Southern California Extravaganza

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but if you are under the age of 2, you do get to fly free.  But guess what, Reese, that's all over.  You had a good run of 9 round trip flights before you turned 2.    Impressive work, though it is less than your sister.  So pictured here is Reese in her very first purchased seat as we prepared to head to California just a couple of days after Christmas.  Unlike Callie's first paid trip, Reese's was a little bit more dramatic with a flight attendant who proved inflexible with the rules and refused to compromise with a 2-year-old who didn't understand why she couldn't sit on her Mom's lap even though she had done it three weeks earlier.  Good times.

Our first stop was in sunny Pasadena where we spent a couple of days with the Leshneys.  Fun was had by all, as you can see in the picture below.  It's amazing how quickly kids under the age of 5 can get comfortable with each other.  

They all had a great time playing together, and Callie even slept in the same room as Clare and Nora.

Reese also quickly became fond of Tyler's ability to speed her around the race course they have developed in front of their house.  As Callie, Clare, and Nora sped around on their tricycles, Reese led the way with a huge smile on her face.  Tyler could not push her fast enough.  Amazingly, there was only one crash during the time we spent outside.  It seems the car you see above might have been a bit too close to the second turn of the race course.  Time just flew by as we caught up with Tyler and Stephanie and their wonderful family.  Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Our next stop was Manhattan Beach at the Perrone's.  Everyone was excited to see Kate, Ashlyn, Auntie Lo, and JP, but one of the real stars of our visit was the recent arrival, Bradley Branstetter.  Here he is with Sarah, a big smile on his face.  Honestly, he is an extremely happy and mellow baby.  You might remember his parents from our blog - we went to their wedding September 2011 in Paso Robles.  Alicia and Bill are handling parenthood quite well and Bradley, no surprise with Alicia as his mom, is a bit of a fashionista.

Another new addition to the southern California family is Joy, Denise's new puppy.  Ironically enough, she is also a fashionista, as you can see by her matching scarf in the picture.  Joy has been a blessing for Denise, especially since earlier in the year she had to say goodbye to Puma, a constant companion of hers since college.  And because of that, Puma was a roommate to Sarah and many members of the clan over the years.  Indeed, if Puma could have only talked, the stories she could have told.  

Callie and Reese enjoyed their time with their Aunties.  It's pretty impressive how much spoiling can occur in a matter of days.  Although we wish we lived closer to them, it might be good for our family budget that the girls don't get too much fashionista time.  In the end, it is just fun to have these get togethers where the number of kids keeps getting bigger every time.

Speaking of getting bigger, here is the whole crew, including Joy of course.  You can tell from the facial expressions how much fun they had on the entire trip.

Kate, Callie, Ashlyn, and Reese are quite a handful when they are together these days.  We imagine it's only going to get crazier as the years go by.

One day we took all of the girls to hang out in Auntie D's neck of the woods, Palos Verdes.  Our first stop was a small maritime museum built on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The museum itself wasn't necessarily all that incredible, but you certainly couldn't beat the setting.  They let you exchange your driver's license for a pair of binoculars so you can look at the ocean in case gray whales happen to be swimming by.  And yes, while we were standing there, a man told us to head to the bluff because someone had spotted a couple of spouts.

We all ran to the fence to look out.  And even if you did not have binoculars you could clearly see the whales when they spouted.  Just another day in southern California.  It's moments like these that make living in a landlocked state so difficult.  Thank goodness we have friends and families on both coasts to provide us with the opportunities to meet our ocean air quota a couple of times a year.

Our visit to Manhattan Beach coincided with New Years, and in typical fashion Lauren threw an appropriate party that embraced both parents and children.  There were a lot of children at this shindig.  A lot.  It was loud and it was fun.

Reese definitely had her party face in full effect, and Callie, as shy as she is, was well warmed up by this point and happy to be in the mix.  As sad it is, the next day we had to pack up and prepare ourselves for a long drive to northern California for the next stage of our trip.

But we couldn't leave without one last visit to the ocean.  If we were going to spend hours driving through the central valley of California on I-5 (and if you have done it you know what we are talking about), some quality time on the beach was necessary.  Reese and Callie both loved getting their feet wet.  Not surprisingly, we had to put them into new pants once we got back to the car.  Wave jumping will do that to you.

It's funny how the world looks different when you have children.  John lived for about two years in an apartment right along this stretch of beach.  He never noticed or used the swings.  Sarah, in her many visits to this beach, never noticed or used the swings.  But within moments of pulling up to the beach, both of the girls shouted "Swings!"  It's fun to see life through the eyes of a two-year-old and a five-year-old.  You never knew how many swingsets, slides, fountains, horse statues, and so on were around until you hang out with those two.

It means a lot to us to bring the girls back to the place we met.  They seem to love it so much, but they don't truly understand quite yet how important this particular area is to their own existence.  One of these days we hope it will make them realize how cool their parents once were.

Fortunately for us, our road trip to northern California included a quick traffic free getaway from the Los Angeles metro area.  Our next stop was Sacramento!

Christmas 2013

This year was a big year for us because we finally made the decision to celebrate Christmas at home before traveling to see our families.  So it meant we had the opportunity to experience Lexington during the holidays before we headed out to California.  

It all started with preparing for Santa and the reindeers before the Christmas Eve service.  Callie is somewhat of a pro and knew exactly what to put out.  Reese had fun tagging along, but thought that the carrots were for her.  Hopefully the reindeer didn't mind a few slightly nibbled treats.  The need to do this before service came about because we had plans to have Christmas Eve dinner at our good friends, the Abrahams.

The girls could not have been more excited to spend an extended period of time with Claire and Ella.  We could not have been more excited to spend time with Kirk and Kelly and the wonderful chocolate covered treats that Kelly prepares.  But the best part of the evening came when the Abrahams busted out the Wii and played Dance Revolution, or whatever the game is called.  Reese was giddy and just jumped up and down.  But Callie tried to hold the beat and match the dance moves.  As long as she didn't think we were looking, she let her inhibitions go.  It was pretty fun to watch.

After a fun night at the Abrahams we came home, put the girls in bed, and made sure all was ready for the morning.  When morning finally arrived, we all had had a good night sleep.

But we were also very excited.  John made sure everyone waited at the top of the stairs so that he could make sure everything was ready for the big entrance.  It was obvious that Santa had made an appearance, so the time had come to let the girls see for themselves.

Callie wanted to help Reese with her gifts right away.  The very first present provided many oohs and aahhs, as well as a clear indication that Santa is a smart man.  Reese received her very own bitty baby, which meant she would no longer have to fight with her sister over Bella.  Later, Callie and John would devise a plan so that Reese's new doll became Bella while the old Bella became Zoey.  Then when Reese wanted to have Zoey all the time, the plan was reworked so that new Bella became the new Zoey while the old Zoey became the reborn Bella.  And if you can follow that you will be allowed to babysit.

Callie quickly turned to her own presents from Santa and found a great deal to smile about.  When she was told that she could not have an American Girl doll because she was too young, she stated that she would not mind Barbie and some Barbie clothes again.  Santa was happy to oblige by giving her Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.  It turns out that she is not a big fan of Belle necessarily, but she was still pleased Christmas morning.  Sometimes it is tough to be Santa.

It was extremely fun to watch Reese open up her stocking, because she reacted to every new gift as if it was the best thing she had ever seen.  This in part explains the joy she is displaying here over a granola bar.  This fact will particular please both of her grandmothers who enjoy loading up stockings with toothpaste, batteries, and other extremely useful products.  Callie also enjoyed her stocking stuffings, but also got a huge kick out of watching Reese soak up the Christmas experience.

It was obvious that Santa hit a home run by bringing Bella to Lexington for Reese.  She also received a stroller, which got just as much affection.  Like her older sister, Reese also displays that tendency to express her love with enduring embraces, a la Pepe le Pew.  This love affair has continued ever since, and a day rarely passes without Reese, and for that matter Callie, spending time with their bitty babies.

However, the most magical Christmas moment this year came when Callie saw the cardboard house that Santa left for her and Reese.  When asked what was her favorite gift, she said the house.  "Santa knew exactly what I wanted even though I couldn't say exactly what it was!"  Who knew that $10 could bring such joy?  Both Callie and Reese loved the fact that it was a house they could decorate, and also it was big enough that they could get inside.  It continues to provide hours of entertainment, and it is quite amazing how many things they can fit inside that thing.

Since Christmas Eve was spent at the Abrahams, it was only fitting that they came to spend Christmas day at our house.  All four girls quickly went to work on the house.  They play so well together, and the only real problem was isolating Reese on the house, since she is the least accomplished artist of the crew and has an unfortunate tendency to color over what others have so painstakingly worked on.

Here is a picture of the fearsome foursome in all of their Christmas glory.  We tried our best but could not get a good picture without at least one of them with their eyes closed.  Perhaps this is what too much holiday sugar and excitement will do to you.

We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends like the Abrahams in our lives.  It was a lot of fun to share the holidays with them.

For us, however, the fun didn't end there.  The day after Christmas it was our good fortune to have a visit from the Hannen clan.  Suzy, Brian, and Zoey were spending Christmas with Brian's family up in Cincinnati and were able to fit an overnight trip to Lexington into their schedule.  It was great to see them and the girls could not get enough of Zoey.  They wanted to hang all over her and Reese definitely loved seeing her old high chair put to use.

It's also safe to say that Zoey is not exactly a shy, retiring wallflower.  She held her own with her cousins and seemed to enjoy the visit just as much as they did.  In fact she wanted to stay up as late as possible.  This picture was taken around 10pm after Suzy and Brian had tried to put her to sleep twice.  It was great for Sarah because she had to work during the day.  But the smile on Zoey's face was not exactly echoed on those of her parents.  Oh well, such is life.

The next day Suzy, Brian, and Zoey were able to hang out for quite a bit before they had to head back north.  And this meant that Callie and Reese got to spend even more time soaking up the Colorado love.  Based on our travel schedules, it is a distinct possibility that we will be able to do this any year we don't travel to Connecticut after Christmas.  That is another great thing to look forward to.

The day after this picture was taken, we boarded a plane for sunny southern California.  But that's a story for another post or two or three.

Reese's birthday

For the longest time after Callie's birthday, if you asked Reese how old she was, she would say "Five!" Thank goodness her birthday comes two months later, because it took that much time to convince her that she was not five but was in fact turning two.  Based on her numbers, though, it is clear that she is not five yet.  At her doctor's appointment she came it at a height of 33 1/4 inches, which placed her in the 40th percentile.  Her weight of 23 1/4 lbs put her in the 5th percentile.  Although a little shorter than her sister was at this age, she is still holding true to form overall.

We have some traditions in this house.  And although the girls are not twins there are certain things we did with Callie for her second birthday that we figured should happen for Reese as well.  So we invited the Chrismans over for dinner and dessert.  We bought an ice cream cake from Graeters.  And we did not buy a present for Reese.  You might call this lazy and cruel.  We call it fairness.  Besides, neither Reese nor Callie will understand it all until they sit down and read this, and by then we can explain it away.

Reese certainly knew that the evening was about her, and ate every bit of it up.  She has no problem being the center of attention.  And we were able to get her to show the camera exactly how old she was.  And apparently another tradition for us is the birthday girl shirt that Callie once wore.  Trust us, if it fit, they would each have to wear it every year on their birthday.


Reese also embraced the birthday song and was pleased to have it all about her.  Of course she was also excited by the tasty cake on display in front of her.  Callie also enjoyed celebrating her sister's big day and wanted to make sure that everything was just right.

And even as we are writing this, Reese is squirming on Sarah's lap, squealing in delight at the pictures, and singing "Happy Birthday to me!"


It would not be a real Bowes girl birthday party at this point without the Chrismans present.  The girls love them just being there and we love the bottle of wine they always seem to bring.  Seriously, though, we even held the dinner party on a night when we knew they could be there.  You can see in this picture that Reese is well aware of how to pose properly with such important people.


Although her parents did not get her anything, Reese was still showered with gifts and loved opening every last one. It was good practice for Christmas, that's for sure. She certainly is at the stage where the joy comes from opening the gifts, not from what is inside. That will change soon, we are sure.

 And at the end of the day, we had a girl who was two years old, which is still hard to believe. She came into our lives as a bundle of energy and has not slowed down for a second.

Christmas Prep

I am sure we are not the only ones who think that Christmas comes too quickly. It felt like as soon as we got off the plane from Connecticut after Thanksgiving that we had to begin prepping for the next holiday.

It all begins with the tree, and we made a return trip to our favorite local tree lot. The process was pretty quick and painless, except for the part where John couldn't figure out what had happened to the lock on the Mazda's trunk door and spent a frustrating 45 minutes going crazy before realizing all it took was a simple solution. Ask him about it some time. He loves to relive those moments of idiocy.

Once we got the tree inside and up it was time to start decorating. Callie has come to love the whole process, and like her parents oohs and aahs over her favorite ornaments.  She was a very productive decorator this year.  Callie also enjoyed the Christmas music that went along with the decorating and made a point of requesting the Grinch.  Good times.

Reese's productivity is slightly below her sister's, but she did seem to enjoy the evening.  But she really enjoyed posing and looking cute upon request.  As always, such pictures must come with a disclaimer.  This cuteness is just a cover for all the craziness that she is planning behind those blue eyes.

We had several opportunities for the girls to get in their fancy Christmas dresses.  The first came with the annual Giggles and Grins party at the Mayfield-Ingle's.  John was flying back from Seattle, so unfortunately he was unable to attend, but the girls got all dressed and ready to go.  Not pictured here as well is Santa, who as far as Callie and Reese were concerned, was not welcome.  One of these years Santa will be in their good graces at picture time.  

The girls continue to enjoy each other's company, which makes each morning an adventure.  With the exception of typical disagreements over whose purse is whose and the like, they make a great duo.  The following pictures provide evidence of that.

Nothing like a pair of sunglasses to get the day started.  A little bit of glamour never hurt anyone.  In fact many mornings start with an endless search for a purse, lip gloss, or proper bows.

Not that every morning is full of glamour.  We do enjoy spending time in our pajamas when the schedule allows.  Indeed, on a normal morning breakfast is served in the family room with a small dose of Dinosaur Train, Dora, Berenstein Bears, or Sesame Street and is followed by some play time organized by Callie.  Depending on her whim Reese and John either have to play School, Restaurant, or more recently, Cats.  And we are not talking the musical.  Then it is time to switch gears to put on clothes, brush teeth, and brush hair.  And if we are all still in a good mood it is easy to get out the door.  If is the important word there.

The holiday season is also about keeping healthy as well as happy.  This meant that John had to take Reese and Callie to the doctor so that Reese could get her second flu shot.  Both girls behaved well and chose a blueberry lollipop out of the basket at Dr. Warner's office.  One short car ride home later, this is how their tongues looked.  Oh my.

The next big Christmas preparation activity was making cookies.  The girls were a big help in the whole process and were excited at the opportunity to get their hands into the sprinkles.  This was the first family cookie-making day and it was quite a show.  John showed his true colors and requested to have some cookies left plain for his enjoyment.  Apparently the apple does not fall from the tree, as this is a request his father has made for years.  And Sarah showed her true colors by having a variety of sprinkle and candy options for decorating purposes.  Hence, even more reason for John to request plain cookies.

During the season of Advent, the girls were more than happy to get dressed up in Christmas colors every Sunday.  They were and are a wonderful pair.  

As a special treat that we hope will become an annual event, Sarah and Callie went to the Lexington Opera House to see the Nutcracker performed live.  Callie is very much into dance and live performances and was very excited.

It turned out to be a great day and both Callie and Sarah loved the whole thing.  In fact, when they got home we were able to purchase a performance of the Nutcracker through our digital cable so that Reese could see the ballet as well.  In Sarah's opinion, the Royal Ballet in London we saw on the TV was a bit more impressive than what she saw in Lexington, but no one under the age of 6 needs to know that.

Another Thanksgiving

Because John was on sabbatical for the fall semester, this Thanksgiving was just a little bit different than previous ones.  First of all, he took Callie and Reese up to Connecticut a full week before Turkey Day.  And truth be told, this adventure mainly happened so that John could drop the girls off with Sport and Nana Banana and treat himself to a couple of early 40th birthday presents.  It was a win-win situation for all involved.  John got me time, grandparents got Callie and Reese time, and Sarah got to work as much as she wanted without feeling guilty. (And some quality girlfriend time as well, including  musicals, wine, shopping, and martinis.)  We all made the most of it.

The centerpiece of John's birthday present was going to see The Who in Boston with his friend Mike.  As you can see by the picture to the left, both his friendship with Mike and his love for The Who go back a ways and have withstood a few decades or so.  Ironically enough, the picture to the left was taken back when both were in high school and preparing to go on a youth group trip to Kentucky.  In any case, the concert was fantastic and the very next day the boys joined an old roommate Jon Otting to watch the Yale-Harvard football game.  The only thing that could have made it the perfect weekend was a Yale victory.  Alas, it was not to be.  We'll have to try it again in a couple of years if The Who are able to make it out on tour again.  All in all, it was a great time, and John was back in Connecticut by Saturday night to take on the family until Sarah arrived on Wednesday.

We can't recall if John forgot to bring the camera or just didn't use it, but in any case the pictures didn't begin in earnest until Sarah arrived.  Let's start with the grandkids.  We tried to get one of all five, but Zoey is still trying to highlight who is boss and is very careful about when and how she is photographed.

So for starters, we just have the four oldest kids.  And if you thought Callie and Reese were looking older these days, just check out their cousins.  Mike is now a sophomore in high school and Brendan is in seventh grade.  It is crazy to compare pictures like this to ones taken just a couple of years ago.  Wow.

After a while, Zoey warmed up to the camera and wanted to show off her smile and Rocky Mountain charm.  She certainly is a happy baby and is on the move.  The entire week Brian and/or Suzy were in the famous hunched over, fingers out, back-breaking position helping Zoey walk around.  We can only imagine what a year from now will look like once she has no need for that kind of assistance.  We envision lots of running...

....and it's highly likely that Reese will be running right alongside and suggesting all sorts of ways the two of them can get in trouble.  It's a good thing that Callie is such a rule follower and is more than willing to provide a full description of what happened and who did it, if necessary.  You can see in this picture that Reese wanted to make sure that Zoey wasn't the only one who got a solo shot or two.

Reese wasn't the only one willing to give Zoey a lot of attention.  In typical fashion, Callie wanted to help take care of Zoey, even as she knew enough not to take the same kind of in your face approach as her sister.  She always knew what Zoey was doing and tried to figure out what she needed.  And if she could help out in any way she was ready to jump in to do so.  We were very proud of her.  Now that being said, Callie also very much enjoyed the oodles of attention she received from her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents throughout the ten days she was in town.  She didn't really want to leave when the visit was done.

Amazingly enough, in all the times we have been back in Madison we had not made a family excursion down to Hammonasset State Beach.  Sarah has stated this will now be a requirement on every visit.  It was a chilly late afternoon, but it was beautiful.

This is one of many great pictures we took while we were there.  The sun was setting over the Long Island Sound and it was a perfect autumn day at the beach.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we took Nana Banana and Sport to the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven.  We had a great time looking at dinosaur fossils and seeing the various exhibits ranging from food to ant colonies.

But the best part of the day was just hanging out with Nana Banana and Sport.  Callie and Reese really got to spend some quality time with their grandparents on this trip, and the four of them definitely enjoyed being together.

No matter where and when we travel, one of our biggest challenges is fitting in as many visits with friends as possible.  Luckily we have some really great friends who are willing to do whatever it takes to get together.  This time it was Neil, Karen, and their little boy Alon who made the drive out from Nyack, New York to spend a couple of hours with us.  It was great seeing them and catching up on all their activities over the past couple of years.  We miss having them here in Kentucky, but it is clear that things are going really well for them in New York.  Hopefully it won't be as long a gap between visits as it was this time.  The very next day we caught a plane back to Kentucky, took a deep breath, and tried to figure out what we were supposed to do next.