Milestones worth Celebrating

This was going to be a unique crossroads of milestones for the younger residents of the Bowes household. Callie was going to be completing middle school and Reese would be finishing fifth grade and marking our family's last year at Cassidy Elementary School. Everywhere we turned were reminders of what was coming, including a congratulations sign for all graduates at our church.

Leading up to graduation, Morton Middle School put on an 8th grade dance to give the graduates one last fling before the big day. Because of cotillion, Callie and her friends had gotten used to dressing up.

 

From this picture you can see that Callie and her closest eleven friends in a rainbow of assorted colors had dinner together before hitting the dance floor. But as Callie reports, middle schoolers do not dance. Some things never change.

Finally the big day arrived and we all had our work cut out for us. Callie had stated years ago, if Reese and I graduate on the same day you guys should just go to Reese's ceremony. Obviously we would never do that, but circumstances certainly tested that commitment. Our day started early with a photo shoot on the back patio with our two honorees. Then it was off to Cassidy.

We arrived at Cassidy early so that we could get good seats for a number of reasons. In our experience with both girls, Cassidy does a great job with their graduation and after dealing with the pandemic restrictions it was great to all be together to celebrate these kids. In a wonderful twist, Reese received one of the special awards of the day. This was from Mrs. Adams, the librarian, and she highlighted Reese's enjoyment of reading and that Reese was a wonderful presence throughout her six years at Cassidy. We were already proud of Reese, but this certainly made us beam even more.

After the formal graduation, all the kids and families squeezed into the cafeteria for some snacks and photo opportunities. This crew just happens to include many of her soccer friends and are a good bunch. Not too long after this they continued their celebrations at a pool party. But before Reese could do that, she had to dash out the door with Sarah to join John and Callie across town.

On a typical year, going from a graduation at Cassidy to one at Morton would simply involve walking across the playground. This year, however, things were very different. Due to concerns about crowd size and covid, Morton's administration initially decided to have graduation with only the kids present and the parents watching online. That announcement did not sit well with many parents and to make a long story short, on graduation day Morton kids and their families had an in-person ceremony in the gym of Transylvania University. The location and timing meant that John and Callie had to leave Cassidy's ceremony early to make sure Callie was on time. Fortunately, Reese and Sarah made it right before the ceremony started.

It continued to be a day of wonderful surprises for us as Callie received a special award as well. The award she received was for the most accomplished female student athlete in the 8th grade. And we are happy to report that Callie definitely puts the student in student athlete, finishing her middle school career with straight As all three years.

Just like her sister, Callie is fortunate to have a group of great friends around her. They are great students, involved in all sorts of activities, and just good folks overall. Not too long after this picture they had their own pool party to go to. The big difference for them is that their party was co-ed and hosted by a boy.

It was a beautiful day overall that exemplified how fortunate the four of us are to be part of a great community of schools, kids, and fellow parents. These milestones were made even more special in that they marked the accomplishments of these kids who endured a great deal of uncertainty, instability, and disruption over the previous two years. It was not easy for anyone but the smiles of the day say it all.

Spring Activities

Spring brought another new activity to the Bowes household as Callie decided to try out track and field for Morton Middle School. John ran track in high school so was excited to see what she could do. He had forgotten just how long track meets could be, however. 

 

Callie ran the 200, 400, and 800 with some regularity. Her coach had her run the mile once, but Callie did not exactly enjoy the experience. She also ran a few relays and overall learned a lot about herself and the sport. Not sure it persuaded her to give up her soccer cleats, but we are hoping she has a couple more seasons in her.

Just like all sports, track was a great way to spend time with friends. In fact, based on how long the meets last track is more about time with friends than the actual sport. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Holland, pictured here, and Callie also got to run some relays together which provided a nice balance of support and competition all in one package.

Speaking of competition, Reese was selected for Young Achievers, which is a program we know little about but it sounds pretty good. We discovered that this in part meant she had to do a photo shoot. John got to take her and it was quite an experience. Reese loved the photo shoot and the pictures came out well. This program allows you to buy a couple of these pictures and they produce a poster for the school. Unfortunately we never actually made it into the school to see the poster for ourselves, so we got this photo from a mom who spotted it and sent it to us. Reese may not stay young, but we hope she keeps achieving.

Sarah has become the official hairdresser of the Abraham household, or at least the go to stylist for big events. Unlike a couple of years ago when she got the day of emergency call from Ella, she was booked weeks in advance for Claire's junior prom. Sarah still hasn't had the opportunity to tell the Abraham girls that this is not her specialty, but she tries to do the best she can to meet their expectations.

It just so happened that Claire's prom was on the same day as Callie's final night of cotillion, so the girls got ready together. It is important to note that spring is also lacrosse season, which is why Claire is sporting a significant shiner on her upper arm from an opponent's lacrosse stick. Like her older sister, Claire is a role model for our girls, and it is great to see her and Callie have this moment together.

Callie's Coto group was short several members on the final evening due to soccer games, but it was still a good-sized crew and Callie had a great time. The cotillion season came to an end and although Callie had a good time we are not sure if this is something Reese is going to be interested in when her time comes. Time will tell.

And just like that, Easter had arrived. The theme this year was Spa Day, as the Easter bunny realized that busy schedules and end of the school year anxieties needed to be balanced out by some sweet smelling lotions and soaps. Unlike cotillion, this is right up Reese's alley, especially because it still includes candy.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day and our church held an Easter egg hunt for the first time in a couple of years. Callie and Reese did a great job helping all the little kids find eggs hidden throughout the church and outdoor garden. It is a bit strange seeing them on the other side of these traditions. They are definitely getting older and we will see how long Sarah can hold onto her position as third tallest in the family for pictures like this one.

Easter for us always includes brunch with the Chrismans and a picture with the Abraham girls. This was the first year that Ella wasn't present for the photo, which is a big change. However, we still had to get it in even though we missed Claire at church. She drove over to capture the moment, which we are grateful for. And we are happy to report that this year we did not have any fires break out  during the meal.

The pandemic disrupted a host of school traditions, but we are happy to say that the Cassidy fifth-graders were able to participate in Biztown. It was actually the first time they had been able to run this program since Callie did it when she was in fifth grade. Reese was very excited to be the CFO for the Bluegrass Philanthropy Group. However, at the last minute her friend Meredith, who was assigned to be the CEO, was ill, so Reese was going to have to handle both job duties. She was up for the task, but certainly stressed out.

As they learn the ins and outs of the business world, Reese and her friends also learned the joys of the business lunch. In one of the soccer carpool drives in the week leading up to this day all John heard about from the girls was how their moms were forcing them to wear dresses for Biztown. While they may not all have ended up in dresses they cleaned up well and at least didn't have on their smelly soccer clothes. 

After lunch Reese was back to work where she took all of her tasks very seriously and was irritated that her mom, who volunteered to be there that day, kept trying to take pictures. Reese was very excited and relieved that Meredith was able to make it after lunch for the second half of the Biztown experience. That meant Meredith took on the responsibility of making the speech for their business at the end of the day.

Once Easter is passed we start to ramp up all of the end of the school year activities. This year we had a new one organized by Erin Oakley, the mother of one of Reese's buddies, Mary. It was a color run around the Morton track, so we have some good before and after pictures. Here we see Reese and Mary decked out in their pristine white Cassidy t-shirts.

And here are the same two kids minutes later after their run. Nothing like getting pelted with colored powder to make a run even more enjoyable. The run took place on a Friday afternoon, which of course meant that we were fitting it in to a packed evening schedule to kick off the weekend. Once the run was done Sarah handed Reese a clean set of clothes and a face wipe so she could pull herself together before going to a ballet performance of Cinderella at the Lexington Opera House. 

Tybee Island With Grammy

Sarah loved taking advantage of John's spring break so much that she decided to double down and take advantage of Callie and Reese's break too. She planned another trip that would also include Grammy and they selected Tybee Island off the coast of Georgia. Little did Sarah realize that Tybee Island is within spitting distance of Hilton Head. So about a week after returning from her trip with John, Sarah jumped back in the car for the return trip to the Atlantic coast.

Tybee Island is not as built up as Hilton Head is and there are a lot of scenic views. The weather wasn't hot, but it was warm enough that they got to go the beach and broke out the shorts and t-shirts. Sarah, Grammy, and the girls did a lot of exploring. Callie and Reese's favorite part was renting bikes that enabled them to travel all over the island. Unfortunately, Grammy decided that her years of bike riding were in the past. That phrase, it's just like riding a bike, is not always as applicable as we want it to be. However, this allowed her to get in her daily walks. 

One great thing about the hotel was that it was right on the ocean. All it took to catch the sunrise each day was rolling over and opening up the drapes. Sarah made a point to wake up early and walk down to the beach for a more up close and personal experience with the break of day. 

One day she even convinced Callie to wake up and join her. Callie had brought her soccer gear so that she could keep up her training a bit while on break, and that created the opportunity for some classic photos. We decided not to share the pictures of Callie running in a park in Savannah because it looks more like paparazzi chasing a celebrity.

One of the most iconic landmarks on Tybee Island is its lighthouse. You can even climb to the top and take in the surrounding views. It also had wonderful historical markers that told its history which Grammy enjoyed. As lighthouses go it is a pretty cool one. Definitely selfie worthy.

As is the case with so many of us, the pandemic interrupted our lives and traditions. This trip marked our first with Grammy since we all went to Alaska in the summer of 2019. It was nice to travel with her again and we'll have to get back into the rhythm of annual trips to baseball stadiums as soon as we can.
 

Quick Getaway

By the time we got to March the convergence of a number of things created the need for a break and some quality time for John and Sarah. John's time as Interim Dean was about 2/3 complete, we had only made one trip by ourselves in the fourteen years since Callie was born, and we had never taken advantage of a spring break. So there we were, driving down to Hilton Head for a three-night getaway. It was our first time in the area and we loved being able to ride bikes along the beach.

Hilton Head has a lot to offer outside of the beach. They also have drinks. We had fun sampling the local cuisine and checked out as much of the island as we could. We even spent several hours hiking around the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. Our hotel provided a phenomenal ocean front view and we are not sure how we did it, but we reserved a room that was a two-bedroom apartment. We weren't cooking and we didn't have kids, so we didn't maximize the potential of the space, but we did not feel guilty at all. 

We didn't leave the girls all alone, of course. Nana Banana and Sport were incredibly generous and drove down to hang out with Callie and Reese while we were out of town. They got a full dose of our daily schedule as they juggled carpools, school drop-offs, and everything else. The girls loved having their grandparents around and their grandparents loved being around. 

2022 Heats up in February

The new year saw the continuation of Coto for Callie and her friends. They benefited from a bit of unseasonably warm weather for their luau themed dance in February. Instead of attending a meal hosted by the boys contingent, the girls opted to go out to dinner on their own. By all reports, the dance was okay but hanging out with their friends was great. 

Throughout the year our church prepares a meal for anyone in need in Lexington one Saturday each month. Covid had altered the format from in person serving to preparing food to deliver. Callie and Sarah have been devoted participants in the Just Lunch program for more than a year, and they both continued that dedication in 2022. Here Callie is working with Emily Powers to make sandwiches for this particular meal.

Carpool has always been a highlight of Reese's soccer career, and this year did not disappoint. We had a slight reshuffling to ensure that elementary school kids were together and middle school kids were together. The difference between 5th and 6th grade had become pretty apparent and it we were more than happy to keep the younger kids young for as long as possible.

On the field, Reese's team continued to dominate the competition. They did not lose a game all throughout the fall and kicked off their spring campaign by winning a tournament in Louisville. They are a fun team to watch and Reese is having a blast. She loves her teammates but may love her coach even more. Coach Tom has done a great job with this team and the rest of the season should be fun.

The kids weren't the only ones keeping busy. In 2022 we were determined to finally turn our living room into a space that we would want to spend time in. After 15 years of ruminating about how to best use the space we made some decisions and took action with the help of our friend Jessica. The first step, seen here, was the construction of book shelves along one wall. They turned out really well. Furniture has also been ordered, and now the waiting game begins.

Callie's fall soccer season exceeded expectations, but she was really looking forward to spring. After two years on the LFC Blue team, her hard work had paid off and she was promoted to the LFC Red team. To make the situation even better, her coaches for this team are Taylor and Jared Roden. These two just happen to be Ella Abraham's club and high school coaches, so we know them and respect them. Callie was very excited to get to play for them and be part of this new team. For better or worse the season kicked off with a tournament in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in February. And when the first game lineup came out, there was Callie at forward. Let the games begin!

Yes some girls just have shorts on in this picture. But trust Sarah when she says it was obscenely cold. Tennessee is nowhere near south enough to host a tournament in February. However, Sarah had thought this could be the warmer location because Reese was also in Tennessee playing with her ODP team. All of Tennessee was cold that weekend, so at least on the sidelines, there were no winners.

In the end, Callie's had two wins and one loss, which was a good way to kick off the club season. Taylor and Jared are big team selfie fans, and this was the first selfie of the spring. Callie felt pretty good about the weekend overall, and started to get to know her teammates. This was after she reported something along the lines of, "I'm good with my spot on the field. I just need to work on my social game." And just like that, spring soccer kicked off.

Kicking off Winter

As we headed into the new year, Reese's basketball career continued as another season with I Am 3rd wrapped up. This was a special team as it combined Coach Tyler and his daughter Ella with several soccer friends. The Nuggets were a force to be reckoned with and won their age group in fine fashion. They didn't necessarily have the best shooting percentage, but they definitely had the best collection of athletes out there.

A wonderful surprise landed on our doorstep shortly after the new year began. Sarah's Aunt Teri, or GA as she is known in our household, had crafted one of the most amazing quilts that spoke to Sarah's heart. If you look closer at this picture you will see that the theme is National Parks.

We are fortunate to know many of the parks on this quilt firsthand, but there are also many appearing here that are still on our bucket list. It took us a couple of days to realize it, but Teri had stitched a heart around the picture of Arches National Park, the very place where John proposed to Sarah back in 2004. John wanted to frame the quilt, but Teri told Sarah it was made to be used, so use it we shall.

Mid-January we got an invitation to celebrate the birthday of Ella Sewell, one of Callie's good friends from soccer. It was very sweet in that she wanted both of our families to go out to dinner.

We are always up for a good meal with good people, so off we went. Callie and Ella played club soccer together but go to different schools, so it is always good to be able to make moments like these possible. 

Of course January also brought a little winter weather, which should not come as a surprise. However, any time snow falls we have to look around the house to see if we actually have appropriate coats and boots for the girls. We managed to pull a few things together to ensure they didn't freeze and they lasted outside long enough to get a few pictures.

We live only a few blocks away from one of the local sledding hotspots, though we haven't taken advantage of it as much as we should. Callie and her friends, however, arranged for an impromptu get together on the slopes. In a sign of the times, they were as concerned about how their winter outfits looked for this picture as they were about the sledding itself. They certainly didn't want any parents to tag along. The teenage years have truly dawned.

Greeting the New Year

It was a very slow and mellow winter break in our household. We didn't travel, Sarah only worked one day, and the girls had no sport commitments. Also, with the increased scare of the covid variant we chose to be more tied to the house than we typically would be. It was very nice, and it also led to an activity that Reese had wanted to do for a while. So we broke out Nana Banana's family sugar cookie recipe and got baking.

New Year's Eve became a day full of rolling out dough, baking cookies, and getting our introduction to royal icing. The rolling and baking were relatively smooth, but the royal icing process created a little anxiety.

All of it was also quite time consuming. Baking cookies is not something you just do for an hour and then move on to something else. We also baked a lot of cookies, so the decorating took time.  But the end product was definitely worth the time invested.

We are also happy to report that they tasted as good as they looked. We couldn't believe it, but the new year was about to dawn. 2021 went by in a flash, though we got to relive the whole year as we spent the break updating our blog with posts from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021. It was an impressive and proud feat to get us back on track.

For the first time, Callie had plans of her own for New Year's Eve. It was a sleepover with two of her friends, and she was excited even as we knew her sister was going to require a lot of attention to keep her spirits up in Callie's absence.

We did our best to keep Reese entertained, and even stayed up past midnight to finish the movie we were watching. We took our first selfie of 2022 to send to Callie when the ball dropped, and prepared for another year of who knows what.

New Year's Day brought another great tradition, watching the UK football team at a bowl game with the Johnsons. This year UK was playing in the Citrus Bowl, so we figured it was fitting to get a picture with our own bowl of Florida fruit. Thanks, Sharon and Chris! Yes, we know Seth is looking away in this picture, but he didn't want to miss any great plays from the game during the photo shoot. It was a great day with lots of appetizers, UK touchdowns, and of course, happy new year cookies. Bring it on, 2022!