18 month check up

Ashton is now 18 months old.  I can't believe how fast it has gone.  He is growing up so fast.  His personality continues to shine through.  He is an active boy who loves trains and trucks.  He has no fear and loves to play, climb and eat.  His vocabulary is continuing to grow and it is fun to hear him try to communicate with us.  He has a great sense of humor and continues to make all of us laugh.  Every day he is becoming more and more fun.  I took him to the doctor for his check up and he weighed in at 29.15 lbs (92%) and is 33 3/4 in long (90%).

Summer fun and visit with Harkless family

I haven't been able to update the blog in a while because our computer's hard drive crashed and we had to replace the hard drive.  But we are now up and running again.  

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to:

Our first trip to the pool this summer.  The kids had a blast.

Cate and Ashton playing on the stairs.

Cate with her new paint set painting a rock.

Ashton joining in on the painting fun.

The Harkless family came all the way from Singapore for a 1 month visit.  Cate and Elyse were so excited to see each other.  They have been having so much fun playing together.

The girls swinging at the park in costume

Anastasia and Ashton swinging together

The cousins playing at Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt's

Cate had a sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's with Elyse last week.  The girls had a wonderful time together.  Since Eric was traveling it ended up being just me and Ashton.  We had a lot of fun together.  It was really nice to spend some time with just him.

Past 2 weekends...

I haven't updated the blog in a while.  Here is what we have been up to the last couple weekends:

We had a very busy Memorial Day weekend.  Saturday morning we took the kids to the park near our house.  We played a bunch and then had a picnic there.  It was a beautiful morning.

Cate and Ashton in the stroller on the way to the park.  Ashton is letting me know how to get there.

Having lunch at the park

Ashton eating his lunch.  He really enjoyed sitting at the table all by him self.  

After the park and the kid's naps we headed to Broomfield to celebrate Josh and Zach Anderson's 30th birthday.  They are good friends of ours from high school and it was great to see them both.  The kids had a lot of fun at the party.  It was a long drive though, 1 hour each way.  We were very happy that we went.  

On Sunday morning we took the kids to a different park to play.  Then we came home for lunch and naps.  After nap time we headed to Eric's parent's house in Littleton to have a BBQ with his old friends from the neighborhood.  During the day Ashton wasn't quite acting like himself and then he got a fever of 102.5.  After giving him tylenol and ibuprofen, he continued to have a fever and was acting much more lethargic.  So a few minutes into the BBQ I decided to take him to urgent care.  2 hours later we had a diagnosis of strep throat.  We didn't get home until around 8:30.  So once he took his antibiotic we put him to bed.  It was a long day and Eric and I were wiped out.  

While at the Schmidt's house Cate and Grandpa found a snake and Cate wanted to hold it.

Monday morning Eric and I headed to Boulder to run the Bolder Boulder.  It is a 10K race that weaves through the streets of Boulder.  We ran it with our friends Mike and Clay.  The race was a lot of fun.  There were live bands along the course playing music and a lot of people lined the streets to cheer us on.  After the race we got some lunch with Mike and Clay and then we headed back to Littleton to pick up the kids and head home.  We were completely exhausted when we got home.

This weekend wasn't quite as busy but still a lot of fun.  On Saturday my Mom came down from Steamboat to go to a baby shower that we were invited to.  The shower was at her best friend Jan's house.  Jan has 2 horses and Cate was so excited that she got to sit on one of the horses.  After the shower we headed back to our house for dinner and then my Mom headed back to Steamboat.

Cate sitting on the horse

Ashton having his breakfast Sunday morning and watching his cartoons.

Later Sunday morning we took the kids for a hike.  We stopped to give the kids a snack before heading back.

Ashton loved the hike and really enjoyed looking for rocks.

We carried the kids for a big portion of the hike. 

The kids are getting pretty heavy!

After the hike we headed over to the park that is near the trail head.  Cate climbed up on this buffalo all by her self!

Later in the afternoon we headed over to the hardware store, and Cate and Ashton got to sit on the big lawn mowers.  They both thought it was pretty cool.

Cate asked us if we were going to drive this home.

Pics of the kids

Here are a few pictures of the kids that I took of the kids recently:

Cate and Ashton helped me bake a cake.  As Ashton gets older and older we are able to do more things together.

I brought the kid's chairs downstairs and set them up to watch a movie.  They thought it was so fun to have "movie night"

Ashton loves trains.  Every time he sees one he says "choo, choo".  So we got a train book at the library and Eric read it to him and Cate.

I have been working on Cate learning to write her letters.  In this picture Cate wrote her cousin's name "Elyse" on the doodle pad.  She was very proud of herself.  

Trip to Singapore

Eric and I took a trip to Singapore to visit his sister Jenn, brother in law Toby, and our nieces Elyse and Anastasia.  We went for 8 days total.  It takes 30 hours of travel to get there.  It was more travel than either of us have ever done.  We arrived at 1:00 am on Saturday morning.  Here are some pictures from our trip:

First Jenn took us for a tour around the neighborhood while Anastasia took a nap.  This is a picture of  durian fruit which they eat a lot in Singapore.  It is very stinky so needless to say we weren't interested in eating any.  It is a pretty cool looking fruit though.

Playground near their house

 

When we got back from our walk we took a cab over to the Singapore Flyer.  It is like a giant ferris wheel.

This is one of the individual pods that you ride around in.  It was so much fun because we were able to get a great view of Singapore.  Jenn and Toby pointed out a bunch of things that we went to see later in the week.

Riding the Singapore flyer with Elyse

Going up to the top

Jenn and Anastasia on the flyer

Eric and I with a  great view of Singapore in the background

After the flyer we stopped for some Gelato

Walking by the water at the bottom of the Singapore flyer

On Sunday we went with Jenn and Toby to church and then went out to lunch.  After lunch Jenn and Toby took the kids home and Eric and I walked up and down Orchard street, which is the downtown area.

Here is a picture of the amazing pool that is in Jenn and Toby's complex

Later that evening Jenn and Toby got a babysitter for the kids and we went out on the town.  We took the MRT down to the Boat/Clarke Quey area.  

Here we are down by the water

Then we walked over to the Merlion (half mermaid half lion) statue.  It is usually out in the open but recently an artist came and put the Merlion head in a large room and turned it into a hotel room that people can use for a night.  Here is a picture of Jenn and Toby standing by the Merlion head.

This is a picture of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino.  It is an amazing building.

After dinner we took a boat cruise down the river and saw Singapore at night.  The whole city is beautifully lit up.

On Monday we took a trip to Sentosa which is a little island off of Singapore.  It is  a beautiful island which a lot of beaches and many activities.  

Elyse and I by the Sentosa sign

Eric, Toby, and Elyse at the beach

Lunch break 

Then we went and did the "luge" which is like doing an alpine slide.  Here is a view from the lift we took up.

Jenn, Elyse, and Eric ready to go up to do the luge

Elyse and I riding down the luge.  It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday morning Eric and I went for a run around the lake by their house.  On our way back it started to down pore and Eric and I got stuck in the rain.  Since it is so hot in Singapore the rain was actually very refreshing.  Here is a picture of how wet we got.

Once the rain stopped Jenn took us for a tour of China town.  Here is a picture of one of the temples that we toured.

Elyse, Jenn, and Anastasia at another temple

One of the streets in China Town.  We also took a tour of the China Town Heritage Center which walked us through the evolution of Singapore.  It was very interesing.  

On Wednesday Jenn took us to the Southern Ridges Walk.  This is a picture of us doing the forest walk.  We saw a few wild monkeys too.

Next we walked on the Henderson Waves bridge.  

Here is a view of the bridge from the ground.  The bridge was very unique and it was a very fun walk.

When we got back from our walk Eric took Elyse swimming in their pool.

That night Eric and I went to the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (picture of the building earlier in the post)  There were spectacular views of Singapore from the top of the hotel.  After we went to the top we checked out the Casino.  You need a passport to get in to the casino for free.  If you are a Singaporian you have to pay $100 to get in.  The government doesn't want its citizens getting addicted to gambling.

Another picture of us at the top

Then we stopped at a bar in the hotel to get a drink.  Eric ordered a "Singapore Sling"

That night Toby watched the girls and Jenn met up with us for dinner and a place called Chimes.  It is a beautiful place with a bunch of different restaurants

Here is a picture of the building

Eating dinner with Jenn

On Thursday we took Elyse to the Science Center and then we went to lunch.  It was very fun watching her run all over the Science Center.  She was so excited to show us everything.  She is such a fun little girl.  (We took pictures but I am having trouble getting them to load)

Later that night after the girls were in bed Eric and Toby made a drink:

Eric and Toby having "Black and Tans" together

There are many more pictures but these are just some of the highlights.  Eric and I had a wonderful time in Singapore.  It was great to get to see another part of the world.  We are so happy that we were able to visit the Harkless family and that we were able to see what their life is like in Singapore.