Wandering Browns

Birthday in September! In September, Grandma Ev and Grandpa Jim came to visit! It was wonderful to have them around as we recovered from jet lag, went to doctor's appointments, and settled back in to life in the States. Grandma Ev brought birthday presents for Landon, as we celebrated his birthday in China, and we were not sure we would receive an intact package in China in the time frame we were given, so we just had her wait. Landon loved opening his gifts and having more toys to play with. Going from only a few toys that we could fit into our luggage, to having all of his old toys in our storage unit + birthday gifts was a big deal for him! We also went to the zoo with Grandma, which I wrote about on our travel blog. It's a party! Cubs game with Grandpa! Wrigley field The boys at Wrigley field The next week, Grandpa Jim came to visit. We drove into the city to catch a Cub's game and eat some delicious Chicago deep dish pizza. The Cubs lost- I t...

What a guy in his new red shorts! We arrived in China a few days ago, but due to our crazy week of not traveling then traveling I didn't have time to post about our experience at the Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier. Our last weekend in the Chicago area, I asked Austin what he wanted to do. I typically come up with our weekend activities, and Austin just goes along with it. This weekend was our last in the U.S., so I made him come up with our activity and we went out to an early Father's Day dinner. Of all the things he chose to do, he decided that going to the Children's Museum was what he wanted to do. What a guy! Landon had a blast and even though we only planned on staying for a few hours, we ended up staying as long as we could before heading off to dinner.  View from the museum toward downtown Chicago Parking in downtown Chicago is never cheap or easy. Especially near the lake front, it is ridiculous how much they charge for parking. We did...

Landon and the back half of the penguin suit. It was adorable. When we found out that Cambria and Eric were going to be in Chicago at the same time as us for probably the last time ever, we jumped at the chance to see them and their cute boys one more time before they move cross-country back to the West. Landon and I took the train in to the city to meet them at Shedd Aquarium. Last time we were at the aquarium, Landon was one, and we only bought general admission tickets for the main floor. The main floor of the aquarium is underwhelming except for the giant tank in the middle. This time, we bought tickets to see the whale and dolphin show, which also gave us access to the marine mammals and reef exhibits.  Landon and I rarely go to major attractions like this with other people we know. With our ever-changing schedule and time spent in foreign lands alone, I did not appreciate how much more fun things can be with friends! Cambria and Eric's boys surround Landon in age...

Landon and I made the day trip over to see our dear friends Cambria, Eric, Will, and Finn in South Bend, IN. Landon is right in between the boys in age and they had so much fun together! Landon and Will spent the entire time spinning each other up into super crazy toddler hyperness. We had to physically restrain them and sit them down to calm down and watch a show together... that's how much fun they were having. It was great to catch up with great friends and hang out in a home for the day. Thanks, Grahams! The boys playing in bed  The boys eating a snack One day when I was cleaning up the kitchen in our room, Landon came to me looking like this. He wanted to find a ball to play baseball with. He found a tennis ball and wanted to play baseball. He had a beanie on his head for his hat, one glove on his hand for his baseball glove, and a ladle for his bat. He tried hitting the ball with the ladle unsuccessfully for quite awhile. I found it extremely cute. ...

Exterior ladies  When we are in the Chicago area, usually we are recuperating from our travels and do not take advantage of all the amazing things available in the city! Since we lived in the suburbs before traveling and had a newborn, we have been to the zoos and Shedd aquarium but saved the museums for later. We made it a goal this year to take the time and energy to go out, explore and experience as much as we can wherever we are. We started off the year with an all-day outing at the Museum of Science and Industry, the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere! The Museum is housed in the space that functioned as the World Columbian Exposition in 1893. The interior and exterior had interesting architectural highlights with a giant dome as the focal point of the main floor. It was founded in 1933 and has over 35,000 artifacts inside. We selected this museum as our first to visit with a toddler boy because of the abundance of transportation exhibits. He is obses...