Daybreak Friends

Once again, Taylee and I were lucky enough to meet up with my bestest friends from work for some summer fun. It was extra special this year because we got to meet Jessy's newest little addition, Wesley. Unfortunately I live an hour away from these fabulous gals, but I am so glad we get to get together every so often. Plus, by getting together only once a year, we get to exclaim over how much each of the children has grown!

This year, instead of going to a public park, we went to Jessy's fabulous community Daybreak. We were able to eat at Jessy's cute townhouse before heading to one of Daybreak's many kid-friendly ammenities- the "splash pool." This gave the kids time to warm up and bond over some chicken mcnuggets before heading to the pool. My shy little Taylee even tried to get into the spirit, announcing to me "mommy, I talk to her!" We are working a lot on the "shy" problem. But we can't call it shy anymore. She has caught on and is using it to her advantage. Example: "Taylee, can you say thanks to the nice lady for giving you a sucker?" "Mommy, I can't because I'm shy!" Twerpy little monkey. Too smart for her own good.

My Taylee (yes, she chose to sit in the bumbo), Jessy's Lydia, Adrienne's Mia, and Jessy's Nyah.
Cute little Zane wanted nothin' to do with this photo-op.
Who could blame him?

My favoritest gals! Jessy with baby Wesley, and Adrienne

Funny Mia!

No words necessary. . . :0)

Some excellent teamwork going into this treasure hunt!

And Miss Taylee. Off on a treasure hunt of her own.

If you're born in August . . .

If you are a Judson (by marriage or birth!), and you were born in August, you are in for a treat! While the rest of the family just gets a run of the mill family party with dinner, cake, and our yearly gift card exchange (you know, the kind where you exchange gift cards to different venues with your siblings for their birthday, cuz you don't know what to get them . . .), us lucky August birthday's got a party at Cherry Hill! We had such a fun time at Cherry Hill on the 4th of July, we decided to do it again. Thanks mama Karen for planning such a fun day for me, Scott, and Amber! And your welcome to all the rest of the family for providing good inspiration for a day at Cherry Hill. :0)
I don't have too many photos to share from our day, because water parks are, by nature, dangerous for cameras! Here's a few that I snapped . . .

Skyler, Kent, Taylee, Shelly, Hunter, Cody, Grandpa Terry, Grandma Karen, Kenzie, Amber, and Scott

My adorable kiddos. And I'm definitely NOT biased or anything!

Grandpa Terry. Flashing his pearly whites cuz it's lunchtime!

Hunter. This kid cracks me up!

We sure had a good time! Maybe we should do this every year?!

Welcome Peyton!

Our day at Broncos training camp was super cool, but unbearably, ridiculously HOT! One of the few times I was happy to be pulled away from our family activity because Taylee is being whiny. She was hot too, so nana and I took turns spending time with the kids in the shade away from the practice field. Kent managed to sit, roasting in the sun, through the ENTIRE 3 hour practice. Crazy! But, it was pretty awesome to see Peyton Manning don the orange and blue uniform. I think it suits him. . .

A very happy sight for anxious Bronco fans!

 After training camp we drove to Colorado Springs to see my grandpa. We were so happy to spend some time with him, and make him a home cooked meal. Love you grandpa!

Great Graahnpah (per Taylee)

Aden, Nana, and Taylee

After dinner the kids (and maybe a couple of adults!) tried to destroy grandpa's house with a ball. Luckily no one was injured in the making of this fun.

It took Taylee awhile to warm up to her cousins and aunts, but, as you can see, she got there!

As ever, she adores her nana. Can you feel the love?!

WaterWorld!

After our drama over getting to Denver, we were pumped to be there and ready to party. Or relax. Whichever came first. Not sure relaxing ever happened, as we were on the go, go, go, but we had a great time! On Monday, we went to Water World. Boy, it sure has grown since I was a kid. It's a pretty fun place. We were there from open to close, and I still think we saw less than half the park. Can't wait to go back!

Garrett, Aunt Ginger, and Ashley

My boys

The whole fam-dam! Minus me, of course. I was quite purposefully behind the camera!

Hydroplaning!

Getting crazy with her lunch meat! Talk about a good time!

Chillin like a teenager.

After water world we headed to Aunt Ginger's and barbecued some burgers and brats for dinner! Yummy! We were pretty tired by the time we crawled into bed at eleven, preparing to get up super early for Broncos training camp.

And then it was mine . . .

My birthday sneaks up just a short 8 days after Taylee's day. All in all, between July 20th and Aug 19th Kent's family celebrates six birthdays. Makes for a busy month!

We had a fabulous birthday dinner with my parents at Olive Garden on Friday, and I had a date with my hubby at the Parade of Homes on Saturday! We will be having a combined party at Cherry Hill for several of us in Kent's family next week.
After our date on Saturday Kent and I were trying to get home early in order to pack and prepare for our early morning departure to Denver on Sunday. As we left Johnny Rockets (my favorite hamburger locale!), and headed to my mom's to pick up Taylee, we felt that awful thump thump that can only mean one thing. Flat tire. Perfect. We were supposed to be driving our car on a road trip leaving at 6:30 the next morning. Of course, by this point (8:30 on Saturday night), there was no one open to fix our flat, and we certainly weren't going to drive 500 miles on the spare. Ugh! A quick change of plans had us all squashed into my dad's car for the trip to Denver. Turns out it didn't matter, because they wouldn't fix our flat anyways because we drove on it while it was flat. Hmmm. I don't know how else we would have realized it was flat? We don't routinely walk around the car checking for flat tires. We drove 2 blocks on our flat, max! I smell something fishy here! Almost $600 later, we have four new tires (our car is all wheel drive, which requires you to replace all four at one time). Ouch! Lesson learned, I guess.
Luckily, we had a pretty fabulous time in Denver, and forgot all about our tire drama. Stay tuned for photos of our trip!

Dining at the OG!

Taylee helping me open my gifts. She madea real fun game of throwing my new clothes at nana. See the strap flying through the air?

My favorite present. EVER!

My favorite present every year. New running shoes! Excuse my appearance. This was taken after a long day, and the changing of our flat tire.

It's a Minnie Mouse Party!

Warning! This is the story of Taylee's third birthday party, told in pictures. Lots of them!

With a July birthday, a party with water to keep cool is the only way to go!
Taylee's cousins, Kenzie, Hunter, and Cody, are definitely fans.

Skyler finally brought his lovely Monica to meet us. Luckily they were pretty gentle with her, and she only got dunked once.

Grandma, Kent, and Amber chillaxin in the shade.

Grandpa and Uncle Scott diggin' the party scene.

Aunt Shelly, Taylee's new best friend!

Sweet Kenzie

We did force Taylee on the slide. Just this once. She still isn't a fan. :0(

 

At least her cousins love the slide!

Taylee with her besty Daphne.

Poppi became the official grandpa of the party. Mr. Tate LOVED him. Super cute!

Skyler and Monica, when we could keep them from mauling each other. Oy!



Skyler looks like he doesn't like the slide either!

Oh wait! Yes he does!

Opening gifts was super fun! Especially with lots of help from her friends!

Taylee loved ALL her presents, but was thrilled once again to get a new baby. This time it was a "sick" baby that she could take care of. Just like mommy takes care of sick babies at work. 

Action shot in the pool!

The very coolest neighbor on the block - Jennika!
(Also known as Daphne's mommy)

Minnie Mouse cake!

The birthday girl lovin her Minnie Mouse cake.

Taylee may not like the slide, but she LOVES her little pool! And yes, she is indeed wearing her floatey in the 2 ft deep pool. Safety first is her motto! Or maybe she's just our little chicken. ;0)

Too precious to leave this one out!

Taylee doctoring her sick baby. Too cute!
Happy Birthday Nurse Taylee!