Back from Lake Oroville

We are back from Lake Oroville. We had a lot of fun and we are so thankful for the Cihonskis for inviting us on this vacation. This was quite an experience for us. We have never done such a vacation before where you camp on a floating platform surrounded by water. It was quite an experience and we loved every minute of it. The kids couldn't stop talking about it. I have posted some picture in our blog slideshow. Have fun viewing the pictures!!!

Thanks Bryon, Sandy, Rachelle, Brent and Brittney for sharing this wonderful vacation with us! You guys rock!! And from now on, I need to get back on my work out regimen. I want to be like Mr Bryon Hercules so I can flex my muscles as well next time.

Disneyland Trip

We just came back from Disneyland where we celebrated the 4th of July long weekend. We decided to take this trip to help Weiwei cope with her loss and keep her mind occupied. She came back from Singapore about a week ago and I wanted her to take time off from home life and spend it with our kids to ease her back into the groove of things in the US.

I must say that this trip was a very fruitful one. We managed to try the rides that we haven't tried before. I know...it's hard to believe if you know us..we have been traveling to Disneyland so many times for the past 8 years. But there is this new ride called Toy Story Mania in the California Adventure park. It's a 3D ride and you get to shoot stuff using a virutal canon like what you do in parlor games that you see in carnivals. The kids LOVED IT SO MUCH!! We managed to try the ride twice because it was late at night and the line was so short.

Weiwei also finally saw the new parade called the Disney Pixar parade which is a parade of the Pixar animation characters. In my opinion, it's a better parade than the previous one they have called Block Party parade. In Disneyland, we managed to try the Finding Nemo submarine voyage again. The kids had their fill of the differnt kiddie rides. Cheryl even dared to try the Haunted Mansion with me (of course, I had to explain to her all the time during the ride that none of the things she was seeing were real).

Family Camp

We just came back from a Christian family camping trip. It was a very rewarding and refreshing trip and to be honest one of the best vacations that I have ever had. My kids enjoyed it so much and it really helped us take our minds off the situation that we have in Singapore.

I was very hesitant to push through with this camping trip. With my father-in-law just passing away and my wife being away to attend to this matter in Singapore, I was pretty apprehensive to venture out on a camping trip as a single parent with 2 kids. Never done it before without my lovely wife. My mind is trying to wrap itself around losing a 4th family member and I didn't really know how to cope with being alone with 2 kids in a family camp and deal with meeting other people, making conversations and trying to get to know other people. I just wanted to be at home in my comfort zone where I have full control (at least that's what I think). But somehow, I felt a strong sense of going and it was pretty strong otherwise I could have easily just dismissed it and just stayed at home.

So off we went on Sunday, June22 to the Santa Clara mountains to a place called Mission Springs. As we get nearer and nearer to the place (based on my GPS directions), I was getting more anxious every minute. Weird thoughts kept going through my mind and the urge to turn back was getting stronger. But I stood firm and decided to continue on.

So we arrived at the place and it was just gorgeous... lots of big, tall redwood trees around and a sense of tranquility pervades the place. I felt at peace but I still wasn't comfortable being a single parent out of my comfort zone. We registered and we saw our church friends and got introduced to people from other churches and my kids just couldn't wait to run around and explore the place.

To summarize what happened during the week for me, I met a lot of people, made new friends, started new relationships (hopefully), shared the situation we have in Singapore and took a bit of that load of my chest, got prayed for by my small group, started each day singing praises and worship to the Lord, got blessed by tremendous teachings of Pastor Ron, enjoyed great healthy food (although I missed asian food and had to grab a bite at a chinese restaurant outside of camp), enjoyed the fellowship and tremendous testimonies of other Christian people, shared my testimony to other people, met a lot of new kids because my kids made tons of new friends, spent a lot of time resting because my kids were always out with their new friends, enjoyed wonderful shakes and coffee from the Camp Cafe, got to know our church friends who are attending the camping better, laughed quite a bit with all the funny stories, jokes and performances in the camp, and so forth and so on. As you can see, I really had a great time after a bumpy start the first night when Abby had a very bad case of diaper rash and she was just screaming when I cleaned her up.



But the most important thing of all is that at the end of the trip when we were driving home...I felt the love of God from this camping experience. He said..."cast your burdens upon me, those who are heavily laden, and I will give you rest". And indeed he does...

I am so happy that I got to spend this wonderful week with my kids in a very welcoming and safe environment. I felt bad at the end of it because I kept thinking if only Weiwei is here, she will feel so blessed as well. Now I can't speak for my kids but I know that this trip has a lasting effect on them. And I know that when they have their own family, this will be one of those stories that they will be telling their kids.

Camping with the Sayson Family

We went camping over the weekend again. But this time around, we are with another family. I invited Andrew who is my friend and colleague at work. This was their first time camping and they actually did quite well for first timers with no prior experience at all. So we have Andrew and Lorraine and their 2 kids Aidan and Andie.

We arrived at the campsite Friday afternoon and it was so hot. But it cooled down quite fast. Andrew's family arrived about 30-45 minutes after us and our kids hit it off immediately. They were running around and playing while we are setting up camp.

First night was a rocky start for them because their air bed deflated quite a bit and this was a problem for Lorraine's back. I don't blame her. I had a problem with my back as well because my dear wife forgot our air pump so I was lying on a semi-inflated air bed as well. For all you hardcore campers out there you must be thinking, air bed??? That's not real camping. Well, say what you want but I love my air bed and we have to keep the kids comfortable otherwise they are going to be miserable without good sleep. And if they are miserable, then we will definitely be miserable.

The kids had so much fun riding their bikes, blowing bubbles, squirting each other with water guns, coloring books, and just being around each other. We also went to the lake for a swim and the kids were just enjoying the cool dip because it was hot that day. The beach was so crowded and there were a lot of people using the picnic tables in the park.

My oldest daughter was so amused with Aidan. He looked so cute when he runs around and tries to talk. He has so many cute words like "yabadaba" when he wants more food. He also kept saying my youngest daughter's name Abby but he actually meant to call my oldest daughter. He's such a bundle of joy.

It was so much fun watching Andie and Abby communicating and socializing with each other. With their limited vocabulary, it's amazing how they can actually talk to each other and understand what they are saying to each other. I am so happy to see Abby so eager to show Andie what camping is all about.

Here are some more pictures...