Christmas Preparations

So we had our gingerbread houses ready, but we needed to get the rest of our own house ready for the arrival of Santa. And this was truly the year that Callie knew exactly what was going on. She was very excited about Santa and we listened to a lot of Christmas music throughout the entire month.

The first step was selecting our tree. For the fifth year in a row we headed down Richmond Road to a Christmas tree lot full of the finest pine trees in town. The family who runs the operation are wonderful folks and we enjoy supporting their efforts. It's a Christmas tree lot that actually has quite a bit of holiday cheer, which we enjoy. Our selection didn't take very long at all, and we were all happy about the tree we selected. This is the first year, though, that Callie spotted the little trees they have on the lot and wondered why she couldn't have one of her own.

With the tree purchased it was now time to put on John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas and break out the boxes filled with all of the decorations. As you can see, Reese particularly enjoyed the Santa hat we found from last year.



That picture definitely captures Reese's spirit. She is a whole lot of fun and is full of energy. Fortunately, she also learned to be very good around the Christmas tree. We taught her to wave at the ornaments instead of pulling on them. Surprisingly enough, this strategy worked and there were no incidents of broken ornaments. However, the same cannot be said for snow globes. Reese managed to break two of them in the lead up to Christmas.


Callie continues to expand her tree decorating skills. This year she was a big help. Although it was still necessary to adjust the spacing of ornaments after she went to bed, it was not as bad as previous years. And she loved asking about the different ornaments and where they came from. Of course, she also has a special place in her heart for the felt ornament made by Nana Banana of Callie Doggie.




For the second year in a row we received an invitation to the Grins and Giggles gathering with Santa at our friends Ann-Philips and Jay's house. Last year's picture had a reluctant Callie and a very pregnant Sarah. We are happy to say that Sarah slimmed down for this year's photo. However, Callie was not even willing to enter the same room as the jolly old elf and Reese clearly was less than pleased by the whole situation. It did not go well. But that was just about Santa. We all enjoyed the rest of the evening and can't wait for next year.


Because we weren't able to get a picture of the girls in their new Christmas dresses with Santa, we went for the next best thing. A picture with their loving mother in front of the decorated Christmas tree.



You can see that they certainly enjoyed this photo opportunity far more than being forced to sit on the lap of a strange man with a beard. We'll have to keep that in mind.


More than a year after Reese entered Callie's life, the adoration and love remains strong, vibrant, and intense. If Reese is in the room, Callie wants to be next to her, behind her, or on top of her. She wants to hug her, kiss her, tickle her, pick her up, and entertain her. And as Reese has grown, she has begun to do more than just tolerate her older sister. She loves giving her hugs and playing with her. We know that this is just the beginning.

Reese Turns One

Everyone always talks about the first year going by fast. It definitely did with Callie. But Reese's first year went by at warp speed. It is actually quite stunning to realize that she has been in our lives for over a year. And it certainly isn't because she hasn't made her presence known. Reese is full of life and personality. And she is not afraid to share her opinions and feelings. Take for instance, the centerpiece of the celebration for her first birthday.




There it sat, a gorgeous cupcake topped by the candle shaped in number one. For the above picture we placed the cupcake out of reach, sure that the mere smell of sugary frosting would send Reese into an eating frenzy. Apparently there are still a few things we don't know about our daughter.

It started off well. We put the cupcake in front of her and sang happy birthday. And as pictured here, we even shared the melodious birthday songs from her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents left on our voicemail. Reese loved it. She smiled, she clapped her hands, and from our perspective she was ready for the big moment when the cupcake would be devoured.

It was not that simple. This picture was taken after about five minutes of encouragement as we tried to get Reese to even touch the cupcake. You can see that Vivie Ann, Mason, and Callie all thought that they might have the answer to this problem. If Reese just got a little taste of the frosting she would understand what she was missing. Or at least if she saw them eating it her base instincts would kick in and she would take part.


Then Callie went for the direct approach. Just take the frosting and shove it in her mouth. She was sincerely at a loss to understand why Reese would not want to indulge in a treat that she had never had the opportunity to taste before. However, Callie may have also been personally offended because she had taken a lot of pride in the time she spent helping to pick out this particular cupcake.

When all was said and done, Reese did get a bit messy. But as you can see in the picture below, she refused to eat any substantial amount of it. Indeed, after she got some of the frosting on her arm she was mostly upset that there was something sticky on her arm. So this is not a picture of a fist raised in victory, but a signal that she was done with this little charade.



Once we had completed our attempts to capture the iconic moments of a first birthday, it was time to focus on birthday party activities. But in the year lived at warp speed, that meant combining birthday activities with Christmas preparations. Bring on the gingerbread houses!

Vivie Ann and Mason worked well together on their house. We had been sure to keep all of the candy decorations in the kitchen while lunch had been served. But when all of that was done it was time to put as much colorful candy on the gingerbread cottage as possible. This brother and sister team did well, and the picture shows that they were quite happy with the final product.




While the Johnson kids were working their magic, Callie was representing the Bowes family alone since Reese was doing what she normally does at these parties, taking a nap. However she was more than willing to join the crew for the picture with the fully decorated house. All in all it was a great day.

So little Reese Harper is one. Crazy. Our regular readers will note that she has yet to receive her first year promotion and tenure review. The paperwork has been an issue and the current economic crisis has forced us to downsize the front office. It has led to some delays in our normal processes. Trust us, it's coming.

Horses and Turkeys in California

Last year, the timing of Reese's arrival meant that we didn't have to travel anywhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas. And although it was nice not to have to buy plane tickets, it was tough not to see our extended families. So it was good to be able to hit the road for Thanksgiving this year as we prepared for a fun time in Sacramento. Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if our trip didn't start with Reese waking up at 3:30am puking in her crib. Unfortunately the sickness only gained momentum on the drive to the Louisville airport and on the first flight to Dallas. Trust us, you didn't want to be sitting within five rows of us on that one. And we must admit that a dry heaving 11 month old is not a pretty sight.

But like the trooper she is, Reese shook it off and we got ready to enjoy our time in Sactown. This time around on our Thanksgiving day trip to Golden Gate Fields in Oakland we chose to live the good life by paying for the all you can eat buffet and skybox seats. Just look at the view we had from our tables. Tough to beat, and the food was very tasty.



You can see most of the main players from the day in the above picture. A special thanks goes out to the high school friend of Sarah and Zac, who give us a hot tip on a horse in the fifth race. General Dan paid off well for us. However, Sarah's Uncle Tommy was the big winner with an exacta bet that paid well. It was great to spend time with Tommy and Brian, and as we Kentucky folk know, you can't beat a good day at the track.


The day after Thanksgiving we headed out to Rancho Murietta to spend the day at GA and GU's house. This meant a day full of cousins, fun, and food. It's crazy to think that in the last four years we have gone from one great-grandchild to six. In this picture we see the two youngest, Reese and Chase, showing that the family bonds will definitely extend into the next generation.

We did our best to capture all six of the great-grandchildren in one picture. However, it did not take us long to realize that this was not going to happen. The picture below shows the closest we ever got. Amazingly enough, it wasn't the youngest who were the biggest problems here.



But you can trust us when we say that the kids had a great time hanging out, playing with all of the toys in the house, and just generally making a lot of noise. Holidays are going to be a wonderful combination of joy and craziness for the next several years.

This day wasn't just about Thanksgiving, though. We also took the opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of those who were marking that big event in the near future. More specifically, we had a tasty birthday cake for Reese and GU. It seemed like both of them were happy to share the spotlight, or at least the cake.


Although Grammy Gayle doesn't like big shopping crowds, we were able to talk her into a brief excursion into the post-Thanksgiving shopping crowds. Here we see Grammy Gayle taking advantage of some of the holiday deals by buying her and Callie pairs of Merrells.



Callie has loved wearing what she simply calls her "slip-on shoes" to school almost every day. They are comfortable and her parents like the fact that she can take care of it on her own and there aren't any debates over what shoes to wear. Thanks Grammy Gayle!


Our final stop on this whirlwind tour of family, friends, and Sacramento was the new children's museum. It was a whole lot of fun. This picture shows how you can set the tone right when you walk in the door. Reese had a great time playing the section they have dedicated to kids three and under. Although Reese had been walking for about a month by this point, we certainly enjoyed watching her navigate the uneven terrain throughout the place. And Callie went from station to station with a smile on her face. It was fun to watch. Of course, the station she enjoyed the most was the pretend grocery store, where she quickly muscled her way behind the cash register and took over the business.


Both Reese and Callie didn't mind getting a little wet in the museum's splash zone area either. If there is one thing we have learned in our brief experience with children's museums, a good splash zone area can't be beat. Hopefully one day we will catch on by always bringing an extra pair of clothes. And that's not just for the kids, either.

As always, the trip was both fun and far too short. But we are looking forward to heading back to Sacramento in April for Great Grandma Lucas's 90th birthday celebration.

Reese's Baptism

So before we do anything else, we need to apologize to our loyal fanbase (Gayle and Taffy - at least they are the ones who drop subtle hints/questions wondering about the next post with pictures of their granddaughters) for the two month break in posting. Trust us when we say the blog is not the only thing that has suffered from the chaos of our so-called life. Plans are still in the works to send out the last Christmas gifts to friends and family throughout the country. Realistically, it will probably won't happen to February, so if you are reading this and don't have a gift from us yet, don't get your hopes up.

But on to our task of documenting the recent, or not so recent, past. We pick up with November 20, 2011, when Reese was baptized at First Presbyterian Church. She was very well behaved during the entire process and waved to members of the congregation when the Minister carried her up and down the aisles. And to top it all off, when the service was over, the mayor of Lexington, Jim Gray, came up specifically to shake her hand. None of the legal voters in the Bowes family received a handshake or even a hello. Chris Chrisman, as he did with Callie, presented Reese to the congregation, and it means a lot to us.



We had a big spread of food and invited the Chrismans and the Johnsons over to celebrate Reese's big day. The irony of it all is that she didn't eat any of the food and slept through the entire party. However, Callie had a wonderful time playing with Vivie Ann and eating the quiche and French toast casserole. Overall, it was a good day.

We know it's November, but Happy Halloween!!

Once we managed to get through the celebrations of birthdays in early October we could spend the rest of the month focusing on pumpkins and costumes. Fortunately we had more than enough opportunities to do so. Our great pumpkin journey starts at Happy Jack's, a family run farm in Frankfort. It was our first visit to the place and we really enjoyed it.



The occasion was a costume party hosted by our friends the Johnsons. Callie was excited to wear her cupcake costume and Reese looked dashing as a strawberry. Apparently Sarah was hungry when she picked out this year's costumes. The food items were accompanied by Jesse from Toy Story and your friendly neighborhood chicken.


We had a variety of activities during the course of the afternoon, including a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. Callie spent a while looking for a good pumpkin and was ready to carry it wherever it needed to go. I bet you have never seen a cupcake struggling to carry a pumpkin before, have you? That day and on Halloween this cupcake was up to all sorts of tricks.




Other activities that filled the day included face painting, walking through a haunted forest, eating lunch, and horsing around. As you can imagine, the horsing around took up most of the time. One of the kids' favorite activities involved taking turns pulling around the little red wagon loaded with children and pumpkins. It was easier for some. Poor Mason had a bit of a tough time trying to make some headway with three girls and two pumpkins. But he certainly tried.


As might be expected, Happy Jack's also had a wide variety of animals on the premises. Both Callie and Reese were entranced by the sheep, pigs, and goats. Here we see the two girls and John standing by the fence after feeding one of the goats. They could have stayed there all day. It's also important to mention that as we were leaving the farm in our car, we were followed by an ostrich. They certainly are big birds.

We could not pass up an opportunity to get a good picture of Reese surrounded by pumpkins. So here it is. She is looking mighty cute here, isn't she? Truth be told, the cuteness lasted only moments and then she let us know she was done posing for pictures for the day.



All in all, it was great to find another family owned farm in the area that we can enjoy and visit throughout the year. You can just never have enough family owned farms in your life, that's our motto.

It has taken us a while to make it happen, but we finally managed to get back to Keeneland for breakfast with the works. It's funny. We always seem to pick the coldest mornings to visit the track. But this was a special day because it was the Saturday before Halloween. We not only got the treat of watching the horses go through their training runs, but we also got to witness a visit from the Headless Horseman as he made his way through the paddock. Very cool.

Callie and Reese were all bundled up so they were prepared for the attempt to capture them from all different angles. Reese definitely loved this visit to Keeneland. Her first visit, this past April, involved rain and a lost set of car keys. So this time around it may have been cold, but that was the worst of it. She got excited every time a horse came by. And Callie has never lost her enthusiasm for the ponies.


Now just because we went to Happy Jack's earlier in the month it did not mean we could bypass some of our other favorite spots. So off we headed to Evan's Orchard to get a few more pumpkins, a few more pictures, and a whole afternoon at their playground.



Callie and Reese found a smile or two to share with their parents as more opportunities arose for our posing with pumpkins segment of the blog.

Although we had already gotten our hands on a couple of pumpkins from Happy Jack's, we needed a good carving pumpkin. At Evan's, however, the wagons are all manual. And now that Reese is a part of Team Bowes, Dad needs to pull a little harder while also making sure he doesn't catapult Reese out of the wagon. And you thought this was just a picture of a serene trip out to a pumpkin patch.

This year John was not going to let another pumpkin carving season go by without joining in the fun and showing Callie how it all works. As a sign of the times, John first had to go next door to see if the Chrismans had any newspaper to spread on the floor. This is one of the effects of getting your news via the internet I guess. And for the record, John had to deny Sarah's recommendation of the pumpkin carving kit at Target. Do people not use their kitchen knives for this stuff anymore?!? What is the world coming to?

Callie was an eager assistant in the whole process. She was all set to dig out the insides of the pumpkin and she certainly wanted to use the big kitchen knife. That, however, will have to wait. Not pictured here is Reese, who spent most of the time trying to get into everything and anything. It was a fun experience to say the least.


Here are the carvers with the product of their labors. It is not the most dramatic pumpkin, but I'm sure the carving will get more sophisticated as the years pass.



And of course all of the above was simply a lead up to the main event - Halloween. When the night finally arrived we were ready and raring to go.

We'll start with our little strawberry. Obviously she was pretty bewildered by the whole experience. But she just kept her eyes on Callie to get an understanding of what the heck was going on. The high point of the evening was that Reese pulled in some additional candy for her parents. And the low point was that people kept mistaking her for an apple. Oh well.

Callie certainly looked the part as we embarked on the evening. However, she still struggled with the basic trick or treat etiquette. There were more than a few awkward moments where she stood silent, her parents tried to encourage her to say trick-or-treat, and the poor soul handing out candy just wanted us off of their porch. But we insisted on taking advantage of the educational opportunity such moments presented. We're still not sure if anything stuck. But we tried.


The final picture of this long post captures the two little girls soaking in the Halloween spirit. They are quite a pair, and with every day they bring more joy to our lives. A few challenges here and there - but joy is the biggest thing, that's for sure.



Now that we have successfully updated our blog, we are off to California to enjoy our Thanksgiving festivities with the Sacramento crew. It will mark our fifth flight to California this year. And boy are our arms tired! John thinks he's so funny. Have a great Turkey Day!

Fall Birthdays

This fall has presented the opportunity for a large number of birthday celebrations. In fact the same day that Zoey Berkeley Hannen was born, Callie's good friend Murphy turned four. And by the time Murphy's birthday extravaganza came to an end it had lasted all weekend long. We started off at the Green Tree Tea Room for a five course luncheon. Yes, this was for four-year-olds. You can see the birthday girl in the picture below with Callie and Vivie Ann.



It is evident from the looks on the faces of the three girls that they were having a fine time at the tea room. It was quite funny to watch Callie drink tea and eat mini-sandwiches and muffins. She certainly loved the idea that she was doing something big girls do.

To understand the fanciness of the Green Tree Tea Room, you can start by looking at one of the tables set up for the occasion. Each of our five courses were delivered by waiters who were incredibly attentive. This was particularly displayed by the way in which they constantly picked up the girls' napkins that spent more time on the ground than they should have. Needless to say this was an exercise in manners. More important, it was a lot of fun.

Although our pictures of Murphy's birthday events stop here, the fun did not. Ann-Phillips, Murphy's mom, picked up both Vivie Ann and Callie later that afternoon so they could all go out to dinner and then spend the night at Murphy's house. The evening included bubble baths, princess dress-up, and movies. Callie made her parents the proudest when it was reported that she asked Ann-Phillips if they could turn off the movie and go to bed because she was tired. We wish that she could show such self-control at our house. But we aren't holding our breath on that one.

Our second birthday subject arrived the first week of September and her name is Lucy Gipe. She is a wonderful addition to the lives of her parents, Alex and Sarah, and her big sister Libby. Lucy also happens to be the granddaughter of our good friends and neighbors, Sharon and Chris. We got to meet her pretty early on when she came to Lexington for her first visit.


It is amazing what the addition of two more little girls can do for a household. You can see that Sarah Gipe and Sarah Bowes are handling the additional chaos well, albeit with a glass of wine in hand.



It has been great over the past year or so to see Callie and Libby play together every time Libby comes to visit and stay with Sharon and Chris. They run all over the place with big smiles on their faces. So we can only imagine what it is going to be like in a few more years when Reese and Lucy join the fun.

But now we must move on to the main event. On October 3, Callie Alexis Bowes turned four years old. It is very hard to believe. She was so excited and it was wonderful to see how much she embraced the idea of turning a year older. Because her birthday was on a Monday she got to go to school and spend the day as the special birthday girl. This included getting to wear a sticker all day long that pointed out her new status as a four-year-old.



It also meant that we got to bring in cupcakes that she could share with her friends. Here is Callie sharing a cupcake with Maddie, who has been her best pal since she started going to daycare almost four years ago. They have an incredibly special relationship and Callie thinks the world of Maddie. Ironically enough, Callie got to celebrate Maddie's special day only a few weeks later. October is truly a great month!


Callie's birthday celebrations continued with an intimate dinner party with the Chrismans. When we asked Callie what she wanted for dinner, she requested shrimp fajitas without hesitation. It just so happens that this is only a slight variation on the tacos we prepared for her third birthday. As far as the cake goes, after perusing the options and with perhaps a little guidance from her mother, Callie chose the pink and purple castle cake. This was much better than the head of Tinker Bell or any of the other fairy princess options.



So we are now the proud parents of a four-year-old girl. Next year, however, we may have to bring in the fives by expanding the party to include a few more people her own age. We are not saying that we have made a reservation at the Green Tree, but next year may see a more traditional kids party. We shall see.

First Sleepover

One week before her birthday, Callie got to experience something we didn't think would happen for several more years. That's right, a sleepover! To be completely truthful though, it was all about Callie's parents earning brownie points with some family friends, the Johnsons. Seth and Jessica went to a UK football game so we decided to take on both their kids for the night with the idea that they will be taking on our kids some night in the not too distant future.


We had a great time with all four kids. The afternoon included a trip to the park, where Callie, Vivie Ann, Mason, and Reese played on the swings and went down the slides. All four ate a great dinner and earned their dessert. And of course what comes after dinner but bathtime. Yes, we had all four kids in the bath at once. It was quite a show to say the least.



As soon as Reese left the tub the fun really began. But all good things must come to an end and we had to get all three of the older kids out of the bath. Then it was time for putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, and reading books. But there is always time for another picture or two. We had to document every step to show Seth and Jessica that their kids had fun every step of the way. And we must say that Vivie Ann and Mason were phenomenal. Everyone was in bed and asleep by 8:30. Pretty impressive, if we don't say so ourselves. We only hope Reese and Callie are the same way when they get the chance to spend the night at the Johnsons.


Our last picture is just a status update of Reese and what she has been up to. She turned nine months in September and we have already updated you on her numbers. But the cuteness continues to develop with every day that passes. She is definitely a big fan of the swings.



In fact, all signs point to her being a big fan of anything involving flight and high altitudes. In short, she's a risk-taker and a climber. It's only a matter of time before she starts looking for the easy way out of her crib.