Wandering Browns

We spent a significant portion of our time in California getting over jet lag and doing all of the things that we miss when we're traveling- baking, cooking, eating awesome American and Mexican food, and spending tons of time with family. I am so happy that we were able to introduce Landon to some of my favorite family traditions. Landon and I made lemony sugar cookies with different colors of buttercream frosting. Landon helped by taking way too many tastes and manning the decoration/sprinkles station.  Our time in California flew by and was filled with tons of activities! Turns out my parents are pretty busy even with just one kid at home. Austin and I celebrated our anniversary with dinner at McClintock's in Pismo Beach- a cowboy-type steak house overlooking the ocean, and outdoor mineral springs hot tub. It was a very relaxing date! We attended Claire's piano recital (with my piano teacher from high school!) and band concert. We did some temple work for my ma...

When we arrived in Vietnam, we anticipated being there for quite a long time- at least until early 2017. When we were released to return to the United States in early December, we decided to surprise my family in California for an early Christmas. The last time we Skyped with my family from Vietnam, we had to keep the secret that we were leaving soon. Landon did a great job, and even hushed me up a few times when he felt like I was going to give it away. They had mentioned they didn't have a Christmas tree yet, and I was so hoping that they would still not have one when we arrived, so Landon could help pick it out. Well, my wish came true! My mom was going to break tradition and buy a tree from the grocery store, but since we appeared, we went to the Christmas tree lot that we have gone to every year since I was a little girl! I love Landon's California winter outfit here- shorts and a sweatshirt Our hunt for the perfect Christmas tree was a little more tricky this...

Dribble castling Avila Beach certainly pulled out at the stops weather-wise our second weekend in California. It was a beautiful 80 degrees, sunny, and just perfect. The waves were big enough that I enjoyed bodysurfing for awhile before my head went numb. Landon dug in the sand, played with the kids that were around us, and built an awesome dribble castle with Claire and Grandpa Doug. I was very impressed that he was actually able to dribble for the dribble castle. I LOVE taking him to the beach because it is just one giant playground and he is so happy to dig in the sand (especially if construction vehicles are involved!) Landon also spent some time with Grandpa's bodysurfing hood on his head, pretending to be an elephant seal. He even lounged on some rocks and flicked sand on himself, just as he had seen the elephant seals do in San Simeon a few days earlier.  Owen took a nap in the stroller, lounged about in the shade, and dug in the sand. He seemed to like it!We ju...

Happy to be at the elephant seal beach No trip to California is complete in the winter or spring without seeing the elephant seals near San Simeon. This time around, the males were gone, and just mommas and babies were left on the beach. The babies were getting bigger, and some of the younger males were practice fighting, but it was not nearly as dramatic as during mating season when the big daddy males are fighting over the females.  There were still many seals, but not nearly as many as normal! Grandma came with us on this excursion, I definitely needed the help managing the boys! Thanks, Grandma, for coming with and driving us! Grandma with the boys There were friends of the elephant seals volunteer docents there as a school group was coming later in the day, so they had an elephant seal skull and some fun visuals to show what elephant seals eat. Landon enjoyed their demonstration, and was so fascinated with the elephant seal skull that he revisited their b...

With all the great-grandparents! Owen met his California great-grandparents in April. We had everyone over for dinner, and then had other opportunities to with them individually. It was so  nice to catch up with them! Owen the spectator at the track meet My little sister, Claire, is a track star! She runs the 1600m and as a freshman, made it to CIF and was all-league. That a girl! We were lucky enough to see her race in a frosh/soph meet while we were visiting, and she won! Landon had a great time cheering for her! Finishing up! We went to the Charles Paddock Zoo and park with Great-grandpa Karl and Great-grandma Betsy. Landon liked the lemurs and played with lots of kids at the park. Unfortunately, it was hard to get good pictures of him at either location because he was moving so fast! Charles Paddock zoo is focused on endangered animals, so while there are very few animals, some of them we had never seen before like a giant tortoise and foosa.  Great...

I coordinated with my siblings so we all departed from northern California the Monday after Hannah's farewell celebration. Our flights left in the late afternoon, so we took a quick drive down to Morro Bay- specifically the beach by Morro Rock to enjoy the ocean one last time before returning to our land-locked lives in Utah and Chicago. When we got there, the beach had been all cut up by a recent storm, leaving an interesting pool of water left over from high tide. "Icebergs" made of foam were floating on top of the water, and it had been warmed by the sun, so the water was not too cold. Naturally, this became Landon's playground. Sand...foam...water...fun aunts and a crazy uncle... what else does a little boy need? Running through the foam The play quickly evolved into a giant foam fight, with Hannah, Claire, and Greg getting in on the fun. Landon held his own, but ended up with a ton of foam all over him! Action shot of the foam fight ...

My little fireman! We spent two weeks in California after returning from China. Landon thoroughly enjoyed doing all things little boy- tromping around the backyard digging in the dirt, dressing up in his new fireman costume, a birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa, and trying his hand at riding a bike for the first time. It was wonderful to spend some time with my sister, Hannah, before she departed for her LDS church mission to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Spanish speaking. She is so awesome and is going to be the best missionary! Landon loves his Aunt Claire, who is still enough of a kid to have a ton of fun with Landon on the trampoline, on the swings, and playing pretend in the backyard! Of course, hanging out with grandparents and Aunt Net was also great.  In his truck Landon has been asking to get a bike/learn to ride a bike for months. I told him Grandpa was going to find him a bike that was his size (with five kids' worth of stuff at our house, I knew there must be...