Soccer, track and relatives, oh my!

 Spring also meant lots of soccer and a visit from family. But first, lots of soccer.

Reese was in the middle of her full year with her club team but Callie's team only got started once the high school season had finished. Both girls were excited for spring and the possibilities it held. For us it was another year of making sure that people had rides to practices, hotels for away games, and some kind of family time when we could all eat together. And of course there was school and work to consider. 

The great thing about travel sports is that it can sometimes provide great opportunities to see people. It just so happened that when Callie had a tournament in southern Ohio in mid-April his friend Michelle from Connecticut was only a few miles away because her daughter had a basketball tournament. Michelle played soccer through college so was more than happy to drive over, chat with John, and catch some of Callie's game. Callie made it worth her while by scoring twice while she was there. We are hoping our paths will cross this way again so that we can see Hayden play basketball, but it hasn't happened yet.

Of course soccer is not the only sport going on in the spring. Both girls ran track again this year. Although they did not get to go to a lot of the meets because of their soccer commitments, they did their best to show up for their teams. Reese continued to love running with her soccer buddy, Emerson. Whenever the two of them had a meet they tried to make sure they lined up next to each other at the start and ran together as long as possible in the race. One of the best displays of their friendship came in one race when they gave each other a high five heading into the final lap as a show of support for each other. It was one of the coolest things ever.

They say April showers bring May flowers, but for us April brought a wonderful visit from GA and GU, aka Uncle Ron and Aunt Teri Lucas. It had been a while since we had seen them and so it was fantastic that they made the effort to come and see us. Sarah took off a couple of days to hang out and their first stop was a day at Keeneland during the spring meet. They started the day with lunch at the track kitchen and took photos with some of the locals.

Sarah made sure they got a picture with the iconic Keeneland clock and bet on some races. It was funny to watch the sequence of events as Ron placed his two dollar bet for his horse to win, got excited when his horse won, and then found out just how much (or how little) his two dollar bet actually paid. The rollercoaster of emotions was enjoyable and in the end everyone had a great time.

One of the main reasons GA and GU wanted to come was to see the girls playing their sports. Unfortunately the soccer schedule did not completely line up for both girls. They were able to see Callie play a game and then showed their dedication by sitting through all of Reese's track meet on a chilly evening. 

 

Since we had a little more free time than we thought we were able to enjoy a new experience for all of us at the Kentucky Theater in downtown Lexington. A renowned organist was in town and he played for a number of silent movies from the 1930s. The main feature was "The Freshmen" and it was truly a fun night though we all agreed that one of the two shorter films was the best one of the night. The Freshmen could have used some editing, in our humble opinion. We capped off the evening with a night of sushi and ice cream, which is the perfect way to complete a great visit.

This spring also included an important milestone in Callie's life at First Presbyterian Church. She was officially confirmed and Kelly Abraham served as her mentor, which was so fitting. As we told Callie several times during the process, we are proud of how involved she is in the life of the church community and how she has been engaged in developing relationships with everyone there. Confirmation indicates that you are officially a member and there is no doubt that she is a contributing member to that community.

Toward the end of the spring soccer season we had a trip to Michigan for the whole family. Callie got invited to play up with the top team and it just so happened that her game was at the same time as Reese's game. Fortunately they were playing on fields right next to each other so we just had to keep our heads on a swivel to keep up with the action in both places. Callie played well and was happy with her performance. Reese played tough but complained that her foot was hurting. However, since they had no subs she played the whole game.

Well it turns out that Reese's foot was hurting for a reason. Although she couldn't tell you when it happened, at some point during that game she broke a bone in her foot. She was in a boot for four weeks and unfortunately had to miss her last soccer game and final track meets of the season. All in all, though, it was a pretty smooth recovery and not a bad thing that she had to take a break. 

Fortunately Callie's season did not end with an injury. Instead, she and her team made it to the finals of the President's Cup tournament in Elizabethtown. Although they lost in the finals to Eastern Elite and their IV drips the team played tough and had a great time doing so. And in all honesty, most parents were happy that with the loss they would not have to figure out travel plans for Kansas City which would be the next step of that tournament. And as both soccer and school began to wind down we could start thinking about summer.

Charleston in the Spring

We have never taken a full family trip during spring break because John's spring breaks have never lined up with the Fayette County spring breaks. But this spring because John wasn't teaching it was easier to get away and we just made it happen.

The girls were thrilled to get out of Lexington and Callie just wanted to make sure we could go to the beach and get some sun. It didn't really matter what beach. We just wanted to make sure we could drive there. After doing a bit of last minute research we found a good deal at a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina. The hotel had a couple of pools and we could see the ocean from our room so it hit all the right marks. 

Sarah was the only one who had been to Charleston before, so for the most part it was a new experience for all of us. A great feature of our hotel was a free shuttle to and from downtown so we could get there easily. On our first full day we took a horse drawn carriage tour through the heart of downtown and learned some history. We could have done without some of our fellow tourists who clearly had different ideas about the Civil than John, but these things happen. 

The city is beautiful and has a lot of character in its older houses and structures. With the girls being 13 and 16 we somehow also found the high end shopping area that made them like the city a little more than they expected. We also had a great meal one night and the bill highlighted that the girls are not eating off the kids menu anymore. Traveling as a family these days is more and more enjoyable on a number of levels.

The timing of our trip also coincided with Easter, which meant Sarah was prepared to ensure the girls were spoiled and had another themed basket to remember the day. The balcony of our room provided the perfect setting and when the girls found out that the theme was beauty and skin care they were over the moon, or sunrise, based on the time of day.

Once we had properly enjoyed our Easter morning we took advantage of another benefit at our hotel. We got bikes and headed out for a day of sunshine and fun. We started by riding to Vicious Biscuits, a place recommended to us that did not disappoint. Once we were properly fueled we headed to downtown Charleston, which meant we rode over the Cooper River Bridge, which is 2.5 miles long. Sarah was confident we could do it, John was doubtful, and Reese wanted an e-bike. 

Well we made it without too much hardship or whining by John, and then got to spend the day exploring different parts of the city. We went to the aquarium, which allowed us to get the picture to the right. Our aquarium snobbery got the best of us here and so we didn't spend too much time here. But it was a good stop on the way into the heart of the city.

We rode along the park near the Battery area on the bay and found our way to what is called Rainbow Row, which is an area where the townhouses are all in rainbow and pastel colors. These houses were originally built three hundred years ago and over time have served as homes, warehouses, and shops. Local preservationists saved them from destruction over one hundred years ago. It was a fun spot to see and we were not the only out of towners looking to get a picture or two in the area. 

The ride back over the bridge to our hotel was actually a bit easier than the ride there, but we were certainly ready for a reward once we parked the bikes. Luckily the Easter Bunny was there to help us with some smiles and popsicles. One of the fun features of the hotel was that they had afternoon ice cream treats which delighted all of us whether we were at the pool or coming home from a bike ride.

That next day we secured our visit to the ocean to make the trip complete. Just a short drive from Charleston is Folly Beach and while the weather wasn't perfect, the sun was out and those who wanted to try and get a little color could give it a go. It certainly wasn't warm enough to get in the water but we were able to get some sun and dip our toes in the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes that is all you need.

On the drive home we made a stop in Tennessee to meet up with one of Callie's friends and her dad. Callie went off with them for a couple of days while Reese traveled home with us to make sure she got to her soccer practice. It was rainy and overcast but we didn't think too much of it until we pulled off the highway in Lexington and started to see trees down on our drive back to the house. And as it turns out we came back to a house without power and a canceled soccer practice. Such a fun way to end our spring break trip. But we carried on and were only out of power for a couple of days. Life is never dull.

Winter 2024

One of Callie's Christmas presents was a pair of earrings and a commitment to finally poke holes in her small earlobes. She originally had permission to go through this ritual when she turned ten but had deferred for over six years. The time had come and we headed to the mall to make it happen. Callie was a champ, it was over before she knew it, and her ears have never looked better. Now whenever we go somewhere looking for a pair of good earrings is high on her list.

 

We didn't get a ton of snow this winter, but one of the times we did happened to fall on MLK weekend and John's birthday. The celebrations for #51 are more subdued than those for the big 5-0 so a walk through the neighborhood winter wonderland was fitting. It was also pretty darn cold, so it wasn't a very long walk. 

Winter in the Bluegrass also means UK basketball is in full swing. By January we have learned most of the names of the players on the team and are ready when an opportunity to go to a game presents itself. This particular night Sarah and Callie got to go and had a great time cheering on the Cats and eating ice cream. Rupp Arena never disappoints even if sometimes the Cats do.

Not everywhere is cold, though, and at the end of March Callie had the opportunity to travel with a soccer team to play in a tournament in Tampa, Florida. This is the same tournament that Reese played in the year before so we knew the drill. What made this time even better was that Callie and John got to visit with Ella Skonieczny who is attending Eckerd College in nearby St. Petersburg. It was great to see Ella and check out the campus. Callie also had a good time playing with her team. And John and Callie got some good father-daughter time as well.

The Tampa airport is bigger than you might expect, but we did manage to get a picture with the same large flamingo that Reese had posed with the year before. And since this was a father-daughter trip we had limited photos from the weekend and had to snag this one to appease Sarah at least a little bit. Overall the trip to Florida was fun and we'd certainly do it again.

Christmas at Home

 We flew home from London and made it back to Lexington on the evening of December 27. Call us crazy or sentimental, but we wanted to celebrate Christmas in a more traditional fashion the next morning. This meant that even as the girls went to bed, we stayed up to prepare for the next morning.

Our second Christmas began with the classic photo at the top of the stairs. Callie and Reese slept well but were also fresher at this point because they were still on London time. We were happy to be able to recreate a semblance of the typical Bowes family Christmas.

Part of this typical experience included quiche that Sarah had made that morning and it all made for a fun transition back into our Lexington world where iconic landmarks weren't everywhere we looked. Once we had opened presents and had some good food we settled into a long lazy day of sitting around and not walking anywhere. We had earned it.

The very next day, however, we were in motion once again preparing for a night of Tape Ball with the Abrahams. We hadn't seen Ella and Claire since they left for college back in August so it was wonderful to spend time with them and share in the fun of ripping apart a ball made up of London newspapers in order to compete for prizes like a jar of pickles.

John and Sarah also wanted to make sure Claire saw one of their favorite Christmas gifts. We made sure everyone in our family got George Fox women's lacrosse t-shirts in honor of Claire. Hopefully we will be able to go and see her play in person before she graduates.

And before we knew it, the year was coming to a close. We packed so much into 2023 and could barely believe a new year was on the horizon. In a sign of the times we had to get a family picture early in the day before Callie went off to celebrate with her friends. All four of us can't wait to see what 2024 brings. 

London 2023

Although this was officially Callie's birthday trip, we start with a picture of Reese pointing at our final destination. We had been thinking about this trip for a while and even got the girls passports back in March to prepare for the possibility. But the real planning began as soon as Callie made London her birthday destination of choice. Once we knew the destination the research team went into action and we started planning a schedule around the tickets we could get for soccer games in London. It's not as easy as it sounds but we managed to put it all together and there we were at the airport ready for our redeye flight to Heathrow. We landed in London at 10am their time. No one had slept well but Reese hadn't slept at all. We got our bags and headed to our rented flat in the Battersea neighborhood. The plan for the day was to check out the neighborhood before grabbing dinner and heading to our first match - Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
 

Selhurst Park is in the middle of a residential area in South London and is an incredible place to watch a match. Reese had taken a solid nap that afternoon so was ready to go. Callie and Sarah had taken a brief tour of Battersea instead, but all of us were excited for the game. Our seats were not far from the field so we had a great view and could feel the energy that rippled through the stands from beginning to end.

Getting tickets was no small feat and for this match it meant that John had a single seat one section away from Sarah, Callie, and Reese. He had to share this picture with Sarah, though, because Selhurst Park is an old stadium and not built for tall individuals apparently. The leg room left much to be desired but this did not dampen the experience at all. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. We were just happy to see a good match and soak in an in-person Premier League experience on our very first day. It was a great way to kick off the trip.

If we were going to London for only seven days we were going to make every minute count. That meant no sleeping in on Friday morning. We got up early, had some breakfast, and headed to the tube to meet our tour guide for a morning visit to some iconic London spots. We started at the Tower of London with our guide, Amber, who was recommended to us by some friends of ours from Lexington. She walked us around and shared all sorts of stories about the history of the Tower, the lives of its residents, and even the names of its ravens. 

 

We were very lucky in that there were so few tourists there and we seemingly had the place to ourselves. This might be because it was early in the morning or because it was a weekday, but either way it was ideal. We didn't have to wait to see the Crown Jewels and we got to linger in any spot we wanted to. Another cool aspect about our tour was that Amber knew we were going to see the musical Six that night and therefore made sure to tell us all about Henry the VIII and his history with the Tower.

From the Tower of London we walked about half a mile to St. Paul's Cathedral. This was where Charles and Diana were married, a generational talking point for people John and Sarah's age. It was gorgeous and there was much more to see than you might anticipate. Not only do you have the main cathedral space but there is a huge dome overhead you can walk to as well as memorial spaces all throughout the first floor.

 

And down below the cathedral is the crypt, where the bodies of dozens if not hundreds of notable English men and women are laid to rest. This also is home to the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire. It is so very interesting to visit a place that is drowning in tradition and nobility, things that you have only read about or seen in movies. And we wouldn't have fully grasped most of it without the help of Amber to guide us through. She was an absolute delight.

That evening, after lunch downtown and a stroll through Covington Gardens and a few other spots we headed to our Friday evening big event, seeing Six in the West End. We weren't sure exactly what to expect but knew that a musical about the six wives of King Henry VIII was at least fitting for our trip. We loved it and ended up listening to the music for weeks and months afterwards. The show had a lot of great humor and energy and we would recommend it highly.

Once the show ended we made our way back to the flat by walking for a bit and then catching the tube. One of the best parts of the trip overall was navigating the city using public transportation. Callie and Reese loved figuring out the best way to get places and Callie especially enjoyed the idea of the freedom that public transportation could bring someone of her age. It also helped us that we had a bus stop right in front of our flat. Day 2 in London was a success and we fell asleep quickly that night.

Day three brought another early morning because we had reservations for breakfast at the Sky Garden which is located at the top of what the locals refer to as the Walkie Talkie building. This was a cool indoor arboretum that provided panoramic views of the city and we were lucky enough to have very good weather and could see for miles around.

As might be expected, the early morning get up and go did not always sit well with the younger members of our crew, but once we got going they both appreciate the opportunity to see as much as we did. Not only did breakfast have a great view, but it allowed us to sample some interesting English breakfast cuisine. No blood sausage, but the coconut quinoa was intriguing.

We left breakfast in order to catch a train to East London where we had tickets to see West Ham United play Manchester United. After reassuring the West Ham ticket office that we had no intention of saying anything nice about the team from Manchester they let us have our tickets and we entered a stadium very different from Selhurst Park. This stadium was originally built for the 2012 Olympics and West Ham managed to get it as their home once the Olympics were over. It is massive and the seats have plenty of leg room. We had a great time watching the Hammers beat the Red Devils 2-0 and watching the bubbles fly high in the air.

But the day was nowhere near over. It was December 23 and London is known for its Christmas light displays. If you ask Callie and Reese, it appeared that Sarah was intent on seeing every single one of those displays. We may not have seen them all, but we saw a lot of them. You would turn down a street and see a different them for the lights hanging across the road. It was very impressive.

There were a couple of areas that had massive storefront displays as well. This one was set up as an advent calendar, which was quite a sight to see in person. The streets were filled with locals and tourists preparing for Christmas and even though it was not the holiday preparation we were used to, we were definitely getting in the spirit.

We spent Christmas Eve morning with thousands of our closest friends outside the gates of Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guard. We knew we wanted to experience this but didn't know the treat we would get. Since we were there on Christmas Eve the band played several Christmas carols along with their traditional music. Fortunately we were right by the gates and got a great view of the whole proceeding.

Once that was over we walked to visit a few Christmas markets in Trafalgar Square. Everyone was still a bit fatigued but a tasty donut can help cure even the largest ailment. We didn't have any specific plans until a little later that afternoon so took our time walking around, did a little shopping, and walked through Chinatown.

We knew that during our trip we would have to have afternoon tea at least once and there are all sorts of options offered by hotels in the city. On a recommendation from the same friend who pointed us toward Amber, we chose the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed afternoon tea. We didn't know what to expect but all went in with open minds. This especially applied to John, who did not have high expectations for the amount of food that "afternoon tea" would provide.

The meal started off with some fun cocktails and mocktails, followed by scones. This led into a variety of sandwiches that were very tasty. Even better, we could get more if we wanted to. John was pleased. Eventually we did have some actual tea and even hot chocolate, but the grand finale was the sweet finish to the meal which included all that you see in this picture. It was decadent to say the least. That night we made it back to the flat and made a simple meal of ravioli in the flat and watched a movie before heading to bed so that we would be ready to go on Christmas Day.

All public transportation is closed on Christmas Day in London, and after a brief thought that we might have to ride e-bikes into the city John was able to secure an Uber so that we could make it to Westminster Abbey for Christmas Day mass. Because we were unsure of the timing we got there early, which turned out to be fantastic because we ended up getting seats right near the pulpit and the altar. It was an incredible experience to be in that space on such a special day.

When the service was over we walked out through the main entrance. It was somewhat slowgoing, which was great because it gave us time to soak it all in and take some photos. Everything about the building was impressive and we were so happy that Sarah's planning had enabled us to be part of the experience.

Even though it was Christmas Day we still had things to do and we were clearly not the only ones. John could not stop commenting on how busy the streets of London were. We had scoped out some places to have lunch in Chinatown the day before, but on our way made sure to get the requisite picture of us with Big Ben.

Lunch in Chinatown was very tasty, but it is quite possible that the dessert afterward was even better. Sarah and Reese had their eyes on these bubble cones long before we finally got them and they were not disappointed. We headed back to the flat a little earlier than our norm because all of our activity was catching up to us. We recognized that it was not the end of the world if we didn't see everything this time around.

December 26 was our last full day in London and we started off by taking a bus to Richmond. All of us but Reese had watched the three seasons of Ted Lasso and wanted to get a glimpse of where some of it had been filmed. It was also a great opportunity to see a smaller community in the greater London area. We ended up having a great meal and making sure that the London area Lululemon store was not overstocked. 

On our way back to our flat we stopped at the Tower Bridge to get some photos and check out another Christmas market that was spread out along the Thames River walkway. It was so fun to be in a city where almost every direction you looked you saw a recognizable building or landmark. 

On that final night we ate dinner in a pub and watched a soccer game. It was the perfect way to wrap up a fantastic trip. We truly could not have asked for it to have worked out any better than it did. We have a feeling that this won't be the last trip to London for us and we can't wait to get to all the things we missed this time around. Thanks for turning 16, Callie!