Last year we didn't do much for the 4th. If I remember correctly, I was in a hotel room somewhere between North Carolina and Colorado with the kids and Hans was at home writing a sermon for church the next day. I'm not sure how much we would have done anyways since Gus was only 3 months old. This year, Kelsey was visiting and we decided to check out what the Denver area has to offer. After church and lunch we saw the 1st annual 4th of July parade for our neighborhood. It was a cute little parade where the boys got WAY TOO MUCH candy. I think the highlight of the parade was when the Park Hill Pooches walked by. We had to keep Gus from following all the dogs. John had a great time talking to everyone. He is a very social boy.
After the parade we packed up some food and went to Arvada for their family festival. If you live in the Denver area, I would recommend this festival. It was very family friendly and free.
The Arvada Fire and Rescue department was there so the kids could explore the fire trucks.
John took this opportunity to be social.
He was at least quiet enough to learn something.
This was John's favorite part.
It was only about 4 in the afternoon, but people were already staking out their spot for the fireworks...in 5 hours.
John loved the big fireman. He would follow him around the kids' area and give him hugs and high fives.
Gus just watches everyone and everything.
John couldn't wait to get on these bouncy things. He climbed a big ladder to get to the top of this big slide...
then he jumped.
He loved it!
Showing me his muscles before he climbs the next big bouncy thing.
Face painting time.
After two attempts at painting his face, they finally just painted his arm.
I still have lots more pictures...until next time.
Kelsey is super sweet and an amazing friend. We lived together for almost 5 years before Hans took me away. She's never been a kid person, but she loves my kids. I think she'll even say she still loves them after being at our house for 9 days. That is a lot of love. John is just in love with Kelsey. It took Gus a few days to get used to a new person around, but by the end of her stay he was trying to say "Kelsey". We had a lot of fun while she was here.
One day we went to the zoo. It was nice for Kelsey to see some actual animals and not boys that act like animals.
Watching the bears play.
Worn out.
Of course we did all kinds of stuff for which I forgot to bring my camera. We explored a couple of new parks, went to an indoor play place and I put her to work helping me do some much needed yard/house work. It was a wonderful week and we are all sad to see her go.
I am at 24 weeks now and I had my sonogram a couple of weeks ago. This baby is measuring right on track, which means there is hope that this one will be smaller at birth. We didn't find out what we are having, so we will all just have to wait and see in October. I do think that any child entering this house has no hope of being calm and quiet.
August went in for his 15 month check-up and he is a big boy. He weighs 26.8 pounds and is 32 1/2 inches long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and the 90th for height. Just to compare, John was only 21.8 pounds (10th percentile) and 29 1/4 inches long (5th percentile). Needless to say, the clothes don't fit the boys the same way.
They look the same size here, but I assure you August is much bigger. They are both pretty cute though. Looking at pictures of John at this age makes me miss my sweet, non-talking boy.
Trains have been apart of our every day lives for almost 2 years now. I don't know what we would do without trains. John shares his passion with a few other boys his age...it is just too bad they don't live closer. One of the boys who loves trains as much as John lives in Texas. His name is Eli. This is the same Eli that went to TOT camp with John. John and Eli instantly connected and it was so nice to pass on the train conversation to someone else.
John and Eli's version of bumper cars.
A much needed juice break after playing outside. Eli's grandpa made this rocking horse. Isn't it cool?
Playing with trains...what else?
Eli's grandpa, Mr. Hale, also made this train set. It is spectacular. It is so nice I almost didn't want John to touch it. This is one of Eli's favorite toys and it isn't hard to see why.
The surprise of the afternoon for John was that Mr. Hale also made John (and Gus) a set. John was so excited and couldn't wait to play with them when we got home.
Gus even loves them.
These trains and cars are simply amazing and we are very honored that Mr. Hale thought of us when making them. I can only imagine the time and love that went into each car. Thank you, Mr. Hale! And, thank you, Mrs. Hale for losing your husband to his woodworking shop for several hours.
The boys had a great time playing with new toys, touching all of the 'pretty things', watching new movies and making the house a mess. It was by no means a quiet house. It never is. The boys spent a whole week competing for Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mark's attention.
Lately Gus has been smiling and saying "cheese" whenever he sees a camera. I'm guessing he learned this from John.
John saw the big fireman dancing and decided he needed to join him.
