As good as it gets!

Life as we know it is pretty darn good...although I have a feeling it's about to get even better! Tomorrow marks the first day of school for Marietta City and it is hard to believe that some of Ali's little first friends will be starting kindergarten. I can't believe that in one year my first little baby will be heading that way as well - so glad I have an entire year to let it soak in. I have a feeling this time next year, I will be a basket case! We have enjoyed a fun summer - but I can't believe it is already that time for school to start again! We still have about a week and a half to enjoy before our daily routines kick back in - and I have a goal to enjoy some lazy summer mornings/afternoons with nowhere to be! Unfortunately, we did not get enough of those this summer - but, then again, I'd probably be stir crazy and pulling out my hair if we did! So here are some pictures to enjoy to sum up our July! Before you look, let me preface by saying - most of these are iphone pictures and about 90% of them are blurry - but you get the idea. I am so jealous of people that come back with picture perfect memories of the beach vacations, etc - I am not one of those...but, I did live in the moment and hope I remember these days. One of these days, I will be better about taking pictures - but, until then, I need to find someone that will follow me around and take great photographs of our memories while I am busy making them! :)

We rung in Ryan's 31st birthday mid-July and celebrated by going to my cousin, Jessica's rehearsal dinner in Atlanta that night. The whole wedding weekend was beautiful and Ali was in Heaven getting to be the flower girl! Rhodes also thought she was the flower girl...but, our little busy bee two year old was not quite ready for the big role! (maybe by the time Uncle Sig gets married one day! :)) Ali loved every second of it and we were soo proud of our little flower girl. She also developed a quick crush on the ring bearer and had fun playing chase and giggling at all of his jokes all weekend long! (we are going to be in big trouble with this little flirt one day! yikes!)


The girls both stayed out way passed their bedtimes both nights - but had the time of their life (no exaggeration - they were in Heaven!) dancing the night away. There is nothing that these two Patrick girls love more than singing and dancing and they were truly the belles of the ball! (well, the young belles of the ball - of course the bride stole the show!) They did not stop dancing until we dragged them out the door after 10 pm...they danced with anyone they could - daddy, Papa, Uncle Sig, Uncle Ty....we had some worn out girls after this wedding weekend! As long as the music was going, their little bodies were moving to the beat! (again, excuse the blurriness...and let me know if you know of someone to fill my full-time photographer needs) :)

Daddy and his girls...
Papa and his girls...



Dancing buddies

Sharing Papa and Uncle Sig...

On Sunday morning, we got up early, cleaned our house for a showing that day and heading to SSI. We spent one night at our beach house, then headed down Monday morning to Amelia Island to stay at the Ritz for a few nights...it was perfection! Ryan got to play golf, surprised me with a mani/pedi at the Ritz spa and we had lots of good (crazy?) family time!

Searching for seashells...




Heading to the awesome pool...
The girls did a Ritz pirate scavenger hunt and got some fun glowsticks to wear at night....always such a struggle to get these two to smile and look at me at the same time! :)
After our short, but sweet adventure to Amelia, we headed back to our home away from home (St Simons) for a week. We relaxed, ate well, swam a lot, played putt-putt, and even ventured out to Summer Waves water park one afternoon to check it out! We all had fun - but, it made me realize that I am not yet ready to head to White Water just yet - maybe next summer!


Ali was a competitive little Putt-putter..
But, Rhodes preferred dancing on the sidelines...

Making beach breakfast faces...



Fun at the Summer Waves!

One important note - when we arrived in St. Simons our first night of the trip, Rhodes also decided that she was finally ready to say "goodbye" diapers and pullups and "hello" to big girl Tinkerbell panties. Hallelujah! A few weeks later, we have a diaper-free house for now and although there are still accidents sometimes - I could not be more proud of my little Rhodeso! There was a time (probably a month ago and before) I thought I would be sending Rhodes to kindergarten in diapers b/c she just refused to use the potty - but she proved me wrong and she is such a girl girl now! There are many mornings, though, where Rhodes decides she would rather go without any pants (easier potty access) all morning long - and run around outside panty-less (with just her pajama top on), so we are working on that! :) Love my little character!

Here I go on a blogging roll!! Let's see if I can keep it up!

Ch, ch, changes...

Hello blogging friends! We have lots to catch up on! It's been a month since I've blogged and I have big goals from here on out to become a better blogger again! Our lives continue to stay busy - and between camps, my cousin Jessica's wedding, a 10 day beach trip, Ryan's birthday, both Mimi and Grandmommy's birthday, golf trips, clothing shows, potty training, and trying to sell our house (to name a few!) this past month has been yet another busy one! More big updates to come in another blog this week - but, just wanted to let you know that I am still here! We have dentist appointments this morning and a house viewing around lunchtime so I promise more to come later!

Munchkin Movies

Today I took the girls to one of my favorite summer activities - Munchkin movie series at the Strand. I love it because it's cheap, close by, and makes me feel like I am living in another decade. It is such stress relief to be able to take children to the movies and not worry if they are being loud or walking around (because everyone else is too!) and getting to run into other friends...it's a treat! Today, we met up with the Lowerys, Sims and Swartwoods to see Shrek and we made it through the entire movie this year - big success! Since we were going to the Strand, we got to park at Daddy's office and ran into him on our way....this was the best picture I could get. For some reason Ali really wanted her toy elephant in the picture! :)
Afterwards, Caroline's grandmother (Doe Doe) took Ali and Caroline out for lunch, Target and to get mani/pedis (in little butterfly mani/pedi chairs!) - Ali had quite the day and came home with polka dotted fingernails and toenails! If only these girls knew how lucky they are!!

Happy 4th!

We had fun-filled family 4th of July weekend. On Saturday, we spent some time at the pool, then napped, then headed out to see Cars 2, eat pizza and get some Oh La La (Frozen yogurt/toppings place) for dessert. It was a fun family night! When we first sat down to the movie - I was in Heaven, wondering why we didn't do this more often. Then, ten minutes into the movie (after a pack of Sour Patch Kids and some Sprite), Rhodes got ants in her pants...and I remembered why! :) It was still fun though - she just had lots of commentary to add to the movie! I tried so hard to get a good picture of my 3 movie dates outside the movie...but this is the best I got....photographer of the year!
These two girls love some Oh La La (or Yogli Mogli or any frozen yogurt bar place, really!)
We kicked off the 4th of July in style...we were #3 in the Marietta 4th of July Parade. Papa got one of his old tractors refinished and was so proud of it! (I had no idea he even had a tractor - but he was so excited!) He decided that his "float" this year would be him driving the tractor and pulling us behind. It was hot, but we had a blast!

Mimi, Papa and the girls!

Rhodes, especially, loved the tractor....she would have preferred to drive the tractor instead of ride in the float!Ali and Mimi - the sun was out and it was hot!
Posing...
Getting ready to begin!

Sweet friends...Ali and Caroline
Rhodes found the fan!
Here we go!
I think Rhodes loved the parade the most! Every time I yelled out "Happy 4th!", she would yell it out in her cute little voice as well! She also waved her flag for everyone and waved at her adoring crowd!
Driving down the loop (in regular traffic) to get the float back to the starting point = a little nerve wracking!
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

Summer livin'

July is here - it is hard to believe! We continue to stay busy and are having lots of summer fun! Although I find myself tired of plans and longing for days of sitting around with NOTHING to do - I also love to stay busy and have to say that last weekend was one of my favorite weekends to date. Ryan and I headed to Charleston and I missed our girls like crazy, but had an incredible (and exhausting!) kid free weekend. One of my best friends since zero got married and it was such an honor to be a part of her special day! We got there on Thursday and enjoyed a date night then met up with my parents and the bride and groom and their families for some drinks. Ryan played two days worth of golf at some amazing golf courses and I shopped and did fun bridesmaid activities the day of the wedding. It was the perfect wedding weekend and we could not have had a better time! They planned the perfect weekend - everything from the "welcome party" (200 people to toast in front of!) here, to the bridesmaid luncheon here (the food was unbelievable and George Washington had actually eaten the historic room we ate in!), the wedding here (the oldest Catholic church in the Carolinas and Georgia!), the reception here with this amazing band, and even an after party here! They truly thought of everything and it was perfect! So excited for my oldest friend and part of me wishes we were still there celebrating in our dancing shoes! (Although not sure I could be away from my girls for one more second!) I am now trying to figure out when we can get back to Charleston for a family weekend - such a great city!

My goofy husband had a great time playing golf on Saturday and decided to take a few pictures of us walking back into the church for pictures after the wedding...

The happy father of the bride....

Mother of the bride....
Best friends since zero....minus the bride!
Congrats to Kate and Pete!! And thanks to Grandmommy and Granddaddy for a fun-filled weekend for Ali and Rhodes! They had such a great time and have been going through withdrawals all week!

Now we are back in the throws of the real world...potty training has finally begun at the Patrick household - if we can just stay home long enough to practice. Rhodes is loving her big girl panties and prefers to walk around like this 24 hours a day - even when she is outside dancing or watering the flowers!

Love this bottom! :)
Ali had a big week at Super hero camp! It was 9-3 every day and she had a blast! (her mama and Rhodes missed her - that is a LONG time!) We celebrated the start of a fun family weekend by roasting some s'mores!
Silly girl!
Sticky and delicious!
This weekend - I have big goals! Getting out the camera, putting down the computer, and spending lots of good quality time with three of my favorite people! We may just walk up to the Farmers market today, then head to the pool, then a family night of Cars 2, pizza and maybe some yummy yogurt! Now...these are the things summer is made for!