The new Johnson

On September 17 we received the wonderful news that the Johnson family had officially added a new member to their family.  Little Emerson joined a very loving family and his two older siblings were very excited to meet him.  Of course they were not the only ones excited by the arrival of the little bundle of joy.

We had the good fortune to go over and visit not long after he came home from the hospital.  And in typical fashion, Jessica looked great and was multi-tasking to make sure everything and everyone was taken care of.  And that is impressive because now she and Seth are truly outnumbered.  We wish them all the best!

First Grade - Here Comes Callie!

So the big day finally arrived and Callie prepared to enter first grade.  She certainly was more confident and excited than the year before and it was apparent that she had laid a solid foundation, because as she arrived she saw lots of familiar faces.  Although she had a little trouble when she headed into Mrs. Woods' class instead of Mrs. Bradley's room, it did not take her too long to acclimate to her new digs.  Kindergarten was soon a thing of the past.

Since this year Callie wasn't going to be in the same class as Kennedy we wanted to ensure that their friendship stayed strong so we invited Kennedy, her sister Harper, and their mom Laurie out to the first Colts' night at Puccinis.  Their Dad Matt was invited too, he just couldn't make it.  The girls all had fun, even Reese who assumes that she is just one of the gang and is also in first grade.  And Harper and Kennedy are great because they are more than happy to include Reese in all of the activities which that night included many trips to the restroom and later a trip to Graeters.

One of the big activities early in the school year was the main fundraiser which this year was called the Boosterthon.  All the kids were fired up to raise money so they could get a variety of prizes.  They got pledges for each lap they would ultimately run.  Callie had a great time on the actual day of the event, and as you can see in the picture she has pretty good form.  She flew around the course and enjoyed the energy in the air.

Two new friends that Callie has made in her class this year are Lydia and Eli.  We were excited to hear that Eli was going to be in Callie's class because we know her family from church and have quickly become fond of Lydia as well.  Mrs. Wood is very good about sending us pictures every now and then to show us how Callie is doing.  We must admit that this new of communicating between parents and teachers is fabulous and brings a smile every time we get another picture.

About the fifth week of school, Callie was informed that she was going to be the Star Student of the Week the next week.  Each kid gets a turn and for a whole week they get to talk about who they are, what they like, who is in their family, and all sorts of other good things.  The very last day included a  special guest who got to read to the classroom.  In this case it was John reading Dr. Seuss's ABC book, which is a family favorite.  Callie beamed when John was in the classroom and it was fun end to a great week for her. First grade is officially flying by.

End of Summer

Although it was hard to come back from such a great vacation, one thing that Callie was excited for was a big birthday party for her friends Kennedy and Harper.  Kennedy, who is pictured here, was in Callie's kindergarten class and they got along famously.  They shared a locker and are kindred spirits in a lot of ways.  The theme of the birthday party was rock star, and it was quite a show.  They even had karaoke, which  meant all of the adults present heard their daughters sing Let It Go from Frozen countless times.  The smiles say it all here.

Another end of summer outing involved seeing a performance of Cinderella at the Lexington Children's Theater.  We had great seats which was especially nice because we knew the girl who played Cinderella's cat.  Kaitlyn is the daughter of a friend and we love seeing her perform.  Fortunately for us she is almost always in some sort of production around town.

With Callie now reading it makes going to the bookstores even more enjoyable for everyone.  And we have a great local bookstore a short walk from our house.  The Morris Book Shop has a really good children's section that includes these cool blocks that encourage kids to climb in and read.  Callie loves it and we should probably go more often.

This summer we also took the opportunity to visit a new breakfast joint in town called First Watch.  We are always trying to hunt down the perfect breakfast spot to match up with the Local Yolk from Manhattan Beach, Snug Harbor in West Los Angeles, or Pete's Egg Nest in Seattle.  It has been a fruitless search thus far, but the chase has still been fun.  Reese always likes to eat out regardless, so that makes the hunt even more worth it.

Only a couple of days before school started John was on trip to Oklahoma and the time was right to get together with the Johnsons. We decided to join them for a day of fun in Cincinnati as they prepared to pick up Seth at the airport as he returned from an eight-week trip to Russia.  Needless to say the excitement level was high for a number of reasons and we had a great day.

It had been a while since we had been to the Newport Aquarium which was good because a lot of it might seem new to the girls.  Although truth be told, Reese really remembers a lot, so it is tough to pull one over on her.  In any case, the kids had a great time checking out all of the cool exhibits and even humored their mothers by posing on the frogs.

We have at least one picture of Callie standing by this shark when she was a heck of a lot shorter than she is now.  It is kind of crazy to see how tall she has gotten.  It just sneaks up on you and you catch yourself looking at her and realizing that she is not a little kid any more.  And she knows it.  We just wish her attitude was maturing as fast as her body appears to be.

Reese was happy to show her height next to the shark.  She is always eager to point out that she is also growing.  Honestly, she wants to do anything her sister does, and the good thing is, most of the time her sister is willing to play along and appease her.  They work very well together and Callie is great about making sure Reese is involved and taken care of.

This final picture captures quite an array of personalities, that's for sure.  Right up front with the sass is Reese Harper.  Mason looks like he has his penguin in a bit of a death grip.  Vivie Ann has a sweet smile on her face and is giving the penguin a little hug.  And standing over everyone, prepared to give orders about what to do next is Callie.  The four of them do very well together, but they are certainly a funny bunch.

Summer Road Trip Part VI - Final Stop Hershey Park

The very last stop on our big summer road trip was Hershey Park in good old Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The girls were excited and we were hoping for a great day but weren't sure how the girls would react to an amusement park.  And we were really hoping the weather would hold because the forecast called for rain.  Well we are here to report that the best time to go to Hershey Park is on a weekday when the forecast calls for rain.  It wasn't crowded and we had a blast.  The park opened at 10am, and at 9:30 we were getting the girls sized up so we knew what rides they could go on.  Although Reese was a Hershey's Kiss, she jumped at the chance to take a picture with the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Callie just made it to the Hershey Bar level, which certainly opened up quite a few options when it came to roller coasters.  She was geared up and talked a big game about what she wanted to ride, but we weren't sure whether or not she would be able to walk the walk.  We had already scoped out quite a few of the rides ahead of time, so when the gates opened we knew where we wanted to start.

The first stop was the Trailblazer roller coaster, which was open to both Hershey Kisses and Hershey Bars.  As you can see from this picture, the girls were excited and the ride was far from packed.  Indeed throughout the whole day we never had to wait in line for any of the rides longer than 3 minutes.  John could not have asked for anything better than that, because waiting in lines is almost as enjoyable as being in an amusement park packed with people.  In any case, this Trailblazer proved to be a ton of fun and the girls loved it.  We probably went on this coaster about six times throughout the day.

There were a lot of rides geared for Reese's size, but she wanted nothing to do with them.  The closest we got was the Fun Dip slide.  Reese rode this several times while Callie went on two different coasters, the Wild Cat and the Wild Mouse.  She was not a fan of the Cat, but she loved the Mouse.  Meanwhile, her parents were not thrilled with the Mouse, which involved sharp turns at high heights that made one think they might be thrown off the track.  Good times.

Reese did find a couple of rides that she liked.  The common elements were speed and heights.  She lives up to her reputation as a risk taker, that's for sure.  John, on the other hand, could do without both speed and heights, as well as anything that spins.  He was happy to have Sarah jump into a supportive role for these particular adventures.

From our research we knew that Hershey Park included a substantial water park alongside all of the coasters.  So we came prepared with our bathing suits.  After grabbing a bite to eat for lunch we prepared to hit the water slides and whatever else it had to offer.  Well it was beyond anything we might have anticipated.  Overall we spent three hours playing in all the various water attractions.

There were water slides of all shapes and sizes.  The girls loved this little one that was part of a water park extravaganza.  There were far bigger water slides as well, and Callie had a blast going on the big water slides that required a tube and the presence of one of her parents.  Both John and Sarah were more than happy to go down the big slides with her.  And that says a lot, because the water slides had the longest lines in the whole park.

Hershey Park just does it right, because there were so many different ways to have fun in the water, and in the small wave pools they had life jackets for the little ones ready to go.  Reese could have spent days and days in this part of the park, and she and John went down this particular slide at least ten times.  When we finally decided we had had enough of the water, we spotted the Lazy River attraction, where you just float on inner tubes on a three-quarter mile loop around the water park.  We all grabbed a tube and ended up floating around three times and enjoyed every second of it.

We headed back to the main part of the park and proceeded to spend another 5-6 hours going from ride to ride, eating dinner and having ice cream, and generally enjoying ourselves until we had finally had enough.  And we walked out of the gates at 9:30pm, only 30 minutes before the park closed.  This meant that we spent 12 hours at the park.  And incredibly enough, no one, not even John, complained about it.  It was an absolutely phenomenal day and a great way to end a phenomenal family vacation.  This one is going to be tough to top, but we are certainly willing to try.

Summer Road Trip Part V - Crayola Factory

A relatively short drive from Madison is Easton, Pennsylvania, the home of the Crayola Experience.  If you plan to go, and you really should, just be prepared for a loud crayola experience.  There are a lot of kids having a lot of fun.  Here we are before we entered the building.  This is actually a picture Callie later chose to bring into her first grade classroom to talk about her family.

There a host of interactive experiences inside, and in one of them you can use these glow crayon picture boards to create whatever you want to.  Callie and Sarah decided to recreate our experience at the beach.  As you can see there were a few additions.  For example, we did not see a submarine at the beach.

Another activity included painting with water colors.  You could choose from a number of different templates and it was clear that the cheetah was the most popular one.  And although this was Callie's first choice, she was willing to compromise and settle for the parrot.  Reese was in seventh heaven because she got to choose a zebra.  What you do not get in this picture of apparent serenity is the bouncy/climbing jungle gym mere feet away from this table upon which dozens of children were screaming, chasing, crying, and creating pure mayhem.  This is not a place for the weak of heart.

The coolest aspect of the water color activity was the quick drying machines they had set up so that you didn't have to walk around the rest of the experience with a soggy piece of paper.  They worked in minutes and it was definitely one of the more amazing parts of the building.  Or at least it was the most thoughtful part of the experience.  And yet we had only just begun.

When you first enter this building each child gets a series of five tokens that you can use at different points along the way to get cool things.  One of the things you can do is make your own crayon label.  So you can put your name and pick a symbol so that your crayon is uniquely yours.  We are now the proud owners of four personalized crayons.  Now if we can only remember where we put them.

The girls got to run around and do a ton of activities.  They melted old crayons and molded them into cool new shapes.  They colored pictures that were then projected on a wall.  They collected molding clay and made personalized markers.  They truly owned the place and had a great time.  This picture with this crayon character definitely displays the confidence and sass with which they tackled the whole day.

This picture encapsulates so much.  Any good kids' attraction worth its salt can be rated on its end of the tour gift shop.  John avoids these like the plague, for the evoke his instinctive, "We don't need that!"  Sarah, on the other hand, is drawn to them like a magnet.  Callie and Reese love their mommy, especially when they are facing a wall of crayons and markers.  Yes, a wall.  It was intense.  And, apparently, we needed a lot more markers and crayons to build up our stores in case of future shortages or rationing.  It was a great day, but the trip was still not done.  We got back in the car so we could make our way to the next adventure.

Summer Road Trip Part IV - Brendan's 14th Birthday

Our timing on this trip worked out very well because we were able to be in Connecticut for Brendan's 14th birthday.  Brendan was kind enough to be born in 2000 so we can easily remember how old he is.  It is still a little crazy to realize that when Sarah first met Brendan he was Reese's age.  The birthday celebration also meant that we got more time with the whole family, which is always a good thing.

The girls, as always, could not get enough of their cousins.  And, as always, we are very thankful for how wonderful Mike and Brendan are with their two clinging admirers.  Hopefully Mike will not mind when we drop the two of them off for a visit next year wherever he ends up attending college. They probably won't be much help on the weekends if he wants to sleep in.

Brendan was the man of the hour, though, and he did well with all of the attention.  He has no problem, or at least doesn't let it show, with the girls jumping all over him.  And Callie and Reese were in their element because not only was Brendan there, but there were balloons.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Now this is a cute picture of all four of them.  Unfortunately Zoey and her parents were touring Boston at this moment, otherwise there would have been one more smiling face in the picture.  Anyhow, we can't complain about getting a picture like this where all four of the kids have genuine smiles that show how much they love each other.

This picture was taken the morning that we were ready to get back on the road for the long drive back to Kentucky.  It is never easy to leave Nana Banana and Sport, but the girls at least knew that there was a whole lot of potential fun in their future.  We had plans to break up the drive with a few choice stops.  Think crayons and chocolate, but not together.

Summer Road Trip Part III - Bowes Family Reunion

When all is said and done we could not have asked for a better way to end our week on Cape Cod than with a Bowes family reunion at John's cousin Barbara's house in Sudbury.

All told we had more than thirty family members get together for the first time in a long time.  Indeed, it was the first time that Callie and Reese had met many of these folks and it was the first time John and Sarah had met most of the younger generation.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and could not have been better all around.  In the picture here, John and Suzy are talking to Aunt Pat and Aunt Terry.

Here are the original three Bowes children who are responsible for producing such wonderful people that make up our extended family.  Pat is the loving older sister of these two guys, Tommy and Jay, who certainly look like brothers, wouldn't you agree?  This was just one of many pictures we took that day capturing old and new relationships.

For example, here is Reese with her new best friend Charlotte.  It did not take much time and once Reese warmed up she thought Charlotte was the bee's knees.  Callie also enjoyed meeting her cousins but didn't want to pass up any opportunity to hang out with her Uncle Chris.  Reese and Callie were also well taken care of in other ways because Barbara had even set up a pool for them.  They had a blast.

There were a number of different spots in the Swoyer backyard that provided good photo opportunities.  The big tree was a popular one and we had to include this great shot we got of Brian and Zoey sitting up in the tree.  It almost looks like they are out in the woods enjoying a peaceful moment together with nature in all its quiet simplicity.

However, that was not the case, for the scene was far from a quiet one.  Here we have the whole gang in front of that same tree.  You have all the Bowes, Balestracci, Balicki, Swoyer, Fitzgerald, and Willet folks representing three different generations.  With any luck this is the type of event we will be able to organize again in the not too distant future.  However, that is easy for us to say because we did not have to do all of the heavy lifting that Barbara and John did to make it all happen.  Thanks again to the Swoyers and everyone else who helped make it such a wonderful day.

Although Callie and Reese enjoyed themselves immensely meeting all of their new cousins, they couldn't wait until things wrapped up and they got to head back to Connecticut with the Balestraccis and their Nana Banana and Sport. Most importantly, they got to make that trip without their Mom and Dad who were spending one last day in Massachusetts.  It was a win-win situation.

Not to worry, their parents were able to handle the separation quite well.  In fact we drove into Boston and had a great night in the North End.  Following a great dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants we made our way to Mike's Pastry, the place to go for the best cannolis ever.  It brought back some great memories from the year and a half we lived in New Hampshire while John commuted to Dartmouth and Sarah worked in the city.  The cannolis also made for a great breakfast the next morning as we cleaned up the house and finally left the Cape behind.  It was time to prepare for the next stage of the road trip.