Hang with Friends & Many Summer Birthday Celebrations!

Summer time to us means BBQs, hanging with friends and frequent trips to Dairy Queen. As I review our pictures from just the past few weeks you can see we have had a lot of fun doing all three!

1st up - BBQ with friends - gathered around the picnic table is Samantha, Hudson and Finn.


This cowboy is never too far away from his horse. At the summer party at Highlands Ranch Learning Center Payson had a blast on the horse and giggled his way around and around on the train with his buddy Jake!



We were excited to celebrate Emery's 1st birthday party - it was hot and muggy that day, but she had a perfect tu-tu for the occassion. Dressing little girls is SO different than dressing little boys!


A quick trip to the zoo for the Einstein's Company picnic is always a great time - especially when we got a bracelet for unlimited rides on the carousel!


Rounding up our July birthdays - Griffin turned 3. Payson and Griffin share a love for Lighting McQueen, so the theme was perfect. They also seem to share a love for Tootsie Roll Pops! Even though there were a million activities to keep the children entertained, it seemed like everyone had a blast using Todd as a jungle gym. I think Todd was sore for about 4-5 days after the party.

Beating the Summer Time Heat & 1st Movie Theater Experience

This summer has been hot, but we have found many ways to beat the heat. Pools and parks have been one of our favority hang outs.






Of course we have no shortage of fun toys in our own backyard. This great big ball from Pottery Barn kids is a quick fix when we just want to splash around in the sprinkler. The water table is also a lot of fun. As you can see, we want to play outside before we can even get in swim trunks - we are still in our jammies on this particular saturday morning!





Then...Daddy took a camping trip with friends so Payson and I went on a date to the movie theater! Payson's first experience and he is hooked. He talks about it all of the time and comments every day when we drive by the theater. We saw Toy Story 3 - and of course this required bringing along Buzz and Woody. Eating theater popcorn was great! Payson did an awesome job, sat in his seat for the 1st 45 minutes and then moved to my lap for some extra snuggle time. I didn't mind at all!

The cowboy and his horse Rosie

From the new cowboy big boy bed, you can see what we are into these days. Highlands Ranch hosted a little Rodeo in the Ranch and of course we had to go! It was a lot of fun, but so HOT. Sitting on metal bleachers at noon in 95 degree weather was a little rough at 7.5 months pregnant. But, we had a great time with our friends. Payson's buddy Jake and his parents came with us, and popcorn and cotton candy was enjoyed by everyone!

First order of business was riding Rosie the pony. In bright green crocs I might add.





Next up...Hayrides.





This was a pretty cool setting for a rodeo - all of 5 minutes from our house!



It is safe to say that both Payson and Jake had a lot of fun!

Our cowboy is growing up

So, the time came - Payson needed a Big Boy Bed. He was so excited and wanted to help Daddy put it together. His nursery theme was Mickey Mouse (I know, shocking), but when asked, Payson felt very strongly that he needed a cowboy big boy bed. Ask and Mommy will deliver.



I went a little crazy with the theme - but I sort of had to. I hit the cowboy jackpot at Hobby Lobby. I found so many great things!





The finished product...


He loves it- he has slept great in his bed every night. My biggest fear was that he would get out of bed, but I think we have trained him pretty well to know that he can climb in his bed, but either Mommy or Daddy have to get him out of bed. Before we would read books together in the rocking chair, now we snuggle together in bed to read books and it is my most favorite part of my day! I love that after reading books Payson always tells me - "You can't go - stay with me Mommy, I will share my pillow with you" Gets me every time!

First morning waking up - Todd and I check on Payson every night before we go to bed, just to clear the 100 toys he sleeps with away from his head. Yes, I am a big sap and cried the first time I saw him sleeping in that bed - wow, times sure flies!

Mountain High 4th of July

We had a great long holiday weekend up in Keystone. Payson had his first official fly fishing lesson from Todd.



Don't turn your back on me Daddy....

Not quite ready for fly fishing, but definately ready for throwing rocks in the river and making a big SPLASH!

The evenings were spent rocking in the Hamock with Uncle Jon.




On the 4th we headed over to Vail for a great parade. Minus the really loud motorcycles everyone had a blast. Candy was raining down from all of the floats and Payson had a blast running around with the kids gathering it all up!




We hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend and remembers exactly our reasons for celebrating. No major fireworks show, it was raining, and Payson was quick to remind everyone that he had seen fireworks at Mickey Mouse's castle a few weeks ago. We watched them on tv instead and ohhhed and ahhhhed with out the big bangs!

Living it up in California

Time for a recap of our great vacation we were able to take a few weeks ago. As we all know, I am a Disney fanatic, but that love has been passed to Payson as well. Minus the crowds, we had a great time. Payson truly believes that Mickey lives in the castle and each day I pick him up at school his teacher tells us that he still spends the majority of his day re-telling stories of his visit!

First stop on the trip....In n Out Burger - Best shakes EVER!



Next stop - meet the new cousin - baby Owen. So cute. Todd got right back into the swing of things!







After a quick visit to Pasadena, where Payson got spoiled with toys by both his Aunt and Great Aunt! We were off to Disneyland. Todd made the mistake of calling it a park - Payson flipped. IT IS NOT A PARK - it is the Mickey Mouse Castle!



Payson is definately at a stage where he it is all about doing the same thing over and over again. And man, did he love the Nemo Submarine ride, the Buzz LightYear ride, the Dumbo ride, and the "Horsies". Being 6.5 months pregnant, I did have to miss out on a few of my favorites, but luckily Todd was able to sneak off and ride them!



Meeting our friends was definately the best part of the trip!









Eating this ice cream under the fireworks display might of been my favorite part!



Overall, Todd, Payson and I had a blast - we are counting down the days until we can go again soon. Payson was a rock star - in fact, he kept going after a 14 hours day of playing - we had to tell him that his "friends" had gone to bed.

Some quick tips for you all that might consider this vacation soon - hit up a grocery store before you head to a park. Load up on Apple juice boxes. At $2/box, we spent a small fortune on those things. By staying within walking distance of the park, it was nice to be able to get back and forth from the hotel on our own agenda. The parades were all fantastic. So much, I think it actually was a little too much for Payson to see his "heros" come to life. When Lightning McQueen drove down the street Payson was so excited he ran and hide behind his stroller and peeked out!