A long winter and a welcomed spring!

Here in Memphis, we had another unpredictable winter, but finally ended up with several bouts of snow. The kids, who were convinced that they had not seen snow in several years due to our move to Germantown (only 10 miles away), were thrilled to finally get to pull out Adam's old wooden sled and take it for a ride. We realized pretty quickly, however, that they did not have the proper snow gear, but they didn't let it stop their fun. With Fall sports over, and Hayes continuing with her ballet and tap lessons, Gray decided to do winter basketball. We had such a great time watching him learn a new sport and we ended up with the sweetest team and coaches. Gray continued working towards earning his Tiger badge and participated in his first campout and pinewood derby, where he won 3rd place! Hayes also began Daisy Scouts and participated in the powder puff derby! For Spring Break this year, we headed to Atlanta, mainly with the goal of visiting an American Girl store and the Lego Discovery Park. We ended up seeing these things plus a whole lot more! The Georgia Aquarium was beautiful and had tons of hands-on activities for the kids! The World of Coke had all sorts of retro artifacts and a fun tasting area. Gray's favorite was a grape cola from Mexico! The Fernbank Museum was filled with dinosaur bones and other cool finds! And we had some great meals too, of course.... Dinner at the Varsity with the Griesbeck cousins Dinner at Tin Lizzy's while enjoying live patio music and a yummy lunch at Johnny Rockets, complete with milkshakes! For the spring season, Hayes decided to try a new soccer league with her friends Addison and William. Due to three bouts of strep throat and tons of rain though, she didn't get to play until three or four weeks into the season. She had a blast running around with her Farmington friends and we loved watching from the sidelines! Gray decided, on the other hand, to skip soccer and baseball and try lacrosse for the first time. There's a new program through the middle school that teaches 1st through 3rd graders the sport and we have been super impressed with it all together. Gray has really developed not only a love for lacrosse (thankfully, since the equipment is so dang expensive!) but a real knack for it. He actually got the first goal of the season during their first scrimmage! Feeling extra "big", Gray got his first buzz! I'm not a total fan, but I do love seeing his sweet eyes again! I helped plan this year's progressive dinner again for our neighborhood and we had a record number in attendance, plus we added an appetizer house to the 6 dinner houses and clubhouse, where we host desserts. It was a fun and beautiful spring night and another reminder of why we love our awesome neighborhood so much! We stayed in town for Easter this year to watch our nephew, Graham, and our niece, Greer, get baptized at their church. It was a lovely day of renewal all around! Following in her Mommy's footsteps, Hayes had her first tennis lesson and was hooked from the start! Truth be told though, I think she's more interested in the outfit than the sport, but aren't we all? The kids also got ready for the pool with some swimming refreshers and I am so proud that they are both actually performing strokes! Can't wait to get them on a swim team......maybe next year! Gray and I participated in our second annual Mother-Son Olympics at school and had a blast showing how silly we could be. Gray had more fun laughing at the moms than anything, and I don't blame him! As president of our neighborhood garden club, I hosted the end of the year party at our house last week and was so excited to have such a great turnout. The Mexican fiesta, complete with beergaritas, was perfect for the beautiful May weather had, which even encouraged people to sit on our patio. After all of the work we did last year on the yard (removing 21 trees, adding new sod, creating new beds, grading the landscape, etc) it was nice to see people enjoying that area again! I am looking forward to more of that before it gets too hot in the very near future. Until next time, The Pattersons