Halloween 2020

 For all that soccer brought us great joy, we also knew that it opened us up to potential exposures to Covid. And as it turned out, the day before Halloween we learned that one of Callie's teammates had a parent who tested positive, which meant everyone on the team had a potential exposure. So on Halloween morning we went and got our very first Covid test. And since we wouldn't know our results for at least 24 hours, we made the decision not to go out trick or treating. But that didn't stop us from dressing up!

To get the girls over their disappointment we stopped at Walgreens on the way home from getting our tests and loaded up on candy. Our plan was to dress up and then settle on the couch for a movie night with a whole bunch of sweets in our hands. Of course it is no surprise that Sarah wanted to make sure we commemorated the holiday properly, and Halloween is about the costumes as well as the candy.

It's important to note that all of these costumes came from our basement. That's right, all of this is just sitting in a plastic bin waiting for the right moment. After a little coaxing, both Callie and Reese got into the photoshoot. They knew that if they really wanted that endless supply of candy for the night they were going to have to give their mom something to work with. But if you think we got into the Halloween spirit, take a look at our neighbors the Adams. They had a whole family Star Wars theme and pulled it off quite well. We had to take their photo. But the sweetest part is that their kids dropped off a bag of candy for the girls at the end of their night because they felt bad that Reese and Callie missed out.

But did Callie and Reese really miss out? They got out of their costumes, got into these comfortable jammie/costumes, ate candy they got without having to walk anywhere, and watched two movies. We think they made out pretty well.

Exhibit 1, just take a peek at part of their haul for the evening. Neither one of the girls was going to have low sugar counts in their system. Yet again in 2020 we found a way to make lemonade out of lemons. Just like the recipe says, you need a good amount of sugar.

Where Would We Be Without Soccer?

Covid was hard, but we were so fortunate that the girls adapted to online school as well as they did. They were learning to work independently and we got good reports from their teachers. But just as important, they got the social interaction and physical activity they needed from soccer. We are so happy that they were able to practice and play all fall. Reese's team maintained its winning ways and she kept working hard. This picture captures her determination and grit quite well. 

The lost spring season in 2020 was tough for Callie because she had high hopes for her team and what they could accomplish. She turned that disappointment into motivation, however, and starting in May she started training regularly. Her first hope was to make a higher team at tryouts. Then tryouts didn't happen, and that motivated her even more to train and develop her skills.

We are happy to report that all of her hard work paid off in the fall season. She had more confidence than ever, and in the first game she scored a goal and almost had a second on a penalty kick. In fact, she went on a streak in which she scored at least one goal in every single game. It was absolutely insane and so fun to watch. She scored off of direct kicks, corner kicks, breakaways, you name it and she did it. It was an incredible season and she earned every bit of that success. You can't ask for much more as parents than to have that combination.

Through it all, we have consistently emphasized to both the girls that we want them to have fun while they are playing. Fortunately, their coaches appeared to be as excited about Halloween as they were. Both the girls had a dress up practice, and when the rain canceled the planned activities they brought it inside to ensure no one missed out on fun and candy.

The older girls were just as goofy as the younger ones, though their choice of costumes illustrated some of the differences in age. Most of Callie's team chose to dress up as characters from the video game Among Us, which is something we definitely didn't understand. But the costumes were simple and the girls liked them, so that's all that matters. 

Callie's a Teenager!

Whether we wanted to admit or not, Callie was turning thirteen this year and we just had to roll with it. It was a birthday party year, so we had to figure what to do in the midst of Covid. Callie chose to stick wtih the theme of our summer, which was camping. We made a reservation at Carter Caves State Park and started making plans. First obstacle was how to get everyone there since our Mazda had broken down in mid-September. Based on its age and the cost of repairs, we opted to get a new car. However, we weren't in any rush since we were all working and schooling from home. In short, we had to rent a mini-van to get Callie and her friends to the camping birthday. First stop, Starbucks.

 One of the best things about teenagers is that they can do some of the work. And even if they aren't sure how to do it you can have fun watching them try. Callie was willing to take the lead since she had put up the tent several times this summer. And her friends were all willing to pitch in.

So here's the finished product. They did quite well, and Sarah did even better by making sure the tent was properly festive.

Once we got the tent up we sent the girls up the road to play some mini-golf.

Since everything in the campground was so close it allowed the girls to be independent while not being too far away. They are a good group, and they were particularly kind to include Reese in all of their activities. We had also lucked out because the weather was pretty nice for early October in Kentucky.

Next up was making the fire and cooking dinner. The fire took a little longer than usual and we actually had to special order a delivery of firewood. The girls played some games at the table, did each other's hair, and overall got into the camping spirit.

And even more important, they did the dishes once dinner was over. Callie once again took the lead to show her friends how the Bowes camp kitchen works. Once they had cleaned things up we sat around the fire, had s'mores and played truth or dare with a glow ball. It was a great night and once we retired to our separate tent the chatter didn't last too long.

Once we had made breakfast and cleaned up the camp we had the opportunity to take a brief tour of the X-Cave. This park is in eastern Kentucky and its cave system is nothing as grand as Mammoth Cave, but it is still pretty awesome. 

We knew that the tours were going to be limited in the number of people who could sign up, but we were very happy when it was just our group. Our private tour got the ability to go as quickly or slowly as the girls wanted. They seemed to enjoy it, and once the tour was over we got back into the minivan and headed back to Lexington. It was a great 13th birthday party, and Callie had a lot of fun. But she had one more surprise waiting for her when we got home.

We had told Callie for a while that she could get a cell phone when she was in 8th grade or when she turned 13. In the end, we went with 13, and she was over the moon excited.

After she opened the gift up on her birthday weekend it took us three weeks to get to the store to have her phone set up. She was patient, but a girl can only wait so long. And just like that we were a three cell-phone family. 

Divide and Conquer

On Labor Day weekend we had made more camping reservations, this time at Cumberland Falls State Park. But the plan for all of us to be with the Abrahams was undone by a soccer tournament for Reese in Indianapolis. So Callie and John headed down I-75 to experience a new state park with Kelly, Kirk, and Claire. It started off a bit rough with traffic at a dead stop north of Corbin. We needed to get the tents set up before the sun went down, but we had confidence we could make it happen. You might think that Sarah was having the better end of the deal, but she was in her own little bubble of fun. She and Reese made it all the way to their hotel in Indianapolis only to discover that Sarah had forgotten her wallet at home. With a little of that California charm she was able to persuade the hotel to let them in their room, but it was going to be an interesting weekend.

Meanwhile, back in southern Kentucky, the camping crew were able to find their campsite and set up their tents before darkness fell. It wasn't the biggest campsite, but there was enough room for the tents and a fire, so no one was complaining.

We had already grabbed a bite to eat before getting to the park, so that night the fire was just for hanging out and making s'mores. 

We always say that we can never have enough time with the Abrahams, and that still holds true. It did seem a little strange to have only partial crews from both families, but we made it work.

Saturday morning came bright and early for the soccer girls. Reese and her friend Mary hit the field prepared to win in a look that had become normal for us all. It was the first tournament of the season so we were all interested to see what would happen. Although most of her teammates were the same, Reese did have a new coach so she wanted to impress from the get go.

The camping crew was also up bright and early and excited to explore the trails around Cumberland Falls. It was a short trip from the campground to the trailhead, and it was a beautiful day. Claire and Callie were hoping to work on their upper body strength along with cardio.

Although the hiking wasn't intense, it certainly provided many opportunities to see all the beauty that Kentucky has to offer. 

This is one of the many views we had of Cumberland Falls during the course of our hike. The water is far from clear, but the waterfall is quite a sight. We were not there at the right time to catch the famous moonbow, but one day we will get there for that. It is well worth a return trip.

Every time we went camping this summer we learned new reasons why the hatchet was such a critical purchase. And every time we camped we each learned new skills. Here we see where those two things converged as Callie discovered the joy of chopping wood.

We needed that wood to be the right size to start the fire and Callie was ready to do what it took to get it ready. And she didn't even come close to chopping off a toe.

At every soccer tournament, a key question is what to do with the downtime between the two Saturday games. Sarah paired up with Erin Oakley, Mary's mom, and they took a group of girls to the local mall. It had been at least six months since we had been in a mall, but clearly this store knew we were coming.

Sarah and Erin are cool moms, no matter what their daughters might say, and Erin was even cooler because she was ready to help out the walletless Sarah all weekend.

Here we see Mary, Harper, Reese, and Emerson enjoying the mall in their own special way. You can't tell from the picture, but they found their way to the cosmetics counter in Nordstrom's and got a special tour in the Body Shop where they tested countless lotions to see what combinations worked best.

They also tried to find the best combinations on the field as well. The tournament was not as challenging as we had hoped. The girls won most of their games by double digits. But they had a good team and gained a lot of confidence.

At the end of the weekend they walked away as champions, which is certainly a great way to start the season. The funniest part of the whole tournament was when Mary got a yellow card, a first for the team overall. She is one of the smallest players on the team, but she is pretty feisty and can hold her own.

And best of all, on that Sunday night we were reunited around the fire pit in the Abraham's backyard. Monday was a holiday so we were all able to relax and enjoy being together as full families. Callie, Claire, Reese, and Ella always enjoy each other's company and aren't afraid to get a little silly. 

Back to School Virtual Style

Although so many things were different, the first day of school came around like it does every year. This time, however, it is possible the girls were excited to get back to it because they would have some more structure to their days. None of us knew what virtual school would really be like, we just hoped it was going to be better than the last couple of months of the prior year. We had to do first day of school signs, but it seemed fitting to have those signs be on their computer screens because this is where they would spend most of their days.

We had to figure out the new routine as well as work spaces for everyone since the only person not at home full-time was John. Sarah had taken over the spare room as her office, and Callie chose the desk in her bedroom as her base of operations. John created a makeshift desk and workspace in the master bedroom for the days he wasn't on campus. This meant that Reese was going to have a more open concept classroom.

Once she had it set up, Reese grew to love her virtual classroom. She had her beanbag, a lot of area to roam, and quick access to food. She also enjoyed that throughout the day everyone else would drop in for a visit as they needed fuel for their own activities.

The girls had good attitudes and fortunately learned quickly to work independently and not interrupt their parents. We like to say that we cultivated their growing independence by parenting through neglect. It appears to have worked well.

Yatesville Lake

 There was a great deal of anticipation in the Bowes household for camping trip number three. In her research Sarah had found a state park with campsites that were only accessible by boat. Then we actually found a friend we would want to camp with who had a boat. Before you knew it, three campsites were reserved and the plan was in motion. Everything we could control, we had under control. We don't camp light, and so it took a couple of boat trips to drop off all of the supplies. Getting the supplies from the boat to the sites also involved a bit of work, so early on the kids were already a bit irritated with the labor. But we were excited for the next couple of days of camping fun right on the lake. 

Once the unloading was done and the tents were set up the kids got to work enjoying the refreshing waters of the lake. They could use the boat as a dock and were having a great time.

Sarah had to work that day, so she arrived a little later. But she got the full water taxi experience and was able to get to the camp after the heavy lifting had been completed. However, the true work had only just begun. Within an hour of Sarah's arrival, the part of the trip we couldn't control hit us hard. The picture below shows the aftermath of what happened on that Friday night. Usually we are good about taking pictures, but there was no time for it. 

The bottom line is that it started raining, and raining hard. The kids had gone out on the boat, and according to Reese they got pelted with raindrops. The captain, Tony Fields, had a lot on his hands. He had to get Reese and Jack off the tube, console Emerson who had started crying, and figure out how to get back to the campsite in a driving rainstorm. Back at the camp we had just started the fire and managed to get a canopy over it so the flames wouldn't die out. Of course that meant you had a choice - stay under the canopy and deal with the smoke or escape the smoke by getting drenched. Reports came in from the Johnson camp site that one tent had flooded and clothes were floating. This certainly didn't put our novice camper Jessica at ease, and when Emerson got back to the campsite they needed some alone time. Sarah forged on, making dinner while around her we tried to set up tarps and escape routes for the smoke. Needless to say, the first night tested bonds of friendship and survival skills. 

Like Annie sings, the sun will come out tomorrow, and on day two the resilient campers were ready to take on the lake and all that it had in store. After some morning clouds the sun came out and the beauty of Yatesville Lake was there to enjoy.

While the parents sat in chairs or napped in hammocks to recover from a poor night's sleep, the kids got back on the water with Captain Tony and his sense of adventure.

This picture here captures so much of the beauty of the location and why, despite all that happened, we would go back to Yatesville Lake in a heartbeat. The real question is, would Jessica say yes if we asked her to join us? Time will tell.

Random Summer

In the late summer or early fall of 2019, a new family moved into the house on the other side of the Chrisman's. We knew they had kids but we didn't get a chance to really get to know them well. One thing led to another in the Covid summer of 2020, and before too long Reese was becoming good friends with Esther, Avery, Isla, and Evelyn Adams. They are a sweet bunch of kids who love to play and be outdoors. This was exactly what Reese needed to get her through a unique summer filled with no camps. It was only fitting when the Gipe girls came to hang out that they met the Adams and joined in the fun. This lineup shows the range of ages, but those differences didn't stop them from having a blast together. 

Since we didn't have Music and Arts Camp, Birdie and Pop wanted to do something special with all four girls, so they took them for a day out to Shaker's Village for some hiking, lunching, and ice cream eating. These four girls still have a great time whenever they get together, and we love the giggles and ease of their relationship.

 

The girls did not have a spring soccer season and LFC decided not to hold tryouts. So that meant the girls would have the same teams for the fall season. Reese's teammates were going to be the same, but they were going to have a new coach. What better way to jump in to a new season then with a 3v3 tournament.  

The tournament took place in Elizabethtown on a hot day in August. Thankfully, Jeff Stone, Emerson's dad, was happy to keep the girls in the shade.

By the end of the day, Reese's Trifecta team walked out of there undefeated champions of their age group. It was a great showing and a good way to make a first impression on Coach Tom as they prepared for the fall.

When learned about the the 3v3 tournament we quickly worked with Callie's team coordinator to see if we could get a couple of teams together. We ended up with three different teams in the tournament, and it was fun to watch. Callie's team started off with a loss, but with some good coaching and great efforts by Callie and her crew they turned it around to win their age bracket too. Callie spent a good part of the spring and summer throwing herself into soccer training in the hope of making the Red team. When tryouts didn't happen she was disappointed, but it also fueled her desire to play better every game. This tournament gave us the first sign of just how determined she was. 

Heading into the fall knowing that it was going to be a virtual school year was certainly disappointing. We understood why it was going to be virtual, and we were glad that both girls would have soccer as an outlet, but it still made for strange times. Speaking of strange times, a drive through welcome back to school orientation is not a middler schooler's dream. But nonetheless, we leaned in and tried to make the most of it.

This picture captures a lot in one moment. Everyone from this period of time will have stories to tell, but school kids in particular will have some memories that will stick with them.