Archive for » 2012 «

Sep

Not quite a month into the new school year, unexpected trouble started brewing in my 12-year-old’s middle school.

This trouble is unexpected because it came from the area of P.E., yes… as in Physical Education.

A couple of weeks ago, the P.E. teacher started this mile run test, and to earn an A on this test, you will have to complete this mile run in 8 minutes and 30 seconds or less. Apparently, this became a test given weekly, and is threatened to go on FOREVER.

On week one, my kid did 11 minutes and 11 seconds. That earned her a “D”.

On week two, my kid did 11 minutes and 10 seconds. That just barely earned her a “C”.

These grades are a monstrous eyesore on my child’s otherwise Stanford bound worthy online progress reports.

What kind of school lets a silly P.E. class ruin a student’s straight A status!!

I must set this straight, and fast. I came up with a bold strategy: I am going to lead my 12 year old to this eight minute victory! How hard can it be to run a mile in 8 minutes…

Last Saturday, shortly after lunch, I told my 12 year old to suit up in running shoes, and we drove to our middle school’s sandy track field. I chose to run right after lunch, because her PE class is after lunch, when the sun dispenses her strongest heat. We were going to achieve victory together in the same miserable running condition.

As soon as we got to the sandy track field, we wasted no time. My 12 year old set the running clock on her wrist, and off we went.

Sandy Track Field

I set a good pace, we were running side by side, and I was feeling great. Except….That great feeling was extremely short-lived. Ops.

As I passed the second bend on the track, I quickly conceded that running 4 laps in this track would amount to a daunting task. Especially since I could already feel that hollow feeling in my chest, and the air was choked off from my lungs.

My 12-year-old turned to take note of me in my obvious struggle. She had that combo amused and surprised look.

“Hey, don’t wait for me,” I yelled out in between my labored breaths. “You just keep going, and beat 8 minutes 30 seconds. It doesn’t matter if I don’t make 8 minutes. You are the one who needs that 8 minutes.”

The kid was grinning big now, and ran off without me.

Kid left me in the dust

Finally, I made it to the finish line.

“Mom! I beat you by a whole minute.” 12-year-old.

I paced in circles to slow down my heart rate, and said, “Oh, were YOU close to being 8 minutes?”

12-year-old was all giggles, and blurted out, “Mom, your time was 12 minutes and 32 seconds.”

I will admit that I have miraculously overestimated myself before. But this is a parenting disaster!

I just spent all that energy providing my kid with the awesome excuse of inheriting bad running genes from me.

Luckily, I have a better half. I am going to dispatch my husband to lead our 12-year-old to this 8 minute mile run next weekend.

We are so getting an “A” in P.E.

Category: Kids, Parents 3 Comments

Aug

It screams: Our minds escaped us!

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It was last Saturday morning.

“Mom, we would like to make our Christmas card this year.”

I looked up, and found my two children’s faces beaming at me, anxiously seeking my approval for a fun project. They wore the kind of expression that tells me that they are on to something. Something totally spectacular or horribly mischievous…

It was a mystery to me too that they were thinking about Christmas already. But my mind was quick to embrace their offer. Every year, we make our own Christmas cards and send them to our family and friends. I was getting bored with this holiday tradition.

Each year, hubby and I select the most ordinary red holiday background for our card, then we select a few pictures to put on it.

Despite the considerable amount of time we spent on our picture selection process, we always end up with pictures with the repeating theme. It always included one picture of the four of us, all smiling, and most importantly, all open eyes. One picture featuring the kids in a tight embrace. Then a few pictures of our kids showing off their athletic skills in various winter and/or summer sports.

My two children are blessed with creativity, and they are becoming increasingly computer savvy. I foolishly thought that they are the prefect duo to bring fresh designs to our tired annual Christmas cards.

That Sunday evening, we had just sat down at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants for dinner. It was one of these exceptionally loud, but small restaurant.

“Mom, do you have pictures of us sneezing?” my 12-year-old yelled across our not so big table.

??! My brain deemed necessary to cast doubt to my hearing.

“What?” I asked.

“Do you have pictures of US…” my 12-year-old then very deliberately pointed at each of us one by one, “sneezing?”

“Sneezing??!” me.

“YES! Sneezing.” 12-year-old acting out a fake sneeze to assist my poor hearing.

“Why?!” I was deeply baffled.

“BECAUSE! We want to put pictures of us sneezing on our Christmas card!” my 9-year-old chimed in excitedly with big wide eyes, as if not wanting to miss out on taking credit for being part of this scheme.

Christmas A-Choo!

Who are these kids with such madding minds?! It is one thing that they are capable of absurd ideas, but they fully intend to implement them! Just imagine…if they had found the sneezing pictures sitting somewhere.

I stared at my children, looking horrified, as my mind posted images of us at various stages of sneezing resting on a shining rectangular red card adorned on a refrigerator door. Our card would bring holiday punishment to all those that have ever known us.

Fortunately, there was never any danger for all of us at stake. I don’t actually possess the requested pictures of us sneezing. But for extra precaution, I immediately fired the two of them from this project.

Category: Humor, Kids Leave a Comment

Aug

Big Trouble and Small Trouble for the New School Year

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My newly minted middle schooler got into my car.

“How was the first day of school?” I turned and asked anxiously.

“GREAT!” came the loud and decisive answer.

I sighed a huge sigh of relief, having remembered how confusing and stressful the first day of a brand new middle school had been for me.

I drove off, leaving the chaos of the first day of school pick-up frenzy in the distance from my rear view mirror. I instantly felt calm.

“So, tell me about your new teachers.” me.

“I don’t know any of them that well yet. But they are ALL very strict!” 12-year-old.

“All of them?” me.

“All of them. They all spent the day giving us their rules. And they all have different rules! So I will have lots of rules to remember, and I will have to be sure to remember the correct rules with the correct teacher!” 12-year-old.

The kid seemed to have it all figured out! I thought to myself rather proudly.

“That’s okay. We are not afraid of strict teachers.” I threw in my encouragement.

“Both of your 5th and 6th grader teachers were very strict. They both were great teachers, and you loved them.” I added.

“But I DO have a problem.” 12-year-old said dramatically.

Uh-oh…..

“What’s that?” I looked into the rear view mirror.

“My backpack.” 12-year-old.

“The Zuca?” I asked.

The Zuca

We bought this beautiful and mighty Zuca backpack to help our child start the new middle school right. It cost us a small fortune too. What could be wrong?

“It is too big.” 12-year-old.

“That’s the whole idea! It is a large capacity backpack, so you can easily fit in all your school stuff, including your textbooks!” me defending the Zuca.

It is also on double-stacked big rollers, and one of its specialties is that it can even be rolled up and down the stairs.

“My Language Arts teacher requires us to put our backpacks under our chairs within 10 seconds. No backpacks are allowed anywhere else in the classroom, definitely not in the aisles. She said it is for safety reasons.” 12-year-old.

“The Zuca can’t fit under your chair?” me.

“It can. It is just very hard to get it in. It took me a whole minute to put it under my chair. I timed it myself.” 12-year-old.

“Did she complain about you?” me.

“No. She was at the door greeting new students when I was putting my backpack under the chair. But a minute is way longer than 10 seconds. I don’t want to make her upset everyday with my backpack.” 12-year-old.

“Humm…let’s give it a couple of days, and see if she really mean 10 seconds.” I wasn’t giving up on the Zuca just yet.

“No. This backpack is also not good for me during lunch.” 12-year-old grew adamantly against the new backpack.

“How does your backpack bother your lunch?!” me.

“In middle school, we have to carry our backpack with us everywhere we go. We can’t just leave it in the classroom all day like I used to in my old school anymore. So, I have to bring it to cafeteria.” 12-year-old.

“It came with huge wheels, you don’t have to CARRY it.” me.

“All the other kids carry their backpack on their backs, so they can carry their lunch trays with both hands. I had to carry my lunch tray with both hands, and still have to pull my backpack!” 12-year-old exclaimed.

I imagined my 12 year old balancing a lunch tray with hot food and cold drink, and struggling with the shining Zuca. My sympathy for this poor child was very mild.

Later in the day, I picked up my 4th grader from our elementary school. And I immediately asked, “Tasterbach! How would you like to swap backpacks with your sister?”

Tasterbach was grinning big. My baby was thrilled to have the big new Zuca.

On the second day of school, my 7th grader greeted me at our pick-up spot wearing the old backpack, and carrying some notebooks and binders using both hands.

“This backpack is too small. Every class requires its own notebook and binder. I can’t fit it all in.” 12-year-old.

Our baby's old backpack

So much for free hands to carry the lunch tray.

That night, we had a family discussion surrounding the backpacks.

“What’s wrong with this backpack? This is obviously the most ideal backpack of the three.” my husband pointed at an old dark gray and green backpack.

“Both of its pouches are broken.” I answered.

“Is that all?” hubby laughed.

“The side pouches are for snacks and water! Very important.” me, examining the gray and green backpack.

“Maybe you are too old for snacks now.” I thought out loud.

“NO!” both kids shouted back at my suggestion.

“You should use my old college backpack. It is huge. It is the best!!” hubby, as he run off to find his old treasure.

He came back with a very old blue backpack. An enormous old backpack. The kind that you can go overnight backpacking trips with.

The really old college backpack

“NO!” 12-year-old.

“Look! It can store all your things and more, and it has no rollers, so you should be able to easily squeeze it under your chair.” Hubby grew very excited for the prospect of putting his old college backpack back into commission.

“NO!” 12-year-old.

“But this is the best backpack ever! I love this backpack.” hubby shook both hands at it.

“NO!” 12-year-old.

“Why not? I bet you can’t even buy one like this anymore.” hubby began pleading like an used car salesman.

“It is too old.” I finally chimed in, “And too big!”

For now, we settled on the old gray and green backpack with the holed side pouches, and will go to a bag store over this weekend to find the backpack that is just right.

The backpack with holed side pouches

School started a week ago, and the backpack is the only matter that we had to fuss over. This school year is off to a great start.

Category: Humor, Kids, Parents One Comment

Aug

Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China-Part III: An Afterthought

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“So! What did they like the most about the U.S.?” My sister asked enthusiastically over the phone.

I had just returned home from our two week tour of the Western US, and after a long and restful sleep in my own bed, my mind was still groggy from the road trip.

I flipped through the scenes from the past two weeks in my head, and this image had topped the list.

Clear blue sky

“Our blue sky.” I answered her.

“What?!” my sister sounded as if she heard me wrong.

“Our big blue sky. Our fresh air too.” I replied firmly.

“What….Isn’t their sky blue too?” my sister sounded disappointed. Clearly, she felt deprived of a proper answer.

“No. The cities in China are badly polluted. Their skies are usually brown there.” me, remembering my trip to China two summers ago.

The Brown Sky of Xian

“Really? Brown sky?” my sister.

“Yes, their city skies are usually in shades of light brown. But they can sometimes see a faint blue in the sky, especially right after a rain storm.” I tried to make the images of China a little less dreadful to her.

Sure, our beautiful cities, gorgeous coastline, quaint Wine country, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, etc. easily impressed and won them over, but it was the things that I have taken for granted that made their trip an impressionable one for me.

“Jenny. How come I don’t hear any ZhiNiao here?” Benny, my cousin’s best friend asked me on their second day in America.

Ah.. the ZhiNiao….my mind traveled back to Hangzhou, China.

Westlake, HangZhou

We had just flown into Hangzhou from Taipei. That afternoon, we went for a walk around their famous West Lake. We heard this constant sound coming from the trees.

Having just arrived, we were easily fascinated by everything. The four of us took great trouble to isolate one of the sounds, and traced it onto a tree, and found the bug responsible for the noise. We pointed it out to the kids, filmed it, and snapped pictures of it.

A ZhiNiao looks like a giant fly. It is black, a little bigger than a thumb. It even has thin, see-through wings, like a fly. However, I formed an suspicion that it cannot fly. It seemed to just stay in one spot motionless, to fulfill its sole purpose in life, which is to scream loudly all together, all day, all summer long.

Our initial fascination with it very quickly faded, yielding to annoyance. By the following day, we felt a certain hatred toward the ZhiNiao.

“There are no ZhiNiao here.” I answered with relief.

“You don’t seem to have mosquitoes here either.” Benny.

“Right, we don’t have mosquitoes here.” me.

“Do you have cockroaches and mice in your house?” Benny.

“No. Not in my house.” me.

“I think your God, Jesus, must personally live here in America!” proclaimed Benny. “All the good things are here. All those bad things are with us in China!”

We had a good laugh.

I considered the 9-hour drive to Vegas, then the 8-hour drive from the Grand Canyon to Southern California, torturous. But my guests loved it.

“Why?” My sister had asked.

Fast Freeway

“Our roads are wide and straight. There was no traffic. They have never driven so fast before. Slower moving trucks always moved out of our way to let us pass. And our highways are free.” me. Taking a breath, I continued, “Even 5 or 6 hours into the middle of nowhere, our roads are still smooth and wide, with clear and constant highway signs to keep you from being lost, and to warn you to slow down for any upcoming curves.”

“Oh, and they loved the roadside scenery.” me.

“What roadside scenery?” my sister. We are all familiar with the boring dry hills that line the highway to inland destinations.

“Seriously. They thought the scenery on our road trips very beautiful.” me.

It was a few hours into our drive from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. Hubby was driving. The kids were in the back seats playing on their iPhone and iPod. I was trying not to doze off.

“It is so beautiful here!” our walkie talkie sounded off in Chinese. The minivan my cousin was driving was right behind us.

“This is beautiful?” My baby looked up from her iPod, sounding disbelieving, then went back to playing on it.

“What’s beautiful?” I asked over the walkie talkie.

“Just look how open the space is! And those enormous golden mountains in the distance. Very beautiful!” came the answer. So, they were not being sarcastic.

A couple of more hours of driving, we came upon more vast open valleys, and another set of imposing golden brown mountains looming large in the distance. At the edge of the valley, these golden mountains also took on a hue of purple and blue.

Majestic roadside landscape

“Can we pull over for a quick stop?” my cousin’s voice sounded off from the walkie talkie.

“Why? Something wrong?” I channeled over.

“The scenery here is too beautiful. We want to stop and take pictures.” walkie talkie.

“No! We are on the freeway! You can’t just stop here and take pictures.” me.

In the days that followed, they registered several complaints to me about missing those photo opportunities.

On day 8, we were driving under an all-powerful sun from the Grand Canyon to Huntington Beach, California. We made a potty stop at a random restroom. I was standing under a tree waiting for everyone to come out of the restrooms.

“Holy Cow! You have hot water running in the faucet too.” My cousin came out looking all amazed.

We were traveling somewhere in close proximity to the Death Valley. The temperature was well over 100 degrees. Hot water was hardly a treat there. It was a punishment.

Unimpressed. I just stared back at him.

“And this place is so deserted. How does the restroom stay clean, and WHO put all that toilet paper in there?!” cousin.

I chuckled. In China, people have to carry toilet paper packs with them everywhere.

On our grand Vegas casino tour day, we were licking gelato at The Venetian’s indoor St Mark’s Square, and watching other tourists on their Venetian canal boat rides.

“They do a pretty good job giving you that Venice feel here.” I said to Nancy, my cousin’s wife.

“Maybe even better than the real Venice…this St. Mark’s square is spotlessly clean, and has A/C. Plus the real canal water at the real Venice can be smelly.” I added half jokingly.

“Why do you guys still bother to travel overseas? You have everything here. And your country is so beautiful.” Nancy said to me in all seriousness.

Before this trip, I often thought that America has little to offer to its tourists. Being such a young country, US has little history, and no ancient sites to rival the likes of The Colosseum and the Great Wall of China.

After spending 2 weeks with my cousins and their friends, I got to see America for the first time through their eyes. I came to the realization that I thought wrong! America is a fascinating country for its visitors.

In the two weeks just in the West Coast alone, we went from the beautiful city of San Francisco, to the rocky coastal waters of the Monterey Bay, to the sun drenched valley of the Napa Wine Country, to the great casinos in Vegas, to the breath-taking Grand Canyon, and finally the world-class amusement theme parks of Southern California. Every day awarded a complete different experience to my guests. Each day was so distinctive that it made the previous days seem so distant and remote.

Lombard Street, San Francisco

Valley of Wine

Bellagio

Grand Canyon

The Simpsons 3D Ride

Giant Redwoods Forest

As far as travel goes, I have often trumpeted that every time we return home from foreign destinations, even if it’s a wonderful trip, I always find myself appreciating America a little bit more.

It is interesting to note, that after seeing America through the eyes of my foreign tourists, the experience deepened my appreciation for this great country once again.

Our Flag

God bless America.

Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China-Part II

We Bought Air for 100 Yuan in China

A Forsaken Old Farmhouse

How to spend 12 hours on a lake?

Preparing the kids for China

Category: Family Travel Blogs Leave a Comment

Aug

Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China-Part II

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Day 5 & 6:

We spent the next two days in Vegas, and for its first-time visitors, a tour of Sin City’s powerhouse casinos is a must.

Caesars Palace

After a filling brunch at the Mirage, we spent the day on a walking tour of The Venetian, The Palazzo, Wynn, Encore. Then we crossed the street to Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, and Aria.

They played the part of typical Asian tourists well, snapping pictures everywhere they turned. Sometimes, as they aimed their cameras at one marvel, their heads and eyes were already turned to be amazed with another. Who can blame them?

The Venetian's indoor St Mark's Square

The grand entrances, the casinos, the shops, the indoor gardens and water features, the walkways, and even every insignificant corner exploded with grand imagination and outrageous excess.

Wynn's indoor garden

That evening, I took them to be further wowed by the award-winning original Las Vegas Cirque Du Soleil show of Mystere. It was truly a circus fit for the sun.

The following morning, we abused the Bellagio Buffet with a two hour marathon eating session. Then as a proper tour guide might do, I gave them the rest of the day free. My cousin and his friend went to try their luck at the casino tables, as their wives went shopping at the Outlet Mall. Hubby and I, plus the kids, spent a relaxing day at the pool.

Day 7:

Happy birthday to my baby! Yes, it was my baby’s 9th birthday. We woke her up in our hotel room with our cheerful happy birthday song, and honored our baby with sprinkled donuts. Breakfast in bed is our family birthday tradition.

Our baby's big 9th!

After checking out of the Mirage casino, we were on our way to the Grand Canyon. We were headed for the South Rim, which is about a five hour drive.

We took a short detour to the Hoover Dam. Even though it was built in the early 1930’s, it still stood almighty and strong.

Hoover Dam

We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 3PM. We checked into the Yavapai Lodge inside the park, and quickly headed to the rim of the canyon.

The Grand Canyon took our breath away.

The GRAND Canyon

There are no words in our vocabulary that can do it justice in describing its glory, and there are no pictures that can do it justice to show its depth and grandeur.

It is almost unfair to Las Vegas; all its man-made wonderland only pales in comparison to nature-made wonderland.

We did a few hours of light hiking around the rim trail, and even ventured into the depth of the canyon on the Bright Angel trail. We found a quiet spot and waited to see its famed sunset, and saw the colors of the rocks change into a bright deep red. Yes, a ton of pictures were snapped here in just a few hours’ time.

That evening, we celebrated my baby’s birthday with a dinner party at the El Tovar Hotel’s restaurant’s private dining room.

Baby's Birthday Cake at El Tovar Dining Room

After a delicious meal, we stepped out to the rim again and tried to see the canyon in the darkness, and was disappointed that it was just that: a gigantic hole of darkness. But when we turned our heads toward the sky, a gazillion shining stars in the sky took our breath away once again.

What a grand place to celebrate a birthday!

Day 8:

Road trip from Grand Canyon to LA

We drove eight grueling hours to Huntington Beach, southern California.

Day 9:

The happiest place on earth

Disneyland! Yes, it truly is the best amusement park in the world. Even after a tiresome 8 hour drive the day before, we stayed until 10PM before heading back home.

Day 10:

We visited Universal Studios, and saw shows and enjoyed many rides.

Water rides!

Their new Transformer 3D ride is just amazing! Wow!!

Day 11:

We had a beach day on Huntington Beach. Their wives went shopping again at the nearby Fashion Island Mall. The rest of us spent the day swimming, boogie boarding, digging a giant hole and building a canal in the sand, and just relaxing.

Day 12:

We went to San Diego’s Sea World and saw Shamu.

Shamu Rocks!

Day 13:

They spent the entire day shopping at the Camarillo California Premium Outlet Shopping Mall, then onto Los Angeles International airport for their midnight flight home.

The four of us spent the day driving the 7 hours home, and got to sleep in our own comfortable beds to recuperate from their 2 week American whirlwind tour.

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Jul

Two-Week-Long Tour of America with Cousins Visiting from China – Part I

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Two weeks ago, the four of us greeted the happy faces of my cousin, his wife, their 10 year old daughter, their best friends, a couple in their late 30’s, and their 9 year old son at the San Francisco International Airport.

The ten of us got into two cars and drove 30 minutes to the Tied House Brewery & Cafe for drinks and finger foods.

Beer and finger foods at the Tied House

After a pleasant meal at Tied House’s garden patio, we dropped them off at their hotel, told them to get some rest, and left them to contend with their jet lags.

Day 1:

We picked them up at 9:30AM and headed for San Francisco. We went straight for its famed landmark and crossed the bay on the Golden Gate Bridge to arrive at Sausalito. Sausalito is a beautiful upscale seaside town just north of San Francisco.

I have on good authority that Chinese people love to eat, so we officiated the tour with a nice branch at a charming sea-view restaurant at Sausalito.

I warned them earlier that San Francisco, as beautiful as she is, can be very temperamental. Any day, even in the middle of the summer, can be cold and cloudy. And I was proven right.

San Francisco was having a fit that day and covered herself under a thick blanket of fog. Even though we knew just the place to take our guests for the best photo opportunities of the bridge and the city skyline, our best photo showed a mostly covered bridge and a completely covered skyline.

Golden Gate Bridge in a cloud of thick fog

Undeterred, we carried on to the postcard famed Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world, alive with its many beautiful flowers and colors, and full of camera clad tourists. Finally, we ended the day with a long stop at Pier 39.

Day 2:

We picked them up at 9AM, and headed south this time for Monterey’s 17 Mile Drive and Carmel.

While the headline news was all about the record high heat in the East Coast and mid-west region, we were enjoying unseasonably low temperatures. Once we arrived at the coast in less than two hours, the temperature dipped into the high 60’s.

They were surprised how cold our summer is, even as I insisted to them that wasn’t the norm.

Their two kids were from land locked region of China, so when we came upon a nice beach, with enticing clear turquoise water, they couldn’t contain their excitement; to the horror of their parents, I gave the children my blessing for them to enter the water to get their feet wet.

The excited kids kicked off their shoes and socks, and ran off like a mob to the beach to meet the approaching waves.

They were running wild with their feet spattered on the sea water on the soft sand, and squealed with happy laughter.

Kids on a beach on the 17 Mile Drive

All parents like to see their children happy. Soon, the parents also walked closer to the water’s edge on the beach and snapped pictures of the kids.

Despite a chilly day, Monterey and Carmel are majestic and beautiful in any kind of weather.

The Lone Cypress of Monterey

Day 3:

We drove inland to visit Napa Valley’s wine country. Apparently, wine is very fashionable in China these days. And they wanted to see Napa valley, a famed wine region in America that they have heard so much about.

As we entered the town of Napa, the road narrowed into thin straight lines that cut through the vineyards on both sides. It was a beautiful sunny day. The sky was a deep blue, and the air was crisp.

Napa Valley

We drove past acres and acres of neatly lined grape vines and made quick stops at the picturesque towns of Yountville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga.

We stopped at St. Helena’s Tra Vigne for lunch, where we enjoyed a delicious meal in their charming Tuscan courtyard, under a canopy of festively lighted trees.

That afternoon, we visited two wineries and drove around the town some more. My charges always managed to get excited whenever we drove past a winery they recognized from a label they had seen or heard of in China.

They wished that they had more time to taste more wines at Napa.

Grape Vines

Day 4:

Road trip to Vegas

We drove 9 grueling hours to Las Vegas in 2 cars aided by our walkie-talkies and arrived just in time for their gazillion amount of lights to drape the entire strip that wows even the frequent Vegas visitors.

Las Vegas is like no other place on this earth. It has no rivals and features a mind boggling supply of choices in things to do, to see, and to eat. It is alive 24 hours a day, and even though we were extremely fatigued by the time we got there, Vegas seduced us to stay up really late.

Bellagio Fountain

Related post: A Family Outing
America, the Beautiful

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Jul

America, the Beautiful

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We are doing something totally different for our summer vacation this year! And to do that, I have signed up to become a volunteer tour guide.

Travel is my second-favorite passion in life. And my idea of summer vacation requires a long flight of some sort. After all, travel means getting away from home.

This summer, however, we are going to visit world-famous places that we have taken for granted in the past, because they are too close to home.

Why? you might ask…..

My cousin, his family, and his best friend’s family are coming to visit America for the first time, and I have decided to delay my original travel plans to next summer. So, we can show them America, the beautiful.

My cousin has always graciously took care of me and my family and particularly my father, whenever we went to visit China. Now that he finally can come to visit America, I wanted to do the same for his family and friends. And they welcomed my offer to be their tour guide, since none of them speak English.

In two weeks time, we will visit the following places:

1) San Francisco Bay Area.

The Golden Gate Bridge

2) We will drive the 9 hours to Las Vegas, where I plan to immerse them in some wicked sin city business. But not to worry, I won’t get too carried away. We have four kids in our group.

Vegas!

3) We then move on from the outrageous man-made wonderland to nature’s outrageous wonderland of Grand Canyon. I have booked hotel rooms inside the park, to better our chances to see the famed sunset and sunrise.

Grand Canyon

4) After Grand Canyon, we will drive 8 hours to Los Angeles; there, we will properly spoil the children with day trips to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld, and then some serious shopping trips for the grown-ups.

Disneyland-Southern California

Our guests arrive next Tuesday. And I am quite looking forward to see these amazing American sites through the eyes of these first time foreign visitors. Perhaps I will come back with some interesting stories to tell….

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Jun

Father’s Day and a Project

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It started two Sundays ago.

My heart sank when hubby pulled into the Lowe’s parking lot after lunch. Going to Lowe’s with him is as much fun as pouring salt water over a paper cut on my finger.

Resigned to my unhappy fate, I decided to issue him a warning like this: “Fine! I will go into Lowe’s with you today. Because today is Father’s Day. But remember, EVERY DAY is Mother’s Day. So don’t piss me off!”

I lagged behind them into the gigantic Lowe’s store. To my dismay, the three of them headed straight for the paint aisle. So much for that warning…

The kids have been begging to paint one of their bedrooms their favorite color of orange. And their dad is going along with it. I am the only one in the family sane enough to find the idea of painting a room in colossal orange disagreeable. Clearly, he was trying to evoke Father’s Day privilege to override my unwavering objection to their orange room plan.

Luckily, I am smarter than the three of them combined, and knew that childish brains are easy to distract. I rushed to them with a big grin.

“Hey, if you guys are interested in painting, I know a great project for you guys!” me

“What’s that?” the three of them turned to me.

“Remember that very nice table and chair set from Pottery Barns your aunt bought for you guys?” me.

“Yeah.” the three of them.

“Well, they look really beat up under all that sun and rain for the past few years. You never even use it anymore. But, if you guys cleaning it up, fix it up a bit, and add a new coat of paint, we can definitely squeeze a few more years of good use out of them again.” me.

Old outdoor table set

“Hmm….” the three of them.

“And you can paint them in any color you like! Orange, for example. I will be fine with any color you choose.” me.

“Yeah!!!” the kids cheered.

“That sounds fun.” hubby approved.

“Great! Go make your color selection. I will go visit the appliance section, and I will come back to meet you guys.” me.

The kitchen appliance section at Lowe’s is my favorite. I love the shining appliances standing neatly in a row all staring back at me. After about 20 minutes of drooling there, I headed back to the paint aisle.

“Mom, we picked out 5 colors.” my baby ran over and announced happily. “We are going to paint each of them in a different color.”

Five chosen color samples

“FIVE colors?” me. Something was not so perfect with this plan. And it was not because my idea back-fired on me, rather it was my husband who mismanaged my fine idea.

“Yes, we are going to paint the table orange, then each of the chairs in a different color.” my 11-year-old explained helpfully.

“What, are you kidding me?” I looked at my husband. “So we are going to pick up 5 gallons of paint just to paint a kid’s table and chair set? That is the most inefficient and uneconomical way to paint!”

“We also need to pick up primer and base paint, and probably exterior protection varnish.” hubby added.

Luckily, a Lowe’s paint specialist came to our rescue. He was the nicest guy. He offered to dispense my kids’ 5 chosen colors into sample jars for us. Each sample jar cost just $2.50, so he saved us a small fortune that day. And we didn’t have to store 5 big jars of bright paint colors in our garage for the next 20 years. Bless his heart!

So that afternoon, the kids and hubby got to work. I left them alone.

This project ended up taking them two weekends. They cleaned and sanded the surface.

Sanding the table surface

They did the base paint in white, then had such fun turning their old tables and chairs into new with fun colors.

Their coloring project in progress!

This turned out to be a great Father’s Day project. And now, we have this “brand new” Potter Barn table set in our backyard.

New outdoor table set.

Previous related post: Mother’s Day Terror
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Jun

Over the Years

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This baby is graduating grade school!

Can you believe it!? This cute little thing just graduated from grade school, and is ready to tackle the next big world, known as middle school, in the coming fall.

All grown up!!

My good nature usually forbids me from bragging, but the key word today is “usually”, so, brace yourselves for earnest bragging here.

My heart overflowed with pride when my 11-year-old stepped up to the podium to deliver her graduation speech to a great hall jam packed with students, teachers, parents, families, and friends. She was one of the four students chosen to deliver speeches for their prospective classrooms.

Graduation speech

She is a great speaker. Her speech was awesome!

After the student speeches, she was one of the a dozen or so students brought back up to the stage again to receive the all-year gold honor roll award.

I sat in the audience, beaming with pride the whole time, and very satisfied with my accomplished youngster. But there was MORE…

Every year, our school presents one special award to a graduating 6th grader who is the best overall student. This award is given to a student not only for academic achievement, but also who is well-rounded, in terms of social, emotional, extracurricular participation, and behavior excellence. And the winner of this award is chosen by our 6th grade teachers.

We were thrilled to hear Athena’s name being announced by our principal as the recipient of this award for the class of 2012.

Graduation awards

In case you are wondering…no, I am NOT a tiger mom. There is one strong clue in my child’s graduation speech that proves my non-tiger mom status.

Below is Athena’s 6th grade graduation speech:

Over the Years

When I started elementary school, I didn’t know what to expect. It just seemed so different from the small Montessori school I attended for preschool and pre-k. I was used to just playing educational games all day, eating snacks, lunch, having naptime, and more snacks, so I was filled with questions like: Will kindergarten be the same? Will the teachers and the other students be nice? Will we still have snacks? I hoped kindergarten would be fun for me. So I stepped into the little gate around the kindergarten building and began my time here at JFS.

Every year I liked being here more and more. In kindergarten, we did little kindergarten things like teddy-bear picnics. That doesn’t happen in other grades. First grade was also a good time, and was different still from the previous year because it was full-day instead of half-day. We even ate school lunch. In second grade, I made two good friends that are still my friends now. We were also in the same class in third grade, which was, for me, very unlike second grade. I was in a combo class, and since half of my teacher’s time was devoted to the 2nd graders, many 3rd graders learned to become more independent learners. Fourth was an exciting, somewhat stressful year when we started getting letter grades. Now, instead of being the biggest of the little kids, we were the littlest of the big kids. In the fifth grade, my class took part in a project called NaNoWriMo, which was a fun month-long novel-writing experience. Many students, including me, even published our books. Now, in sixth grade, my class is doing many fun projects. Previously, on Young Author’s Fair, students wrote random stories, but this year, we wrote a journal of someone that lived in an ancient civilization, then made a poster, artifact, and diorama to go with it. Every year brought new pleasures and surprises, ones that made my time at JFS all the more enjoyable.

Probably everyone here has people to thank, people that have helped them through their time at JFS. There are many people who deserve the sincerest gratitude. There’s teachers, parents, friends, even siblings that may have helped us through our six or seven years here. My parents have always been supportive of me and happy to help me whenever I needed. They don’t do my work for me, but they always will help if I have questions about my homework or troubles with my projects. Even my little sister helps me with my schoolwork, in her own little-sister way. Whenever I’m doing a project that looks fun, she always buzzes around my shoulder, constantly asking, “Can I help? Oh, you want the clay? I’ll get the clay! Then after that, can I help you?” Friends also can be helpful, encouraging, excited at your successes and disappointed about your failures. They comfort you when you do badly and try to help you do better. And of course, all the wonderful teachers here at JFS. They are always open to any questions, listen to new ideas, are fair with assignments and tests, and go through lessons thoroughly and clearly. Every year, they have tried in any way to help shape all of the students into good kids, and they have succeeded.

So this ends our time at James F. Smith. We’ve learned everything we need for now and thanked those who have helped us. We’ve said goodbye to everyone here, some we may not see again, we’ve finished our last assignment, we’ve eaten our last cafeteria lunch, we’ve received our last report card. Every year, students are excited for the beginning of summer, the marking of when you finish your previous grade and get ready to start your next year. This summer, there will be that same excitement, but mixed in with a dose of sadness of leaving the school we’ve been at for so long and apprehensiveness at starting something entirely new. But this time, there will be a proud knowledge, too. The knowledge that we will start middle school knowing that we have been prepared to tackle any challenge posed to us.

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Jun

A Grade School Graduation Party

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I had very little sleep last Saturday night, and it was due to my own doing, sort of…

For the past few months I suffered from mixed feelings about my 11-year-old leaving our much-loved elementary school and moving on to middle school. Then I decided that the best way to chase away such mixed feelings is to embrace the occasion, and the best way to embrace the occasion is to throw an extra-special party.

I plotted to invite my 6th grader’s best friends to a sleepover graduation party. And the extra special part of this party is that it’s hosted at a hotel. It will just feel so grown-up!

My 11-year-old must not understand the exclusivity of “best” friends. She handed me a list of 6 best friends.

You have six best friends?! What hotel will want to accommodate 1 adult and 7 kids!?

Unfazed, I went Google-ing. I am a great online researcher. I found a rare 2 bedroom suite at the Hyatt House, about a 20 minute drive from my house.

Hyatt House Hotel

This suite was perfect! 2 bedroom rooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, and full kitchen. I booked it.

Bedroom with two queen beds

Invitations went out, and indeed best friends, everybody came.

On Saturday, my 11-year-old and I checked in promptly at 3PM. We brought in loads of treats and drinks for the party. I also brought a few games and Arts-and-Crafts kits from my AsianParent.com’s warehouse.

We had two hours to get the room ready before our guests arrived. I immediately unloaded all the drinks, fruits, and ice cream into the refrigerator and put away all the chips and sugary snacks in the kitchen area.

We decorated the living room area with a big gradation banner and balloons.

Graduation Banner and balloon

Then at around 5PM, the excited friends arrived with their overnight bags, and the party began.

At 6:30PM, I walked the 7 chatty girls across the parking lot to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. Sweet Tomatoes offers a huge buffet-styled salad bar, soup bar, baked goods, and dessert bar. It was the perfect kind of restaurant for this group of kids. They can choose what to put on their own plates. And Sweet Tomatoes gave you that healthy feel, which was much in need for me to feel guiltless about those sugary snacks I have back in the room.

I have known most of these kids for many years now, and they are all indeed good friends, so they all got along, and played well together.

My only instructions to them were “no screaming” and “no yelling”. I am happy to report that I did not have to repeat my instructions to them even once. They are all great kids. But this did not mean that they are peace-loving and quiet kids. In fact, the evening was full of cheerful chattering and happy laughter.

I mostly left them alone, and stayed out of their way. I situated myself in one of the bedrooms and caught up on a great deal of reading.

Reading by myself in one of the bedrooms

I only barged in on them on a few occasions to prepare their snack trays, snap a few pictures, and offer them ice cream from the freezer.

Party trays for the kids

They spent the evening playing games, doing arts and crafts, playing with the ukelele guitars they brought, singing along with their iTunes music, and dancing.

I disappointed them at midnight, when I told them to get into their pj’s and get ready for bed. I felt bad, so I told them that they could still talk on their beds until they fall asleep.

Big mistake! They chatted and giggled until well after 2AM. I was sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room, and their noises kept me awake until they all fell into slumber.

The sleep did not last long. I was awoke by talking and giggling noises before sun-break. It was just after 6AM. I could hear the girls from one of the bedrooms playing a board game on their bed.

They outsmarted me. They conspired to set one of their phones to wake them up at 6AM in order to play. I had not thought to tell them that they could not do that.

Shortly after 8AM, we took the elevator to the main floor for the complimentary breakfast buffet. This hotel served a great hot breakfast. I consider any hotel breakfast is great if their offerings are heavy on protein. The kids love bacon and sausages, and loaded their plates with them, plus pancakes, bread with butter and jam, yogurt, milk and juice. They even have made-to-order omelets. And strong coffee for me. The kids made multiple trips back to the buffet line. They all sat together in one big table, and ate happily for about an hour while I sat eating in a corner by myself by the bar and watched TV.

We went back to our suite, and they played some more. They made beautiful bracelets and sea-shelled necklaces for one another before their parents came to pick them up.

A beautiful bracelet made from one of the Arts & Craft kits

By noon, we checked out of the hotel and drove back home. I felt happy..that I didn’t have to spend hours cleaning up after a party and deal with three loads of laundry.

Best of all, I felt ready for that official 6th grade graduation coming up this week.

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