Summer Road Trip Part I - Tour of Friends

After years of only traveling by plane we decided to tackle this summer's vacation via the open road.  Or at least it was open in West Virginia - I-95 in Connecticut is a whole different story.  Thank goodness we got some sound advice from friends to ignore the guilt and plug the kids in for the duration of the trip.  This explains the set ups you see in this picture - a DVD player for every child, that's our motto.

This was a vacation with many destinations.  On our way through New York we stopped and had a brief visit and a tasty ice cream with Neil, Karen, Alon, and Sonia.  Unfortunately our visits with the Pederson-Ross family always seem too short, but it was good to catch up with them and meet Sonia.  But we had to be on our way for our first pool party at the Skonieczny's in Madison.  Mike, Kristen, Ella, Eli, and Ethan were generous enough to host a big gathering that included many of our favorite people, including Aunt Katie and Brendan who joined us in the pool.

The girls didn't take long too warm up to the Skonieczny kids, which just warms Mike and John's hearts.  We weren't going to be able to spend our week on the Cape with them, but we were lucky to get the chance to play with them while we were in town.  Hopefully the next time we venture to Cape Cod we can arrange to have them out there as well.

The pool party also brought out the Loeber and Zanardi clans which meant we got see Bo, who is getting so big and very talented off the diving board, and Jack, pictured here, who might possibly be the sweetest child we have ever met.  As you can see, we did our best to have Reese spend a lot of time with Jack.  If nothing else, we hope that Reese gets a little sweeter and Jack isn't scared off.

With two nights and one day in Madison under our belt, it was time to hit the road before the grass grew under our feet.  The next stop was Fairfield and a sleepover at the McBean residence.  We did manage to work in a quick breakfast with the Woods-Hajizadeh clan and the McBeans before we left the Shoreline.  It's always great to get the families together.  Somehow while we were in Fairfield we did not get a picture of Jackson, but managed to capture Hayden and Reese playing in the sand.  We did manage to make it to the water in between watching numerous World Cup games.  I mean you have to have priorities.

Michelle even brought out their latest toy, a paddle board that enabled both her and Sarah to take turns paddling the girls out on the Long Island Sound.  Reese and Callie had fun and they went out pretty far.  It was a gorgeous day and it would have been great to stay and see the fireworks that had been rescheduled from the night before, but already we were getting restless.  It was time to hit the road once more.

What better place to travel on the heels of the 4th of July but Lexington, Massachusetts.  Of course, our real reason for being there was to spend time with the amazing Basak family.  Unfortunately, Maya was away at sleepover camp, so we did not get to see her.  But we did get some good time in with the boys.  Anjin and Sachin are now 11 years old and now are almost taller than Una.  The boys loved having Callie and Reese around and they all spent a lot of time on the swings and on the trampoline.  And of course we can't forget the slip and slide.  It was great to see them all play together.

We were constantly on the move during our brief time with the Basaks, and even worked in a great walk along the Minuteman trail.  Amit insisted that we make note of the spot where Paul Revere was captured, among other things.  He wanted to show off the great historical landmarks to John, hoping to make it into one of his class lectures about the Revolution.

This photo definitely has a chance of getting into a Powerpoint in the not too distant future.  It's always good to show the kids in class where they can go to see these slices of American history.  What made this trip into downtown Lexington even better was the Dunkin Donuts that is conveniently located just blocks from the Minuteman statue.

We cannot say enough good things about Amit and Una.  We admire them as people and as parents and we feel extremely lucky to call them friends.  They have always opened their home to us and are just incredible with each other and with their children.  They are thoughtful in everything they do.  Amit even makes sure that every time we visit that they have smoked gouda cheese.

It has been over twenty years since John first met Amit and that friendship is one of the reasons John has such great memories of college and the years that have followed.  It is not every day that you meet someone so generous, full of life, intelligent, and sincere. He's also just as cheesy as John, which helps.  The only thing to regret is not having more time together.  Hopefully we will increase our visits to our sister-city of Lexington in the years to come.

Red, White, and Blueberry Picking

June was a big month for a number of reasons, including the conclusion of Callie's first year of kindergarten.  But just as important was the World Cup.  John spent a fair amount of time watching the games and he was excited to get the girls involved in the fun.  For the first game the U.S. played against Ghana we were invited to watch the drama with some friends down the street.

Four years ago Ghana knocked the U.S. out of the World Cup.  It just so happens that terrible loss occurred on a wonderful day, the day that Suzy and Brian were married.  Still, we were looking forward to some redemption.  John led the girls in a quick USA! chant before we headed out the door.  And in case you missed it, the U.S. beat Ghana 2-1 in an absolutely thrilling match.  Too bad the rest of the Cup didn't work out that way for our boys.

June is also when the blueberries get ripe at Reed Valley Orchard, so we packed up a picnic lunch, hopped in the car, and made our annual trip to pick some berries and consume some wonderful slushies.  It was a great day, not too sunny and not too hot.  We made sure to build up our energy for the picking ahead and then we were ready to go.

It is fun to see the girls every year as they get into the picking routine.  They certainly know the lay of the land, and each one has had the experience of picking blueberries while they were in a baby bjorn.  Although they are fully capable of walking now, they still wouldn't mind being carried around like that.  Or at least that is how we interpret Reese's whining.

Callie and Reese have become skilled blueberry pickers, but they have expanded their taste horizons and picking skills in the raspberry bushes at the orchard.  These certainly are a little bit more difficult because thorns are involved.  But this year the bushes were full of great raspberries, and both girls did a great job of getting the berry without mashing it in the process.  Wish we could say the same for us.

If you ask them what the highlight of the excursion was, though, it might be the discovery of the farm cat.  She was pretty friendly and followed us around the raspberry bushes once she realized she could get some love from the little ones.  This is when all the motivation to pick great berries came to a halt and we had to turn our minds to the reward we had earned for our efforts.

Reese really enjoyed her slushy.  The smile says it all, doesn't it.  She smiles a lot for pictures, but you may have noticed that she has developed a kind of canned smile.  This one here is the real deal, and it captures the joy and energy she brings to our lives.

This picture is both good and bad.  It is good because it similarly captures Callie in a joyful moment, sitting on the porch at the orchard and indulging in the slushy.  Yet it is bad, because it makes it clear that Callie is growing up and getting older.  As much as we would like to keep her as our little girl, we cannot ignore the fact that she is maturing in leaps and bounds.

The Zoo with Grammy

By the time this picture was taken Grammy had already been here for a week, and she had spent a lot of that time playing with the girls, feeding them, and getting them to and from Music and Arts Camp.  

However, with the success of the girls' recital and music performance the time had come to celebrate with a trip to the Louisville Zoo before we took Grammy to the airport so she could fly back to California and get some rest.

This was not our first time at the Louisville Zoo, but it is never difficult to find new things there, and the girls enjoy hanging around with both real and inanimate animals.  They also have gotten used to the fact that when we go on a trip they will be asked to pose for pictures in a variety of places and with a variety of things.  The turtle was an obvious choice for a group shot.

Callie has had six and a half years of this paparazzi treatment, so she has not only become comfortable with it, but now actively seeks out shots that will be either aesthetically pleasing or somewhat funny.  This one is certainly in the latter category.

If you have spent more than a day with Reese, you know that energy is not in short supply.  Like her sister, she also enjoys a good laugh and is willing to work with the camera if you catch her in the right mood.  This energy is also a big reason why Grammy Gayle went home exhausted.  We know the feeling.

The Louisville Zoo has a really neat carousel that they tout as one of the 40 oldest in the country, or something along those lines.  In any case, it is fun to ride and Reese and Callie were excited to get the chance to go for a spin.  It was a fun way to end a great week with Grammy.  And once we got back to Lexington, John was home and we could prepare as a family for our next adventure.

Dance, Music, and Arts

The arrival of June can mean a variety of things, but for us it now means that the time has come for the annual dance recital.  This year was a special one because Reese was going to make her debut on the Lexington Opera House stage.  And although she was a little timid during rehearsals, all signs indicated that she was ready to embrace her big moment.

Somehow Callie worked her way into Reese's class's dance number over the past five months by assisting Miss Lauren.  In the days leading up to the recital there was talk that Callie would lead the crew on stage as well.  Callie didn't get called up until the very last moment, but she was excited to be a part of the Bunny Rabbit Blues dance.  Reese loved having her big sister on hand, but she also clearly loved the spotlight.  It is going to be hard keeping her off the stage in the years to come.

This was Callie's third recital, so she has become accustomed to all that goes along with it.  And we certainly had no concerns about her willingness to do everything she needed to do.  This was a big deal because John was out of town for the recital which meant Sarah had to get both girls ready and had to manage all of the make-up and costume changes.  Thankfully, Grammy was there to assist or it could have been a disaster.

Here is Callie's class getting ready to go on for their "I See the Moon" dance.  It is amazing how much these girls have grown in the three years they have been in dance classes together.  Clearly they get along quite well.



This year's special someone dance was (to the surprise of no parent of a girl between the ages of 3 and 12) based around a song from the movie Frozen.  Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

The girls loved getting to wear their colorful winter gear for this dance in the middle of summer.  Callie got to have Grammy as her special someone and Reese got to do it with Sarah.  It is also important to note that Sarah was selected to be the parent line leader, which is an honor she took quite seriously.

And here are the girls with the woman who has made their dance class experience so wonderful.  Miss Lauren is the greatest teacher we could have asked for, especially when Callie was first starting out.  And as we have mentioned before, Reese would settle for nothing less than a class with Miss Lauren.  The girls know excellence when they see it - they also know a warm and gentle soul.

Dance recital week always seems to fall on the same week as Music and Arts Camp at church, which means there is a whole lot of singing, dancing, and commuting during that time.  Once again, Grammy saved the day and Reese made her big debut.  And like Callie's debut at Music and Arts Camp, we have very few pictures to document it.  But she claims she enjoyed the week.  The theme this year was Moses and the Freedom Fanatics.  Callie is pictured here with the bugs so artfully drawn by Caitlin.

Out of the performances we have seen over the past four years, this by far was the best.  Everyone seemed to know the songs and sang them passionately.  In this picture Callie is there along with her fellow slaves demanding freedom from Pharaoh.  Reese was a frog in the production that focused on the animal plagues as opposed to the rivers of blood.

This week was a tough one for Reese's ability to pull out the beaming smile she is more well known for.  Such is life.  We have all had weeks like that.  And truly, by the time Friday afternoon arrived the girls were exhausted and were ready to take a break from the rigors of the performing arts.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Despite all the weather that winter threw at us this past year, school did finally come to an end.  Surprisingly enough, this day was just as emotional as day one.  We still find it hard to believe that Callie has completed kindergarten and is moving on to first grade.  How did that happen so fast?

Callie had such a wonderful first year of school, and it was in no small part because of the fantastic teachers she had in her classroom.  Here she is with Miss Bargo, the teaching assistant for her class all year long.  Callie thought Miss Bargo was pretty cool.  Our favorite story about Miss Bargo comes from five days before Christmas break, when she asked Callie if she had a proper winter jacket because Callie kept going to school with her Cape Cod sweatshirt or a fall jacket that was a wee bit small.  John likes to think we were trying to toughen Callie up.  But truth be told, we had bought a winter jacket for Christmas and really just needed her to deal with the cold until Christmas morning.  The guilt was a little deeper in the days after Miss Bargo showed how much she cared about Callie.

Mrs. Bradley was Callie's teacher and was a perfect match.  She is kind, gentle, and firm, with both high expectations of her kids and a good sense of humor.  Callie loved learning about her and her family, and we could tell that Mrs. Bradley really knew Callie well and cared about her as a person.  It was great to be able to get a picture like this on the last day.

And here she is on the very last day, leaving Colts camp and kindergarten behind until school starts up again in August.  It is truly amazing how much Callie learned throughout the year.  She started in August not being able to read a word and ended it reading chapter books.  She also gained a number of friends, and we heard a lot of stories about Maddie Rudd and Kennedy Preston.  We heard quite a few stories about her and her friends chasing the boys at lunch, but we tried not to focus on those too much.  Just as important, she ended the school year excited to start the next one.  And first grade will be here before we know it.

Lucy and Libby

Summertime for many people means time spent with friends by the pool.  For us, it means getting the five-year-old inflatable pool out of the basement, filling it with water from the hose, and playing with Lucy and Libby when they are in town visiting their grandparents Sharon (a.k.a. Birdy) and Chris (a.k.a. Pop).  Who knew a five dollar purchase would lead to so many years of fun?

We say it every time, but it is amazing how old these girls are getting.  Even better, it is fantastic to see how well they all get along.  They are a fun bunch of kids and we fully expect that they will be having fun and getting into trouble together for years to come.  Reese and Lucy in particular show signs of being trouble in the future.

As you can see in this picture, Lucy and Libby happened to be in town when Zoey was visiting.  Zoey wasn't quite sure what to do with the chaos of noise and general shenanigans, but she gradually warmed up and joined in with the fun.

A Visit from Colorado

At the end of May, we were lucky enough to have some special guests from out of town.  Suzy, Brian, and Zoey were in the Cincinnati area for their nephew's high school graduation, and Brian's family was kind enough to let them travel down south to stay with us for a couple of days.  It is not the first time we have taken advantage of our proximity to Brian's sisters and it probably won't be the last.

Thankfully it was a beautiful weekend so we hit the ground running and headed over the Ecton Park to have a picnic lunch and for the girls to take Zoey on a tour of one of our favorite playgrounds.  Callie certainly was excited to have Zoey in town, but loved also having her aunt and uncle to play with as well.

Reese wanted to make sure Zoey got to see the great swings at Ecton, and of course she also wanted to show her younger cousin how high she could swing.  There is no doubt that one of the reasons Reese loves having Zoey around is that she gets to be the older kid.  And boy does she take this role seriously.  When Zoey gets a little older she'll probably push back a little bit, but for now she's more than willing to play along with her older cousin.

After the swing lesson they were off to the bubble lesson.  So while Callie played frisbee with Uncle Brian and Aunt Suzy, the two little ones blew and chased bubbles all over the park.  They had a lot of fun and were a lot of fun to watch.

Of course, one of the great things about the visit was that we knew we would all see each other again very soon on Cape Cod.  So the girls had a good warm-up couple of days where they got to play together and got to know each other better.  And we promise that our time at the Cape will actually lead to pictures of Uncle Brian and Aunt Suzy as well.