Grandpa "Uhkee" and Holly

We love having visitors come, because then we get to do some exploring too! We had heard about a cute little town on the other side of Denver in the mountains that was designed especially for kids, so we decided to check it out. The main attraction is a steam engine that takes you around the little "city". Since Grandpa Aichele likes trains and Silas does too, it was a hit! Although the weather was cooler than what we would have liked it to be, the rain held off until we were done and so we got to enjoy Tiny Town. In addition to the steam engine, it is a city for small people. All of the houses and stores and stuff are small so that the kids can walk around them and some of them inside of them, but adults can't. So, it is just really cute.

Here are some pictures that captured our time.

An example of a house at Tiny Town. Silas just fits in the doorway.
Silas playing in the windmill while Daddy looks on.

Grandpa Aichele and Holly with the boys in front of the steam engine that we rode.


Silas admiring the train.

All of us on the train ready to take the ride!

Camping

In case you were wondering.....we survived our camping trip and actually had a lot of fun. Wednesday, we left for Mueller State Park which is about an hour away from our house in the mountains. We got our tent up and ate in just enough time for a thunderstorm to roll through, so it was perfect timing and very neat! Our friend Damon came with us, so it was nice to have some company and fellowship along with someone else to occupy the boys...he, he! On Thursday, we relaxed and went hiking a little bit. Friday, we packed up camp so that we could move to another campground, so we could go camping with our church.

Our church goes camping one weekend every summer, so we basically close up the church and head out. Most of the church goes, so it is so nice to see everyone outside of Sunday morning fellowship. The kids have a blast playing together and the adults enjoy the conversation, games and food! On Sunday, we have church at the campground and then we all pack up and leave.

All in all it was a great weekend. The downfall is that each night it got down to 45 degrees, so it was a bit chilly. Nathan ended up in our bed every night after his poor hands got so cold. However during the days, it gets up to 75, so it is quite a temperature jump! Anyways, we have lots of good memories, some rest and some good family time. Here are some pictures that captured it.

The boys "helping" Daddy set up our tent.

Silas using the tent as an outfield for his tee ball! It actually worked great....nobody had to go fetch the balls!

Damon and Nathan enjoying themselves!

Yes, there was even a park in the campground! Yeah! Notice the mountains in the background, the view at this campground is amazing!


Our family hiking.

Daddy and the boys hiking.

Notice Nathan pulling on Kurt's hat in this picture. That is what he did the whole time we were hiking....it was rather funny and he was just giggling away. Such a great personality.

Summer Fun

It's been awhile since I've posted, because we've been enjoying our summer! I haven't taken too many pictures, but I will upload the ones I have. Anyways, the weather has been so beautiful that our days are spent taking walks, going to the park, swimming, many playdates and more. Kurt has been off work from late last week through this week, so we are really just enjoying our family.

If you think of us this week, please pray for us, we are leaving tomorrow to go camping in the mountains! Pray for good weather, a wonderful time with family, and good sleep, if possible in a tent with 2 young kids and a dog! Oh well, always an adventure and we hope to instill in our children a love for camping like we have, so I'm sure we will have a nice time.


Our little swimming pool in our backyard.

Silas playing on his trike.

We had just gotten back from a walk, so Nathan is still hanging out in the stroller and Silas climbed on his trike. As you can see, most of our days are spent outside!

Our Trip Wrap-up (I think....)

I knew the time would get away from me if I didn't post about our trip as soon as I got back and......sure enough.... it did. Hard to believe it has been a month since we left to go there! Anyways, I'll end with our time in Chicago.

My Aunt Pat and Uncle Kent were so gracious as to take me and the boys to Madison, WI to meet up with Kurt on Sat. It was so nice to reunite! The rest of the Saturday was spent at a graduation party of a gymnast Kurt coached. It was nice to see some of his old gymnasts and be amazed at how they have grown and matured! Sunday we had the pleasure of going back to our old church and worship with them. It was an amazing time. It's so awesome to see how God is growing that church not only in number, but still in relationships. It's like we come back and we still feel connected because it truly is a body of Christ! Sunday afternoon/evening was spent at Kurt's brother's house swimming and eating with family and a few friends.

The rest of the week included a lot of family, cousin and grandma time. We were able to stay at Grandma Aichele's apartment, so we had some nice time with her. On Monday, we had a picnic with Kurt's brother and family and then we all went to the children's museum in Naperville. It was neat to see the kids be able to play together. On Tuesday, we were able to take the train downtown Chicago. This is something Silas still talks about! He loves trains and so it was nice to be able to ride on it with his cousins. It was also nice to be able to commute downtown together and not have to deal with traffic and be able to enjoy company. Once we got downtown, our plans got changed due to long lines at the Shedd aquarium. We ended up going to the Lincoln Park zoo for about an hour before the weather changed quickly. Thankfully, the kids did really well with all the changes! On Wednesday, we left for home, but were able to spend a little bit of time at my Aunt Sue and Uncle Lyle's house before our flight left. We took the boys to the park that is right by their house to try and get some energy out before the flight and then we ate lunch with them.

All in all, it was a great trip! We got to see and spend time with a lot of family members and have great memories! here are some pictures.

Silas and cousin Anna eating together.

Cousins playing.

Grandma Aichele with the boys.

Silas playing with Amanda. Some of our friends from Chicago.

Bubble time at the children's museum.

Anna and Silas playing.

Nathan even enjoying the children's museum.

The Aichele cousins.


Our family in downtown Chicago.

Nathan's 9 Months!

I still have more to post on our trip, but before I forget, I'd like to post about Nathan's 9 month appt. Yes, hard to believe, he's going to be one before I know it! At his 9 month appt, he weighed 19 lb and 14 oz which is the 40%. He really has slimmed out. But, he's still growing like a weed, because his height is 29.5 inches which is the 87%. So he's getting much longer. When I looked back at Silas's info, he was 16 lb and 14.5 oz and his height was 27.5 inches which were both less than the 25%. So no wonder Nathan seems huge!

Nathan is now crawling. He started mastering crawling when we were on our trip and he's gotten really quick now. He does an army crawl (similar to Silas) but he has flirted w/ the idea of getting up on his hands and knees. He loves to take a bath or be in water. Silas and Nathan now take baths together and it is a riot seeing them since they both love the water. Nathan is chatting up a storm now and our car rides are no longer quiet! Silas now has competition, so it's not unusual for the level of sound in our vehicle to escalate! Nathan is still a very happy baby. On a daily basis, he gets stepped on, rolled over, pushed, toys taken away from, and the list goes on, yet he is pretty tolerating of most things. Nathan giggles pretty easily and the one person that can get him to giggle the quickest is Silas (believe it or not). For the one that is the meanest to him, he admires the most. So, although these are some challenging years with sharing, I think they will be rewarding in the end.