Random Pictures in July

I seem to have run out of time to blog. But there are some very funny pictures that should be on our blog and i thought i'd compile some monthly pictures of Tyler to see what he's been up to.


He likes climbing into things and see if he can fit. This is what he climbed in one of the nights... the trash can..


He seems to be very interested in whatever we're doing. It could be cleaning, or fixing stuff. Here's one of him "helping" daddy fix his bicycle tires.


With the arrival of the new baby, we've been teaching him about caring for others, like his teddy bear. This is him wiping his teddy bear because it got wet.

I can't explain why my son is holding his crocs with a spatula.

He finds hats interesting and loves to buckle stuff, so when he found a bicycle helmet, that did it!

Another picture that i can't explain. I'm just the photographer....

The Wiggles Concert

The Wiggles was Tyler's favorite show for some time many months ago. So, at that time, i decided to buy tickets to go see them as a treat for Tyler.

How would I know that his interest was going to be so short-lived? Nowadays, he would scream in protest when u turn it on!! ha!!

So, I was rather worried about going to the show. Thankfully, he seemed quite mesmerized throughout the show. He refused to get off Alan's lap to get on the floor to dance like the rest of the kids that were there.


Before the start of the show..


The Wiggles!! I've actually gotten used to them and don't find them SOOO weird anymore!


This was Tyler most of the night..

I finally convinced him to go up to the stage with me and watch the show up close. He became a little more animated.

Our first family concert!

World of Wonders Museum

There is a small childrens museum close to our house, Tyler has been there before, but now Evelyn and Patrick were visiting we thought it would be good to spend some time there with Mateo...

Highlight of the day may have been the big yellow bus that was parked outside, Tyler loves buses and every chance he gets he screams out 'Buuuuu' at 110 decibels...

Tyler did get to ride in a car...

and play in the sand

Grandma and Granddad Bagg are here!!!

So, Evelyn and Patrick arrived to spend some quality time with Tyler. As usual, they brought boxes and boxes of teabags, chocolate and toys!!! Yay!!

It didn't take Tyler to warm up to them and were soon tugging them around to do stuff with him. One of his favorite things to do is to mimic what granddad is doing.. :)

Dragon Boat Festival

Vivian and Scott(parents of Sophia) invited us to join them at the Denver Dragon Boat Festival. From previous years experience, this event is VERY hot(weather wise). So, we decided to go early to beat the rush as well as the heat.

We met them at the performing stage where we watched some dances from many countries. We also every now and then paid some attention to the dragon boat racing.

One of the reason we met, was to let Sophia and Tyler play, but they spend more time giving each other evil looks!!

Soon, it was noon and as usual, it got very hot. So, we left but before we managed to get some pictures of us at the event(how else are we going to blog about it!).


Family outing at the Dragon Boat Festival


The Andersons who are also expecting - twins!!!


Oh, our other son tagged along too..

As it was very hot, we decided the boys could have some ice-cream, as long as they don't dribble all over the car! Steffen was in charge of making sure of that!


The boys and their ice cream!

What's going on with the Millsers?

Well, if you've been following our blog, it's been a busy busy busy summer for us at the Millsers household.

We've got quite a few changes in our little family.

If you've noticed, Alan has been doing lots of physical training and running races this summer. This is because since the end of June, Alan has quit his job and is currently taking some time off to relax. It's been great for me as he's around to help out more with Tyler which makes me now a little bit of a "lady of leisure!!"

We are also expecting our 2nd baby in Nov!! Another boy on the way and we've been trying to teach Tyler to be gentle to his toys and how to say "baby". Not sure he's really getting it, though if you ask him where the "baby" is, he will point to my tummy!! :) I will post a belly pic next. Haven't had a decent one!! :)

And obviously there's plenty of changes going on with Tyler. I will have to do an update about him to tell you all about it! But he's definitely growing up fast!

Anyways, leave us a note if you are following our blog!!

Pikes Peak 14er

We have visited Pikes Peak 14,110 feet a few times, by railway and by car, so thought it was high time that we hiked up this 14er.

Steffen and I set off early Saturday morning, and after a 2 hour drive, set off on the trailhead just after 7:30am, 3 hours later, after 6.2 miles, 4,000 elevation feet gain, and a lot of rock scrambling we made it to the top, where I had a celebratory fries and soda.
We headed back down and this was tough, we came down in 2 hours 45 minutes, my ankle was still sore which didnt help and the steepness of the trail didnt allow for a quick route down.

We got back to the car just as the lightning started, followed by hail, so perfect timing.

Mount Evans may well be our next 14er

Pictures from Macau and Hong Kong

We took a short little family trip to Macau in June. It was partly a short family trip and partly to check out Alan's exciting "other" life. It was interesting to see where he spends the other half of his life when he's travelling for work.

Macau in a few words is not really worth visiting unless you like to gamble. :) But Tyler and I had a good time there as we got to see Grandma and Grandpa Chua as well as Aunt Chui Li and Uncle Yew Kim. My sister by some weird chance was also visiting Macau at the same time we were there! What are the odds?


One of the famous spots - St Paul's Ruins

At the Fort



Bus rides - where Tyler found his love for busses

And love for his Kong Kong of course.. :)

Picture in front of one of the many casinos

So, here are more pictures of Macau:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=siewgin&target=ALBUM&id=5355544166765462449&authkey=Gv1sRgCMWwyeuEoKT9dw&feat=email

After Macau, we also spend 2 days in Hong Kong which was a little better though we didn't really do much.

Family picture on the Peak

Here are the rest of the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=siewgin&target=ALBUM&id=5355588119175415329&authkey=Gv1sRgCO-Z1OHD09bdJQ&feat=email

Enjoy!!

Bees, Bees and more Bees

The front of our house has two pillars which over the years have dropped away from the house. Last year we had a woodpecker who moved in, this year a swarm of honey bees moved in.

We want to raise the porch, so first step get rid of the bees. This is a complicated job, requires taking down parts of the pillar, removing the bees, then the hive itself.

We contracted a bee expert who started at 10:30 in the morning and finished aroumd 2pm, so a long job...

In the end, there was two large buckets of honeycomb and fifteen pounds of bees !!

Swarming Bees


Inside the pillar


Some of the honeycomb

Gut Buster 11 Miler under 40 minutes

I have been going to the rec center near our house to swim, and by chance I happened to spot an expresso fitness bike These allow you to ride against a pacer, and if you create a login, you can ride against yourself and others. I selected the Gut Buster course which is rated as extreme, it is 6 miles uphill, with some sections at 35% gradient, then 5 miles downhill. I normally use the rowing machine then do the Gut Buster, then run, then swim..

When I first tried this I did it in 48 minutes, which seemed slow, so I set about trying to break 40 minutes. It is made easier by using the pacer as well as your previous rides which appear as ghosts so you know how much faster you are doing than your previous best. This morning I managed to break the e(xc)lusive 40 minute barrier by 1 second.

Baseball Game at Coors Field

Some time ago, Steffen invited us to a baseball game with some of his colleagues as a company do. I thought it might be fun, so we all agreed to go (mental note to self: baseball games are boring, don't do it again!!).


Picture of us at the start of the game..

Tyler didn't think much of the game either. He spent most of his time drinking all of our soft drinks and making us take him for a walk around the stadium and outside to look at busses.


Slurrrpppp...


Picture of half the group..

I think the rest of the group may have had more interest in the game than i did and kept giving me grief when i asked what was going on!


Highlight of Steffen's night... ice cream!

Thanks Steffen for the invitation!!!

Donor Dash 5k Washington Park

A hectic few days of activity culminated in a few hours sleep Saturday night after the moonlight classic bike ride, then an early start for the Donor Dash 5k. My legs still felt tired from all the biking the previous week, but I thought that should help my stamina if not my speed...

I was totally surprised by the number of entries for this race, 3,000 was the official number who registered and 2,390 finished it. I didnt manage to get close to the start so lost a few seconds, but I felt okay in the run, and managed to knock another 10 seconds off my time, so nearly 30 seconds faster than my first 5k race this year, good steady improvement...

So where did I finish, well I managed to come in 75th place, which out of 2,390 is pretty respectable. My next race is Holy Cow Stampede, this is a nice out and back run, but is usually pretty hot, so looking for a fast time...

Moonlight Classic Midnight Bike Ride

Once a year, there is a midnight bike ride around Denver. I have done this a number of years and every year they seem to change something, the month, the course and so on. This year a few of us rode together (Alan, Steffen, Damith, Sabrina, Hish and Dave) on the 10 mile closed course, which seemed fairly flat, and was 'closed' to traffic.

So 4,000 bikes ride around Denver for a few hours then get to eat breakfast and go home and sleep.

We rode the course twice this year, the first lap all of us rode together, the second lap Steffen and I rode together as I wanted to finish quickly and get some sleep as I had a 5k race the next day. The second lap was quicker, but the closed course was now open and no longer sign posted so we spent probably a third of our time waiting for the lights to change..

All in All, good fun, next year, I may attach Tyler to the bike somehow and let him do a lap !!

Renaissance Festival 2009

Every year, the town of Larkspur, CO holds a Renaissance Festival where people go to spend silly money, dress up in all kinds of Renaissance-type costumes, talk in weird old English and hopefully have a good time.

Since Tyler seems to have a fear of people dressed up in funny outfits, i thought it'd be a good opportunity for him get a little more exposure and see if we can get over it (he looks quite concerned in most pictures)

So, we gathered a few interested parties and went down for a jolly time!


Tyler on Steffen's lap on bus ride (you can't tell but he loves to ride the bus)


The group of us at the entrance (Alan was in a meeting, but joined us later)


First exposure to "funny looking" people (Tyler looking a little concerned)

Why has she got wings??

How come their voices are coming from their chests when they talk??

Tyler and I getting a manually-pushed ride!! (He really liked this!!)

Ancient rocking horse?

Anyways, Tyler seemed to enjoy most things despite his concerned looks. He saw some camels, elephants, llamas, horses(during jousting) and even dragons!!

Tyler School Carnival

Tyler's school closed early on Friday for the annual School Carnival. Siew Gin was working so Alan got to hang out with Tyler and check out the entertainment. In order of Tyler liking the attractions here is the list :-


1. Bouncy Castle - Tyler was nervous getting in, but once in seemed to like bouncing around
2. Playground Gym - He plays on the small one every day, but got a chance to use the big one
3. Snow Cone - Again at first reluctant, after a while he loved getting the 'blue tongue'
4. Caricature - Not sure he liked sitting down for his picture, but liked the result
5. Balloon Sword - This is the second time he has had something made out of balloons
6. Games - A bunch of games where he could throw a ball or beanbag


So he seemed to have a good time and for your viewing pleasure here is that caricature...



Now how did Siew Gin make it into the picture when she wasnt there, luckily Alan had a picture in his wallet of his wife !!

Denver Aquarium

This morning, we decided to take Tyler to go check out the Denver Aquarium since he's quite interested in fishes(one of the few words he can say).

When we got there, he didn't seem TOO interested in the fishes in the tanks but did find other things interesting like puddles(!!), ducks, tiger(why a tiger in an aquarium i don't understand) and waterfalls.


Tyler and Daddy at the entrance with shark



Whoa.. that's a big fish..



Whoo!! Puddles!!! *splash splash* (in the back, Tyler tyler.. look fish..)

We saw some divers in some of the bigger tanks and pointed it out to Tyler. Unfortunately, Tyler found it extremely terrifying and even screamed and tried to run away when the diver came close. haha.. as evil parents, i of course found that soooo funny!!! He hid his face in Daddy's shoulders for the rest of the tour whenever there was a big tank!!!


Arrgghhh!!!! What is that monster???


A family picture..



A walk thru the drier part of the aquarium.. he looks more confident..

Anyways, it was nice little short trip, but maybe other attractions are a little more worthy of our money!!