My swing set is up now!

It took dad one and half days (12 hours) to put them together. A missing part slowed the setup down a little bit. The customer feedback showed the setup times ranged from 8 hours to 40 hours.
Both Tony and I loved it. Dad felt that it is worth every minute he spent in this whole project. The nightmare of treated wood swing set became an interesting story dad likes to talk about.

A pink cross

Ray found a pink cross on the floor. "What is this?" Ray asked himself.
"Oh, it is for little girls." Ray made his comments.
Then he gave it to mom. Mom was completely amazed and stunned. It took a while for her to start to laugh out.

A story of swing set, PARENTS MUST READ

I have been taken pictures here so many times. This park is like my backyard. Look, the house at the right upper corner is my neighbor Grant and Dean's house. We walk to park almost everyday. That is why dad didn't plann to set up a swing set for me in the backyard.
Things changed.
Dad had some success in backyard extreme makeover. More activities is going to happen in our real backyard. The designed scheme is going to be blogged soon. Now a swing set seems to be a good idea, which can work like a magnete to balnace the front yard endless attraction to me, and to Tony very soon. Dad even started to imagine that he sat on our new patio and enjoyed watching us jumping up and down like two little squarrels.

That is the start of our dad's swing set story.
A swing set could easily cost more than 1000 bucks. So a used one from craiglist was not a bad idea. Remember, I still got two super gigantic ones in my other 'backyard'. It happened tha a nice guy was giving away a nice wood swing set for free due to moving. Otherwise he had to chop them down and sent them to land fill. Dad found this out and thought it's pretty good deal. Then dad drove to Georgetown next day, a Saturday.
Pretty solid stuff, but it was too big. Actually way too big for dad's little honda civic hatchback. Impressed with the quality of the wood swing set, dad decided to take them apart. If he knew how much work it took in the beginning, he definitely wouldn't do it. In the end, with two trips and eight hours hard work under August Texas full sun (mightbe a little shade some times), every piece of the swing set sat in our backyard. Dad finished up a full gallon of water, two cans of coke and quite bit of fruits and survived. And also dad felt pretty guilty for being late to Mrs. Jill's super party (As it started, it couldn't be stopped. Everything in the backyard had to be cleared out at the end of the day). Here we had to mention the owner's friend John gave quite a bit critical help at disasemble it.
It was definitely not worth the time and hard work. But thinking about trees were saved and things were not wasted for land fill, dad still felt good about it.
With a little bit sunburn, dad decided to take a rest and install it at the next weekend instead of the next day.
Dad reminded himself a friend mentioning pre-treated wood was more durable for outdoor use. So he googled the web a little bit to find out what has been done with the swing set.
Then he was shocked.
Prior to 2003, almost all outdoor wood used CCA (Chromate Copper Arsenic, a kind of pestcide) to pretreat for preventing termite, fungi, etc. Arsenic in CCA is so poisonous that it was banned for residential usage after 2003. Kid's swing set, definitely NO CCA.
The swing set dad got was made in 2003. Though dad couldn't find if the wood was treated with CCA or not, most likely it was. Or we had to assume it was.

It is pretty scary as wood structure with Arsenic (before 2003) is EVERYWHERE. WE DIDN"T KNOW IT UNTIL NOW.
NEVER EVER burn treated wood. It will cause serious health problem. WE DIDN"T KNOW IT UNTIL NOW.
Be cautious while sanding or sawing treated wood. Wood dust can cause serious health problem. WE DIDN"T KNOW IT UNTIL NOW.
After contacting treated wood, wash hand first. WE DIDN"T KNOW IT UNTIL NOW.

Stain can help confine chemicals inside wood and reduce leeching. But as for structures for kids, especially yound kids, who occasionally put their fingers and hands into their mouth, can we trust this reduced leech?
To get a better night's sleep, don't have treated wood structure for kids.

Is dad over cautious? He could be. Please forgive him as this is a wild world. Three deer infant powder milk in China killed a few babies and sickened thousands. An English scientist claimed heavy usage of insectcide in Spring is directly responsible for spring babies statistically were not as well develped as fall babies. Arsenic in Kids swing set? If all pieces come together, you would get rid of the swing set. Maybe just for the peace of mind.

So good that my other 'backyard' has an all metal playscape.
And dad definitely gonna get cedar swing set (untreated) for us.

TV war just started

Ray is a cartoon fan but mom like show 'American got talent'. Mom let Ray finished his Bob the builder (actually mom used remote control fast jump DVD quite a bit, shu ... what a cheater!). Then mom announced that it was her turn. TV was turned to 'American got talent'. Ray certainly was not happy. After a few tries to show his protest without a success, he jumped down sofa and talked to mom with frown eyebrows:"I will take it".
"What?" Mom didn't understand what Ray was talking about.
"Where is it?" Ray asked with a tighter frown eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?" Mom seemed more confused.
"Remote, I will take it." said Ray.

The end of my 350 class

Today it is my last day in room 350. Next Monday I will be in room 450 with new teachers. I had a lot of good time in 350. I almost told dad I had a good day everytime except yesterday, because I bit my classmate. Miss Lucy also told dad I had a fist fight with another classmate for a toy. Two incidents both happened in one day and both happened the first time. It shocked dad and mom as I was always considered as a nice, soft, and mild-tempered boy by my teachers. It is not the best way to end a school year.

Schlitterbahn water park

It is big and it is fun. Thanks to dad's company. I held my nap as late as 5:00pm. It must be a record.

Ray's words

One day it was time for dinner. Mom was still into Olympic diving competition. Ray said: "It is time for dinner, turn off the TV".
Dad talked to mom that he need a little more time for building his patio. Ray made some comments:"Don't work too much".
Mom has some spicy food and grimaced a little bit. Ray hurried to pass mom his water. Mom said:"Can I have all of them?" Ray replied:"Sure, I will get more for 'you".

Two and half young Ray and half young toto

Something made parents laugh

Ray has been so talkative these days. Not only at home, but also in school. Here are some samples from his mouth.
One day, Ray liked his dinner so much that he said to Mom: "It is delicious. Mom, you are a good cook".
Arron, Ray and dad were playing wrestling game. Two boys againt big daddy. Ray tried so hard pushing back and force, draging arms and legs. None of them worked well. He stepped back a little, then came right back again to dad's face and talked to himself: "I will take your glasses."

When Ray was confined in wrestling games, the wayout was to say "surrender", a rule dad set. When dad loosed the game a little bit and let Ray have some fun of being a winner. Here is how he took dad's surrender: " You are not surrender. You have not been nice." I guess Ray equaled SURRENDER to Let Me Go. Surrender might be too abstract for two year old!

God bless China （天佑中华）

Dad's hometown was hit by an fierce earthquake. Thousands of people died or are missing. Our family was lucky. No one was injured. My cousin YueYue's family live in Dujiangyan, a city suffered serious damages. Her auntie was seriously injured but luckily climbed out of the debris of a collapsed building. Telecommunication with Dujiangyan is still not up. Dad's uncle drove there and found out all these. People lost their homes and had no place to live. Medicine were running short.
Government reacted quick and people were well united. Hope more people can be rescued and suffer less. God bless my China.
Dujianyan YuLei Park, taken by dad's uncle.

Spring funs

My blog has nothing new almost for a month. We did a lot but wrote a little. Now it is the time to write them up. First of first, dad has been busy. As a circuit designer with device background, his professional habit of being addictive of digging into the fundamental cost him a lot of time, though he felt he gained a lot. Hope someday the gain can be presented in our bank account.

However, we still got a lot of things done in this spring as dad finally gave up the idea of doing 'homework' as he realized Tony and I are too much homework to him. We went to Marble Fall strawberry farm to pick strawberries. Dad and I tried my best but only got a few dozens of OK ones. It might not be a good idea to get there on Saturday afternoon anyway. Though I ate up them all in the farm without paying a cent, we showed our support by buying their farm-made honey and jelly, which is twice more expensive than grocery stores. I fed goats in the farm and took a tractor ride. Also we did a picnic.
A week after, Georgetown community Montessori school had a festival. On the waiting list, I had to show my support with having four ice cream cones. The invited country musicians were really good. Four ice cream cones probably make me feel in that way.

Next week, I had a tour in San Antonio. Boat tour in River walk was fun. Under mom's insist with a belief that this is essentially a Mexico town with authentic Mexico food, we threw a pretty good amount of dollars only to Mexico food restaurants in the famous river walk, although Mexico style food was never our favorite in Austin. I like tortoni chips and beef. Mom was so impressed with their beef and claimed she is a Mexico food fan now for ever. (BUT after we came back to Austin, we have not had any Mexico food so far.) Dad had his first time experience with priceline.com. We ends up with paying half price to Marriott Rivercenter. Couldn't be happier about that. Next day, the grand breakfast in Oro restaurant right next to Alamo set a great mood for my day. I had a tour in Alamo so much like an adult that dad almost tried to explain to me the story of Alamo. Zoo certainly couldn't be missed. What a weekend.
The following week, there happened Austin Chinese Dragon boat festival in town lake.
This weekend, round rock express baseball family picnic hosted by dad's company...
I almost forgot to mention my new semester Saturday morning music together class has already started.
Dad's fantasy weekend is a cup of coffee with a leisure book in the morning, a bottle of game beer with a group of friends in the afternoon, and an out-family-dinner with live music in the evening. Isn't it too self-centered? It is OK to have fantasy.

It seems that we wrote too much this time. Kind like someone fixed one meal for a whole day. It reminds me our lovely neighbor Ms. Lye Bell in Providence, a cheerful writer and teacher. She mails out her 'blog' to her friends every year in Chrismas to tell out what happened in this whole year. That is really like a heck of meal for a whole Chrismas season.

Tony passed 100 days mark.

It has been a month of being with Kids&Kids preschool

In the first week, Ray told dad a few times "This is not my school". New school serves lunch so it really saved mom and dad a lot of efforts of preparing Ray's lunch. It ends up with that the first thing Ray told mom when mom picked him up after school was " I am hungry. I want to eat". It might take a while for him to get used to school food. Overall, new school is close and makes mom/dad's life much easier.
Ray is 37 pounds now. Once he showed dad he could count number almost up to twenty, dad's jaw almost dropped to ground. He might learn that in school. He sings ABC song fairly well and is a big fan of video game. Ray is not satisfied with 20 minutes restriction dad sets. There was one night, dad stopped Ray playing video ABC matching. He just stood there. Mad. Then suddenly he said, firm, loud and clear: " It is not fair". It dropped dad's jaw right to ground.

Bo Yang207 Kettleman Ln, N.Austin, TX 78717Email: boy@qualcomm.com(h)512-310-7625; (o)512-623-3802; (c)512-699-0492
Dear Madam/Sir: My name is Bo Yang. I was born in Chengdu and grew up there. Now I am living in Austin, Texas, U.S.. This letter is to assist my mother's application of a U.S. nonimmigrant visa (B2 travel for pleasure). In Autumn 2005, my parents' first U.S. visa application was turned down due to my infrequent trips back to China. The situation changed as I had a trip in Fall, 2005. Thus, in December 2006, in their second application, my parent were issued U.S. visa. Unfortunately, the trip was cancelled, as it was found out that my father had lung cancer. My father passed away in this January. It is a great pity that he has never been to U.S., a country he always wished to visit. I'd like to invite my mother to come to U.S. to visit my family. I hope a pleasant trip can help her relieve her sadness. I will be responsible for her trip expense, though my mother is financially capable herself. Form I-134 is attached and notarized. My employment letter and annual income proof are also attached as a courtesy.Yours sincerely,Bo YangMarch, 6th, 2008

Spring is on the way

I am going to say 'Good-bye' to my 'Rising star'

It turned out to be a tougher decision than mom and dad could ever imagine. After mom told my school that I am going to be withdrawn for another full-time day-care, my spot was replaced right away by some luck guy on the long waiting list. However, the sentiments my teachers showed for the loss of 'Ray' made mom so sad. And it gave a complete presentation of her indecisiveness, as she even asked dad if we could change our mind.
Ray is loved in 'Rising star'. Everybody loves Raymond. Hopefully Ray will be loved everywhere and everywhere loves Raymond.

A tough decision for mom and dad to make

Ray is going to 'Rising Star Preschool' now, which is 20 minutes drive from home. The primary reason we chose it was it is the only school among a few 'good schools' preferred by mom and dad has a minimum age less than 2. Mom and dad didn't go wrong. There are many things we like a lot about this school. Good teacher/student ratio, excellent teaching staff, shaded playground, ... Most of all, Ray is comfortable there. He likes his teachers and his teachers like him. He has his best buddy Jordan around. Yesterday they even gave each other a big hug when they met each other in the morning. Let alone he brings home his daily art works everyday.

There are also some inconveniences. School time is from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Even we added after school care program. It can only extend to 4:30pm, a little too early for dad to pick me up. Also it is located right by route 620, a crowded street with a lot of fast traffic and without isolation for two way traffics. Now we got Tony and my age qualifies me for more 'good schools'. It seems to make sense to transfer to a good neighborhood school.

Mom put Ray in the waiting list of 'Kids and kids', a chain school his friend Ryan is attending. It has great facilities and the time could be much longer, 6:30am to 6:30pm. Kids can be dropped any time. ( not necessary a good thing). Now we were notified it's our turn.

Mom and dad decided to have a second tour. They hesitated a little bit after they found out from tour guider teachers here 'prefer' having potty-train ready kid. Different philosophy from my old school. 3 teachers for 22 kids also put some concerns on their mind. Leaving something familiar for something unknown could always be scary, even for mom and dad.

OK. We have this whole weekend to make our decision.

Happy Chinese new year!

We had a new year celebration party in Austin New Chinatown. Tony watched the first show in his life, though he laid down most of the time. It is a new year. My new year resolution is 'getting rid of diper and being a true big boy'.

The beginning of a tale of two brothers...

I have great news to announce. Please welcome my little brother, Anthony H. Yang, who was born on Dec. 11th, 2007. Our birth weights and heights are identical. Tony got mom's cute chin and dad's big nose. Otherwise, we look like twins. Tony was born in Chinese 'Golden Pig' year. Does his ears remind you something? Ha ha ...
I love Tony. But I will love him more if I can take back the crib I abandoned before, plus those toys in the crib.

My first parent-teacher interview(PTI)

Going to school is awesome as you can make friends and you can learn. If you asked my dad, what was aweful about going to school in his experience, he would tell you it's parent-teacher interview(PTI). He got a fairly good chance to have a follow-up spank each time. Ouch!

Here came my PTI. I did pretty well on all physical developments and social skills. But not too impressive on language and maths. Dad told me what saved me follow-up spank was that dad thinks that maths interpretation at my age is assiciated with language. So I was only considered as failing one instead of two. Besides, I can be forgiven for being sort of bilingual. Spanking is probably joking here. But mom and dad did have some serious discussion after my PTI. The resolution came out that they decided to speak to me in 90% English instead of previous 40% English at home.
Will that work? Even they think it sounds pretty dumb. They might be joking again.

Singing is fun, sharing is not

I learned a song from my music class, 'she sells sea shells by the sea shore'. Not only I like to sing it to other people all the time, but also I sang it when I was asleep. It is really fun.
But what annoys me is dad and mom like the idea of sharing too much. They really fell in love with it. They even wanted to share my song. So whenever they dare try to sing my song, I have to yell to them, "IT IS MY SEA SHORE'.
If you think I am selfish and mean, remember, I am TWO years old.

2 years check-up

The much expected 2 years check-up finally came. Weight=33pounds, 93%, Height=36inch, 90%. It's the first time my height was measured while I stood up instead of lay down. That might be part of the reason I disappointed mom and dad's high expectation.
Anyway, I probably won't be a professional basketball player. It is not too late to consider some other careers. How about candy salesman? You can do things great only if you have great passion for it. Even though I was scared so bad in this Halloweens, hey, I got a full-loaded basket of candy I barely can carry.

Where is dad's key?

Dad has been sloppy at putting away his stuff. It doesn't surprise people that he spends some time finding his things occasionally. What makes dad be proud of himself is he can always find it eventually. That is why he never had a lesson and took this seriously. Now he needs to watch out.

I got a chain of keys from kitchen island, a new territory I was just able to reach. After I played it a little, I put it into certain drawer which dad and mom rarely opened. Then dad ended up with asking company maintainence guy to help him open his office and also mom turned stuff in trash can upside down. They knew I did it but I just forgot what I did. Don't blame me for it. Like father, like son. Dad got a real lesson this time. Hopefully it can help him in the future.

I am in school now.

Even though I had dressed a T-short worded with 'too cool for school', I am attending a preschool named 'rising star' now.

Here is a little history about my school. Two Steiner ranch moms had their own philosophy what a preschool should be like for their kids. The only way to fulfill their dream is to start their own school, which they did. Now their kids are my schoolmates.

I really love my school so that I don't want to leave when mom comes to pick me up everyday. I always get comments 'eat very well' from my teacher and my smooth transition to after-lunch lap without a fight certainly shocked mom and dad, which is really like a magic to them. I learned a few songs and a few letters so far and I am learning everyday.

It is a milestone in my life, as it is the first time I am away from my parents. Even it is just a few hours. But it is a few opaque hours to them, which adds unknown factors degrading dad's cause and effect analysis accuracy to my growth. Good luck is getting more important.

Now I can read with Aaron. Do we both look like schoolboys? Too cool to be like a preschool boy.

A little journey of mine

Tour San Diego

First, I have to be frank. It might take a while for us to have another tour after this one, simply because I am going to have a little brother at the end of this year. So we have to really make this a really really nice one. Is there a better place than San Diego? Definitely not.

Beach walking is always considered as romantic. Have ever people thought about that it could be a test for courage? I was afraid of beach at the beginning. Actually mom and dad found this out last time when we were in bear beach in San Francisco. It really took me three times to figure out ocean was not that scary, as long as you didn't get salty water into your mouth.

Even birds like walking on beach.

Coronado, a little nice town we can't miss in San Diego. A lot of things reminded mom and dad eastern coast. Hey, mom and dad, how about those palm trees?














In Mom's logic, Sea world is a must see too as it is bigger than the one in San Antonio. OK, let's go. Can you guess what I was holding in my hand? Banana skin? How about if you got it wrong, you owe me a banana?

We often say that everything in Texas is bigger. Talking with Cal guys, houses, Yes; Cactus, No. Something we have to be amazed is Cactus in California doesn't represent how arid California really is. They look so green and so water-rich. Irrigation and ocean climate changed their genes? We will find out.

San Diego Zoo is another must see. It is so well designed that it gives you really good angle and close distance to watch animals.

Balboa park is another attraction you'd better go. There are so many museums and nice architectures. All I can tell you is science museum. After that, I was so exhausted by that many stimulus that I have to sleep through the rest of tour. I don't regret much as this tour was a short one anyway. Why? Give you some hint. Look what color we were in. More hint. When was Tiger Woods in red when he was on Golf tour? Last day! When you tour, you'd better tour like a winner. It is our last day. We were going home!

A quantum jump in water

I haven't mentioned much about my swimming skill this year. There is really not much to talk about. Last year, I was treated as a star swimmer for my age. But I didn't make progress at all this year. Actually, dad thought I was more active in water last year. He said I was not much different from a floating log in water. Honestly, even worse than a floating log, as I need his support to be like a floating log.

NOT ANY MORE!
Yesterday I found out that I could make a good balance in water if I moved my arms and legs in the right way, with a little help of my floatie jacket. A new chapter of my swimming progress just opened. I myself could go anywhere I wanted in the pool. It's not easy as some time I got water in my mouth and nose. What I did was just spitting it out, like dad showed me. It's so cool to swim on your own.

Dad was a little lost. Whenever he tried to approach me to offer his unnecessary help, I yelled him to stop it. It seems that he relly need some time to adjust from a very needed person to an unneeded role. Be ready, dad. More adjustments are coming on their ways.

Hamilton Pool, better than a beach?

Last Saturday, we went to Hamilton pool, a natural waterfall in southwest of Austin. We were all impressed with theview and enjoyed swimming under cool waterfall. Aaron made a comment: 'This is even better than a beach. How could you get a waterfall in a beach?' It is hard to argue with him on this.

Dad's garden

Unlike Providence, it is usually not easy to maintain a garden in Austin as the summer is just too warm and dry. Not this year, we got a record high rain-water this year. Lake travis is all full and even open the gate to release some water. It has not happened for many years. And also it is not a hot summer so far. Gardeners are all happy.

A trip to Houston again

I visited Houston Zoo again. This time I went there with Aaron. It's a really hot day so we got a chance to see tigers, as the tigers have to swim in the water to cool themselves down. The next day we went to houston children's museum, which made all of us feel we really need to make Austin chidren's museum better. Houston is just such a great city. It is worth driving for three hours one way for the fun.

Something about Chengdu we missed

Time can never be enough. The historic Chengdu plane sits between two hill countries. We have visited the west part, which is really a part of great Tibet plane. The east part, Dragon Spring hills, is the one we missed. Dragon Spring is such a great place for artists of Chengdu. The view, country culture and country scenary is really one of the kinds. Here I posted a painting of Mr. ZhiZhuang Chen on Dragon Spring hill. Enjoy it.

Remark 7 of Chengdu trip: history is everywhere

There were two greatest poets in Chinese history. One of them is Du, Fu, (杜甫)。Every chinese kid grew up with citing their poems. Fu has stayed in Chengdu for four years during the notorious An Shi's riot. He wrote his most famous poem 'Wind broke my cottage' 茅屋为秋风所破歌 here. It is so touchy when he wrote: How could there be thousands houses available for all poor people in the world. I would be happy to die of being frozen in my broken cottage. ( 安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜。... 吾庐独冻死亦足哉。） In a rule of thumbs, dad doesn't put my picture in tears online. This is an exception. Just for Fu. My grandparent were with me.

Remark 6 of Chengdu trip: Oxygen bar

A new phrase I just learned: Oxygen bar. There are just so many trees and plants in Chengdu plane rural area. They produced so much fresh oxygen that now a popular thing people do is to have a weekend stay in rural area. It is called: visit Oxygen Bar.

They are not exaggerating. I had a sky overview. Uncountable mountains and uncountable tree. It is just such a great bar.

Remark 5 of Chengdu trip: A statute of me

Lotus is everywhere in those satellite towns around Chengdu. Summer is Lotus's glory time. Winter or fall is the time people pick their roots, a unique nutrious food. People make statutes for VIPs. Do I look like a VIP? Or maybe I am just a typical Chinese boy.

Remark 4 of Chengdu trip: Water from Heaven

Water has been such a precious resource in this world. ShiChuan is such a blessed place with abundant high quality water supply, which is from Tibet plane. The water, melted from snow, is so clean and cool. 拜水都江堰 said it all.

Remark 3 of Chengdu trip: Wild flower in Qing Cheng Mountain

Qing Cheng Mountain (青城山） is such a great place to visit. It is the origin of Dao religion. It is said: 拜水都江堰， 问道青城山. 古人云：青城天下秀。可见一斑。We climbed the mountain, visited temples, and smelled wild flowers. Oh, can not miss this, I ate a lot of real 'Organic food' from farmer's restaurant. I dare not enjoy all alone. My cousin, YueYue was my companion all along.

Remark 2 of Chengdu trip: Tea House and Bamboo

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan and now is crowned as Capital of leisure (休闲之都）。In ancient time, there was a chinese saying "Sichuan is not for youth (少不入川）"，which really means that life in Sichuan is too easy and too relaxing, which makes youth lose spirit of hard-working. This sounds like a paradise for retirees.
In sunny days, people here like sitting in the tea-house, playing majiang and chatting each other. Bamboo chairs here are kind of unique. A bamboo chair, a cup of tea and a shade of huangjiao tree just give you a real piece of peace. It is absolutely stress-free.

Remark 1 of Chengdu trip: City life

I have never seen so many people before I visited Chengdu. This character fits the capital of most densely populated province of the most populated nation in the world. People people everywhere.
But how to find your own peace in such a Mahattan-like city. Find your own central park. There are a lot of city parks around. A nice thing I have to mention is that, unlike Texas, trees here are huge so you get cool shade everywhere.

People morning-exercise in the park. Looks like they are well-trained.














Striding in King Wang Jian's Tomb, one of dad's favorite parks while he grew up.

Spy my neighbor. Why? They have a pool at home.

Just half year change

It is always fun to look at a younger me. Hard to believe a faked pony can cheer me up so much. Now I have riden a real pony already. My favorite thing now is watching sesame street. I learned quite a few dance moves from it. Dad was really puzzled how educational experts call watching TV 'passive' learning. Now I can earn watching one hour sesame street per day. Can't wait going back to China. During the long flight, sesame street can bring everyone peace.

We have a big family in China. Getting a gift for everyone is a tough job. Dad has been shopping like crazy. Today he was even recognized by a compusa sales guy as dad has been there too often.

Now I am one and half years old.

You never know until you explore

My blog has been quiet for a while. Can't blame dad being lazy as our camera was broken. Canon E18, a well-known error which bugged so many people. As an Engineer, dad made a nice try to fix it once. But he couldn't fix it twice.

Dad decided to upgrade our camera to SLR. Unlike point-shoot cameras, SLRs need user to be more educated on camera. In other word from dad'd mouth, it takes time to figure out what you really need. A game most of us play every day about balancing cost and performance. Mom certainly can't bear the idea that I have no pictures for a while. We ended up with having an 'temporary camera', or you can call it 'secondary camera', a cheap one which fits its name.

The following picture was taken in Gymboree with so-so lighting. It is a whole lot better than our old camera, tahnks to IS technology. The movie mode was much more superior to the old one, which even makes us think who needs camcoders any more. This is all done by a camera which costs $179.

Even E18 doesn't exist, our 4M 3X old canon powershot should be collected as an antic a while back ago. You wouldn't know it until you explore. This doesn't just happen for cameras.

Happy Easter!

Egg hunting is the first time ever to me, mom and dad. We even discussed if we need to prepare some eggs painted with color ourselves. So you can imagine how happy we were when we opened the eggs. Great idea! See you all eggs next year.

baby sense

Last night, we went to basketball court and had some fun. On the way back, I suddenly found that a gigantic dark monster was following me all the time. No matter where I went, he was just there with me. I yelled at him and he seemed not to be scared. What can I do, except crying?

Dad and mom just laughed as they said the monster was my shadow. Today, we went to my 18 month check-up, which was scheduled a little early as we probably would go back to China by that time. We just found out I am 35inch in height and 28'9" pounds in weight. No wonder the monster was so big.

I can play

To most players, shooting basketball is easier than making a dunk. Not to me. I make every single basket with a slam dunk. Just like this. Grandpa and Grandma were quite impressed from QQ video. They are going to visit us soon. Before that, I am going to China to meet them. Dad promised that I will have a lot of good food there in Chengdu, which probably is the most famous cousine city in China. I have no idea what he is talking about. But look at mom, she starts drooling.

Our new neighbor moved away

Probably the mom felt we visited them too much. She was a little concerned with her baby's safty. They moved away. We are so sad that we couldn't watch them grow up. Now there is just an empty nestle sitting there.
It is still a mystery to us how they made the move. Did they get some help like that dad hired somebody to move our furnitures? Babies could be very heavy.

We got a new neighbor

We just moved in our new home. So soon a new neighbor moved in. They settled down on our garden fence. A mother with two babies. We embraced them with a warm heart. They are related with QUAIL but they are a little too big for a quail. Once we figured out who they are, I will publish it.
Dad had dreamed in his whole life to have a neighbor like this and now his dream just came true.

This is my community

Welcome to my community, Oak Brook.

We have moved in two weeks ago. Then we all got sick due to some virus. It took so much chicken soup and so much rest to get it over. Dad, excused himself from being procrastinated, finally finished installing gas drier today. Mom has been drying our clothes in the yard for two weeks. We started wondering how much energy would be saved nationwide if every family sun-dries their clothes once a month. Well, now our life just officially gets into right track.

Oak brook is an breath-taking community. Olson Meadow Park is right in front of my door. A long trail reaches Avery Ranch, and brushy creek water park. Many trees, bushes, ponds, creeks, and little bridges sketch my space. The view is just so beautiful that it entices out dad's painting desire with a yearly rusty skill. Certainly mom was not much impressed with it. And we got so many kids in our neighborhood that you need a PDA to help remember all of them. Finally, our school, Brushy creek elementary was an exemplary school in excellent RRISD.

I am just a lucky boy.

If you came to San Francisco...

A toll fee in Golden State Bridge, 5 dollars. (free to three passengers carpool, thanks to me);
A breakfast meal in marriot downtown, 20 dollars. (free to a child as a courtesy, even I eat like a man);
A round-trip flight ticket to San Jose, 250 dollars. (free to me as I am still under two years old);
A curious boy exploring historic San Francisco, Priceless! (and also costless!!!) What a wonderful world!