A couple of Landon's favorite things...

#1. Corn on the Cob

Landon amazes me at how well he eats corn on the cob. He'll sit and work on the thing until just about every kernel is gone.#2. Bridges

Landon LOVES bridges. After our walk today I let Landon play on this bridge. He went back and forth over the bridge for at least 20 minutes. He would have loved to keep playing, but I had to drag him to the car so we could get home for lunch.

The Great Outdoors!

This last weekend we went camping for the first time with Landon at the South Yuba River campground. It probably wasn't the best time to take Landon to live in the woods with him still being a bit wobbly, especially on uneven ground, but we still had fun. Well...at least I had fun..and I think Landon did too (He likes anything that has to do with being outside), but Ryan on the other hand has to have PERFECT conditions to have fun camping. This last weekend was a a little too warm and the mosquitoes wouldn't leave him alone, so he is now telling me that he won't go camping with me anymore. Not a huge deal since we only go camping maybe once a year anyway, but it is still kind of sad. I treasure the memories I have camping with my family when I was young. I will miss the good dutch oven food, sitting by the camp fire late at night, waking up to the birds chirping, and the feeling of freedom that comes from escaping from the busy world. Hopefully someday Ryan will change his mind, but for now I will enjoy the things that we both like to do.....We just purchased some mountain bikes so I'm really looking forward to trying them out. I've already found about 10 trails that look to be quite fun. Hopefully Landon likes it.

My little boy is growing up...

Landon turned 1 yesterday. We had an exciting day full of going to the park, seeing zoo animals, riding on a dragon train, playing with cousins, opening presents, and eating dragon cake. Landon's favorite book is called Dizzy Dragon, hence the reason for the cake. His favorite animal at the zoo was the goats. These goats loved attention and didn't mind if it was in the form of grabbing at their noses and pulling their hair. I think Landon's finger even went in their nostrils a few times.

Where did April go?

I can hardly believe it's almost May! This year is just flying by. Here are a few things that have been keeping us busy the last few weeks...

1. We went on another trip to Utah for the weekend. Ryan's grandma Hemingway passed away at 88 years old last week. I'm glad we were able to attend her funeral and visit with family.

2. Landon has been working hard at learning how to walk. He pushes, pulls, and drags his walker everywhere with him. Sometimes he'll get brave and decide to venture out without help. He's still a little wobbly, but getting better everyday.

3. My sister, Cindy and I purchased a yearly pass to the Oakland zoo. Jared loves to look at the animals. Allison likes walking around the zoo and notices a few of the animals and Landon could care less about the animals, but enjoys watching all the kids at the zoo.
Here's Landon, Jared, and I on the train ride through the zoo.

Cell Phones

We've all gotten on a plane, put our luggage in the overhead bins, and traveled to our destinations only to realize at the end of the flight that the cell phone never got turned off. "I guess it can't be too dangerous", you think as you walk off the plane. Well, I was curious as to the actual reason for the no cell phone rule and apparently there is some justification for not allowing cell phones to be used in the air. The biggest reason being that travelers are worried that flying will no longer be an escape from our noisy cell phone world. I couldn't agree more. Can you imagine a flight of a couple hundred people all talking on their cell phones? A part of me wishes that other places had the same rule. Everyone understands that you were not able to answer your phone when you tell them you were flying. It's too bad some people aren't so understanding when you tell them you are spending time with your family or in the middle of dinner. Maybe I'm the only one with this problem because Ryan gets so many calls every day. For the most part I've gotten used to calls interrupting our time together and most of the time I understand that the business we're in depends on a lot of talking on the phone, but every once in a while it would be nice to pretend we're flying and make a no cell phone rule.

HAWAII

We took so many pictures in Hawaii it was hard to choose which ones to post. Hopefully the ones I chose will help to tell about all the amazing things we saw and did. The week was pretty jammed packed with activities. I can honestly say that there was never a dull moment, especially with Landon. We were able to see 5 waterfalls, go on 4 hikes, go snorkeling, surfing, go on a private tour of Pearl Harbor (thanks to Tyler), go kayaking, swimming, visit with family, go to the punchbowl memorial, and see some other lookouts/attractions all in a week. We had an amazing time and can't wait until we can go back.

Utah Adventure

Life has been a little hectic for the past couple of weeks. It all started the end of February when I found out that my Grandma Bowen passed away. She has been sick for the past couple of years so I am glad she didn't have to suffer too long here in this life, but, of course, she will be missed greatly. I really felt like I should attend her funeral but Ryan couldn't take off work and plane tickets were outrageous for a last minute flight so my sister, Cindy with her 2 kids, and Landon and I decided to drive.
On March 1 we loaded the kids into the van at 4 a.m. and off we went. The drive to Utah went o.k. We hit a little snow where we had to slow down and the last hour Landon (9 months) and Allison (15 months) started to have crying wars, but other than that they did really well. We arrived late on Saturday night so we were able to attend both the viewing on Sunday and the funeral on Monday. Both went really well. I always love to hear about the lives of people I love.
Then since neither Cindy nor I had to be back right away we decided to stay in Utah for the week. We had a great time visiting with family and friends and and Saturday morning we left at 2 a.m. By 6:30 a.m. we were almost to Battle Mountain ( which is the half way point) so we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves. That is until we were 20 miles outside of Battle Mountain and we ran out of gas. We were so bummed. It isn't like either of us to run out of gas and although we were cutting it a little close I don't feel like it is entirely our fault. You see, we borrowed the van we were driving and we didn't know that it runs out of gas right before the display says it has an 1/8 of a tank. So...we sat on the side of the road for a couple hours waiting for roadside assistance to come help us and then off we went again. It turned into a 15 hour journey back home, but I'm thankful that we made it back safe and sound. It can be pretty scary sitting on the side of a freeway with humongous semi's passing.