Pool Time

This summer we certainly took advantage of the Woodland Park community pool, and even bought a summer pass.  There were two big developments overall.  First, we discovered that Reese is a natural water bug.  We shouldn't have been surprised by this, but it still is remarkable how willing she is to simply jump into the deep end of the pool without a care in the world.  Of course, it means we have to constantly be on guard for spontaneous jumps.  Unfortunately, we also have to be on the lookout for when she takes her love of water to the next level and tries to drink it.

The second big development was Callie's growing comfort and independence in the pool.  There were probably two main explanations for this.  Number one, she got to spend a lot of time at the pool this summer.  John would pick her up early from daycare and the two of them would go for an hour or two.  Just as important, however, was the fact that Callie saw how much fun Reese was having and finally decided that putting her head under water was not such a bad thing after all.

Before too long she was telling her parents to keep their distance while she was exploring the pool on her own and having a blast.  It was so much fun to watch her gain confidence and we only hope we can build on that in the months to come.

As happens with all good things, the pool season came to an end, and we can no longer head out for a swim at Woodland Park.  Hopefully next summer we will be able to report even bigger developments in the aquatic adventures of Callie and Reese.

Picnic with the Pops

In the month of August, when we are not running through the streets of Lexington, we are taking in a night of good food, friends, and music at Picnic with the Pops.  We cannot tell you how much we have enjoyed this tradition, and 2012 marked our fifth year in attendance.  In previous years we swayed to the songs of Abba, marveled at the acrobatics of Cirque de Soleil, and moved our hips to the Latin beat of Tiempo Libre.  This year it was all about the Canadian Frank Sinatra.

For the second year in a row we had a fantastic table right near the stage.  And because this is our fifth year, our operation runs like a well oiled machine.  Within minutes of our arrival, Sarah had already mixed up several batches of this year's specialty drink, and the party was on.  Because Tommy Glover couldn't make it this year we were lucky to have Kirk and Kelly Abraham join us.

Of course, the tradition wouldn't be the same without the presence of the Chrismans.  We spend a lot of time with them on their patio, but Picnic with the Pops is a special night out for all of us.  Clearly Chris enjoys the opportunity to let his hair down.  Don't feel bad for Sharon, last year she was the one enjoying a fine Cuban cigar after a few mojitos.  The evening was fun through and through, even if the music didn't really get people dancing until the final few numbers.

In past years, we have had so much fun at our table that we forget to take a walk around and look at how people have decorated their tables and themselves for the occasion.  This year, with theme of Las Vegas, there were quite a few wedding chapels and interpretations of the movie, The Hangover.  However, one table, highlighting the Olympics instead of Vegas, gave us shots and gold medals.  And because we are no stranger to the Olympics, we know that any good medal-winner has a picture biting their medal.  We look pretty good, don't we?

Midsummer Night's Run

One of the things we enjoy about Lexington is the variety of festivals and events that take place right in downtown.  It is nice to know that the city has no problem shutting down some of its streets to encourage some good old fashioned community fun.  And that is certainly the case with the annual Midsummer Night's Run held the second Saturday in August.  It all begins with the Fasted Kid in Town.  Or as its known in the Bowes household, Crying Kids Running.  This was Reese's first year, and we had high hopes for her, especially since we recently described her as fearless.  But it was not to be.  Her run across the grass consisted mostly of John holding her and jogging while she cried.  We're not quite sure this is what is meant by getting your kids involved in a healthy lifestyle.

Now this was Callie's third year, and we talked about it for several weeks leading up to the big day.  Indeed, any time we drive by this open greenspace Callie talks about it as the place where she "ran her race."  For two years she was excited to run and then broke down in tears during it.  We are sad to report that the third time was not the charm.  You would think that we forced our girls to do this event.  But we promise, that at least in Callie's case, it was her idea and right up to the starting gate she was gung ho.  But we are eternal optimists, and there is always next year.

Of course, the most important race of the evening is the family race.  Or at least, our family ran the 5k together, weaving through the crowds of walkers, dogs, and multiple strollers to make our way finally to the finish line.

It was fun to be able to do it together, although we must say that if you ever intend to participate in a 5k as a walker we have two things to say.  Number one, start at the back.  And number two, don't walk shoulder to shoulder with five other people so that no one can get by you.  It is possible that next year we may run this with a cattle catcher on the front of the stroller to push people out of the way.  You just never know.

Ballet Under the Stars

Since Callie was young, she has very much enjoyed playing dress-up.  So it was only a matter of time before Reese got into the action.  And Ballet Under the Stars at Woodland Park was a perfect excuse for both of them to dress up in their finest tutus, grab their fairy wands, and head off for an evening of dance and culture.  

This was the first year that we attended this annual event, but we have a feeling it won't be our last.  Maddie's family invited us to sit with them, and they had done a great job of getting us prime seats in the middle of the lawn.

Before the Lexington Ballet Company took the stage, various kids from dance companies in Lexington put on a performance of Tinkerbell and her Fairy Friends for all of the children who were in attendance.  Callie and Maddie were both entranced by the show, and loved the costumes.  But most of all, they loved the fact that it was kids on stage putting on the show.  Who knows, maybe in a couple of years Callie will want to have the chance to be one of those kids on the stage.

Reese also enjoyed the show, but might have been more entranced by the number of snacks that we had packed for the event.  She kept shoveling grapes, crackers, popcorn, and oreo cookies (brought by Maddie's parents) into her mouth.  Because we had never attended this event before, we had no clue how long into the evening it went.  Although we tried to watch the entire show, we knew it was time to leave when Reese simply kept standing up, spinning around trying to dance, and falling down in utter exhaustion.  In short, a good time was had by all.

Summer's Greatest Hits

This year we managed once again to get together with the Johnson's to take in the Fourth of July festivities in Lexington. Needless to say, it was hot. The excitement of the parade was overtaken at times by the heat and the humidity.

Fortunately, there's no heat that can't be beaten by some Italian Ice and parental strategy about the angle of the sun and the tallest building in Lexington. In short, we managed to be out of the sun for most of the parade.

Despite the heat, Reese enjoyed Lexington's finest strolling down Main Street and showcased her spirit by waving the flag handed to her by one of the marchers. Although the parade seemed shorter than past years, it was still a good show. And it was nice to have a day like this to transition back to Kentucky from our Cape Cod vacation mode.

And once we returned from Cape Cod there were no travel plans for the rest of the summer. This meant, among other things, the opportunity to schedule much overdue playdates with friends like Maddie, who Callie has known since the two were three months old. They are inseparable at school, and were both very excited at the idea of spending extra time together.

Of course, Reese is now at an age where she wants to do everything Callie does. So if Callie is going to hang off the rings at the playground, than Reese needs to do it to. Not pictured here is the moment Reese let go before either of her parents were prepared to catch her. Fortunately, Reese remains one tough cookie, and brushed the wood chips off of her face and carried on.



Of course nothing says successful play date quite like a trip to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt. And the girls wanted to sit at the big table away from the adults.

All in all, everyone wins when frozen yogurt is involved.

Of course, we also have to take as many opportunities as possible to plug the NCAA Champion Wildcats and their head coach. It's kind of a state law/city ordinance. So here is the obligatory picture of the Caliberry flavor offered at the Orange Leaf near our house. We have it from high level sources that Coach Cal is one of the owners of this particular franchise. And of course we do what we can to support Big Blue Nation.


But we end the post with a status update of our youngest, Reese Harper. As you can see from this picture, Reese is constantly in motion. She will smile for the camera, but good luck getting her to sit still.

When this picture was taken she was a little over eighteen months old, and that provides us the opportunity to give you some statistics. She is 31 inches tall, placing her in the 30th percentile. And she weighs in 20 lbs 12 oz, which is right there in the 7th percentile. The old noggin is 47 3/4 cm, which is the 80th percentile. She is healthy as can be, but she is a wee lass. And if we had to pick three adjectives to describe her, they would be happy, fearless, and loving. We are very lucky.

Cape Cod Part II

Although it was completely unplanned, one of the highlights of our vacation was the fact that John's close friend Mike Skonieczny and his family were renting a place two towns away during the same week. We were able to meet up several times throughout the week, which meant the kids all got to play together and the adults managed to have some good hang out time as well.

One of our joint adventures was a trip to Provincetown that included a whale watch. We were all a little intrigued to see if all the kids would endure the long boat ride that might or might not include a glimpse of a whale. There were also some weather concerns. Fortunately, everything worked out perfectly. The only crew member that was short-changed was Eli, the Skonieczny's youngest at two and a half, who started his nap on the way out of Provincetown and woke up shortly before we got back into port.

While Eli napped, his brother Ethan and sister Ella, as well as Callie and the rest of us, got to see quite a few whales. All told we saw one finback and six humpbacks during our excursion. The captain was very kind and we happened to be in the right location, a combination that resulted in us standing in the front of the boat on the upper level, with a captain's eye view of the whales. Even Reese got excited and pointed to the whales every time they spouted or showed their flukes.

The girls certainly enjoyed their time on the boat. The naturalist was very educational yet also knew how to relate to kids. The boat also had lots of children's books about the ocean and its inhabitants, which entertained Ella and Callie in particular on the entire ride back. Although Callie loved tagging along with Ella and Ethan, she always wanted to come back and share part of the experience with her sister. This is one of the many special things about our little girl.

When we weren't having dinner at our place, we had dinner at the Skonieczny abode. In fact, out of our seven nights on the Cape we ate dinner there three of them. Very impressive. The picture below was the last of those three nights, when the dinner party was expanded to include Nana Banana and Sport.

It was so awesome to have a more casual environment for our girls and the Skonieczny kids to get to know each other. We usually only see them during the holidays, which includes a quick visit and mass chaos. This was a welcome change and hopefully it won't be the last time we are able to put something like this together.

Did we already mention that we spent a lot of time at the beach? At low tide we not only could walk out into the bay, but we could also walk along the shoreline to check out all of the other beaches in the area. Unfortunately, when we weren't playing in the flats and walking on the shoreline, Callie's legs found a way of getting "tired" again. But we were able to find different ways to entertain both her and Reese and ourselves to try and make the journey better for all of us.

There are some pictures that have to be included, and no other explanation is really needed. Below is one of those pictures. We can say that although sand was Reese's kryptonite at the beginning of the trip, by the end it was her new best friend.

But don't let the cute smile fool you, because it was during this trip that Reese began to earn the nickname of Godzilla. While visiting the tide pools Callie would take time to save all the snails by gently taking them off of the rocks and putting them back in the water. Reese, on the other hand, tended to wade into the pools like they were downtown Tokyo and she was a fire breathing monster. No tidal pool was safe from her wrath.

Shortly before we started our vacation, Callie learned how to play Uno. So we bought her the game so she could have her own deck, and now it is a constant companion. If we were at the cottage and she wasn't swinging, she wanted to play Uno. A word to the wise, however. Do not leave her alone to shuffle and deal the cards. You would be amazed at how many Wild Card Draw 4 and Draw 2 cards she ends up with if you don't keep a close eye on her. Also on this trip Callie had to learn the tough lesson of good sportsmanship. We love her competitive spirit, but it is crucial to shake hands and say good game after a tough loss.

One night we hit the road to find a good fish, chip, and ice cream joint. Not exactly a tough errand on the Cape. But we definitely hit a home run in Dennis at a place called Captain Frosty's. The ambience was exactly what we wanted and the food was better than we could have hoped for. But it you ask Callie and Reese, the best part of the outing was the ice cream they consumed after dinner. Each girl got her own ice cream cone and Callie got hers dipped in sprinkles, which was almost more than she could handle. Reese simply wanted to shove her face into the middle of her cone. She was in heaven with her first official cone.

Another highlight of the trip was that Nana Banana and Sport drove up to join us for the last two days we were there. Since we had seen them only a month before, the girls were ready to jump all over them the minute they arrived.

And we were ready to jump in the car and leave them to babysit just as fast. All kidding aside, it was wonderful that they were willing to watch the girls so that we could have a night out together. We had a great dinner in Chatham and got to walk around for a while seeing the sights. It was fun, but it also reminded John of the times on the Cape growing up when his grandmother would babysit while his parents went out for dinner. It's crazy how quickly life goes by.

On Friday, while Reese napped, Nana Banana, Sarah, and Callie headed out to check out the Cape Cod Natural History Museum, which was just down the road in Brewster. The three of them had a wonderful time looking at the various exhibits, including a lookout over the wetlands with an osprey nest and three newly hatched chicks. But the best part was an hour long walk with a naturalist across the wetlands to the bay.

We had a great time digging in the flats and asking questions about what we found. The naturalist pointed out several fun things, including a plant called a sea pickle. She encouraged us to taste it, which, surprisingly enough, Callie did. Her report on the experience was short, but to the point. "It was very salty." All in all the excursion was well worth it and the next time we are on the Cape we'll have to visit the museum again.

The final picture was taken as we were leaving Brewster on the last day of our Cape vacation. The girls headed to Madison to spend the weekend with Nana Banana and Sport, while John and Sarah drove to Fairfield for a fun weekend with John's high school buddies and their spouses. There were no tearful goodbyes from Reese or Callie. They were excited to have their grandparents to themselves. They also knew that waiting for them in Madison were their cousins, Michael and Brendan.

It certainly took us a long time to get around to scheduling a family vacation. Our week on Cape Cod proved to us that this is something we need to do much more often.

Cape Cod Part I

As we reached the end of June, the family vacation that we had planned for close to six months was finally at hand. For a full week, the four of us would be together without the distractions of our day to day lives and hanging out in Brewster, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Needless to say we were excited. Of course, for anyone who knows us, patience has become a necessary part of our existence when we travel. Because before we could enjoy the Cape, we had to get there.

The picture below was taken at Newark airport, just after we found out that our flight from Newark to Providence had been cancelled. We tried to get a later flight, but the "best" option involved two more flights and a midnight arrival. No thank you. Of course, who knows if our final choice was wonderful, but it worked. At 3:15pm on a Friday afternoon, we left Newark in a rental car determined to drive to Providence.

Callie and Reese have displayed tremendous resilience during such adventures, and this time was no different. We certainly would like to complain about a couple of whiny moments in the car, but who could blame them when it took us nine hours to finally reach our hotel in Hyannis after enduring traffic in New York City, traffic in Connecticut, a brief stop for dinner with Nana Banana, a quick rental car agreement exchange at Providence airport, and the final push to Hyannis. It is also important to note that we started our trip that morning from Lexington at 8am. Honestly, they are good troopers. Of course, what really saved the experience the next morning was that our hotel had a pool.

Saturday morning, after breakfast and some time in the pool, we made our north to our cottage in Brewster. We were delighted to see that it looked even cuter in person than it had in the pictures online. And the location, as we would find out over the week, was perfect. However, Callie squealed in delight when she looked in the backyard and saw two swings.

The swings became an important part of our morning routine. We would get up, grab some cereal, and head out to the deck. And after one or two bites, the girls would head over to the swings. For the next 30-45 minutes they would alternate bites of breakfast with some good swing time. We had no idea that the swings were a part of the deal, so it was a great surprise.

Another surprise was the fact that the cottage had an outdoor shower. And due to overall great weather, John was probably the only one who ever had to take a shower inside the entire week. There was a sign on the inside of the outdoor shower door that said, "Relax, it doesn't get any better than this." Truer words have never been spoken.

But the real star of the show was the beach, which was a mere five minute walk from the house. We learned this only hours after we arrived. It was important to us to get as much ocean time in as possible, so right after we settled in we headed down to the beach. Callie was definitely prepared.

In the above picture she is standing at the head of the short trail at the end of our road that led to the beach. She never had any problems walking to the beach or back. Her legs never were "too tired" as has happened from time to time when we are out and about. This was one of our many clues that Callie enjoyed every minute we spent at the ocean.

Reese was just as prepared as her sister to hit the beach. What was very interesting, however, was our discovery of Reese' kryptonite. Reese tends to jump first and ask questions later. But the beach threw her for a loop because of the feeling of sand on her feet. Apparently she is a bit picky about textures and her toes. Who knew? She gradually got used to it, but it took a little while.

Our beach was on the bay side of the Cape, which means that there is a big difference between low tide and high tide. At high tide our beach had about ten feet of sand. However, at low tide, you could walk out for more than a mile (literally) and still have the water lap around your ankles. The flats at low tide are a lot of fun, as the girls quickly found out.

As we mentioned earlier, Reese did get over her dislike of the feeling of sand on her feet. She loved running around in the shallow water and then throwing herself down face first. Callie had fun building mini-pools for the two of them to play in. And we all enjoyed looking for hermit crabs and other sea-life. All in all, we spent a lot of our week trying to squeeze in as many beach trips as possible. And we were successful.

We even managed to work in a sunset trip to the beach, which was a feat since the sun didn't set until 8:30. But hey, it was vacation! And while it took the adult members of the family a few days to truly get in the groove of vacation mode, we hit our stride as a family and had a great time.

Of course, if you think this is the end of our vacation, then think again. We had over two hundred pictures to choose from for our blog, and while the above eight are good, they don't tell the whole story.