas morning came quickly, but we are still very lucky in that the girls sleep in.  They are excited to see their gifts but not so excited that they skip out on their sleep.  Everyone wins.  Grammy Gayle wanted to see the morning craziness and Callie and Reese did not let her down.  Here they are snuggled inside one of the sleeping bags we gave them in preparation for numerous sleepovers to come.

One great thing about having Grammy there is that she had a front row seat while the girls opened the stocking she put together for them.  Grammy Gayle has a natural talent for stockings and the the girls loved the Frozen-themed everything that they pulled out of them.  Elsa, Anna, and Olaf are big hits in this house.

This picture highlights Sarah's excitement that the girls just went wild and showcases John's tolerance/self-control after receiving several reminders to just let it be and not clean up every second.  And like last year, Reese wanted to ensure chaos and went through the wrappings several times like it was like a pile of leaves on the front lawn.

Some of their gifts were put into action right away, including this cool coloring craft that they used to send messages to family and friends all over the country.  We needed to make sure that we wished folks from Connecticut to California a Merry Christmas, and the girls looked much cuter holding this sign than anyone else in our household.

We had another special treat on Christmas day when our dinner at the Chrismans included the Gipes.  The girls had their own special table where they enjoyed the fantastic meal, but even more importantly the four of them got to play together before, during, and after dinner.  What could be better than that?  And of course, the adults got to eat, drink, and be merry together, which is just as fun.

One of Grammy's gifts to the girls involved Build-A-Bear, which meant a post-Christmas day field trip to the mall so the girls could pick out the stuffed animal they wanted and of course an outfit to go with it.  Sarah, Grammy, and the girls got there relatively early, which was a good thing because clearly Grammy was not the only one who had thought of this idea.

After an enjoyable two hour adventure in the store, Reese left with a My Little Pony and Callie had a bear that giggles when you squeeze it.  The girls were delighted with their new stuffed animals but also loved the boxes that they got to carry them home in.  You have to give props to Build-A-Bear.  They understand all the little details that go into a fun experience.

We topped off the holiday experience with a trip to the movie theater to see the new incarnation of Annie.  This was Reese's first movie theater experience, and it is safe to say that she loved it.  However, we are not really sure if that was due to the movie or the tub of popcorn and M&M's that she appeared to be swimming in throughout the film.  Not a bad way to wrap up the holidays.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

The very day we returned from our trip to CT for Thanksgiving we headed out to get our tree.  Every year the goal is to get the tree up and decorated quickly so that we can enjoy it for the entire season.  The girls' tree-decorating skills are continuing to evolve, and no longer does Reese just hang all the ornaments in one location.  She understands the concept of spacing a bit better these days, and Callie can be trusted with almost any ornament...almost.  The true indicator that these skills have evolved is that Sarah had to do very little rearranging of those ornaments after the girls went to bed.

Another sign of growth this year came during our annual trip to the Ingle-Mayfield house so that we could see Santa and hang out with friends.  Last year was when Callie surprised us by wanting some alone time with the jolly old guy.  This year both Callie and Reese were willing to sit on his lap and let him know what they were hoping to see in their stockings and under the tree.  It was a fun night overall.

The tree was up, we had talked to Santa, and now it was time for candy.  Fortunately for us, the Johnsons were also ready to hang out and decorate a gingerbread house or two.  We divided up into two teams, and by chance it ended up being the siblings who got to work together.  Vivie Ann and Mason did a wonderful job and the landscaping around their house surely made their father proud.

Callie and Reese also worked quite well together.  Reese of course had to have on her Elsa dress she got for her birthday and she managed to do some decorating in the moments when she was not trying to eat all of the candy.  Callie took the task much more seriously and did her best to tolerate Reese's creative input that did not always conform to the plan Callie had visualized for the house.

For the second year in a row for Reese and the third year for Callie and Sarah, the next item on the Christmas preparation agenda was the Nutcracker at the Lexington Opera House. The girls got all dolled up and were looking forward to seeing all the great dancing.  They now both fully know the story and have favorite parts.  One of those favorite parts of course is the snacks that Sarah brings in her purse.  It has become a fun tradition.

After the show the girls checked out Triangle Park which is right near the Opera House.  This picture certainly highlights the girls' personalities.  Reese is demonstrating what has become a bit of a go to photo move and her zest for life.  Callie is a little bit more reserved and is not willing to be goofy for goofy's sake at the drop of a hat like her sister.  She needs to be coaxed a bit more, but don't worry, once she gets going she can be just as crazy.

One added activity that Sarah took part in was dipping chocolate with Kelly Abraham so that both families would have large amounts of pretzels, pringles, oreos, and ritz crackers dipped in chocolate that could be used as gifts or family treats.  The entire afternoon was fun and Kelly definitely has a system down to make sure everything gets done efficiently.  Sarah left the house with more than enough chocolate dipped goodies to go around.

Next up was the Christmas pageant at our church, and truth be told, this year was a little bit of a train wreck.  We have always loved the low-key aspect of it, but at the same time the Christmas story was always clearly told and the songs fit the story.  This year we are not sure how some of the selected songs made the cut, and if Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were there they must have been hiding behind the choir of cherubs.  Hopefully next year the whole production will be the result of a bit more practice and planning.  However, Callie made a cute, toothless angel and Reese made an adorable zebra hanging out at the manger.

Because the Abrahams were spending Christmas week with relatives in Cleveland we scheduled our Christmas celebration with them early on.  This year the get together reached new heights and we introduced the Abraham family to tape ball.  It was a big hit and here we see the girls showing off some of the fine gifts they won in the game.  The competition was fierce but everyone seemed to win at the end.  Perhaps next year we can avoid the crying or the show of disappointment when the anticipation of a great gift is shattered by the realization that you just got a jar of pickles.

For the past several years Lexington has put a skating rink in the middle of Triangle Park and rented out skates to all who wanted to come down and join the fun.  John, Callie, and Reese took advantage of a cold but sunny afternoon and hit the ice with the Johnsons.  The girls have never skated before and John hadn't skated in more than 30 years, so it was bound to be an adventure all around.

Reese loved it and after she got used to it a little bit wanted to try and do it on her own.  Of course she fell quite a bit, but she got right back up and kept on trucking.  Independence and persistence eventually pays off, and she has both of those traits to spare.  In the hour that we were there she only got off the ice for a couple of minutes and kept coming back on to test herself.  It was great to see.

Callie developed an equal amount of confidence during the course of our time there.  She started off slower and spent a lot of time hanging on the railing as she went around.  But by the end of the hour she was going full tilt across the ice at relatively fast speeds and using the boards at the other end of the rink to stop.  She probably would have stayed for another hour if it was possible.  Next year we will have to do this again and get the whole family out there.

Reese Turns 4

This year Reese got a great surprise on her birthday morning because even our friendly Elf Sam got into the birthday celebration. It added an extra level of excitement to the daily ritual of looking for Sam.  Of course, we didn't need to do much to crank up the excitement level on this day.  Reese was plenty excited for everybody.  She has been able to tell anyone who asks for a while now that her birthday is December 11, and the arrival of the actual day was almost too much for her to take.  In fact, when Reese and Sarah went to Trader Joe's to get some things for dinner she proudly announced to the cashier that it was her birthday, and because Trader Joe's is so fantastic they presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Reese absolutely loved it!

Reese had quite a few ideas about what she wanted for her cake but ultimately settled on Elsa's castle.  If you don't know who Elsa is, then shame on you.  Or just go watch Frozen.  In any case, Sarah once again did an incredible job putting together the perfect cake.  And to make it extra special we gave Reese her birthday present of an Elsa dress and tiara moments before we revealed the cake.  So she was able to hold her Elsa cake while wearing her Elsa outfit.  It was almost too good to be true.

The evening overall was wonderful.  Sharon and Chris joined us for dinner and Reese basked in an evening that revolved around her.  The smile in this picture says it all.  Her big sister was very good throughout and did her best to hold back from opening Reese's presents for her.  Meanwhile, we sat there and tried to figure out how Reese got to be 4 so quickly.  She is already talking about how she is going to be 5.  We can wait on that one.

Giving Thanks in Connecticut

Welcome to Connecticut!  It is hard for us landlocked folks to be so far away from the ocean, so we relish every opportunity we get to see the waves and the salt water whenever we visit either coast.  Reese was clearly happy to be down at the Surf Club on this day.  And we were all excited to be up in New England.

Both Callie and Reese were especially looking forward to spending time with Zoey.  The three of them did everything together and took turns soaking up the attention of any adult willing to give it.  We were happy to see that they were just picking up where they left off after this past summer on the Cape.

Uncle Chris is a great guy for many reasons, but he is particularly wonderful with the little ones in the kitchen.  He loves to have them help him with whatever he is cooking or baking and the girls were all over it.  They spent quite a bit of time working on all the steps involved, from the dough rolling technique to the proper placement and spacing on the cookie sheet.

Education runs in the Balestracci family.  Of course, here Brendan's lesson on cookie theft is more on the naughty side, it is still a very helpful skill to carry forward in life.  And it should be said that both Brendan and his older brother are just as good with their younger cousins as their father is.  We say it every time, but the girls are very lucky to have those two as their older cousins.

Since this trip we stayed with Nana Banana and Sport, Callie and Reese were able to get some alone time with the two of them.  Nothing beats getting to have your grandparents all to yourselves for some good bonding, games, and other assorted activities.

This year, instead of doing a sibling dinner or breakfast, we spent Thanksgiving morning running the Turkey Trot down at Hammonasset.  It's the annual 5 mile road race and it's a great opportunity to earn your turkey dinner even as you get to see all sorts of folks who are back in town for the holiday.  We lucked out because it wasn't too cold.  And with the unfortunate exception of a pulled calf muscle we all survived in one piece.

And while the parents were out running the kids got to hang out with their grandparents.  They make a great looking crew, don't they.

And of course their grandparents are beside themselves with joy to have everyone around.  They get to see Mike and Brendan quite a bit, but having the whole gang together is quite a treat.

The Colorado crew headed back home the day after Thanksgiving, but we still had a few days in town and headed to the Science Museum in Hartford.  We had never been there before and it was a great place to spend a few hours checking things out and being silly.  Reese and Sport loved trying to keep the beach ball up in the air.

John, on the other hand, had a great time in the space portion of the center and took advantage of all the good photo opportunities they made available.  However, the family favorite was a lounging booth where we got to watch different educational space videos on a big screen.  Very cool and very comfortable.

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror it was time to turn our attention to Christmas, and the Skonieczny's knew just what we could do to get everyone in the spirit.  In Mystic you can watch Santa arrive via tugboat and if you so desire can get your picture taken with him.  This is not the Skonieczny's first rodeo, and while the kids walked around their grandparents held a pot in line that made sure they would not have to wait long at all.

Our girls were happy to take a picture with Ella, Ethan, and Eli, but were less enthused about taking a picture with this Santa.  We chose not to fight this battle and just allowed the girls to take in the whole experience.  Really, how often do you get to stand on a dock and watch Santa arrive via tugboat.  It was definitely a very New England scene.

And on our last night in town we jumped at the chance to visit Mike at his place of employment, one of the best frozen yogurt joints on the Shoreline. Sarah pushed the boundaries and asked for this photo op behind the counter.  However she compensated Mike well with a nice tip.  It was a great way to end another fun Thanksgiving in Connecticut.