And the Summer Begins

Our summer began with a flurry of events.  The weekend after school let out, Libby and Lucy came to Lexington to visit their grandparents as an end of the year reward.  Their visits always mean play dates between our two households, but this time we picked it up a notch.  On a sunny Saturday, Sarah Gipe decided it would be fun for the girls to have a lemonade stand just like she did when was a kid right next door to our house.  All four girls were excited to get things going.  They made signs, set up the table, and Reese yelled "Lemonade for sale" at every car that drove by.

Now when Sarah Gipe organizes an event, she goes all out. She remembered how local firemen came by in their truck to buy her lemonade all those years ago as well as the Herald-Leader snapping a picture of her stand. So what would any mother with these memories do? She called the Herald-Leader to let them know that history was repeating itself and the lucky reporter pictured here got to swing by the stand to take pictures and interview the four young entrepreneurs. It was pretty cute. In the end the girls each made five dollars after paying Sarah for they start-up expenses. It was an afternoon well spent.

What says summer better than a backyard pool and sprinkler party. This marks the seventh summer of our $5 inflatable pool, which has brought joy to countless children. In this case, it brought smiles to the faces of Callie, Reese, Vivie Anne, Mason, and Emerson. We were lucky to have all three of the Johnson kids join us for the afternoon. They have always been fun, but now Emerson brings a whole new level of fun to the mix.

And of course Reese loves Emerson the most because his presence means she is not the youngest. Emerson, meanwhile, has the ability to give a powerful stinkeye if he his not pleased or fully understands what you are trying to do. It had been quite some time since we had changed diapers, and with watching Emerson all afternoon we had to put our skills to the test. Vivie certainly was close by to make sure we were doing everything right, and when Sarah pulled some adept maneuvers, including getting Emerson to take a nap, she provided some strong feedback. "You're pretty good at caring babies," Vivie said to Sarah. Good to know Sarah is still as sharp as ever!

Indeed, our skills are so good we had them all enjoying a nutritious lunch together on the blanket in the backyard without any complaints about the food we were offering.  However, this probably is more because the Johnsons are so polite that they would never reject what we put on their plates.  Seriously, if you ever want to host three well behaved and fun kids for a day, call up the Johnsons.

Speaking of well behaved children, we next had the opportunity to hang out with Claire and Ella Abraham for the day.  John was out of town, Grammy Gayle had just flown in, and Sarah had taken the week off from work.  It was the perfect time to head down the road to Natural Bridge State Park for a good hike.  Everyone was in good spirits as we started the day and the girls loved hanging out with their older counterparts.  And Sarah loved the idea of no electronics and some good exercise in the fresh air.

The view at the top of Natural Bridge never seems to get old.  This was the first time, however, that Grammy Gayle had seen the natural beauty that Kentucky has to offer beyond the horse farms of the Bluegrass.  And it is only about an hour drive away from our house.  Every time we head out this way we are reminded that we should do it more often.

Of course summer never really starts until you hit the local pool. And what makes this summer the best one yet is that the girls are more comfortable in the water and we are more comfortable just letting them go and play in the pool. It is a win-win situation that has validated the investment we made in swimming lessons starting about a year ago.

Last Days of 2nd Grade for Callie

Time flies when you have been having fun with good friends.  Not long after Reese officially graduated from Central Christian, we went to pick up Callie at the end of her last day of second grade.  She has now completed three full years at Cassidy, which is crazy to consider.  And she has been friends with Harper and Kennedy since day one.  These three are some of the main reasons why Reese is going to feel very comfortable when she hits Cassidy's campus in August.

We couldn't end the school year without capturing a photo of Callie with her second grade teacher Miss Ward.  However, this wouldn't be the last time Miss Ward since it was only a couple of weeks later that she and Mr. Albert got married at our church.  Callie is pretty excited because it looks like the new couple will be joining LOGOS in the fall which means she will still get to hang out with Mrs. Albert.  Mrs. Albert was a great teacher for Callie to have this past year.  From the very first day she understood that Callie was shy but had a lot to offer if she was motivated in the right way.  And Mrs. Albert seemed to have the right balance to make this happen.

Reese Graduates from Pre-School

As hard as it was to believe, at the end of May Reese graduated from Central Christian Childcare. And Central Christian makes sure you know that this is a major milestone with robes and a choreographed ceremony filled with songs, speeches, and personality.  Although we weren't able to capture this, the ceremony started with the kids marching in to Pomp and Circumstance, which definitely flashed us forward a bit to future milestones.  Reese was all about business throughout the entire ceremony, watching every cue from her teachers.

Yes, you do see diplomas in each of their hands. Ms. Jacinta, Reese's teacher, had something to say about each child before she presented the diplomas. For Reese, she said among other things that Reese was the "classroom dancing queen," she is "smart, kind, and nice to others," and "when she grows up she wants to be a teacher." We loved Ms. Jacinta and could not have asked for a better teacher. Indeed, so many of the kids said they wanted to be teachers, and that says a lot about how much they loved Ms. Jacinta, Miss Emily, and Miss Precious.

So here is our pre-school graduate. As you can see, she was all smiles and very proud of this accomplishment. What you don't see in the picture is that she was very concerned about doing what she was supposed to do (turning in her robe) and finding her friends. We are also pretty sure she didn't want to miss out on the cookies at the reception afterward.

Needless to say, her parents were extremely proud of her accomplishments as well. We had spent quite a bit of time in the weeks leading up to this day practicing numerous songs that Reese and her classmates sang during the ceremony. This included one to the tune of New York, New York, all about going to kindergarten. Reese knew all the words and sang with gusto. She also participated in the ABC poem - her letters were K, "K is for Kindergarten, Hip Hip Hooray!" and L, "L is for Learning more and more each day." Ms. Jacinta let Reese know that she wanted to have the K in particular because she knew Reese would say it with enthusiasm.

Here you see Ms. Jacinta on the left and Miss Emily on the right. As we have already mentioned, Reese adored her teachers, and we certainly got the feeling that the feeling was mutual. They were sad to hear that she would not be spending the summer there, but we couldn't imagine spending the whole summer with Reese still taking naps. We needed the adjustment to prepare our little pipsqueak for kindergarten and to enable her to fall asleep before 10pm.

One thing we are sure helped her teachers appreciate Reese is shown here. These are the behavior cards in Reese's classroom, and the colors showed each kid's status. In the 14 months Reese attended, her card was not green only once. The one time it went to yellow she was so mortified that she couldn't even talk about it. Always good to know that while she may spend a fair bit of time off green when she is at home, at least she has been a model student at school. Hopefully that continues.

One teacher that held a special place in Reese's heart was Miss Precious. We think they both entertained each other and Miss Precious was impressed with Reese's ability hold relatively extensive conversations with her at school and with her and her husband at the school picnic. Miss Precious also gave Reese a special graduation present - a bottle of nail polish that absolutely made Reese's year. The color is neon orange, so it definitely stands out. That is similar to Reese's personality, so it all fits.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day had a rough beginning because we had just heard the day before about Grandma Lucas and so we needed just to find a way to be active and together.  Fortunately, Callie had just had a fun birthday party at a local crafting store, and we knew we wanted some new wall decor for the girls to go with their new beds.  Off we went to make magic happen!

This process was a little interesting to manage since both John and Sarah have some control issues.  Sarah wants to have complete and total creative control while John doesn't want anything to get messy or go against the rules.  This makes things a bit difficult for the creative spirit.  And of course, this combination can be really difficult for the two little girls who just want to have fun with paint and stencils.

Under the circumstances and the control issues, it therefore made sense to pair John with Callie, who was less likely to dump paint all over.  The artistic pieces that we selected were the first letters of the girls' names and we chose colors to match those on their new bed spreads.  Callie was pretty excited to get a C and chose a variety of flower and butterfly stencils.  She wanted the teal background, which was perfect for the overall scheme and approved by the creative director.

Meanwhile, the creative director worked with Reese, which meant she would probably have more hands-on opportunities to manipulate the final product.  Reese is always excited to see the letter R and this was no exception.  She did a great job painting and working carefully with the stencils.  Her pink background worked well for the colors and Sarah got to put some of her own touches in their as well.

Everyone was pretty happy with the final product.  And while we would have liked to have a more formal pose for the grand finale, I guess we can't control everything and our girls' goofy side comes out more often than not. Of course, they are our children, and so that is to be expected.

Soccer

Spring 2016 marked the 4th and final season for the Sharks in the U8 league for LYSA.  For the very first time we had every player return from the previous season so we were looking forward to building on our previous successes.  And we were not disappointed.  This group of girls certainly showcased their skill development and ongoing great attitudes.  We feel lucky to have had such a wonderful group of girls, and perhaps even more important we just had a wonderful group of families.  Callie continued to play well and never wanted to come out of the games.  There are few things more enjoyable than coaching your own child, and John loved the experience.  Indeed, he enjoyed it so much he may likely coach Reese when she moves up to U8.

Speaking of Reese and coaching your own child, Sarah got the opportunity to be an assistant coach for Reese's U5 team, the Rapids.  This was the second season for the Rapids and having six boys and two girls made it an experience that was eye-opening for Sarah and Reese.  The boys brought whole new conversations and noises into play along with a ton of energy.

Reese's last game had a special treat because one of the dynamos on the Gunners was her close friend Mary.  They were so excited to see each other but didn't let that interfere with their competitive spirits on the field.  Mary certainly was a striker and Reese protected her goal like nobody's business. Hopefully this won't be the only time that these girls are on the same field together.

Reese had a great season and loved playing.  She may have even loved playing as much as she loved the medal she got at the end of the season.  Because of new rules and regulations regarding age groups she is going to jump from U5 to U8 for the fall season, but her timing is good because U8 is changing as well, which means it will look a lot like her U5 games did.  The fall will be fun to watch both the girls continue their soccer development.

More Things We Love About Lexington

In the years we have lived in Lexington, one of cool things that we have seen is the increased activity related to public art throughout the city.  One of the powerful art installations that was only up for a little while invited citizens to stop and take a picture so that you would be framed by the message.  John was able to get Callie and Reese to pose with him while the piece was still on the exterior wall of the Lyric Theater.  The message is clear, mighty, and certainly relevant in today's society.

On a lighter note, we were sent a Flat Stanley from Kate Perrone in Manhattan Beach, California, which meant we had to show him all the highlights of our fine city.  We hit all the usual spots, but made a point of showing him our favorite fountain which is located in Triangle Park.  It was a long weekend, but Stanley traveled well and didn't complain about any of the stops.  And because of it we actually got the girls interested in a variety of places, including Mary Todd Lincoln's house and Henry Clay's house, both of which we hope to tour in the near future.

The second weekend of every May is also the time for Mayfest in Gratz Park.  This has become a must-do weekend activity because it includes pony rides, arts and crafts booths, fair food, and good music.  This time around it also included face painting and hanging out with the Johnsons.  Of course it would have been good if we had remembered that Callie had pictures for her soccer team right after this.  John insisted that we purchase the normal photo package and now we are the proud owners of a magnet, team photo, and numerous wallet size pictures of our soccer-playing butterfly.  As you can only imagine, Callie was in seventh heaven and Sarah wanted nothing to do with it.

We like nothing more than doing our civic duty in the Bowes household, and we made sure to vote in the special primary elections held in Lexington in early May. This photo was taken to prove to our friend Seth that both of us had voted on that day. The sad truth is that there was a debacle at our precinct in the previous election when Sarah went to vote, so this time around she had to make sure her voice was heard.

Saying Goodbye to Grandma Lucas

In April, Great Grandma Lucas celebrated her 94th birthday. She celebrated in style, surrounded by her loving sons and daughter-in-law. We also got the honor to Skype with her on her birthday and let her know how much we love her. Weeks later we received word that she had stopped eating and her health was declining quickly. These were difficult weeks, especially with the distance between us, but Sarah got the opportunity to have several conversations to make sure that her grandmother knew what a special place she held in Sarah's heart. On May 7, we learned that Grandma Lucas had passed away.  We quickly made plans to fly out for the funeral.

Some of Sarah's greatest memories with her grandmother are from hanging out together in Monterey, so it was only fitting that we spent some time there. We were able to visit Cannery Row, a place that looks much different than it did during the years when Grandma Lucas worked in one of the canneries. We even drove to a spot along the coast that Sarah and Grandma Lucas used to sit and watch the ocean. It was so important to all of us not only to be with family but also to relive the memories that came flooding back every time we thought about her. It is an understatement to say she lived a full life!

The funeral brought family together from all over. In fact, there were well over 150 people who gathered to share their love and appreciation for a woman who brought so much joy to others. A special treat was that John's parents flew out because they wanted to be a part of the celebration of Grandma Lucas's life and to support Sarah. As it happens this also became the first time Callie and Reese had all four of their grandparents together. It was the ultimate photo opportunity.

Sarah wanted to make sure she took the time to express how much her relationship with Grandma Lucas shaped her life.  Following are the words she shared with all of those gathered to honor her grandmother.  If you didn't have the good fortune of knowing her, these words will help you understand what a wonderful woman she was:

"I think everyone in this room would agree with me that my grandma cherished family. She always seemed to be visiting someone, sending someone a card, or talking on the phone to catch up with a family member. To me she was the source of all information. I can remember calling her and having her give me an update on who was doing what. I loved feeling so connected to everyone. I guess in a way she was my “facebook” before “facebook” was a thing.

When I was in elementary school, I remember going with my grandma on her visits. We jumped into her big beige and brown car. I think it was an Impala, but I am not sure. I just knew it was ugly! It had big bench seat. I popped in the passenger side. My grandma would always want me to sit in the middle so that I could be really close to her. We would hit Salinas and visit various people like Millie Rose and Helen Caughta (?). I am not totally sure I was related to all of these people, but regardless, they were family. To my grandma no one was a stranger, just someone she hadn’t met yet. And during the visiting tours we saw a lot of family and met lots of strangers.   

My Grandma simply had a lot of love to share...Every greeting and goodbye involved a hug. And I am not talking about a small, courteous hug; I am talking about a big, nuzzle-in Portuguese hug. When I was in college my gymnastics team had a meet in the Bay Area and my Grandma and Grandpa offered to have all 15 of us over for pizza as we travelled north. And when we all got there, she had her arms opened wide to welcome each one of us with a big hug. For some of my teammates this was their first Grandma Lucas experience and they weren’t sure what to think, but by the time we left they all got in line to give her a big hug because they wanted a part of the love she shared so easily. 

After I married my husband John, I would call to say hi and give her an update on what we were up to in Kentucky. She would always end our calls by saying, “give John and the girls a big hug.” Then she would say, “make sure you squeeze them hard, well not too hard.” But that was my Grandma and I will definitely miss her hugs!

Perhaps even more than her hugs I will miss her sense of adventure and her pursuit of a good time.  It didn’t matter what the adventure was, she was more than ready to take part!  As long as I can remember my family has had sizeable family reunions. These reunions are filled with laughter and back in the day my grandma led the fun with her sisters, sisters-in-law, and brothers-in-law. One year when I was in high school, I arrived at the reunion to find my grandma with a large rug burn on her forehead. When I inquired, what happened, she simply said, “I had too many Fuzzy Navels and fell down in the Winnebago.”  

And it wasn’t just back in the day.  For her 80^th birthday, Ronnie and Teri coordinated a weekend gateway to Las Vegas. This was perfect since my grandma loved gambling and having a good time. We had a great time! In fact, Haley and I couldn’t get my grandma off the dance floor. And if memory serves me right, we had to tell her that the club was closing just so that we all could go to bed.  Her zest for a good time never stopped. This past Thanksgiving when we pulled out the game Pie Face, grandma was more than willing to take a turn. So for folks that aren’t familiar with Pie Face this is a game that is like playing Russian roulette with whip cream. This is a game that some of her great grandchildren were quick to pass on. But not grandma - she was all in. And we have pictures to prove it!

The visits, the hugs, the fun – all of it revolved around the simple fact that she loved people! She loved being with you. It didn’t matter if it was an intimate setting or a large scale social gathering. Whenever you were with her she was fully present. She loved human connection. And what would exhaust most people energized her.  She had an amazing ability to make you feel good about yourself! It was like she was your personal cheerleader. When I competed in gymnastics, no matter what happened she didn’t understand why I didn’t get a 10. Although her assessment was far from the truth, it was awesome to have someone unconditionally on your side.  Knowing how much she especially loved the people in this room, I am going to be bold and ask you all a question. Raise your hand if my grandma told you or you “just knew” that YOU were her favorite. (pause) Looks about right. We all gave her such a hard time about this, but I truly think we all were her favorites.

I    In closing, I want to leave you with the fact that my grandma loved the ocean. She appreciated and admired the power contained within. I remember countless trips to the beach where we would just sit and watch the waves roll in. So the next time you have the opportunity to see the ocean, take a minute to cherish your family, share your love, and live in the moment. And know that you are her favorite!"

The one bright light with any time you say goodbye to a loved one is the sight of young children and the hope and joy for the future their energy brings.  In this instance it was the sight of all the great grandchildren - Callie, Reese, Skyler, Harper, Brady, Chase, and Sadie playing in the waves and gathering seaweed. Their giggles and smiles were exactly what our souls needed.

Since all of the immediate family stayed in the Monterey area we were able to spend a lot of time together and cherished family, which is just how Grandma Lucas would have like it.  Although it was a difficult couple of days, it was wonderful to be with family and know that Grandma Lucas is finally reunited with her true love Joe after all these years.  And in the end, it was truly a celebration of a full life that was lived well and full of joy.  Few people could have packed more hugs and love into 94 years.