The Sweet Spot

We had such a fun summer and really soaked up every minute of it. I think we are finally in that elusive sweet spot with the kids where they are independent enough that they don't need us every second of the day, but still enjoy being around us and crave our attention. I'm really trying to stay present in these moments and cherish them for what they are.....they will be especially helpful to recall when Gray is wiping my kisses off his cheek and Hayes is slamming doors in my face in the not-so-distant future.

As is our summer tradition, we took a week-long trip to Destin to stay at Aunt Judy's house with the kiddos.  We always love going there, as it truly feels like a second home to us now.  Adam and I have been going almost as long as we've been together, which is almost 16 years this month! We spent long mornings at the beach....

 lazy afternoons at the pool.....

visited some of our favorite spots.......

and ate at some of our favorite places!

We are already looking forward to our next annual beach trip and I only hope the kids know how lucky they are to get to do this ever year. I certainly took living at the beach for granted growing up and truly miss seeing the water every day now.

Hayes turned 6 and celebrated with her best friend, Addison, with a mermaid party at our neighborhood pool. You should know that this party has been in the works since the two girls met at our pool last summer and learned that they shared a birthday.  Holly, Addison, Hayes and I had so much fun planning such a sweet celebration among friends and I think it all came together brilliantly!

The week before the summer wrapped up, the kids and I, along with Aunt Mal, headed down to "Red Stick" to stay with my parents.  After settling in, we made the drive over to Franklin to see my grandmother and help her celebrate her 93rd birthday. I continue to be so amazed by her good health and attitude and feel blessed to still have her in my life.  I never met any of my great grandparents and truly hope the kids understand how special it is that they have had the privilege of getting to know her. While in Louisiana, we decided to engage in some good ole Cajun fun.  We took our first swamp tour, got snow cones from a hut on the side of the road that also sold boudin balls (because they are such perfect complements, right?), and visited Mike the Tiger on the LSU campus.  Gray is now dead-set on going to LSU for college and while I'd love a good excuse to get back to my Louisiana roots, he's going to have a tough time convincing his Dad, the UT fan, on that one!

The kids went back to school the 2nd week of August and were excited to see their friends and meet their new teachers.  Gray got Ms. Harris, whom he had hoped for, and was pleased to be in class with some of his buddies.  Hayes got a new teacher, Ms. Carey, who is so sweet and pretty that Hayes has a hard time paying attention, she tells me.  She was ecstatic to find out that 3 of her besties were in class with her, but with four girls and all that drama, I pray for her sweet teacher regularly ;)

Gray is playing soccer again and has really improved from last season.  He has shown real leadership skills among his team and is definitely Adam's son in terms of athletic ability. I truly love watching him play on Saturday mornings and am so proud of him!

 Hayes joined a cheerleading squad for the Germantown Football League and has had a blast cheering for the flag Patriots team.  As a cheerleader for most of my school years, I have enjoyed watching her learn to love the sport, but am also amazed at how early they are learning things. She has already started building pyramids and learning to tumble! I swear they'll be doing basket tosses by next year, LOL!

We just got back from Disney and will post about it soon too. What a whirlwind!

Until then,
The Pattersons