Race Across America

While we were at the Annapolis dock over the weekend, we saw some of the finalists of Race Across America! The race is from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD, a little bit over 3000 miles.

Here are some pictures.




Isn't that amazing - they can finish 3000+ miles in less than 9 days?! It is more than 400 miles a day!

But that is not it! One of the teams is called "Great Grand Pac Masters". Those four teammates are all over 75 years old. They finished their race in 8 days 14 hours and 49 minutes! I saw someone commented them on a blog "These outstanding 75+ year old men did phenomenal in this year’s race and have proven that age is just a number. They completed the 3021 mile race in 8 days 14 hours and 49 minutes. I plan to share their story with every one I know in hopes that it encourages and inspires others to follow their dreams and not let age determine what they can or cannot accomplish. You guys will always have a place in my memory as some of the greatest cyclists to ever compete in Race Across America. Great Grand Pac Masters…"I will ride until the sand runs out!""

It takes determination and endless practices.

My father is a long time believer of exercising. He trained me and my two older brothers to exercise every day, rain or shine, hot or cold. Doesn't matter how many hours sleep he has, he always gets up at 5am to accompany us to go jogging or swimming. You can imagine how much I hated exercise when I was young and how much I appreciate his effort as an adult. The intensive training I had at my young age was the main reason why I can still survive by my boys' torture. :)

You can check on other finalists here. The ones in the yellow outfits are the Great Grand Pac Masters.

Isn't that life full of inspiration?

So, stop looking at our blog and get out exercising!

The Beach Boys

Ha ha...my boys don't have the fame yet. But sure they enjoyed their first beach trip. We were surprised that they both behaved well and still had energy to play in the car (some silly laugh they always have) on the way home.

=== Sandy Point State Park ===

Sandy Point State park is no far from where we live (as compare to Ocean City or Virginia Beach). It also has a spectacular view of the Bay bridge.

That is how I stay "cool".

=== Annapolis ===

After a nice late lunch at the "Big Golden Arch", we then took the boys to Annapolis harbor. Alvin loves sailboats. He has a lot to tell you what he saw in the harbor.

Both boys tried to ring the bell. Good that they didn't get caught.

Alvin even danced in front of the state house for extended 10 minutes. It almost became a local attraction for other visitors.

Mason, the Mason

Do you know the meaning of Mason's name? It means "Stone Worker" and it does truly represent his tough personality.

Whatever his big brother does, he wants to do the same.

As you can see in following video, he doesn't crawl down the stairs, he just slides his way down.

Please tell me it doesn't have to be that hard!

Mom thinks it is more stressful than her 13 hours labor!

It has contributed 50 extra mmHg to her blood pressure (at least that is how she feels).

What are you talking about???

Oh, well. Let's start from the beginning (8 months ago):

A week before Thanksgiving long weekend
While chatting with other friends in our playdate group, Mom got some inspiration from a very promising method "how to potty train your toddler in 3 days".

The idea of the potty training method is to
1) let your toddler drink as much as he can so he get more chance to practice
2) no pullups, no diapers. Just big boy underpants so he will feel uncomfortable when pee in pants.

Three days my toddler can be off the expensive diapers? Little scheme forms in her head.

Before Thanksgiving long weekend
Mom stocked up 2 dozes of big boy underpants. Mom also shopped for all kinds of juice, jelly, Jello, fruits etc...you name it, thinking whatever goes in has to come out eventually.

Thanksgiving long weekend
Oh well. It was a good start - he loves drinking juice because we don't normally give him juice box. Because the amount of liquid he consumed, he peed every 25 minutes, but wait, to his pants and floor. When we put him on the potty, he didn't go. But, the moment he put him back on the floor, he had his accident.

So Mom started to sit him on the potty every 30 minutes. To make sure he sit still, she gave him toys, books, and eventually cell phones, palms, GPS. And, none of them seemed to work. He still peed whenever and wherever he wanted.

Our report after the first day - I counted 40+ pieces of clothes we had to wash. But, after the long stressful first day, Mom still believed in that one day she would prevail.

The second day was a little bit better, but no that much success. By the end of second day, Mom was already exhausted. For two straight days without doing anything but watching your toddler's every move and taking him to bathroom and sitting in the bathroom with him for 30 minutes and then wiping the floor and washing the pants and teaching him what is right and what is wrong, AND STILL trying to keep down your temper?, it is a tough job!

By the end of the long weekend, we had some success. He got the idea of what peeing in the toilet is but the stubborn still didn't tell us when he wanted to go.

2 weeks later...

You know Mom is very persistent. Whatever she decides to do, she has to do it right and follow it through. With hundreds of accidents on the pants and floors, several incidents of dropping cells , palms and GPS in the toilet, this little stubborn started to tell us "I don't want pee pee" when he in fact wanted to pee. He would even go to public restrooms when we went out to parks and stores. Mom was very moved and she finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

2 more weeks later...

When we were in the middle of our honeymoom, somehow this little stubborn took a turn and started to refuse to tell us and refuse to go to potty. The situation became worse and worse and eventually it took us two people to get him to the bathroom and he still didn't want to sit. It had became a big battle and every one is losing temper.

Giving up for good....

At the meantime, this stubborn refused to eat for the longest time. He would go on without eating anything for a month. Finally, Mom told herself, it is the time to put a break on the potty training. But, I WILL BE BACK!

Re-train over Memorial day weekend (6 months later)...

After spending 6 months on expensive pullups, here comes our chance - another long weekend! A week before the training, she started to tell Alvin that we are going to pee in potty like other big boys. She also told him how uncomfortable pullup is and how soft and comfortable big boy under is.

And, this time, Mom changed her stratergy (one has to learn from experience). She would let the toddler to pee on pants without forcing him to go but she would ask him to wash whatever pants he had accidents on (as a punishment) and everytime he had an accident, Mom would give him a time out in the bathroom. This seems to be a success.

But, peeing at home is different than peeing in the daycare. The first day after the long weekend, Mom stayed in daycare for a good 50 minutes to wait until him couldn't hold and he eventually pee in the potty in the daycare. The second day was less, she only waited for 20 minutes. And, after that, he started to show willingness to go in the daycare.

1 week later...

Things are going slow but the stubborn is doing better, gradually.

Current state and many problems to remain...

Well. He would go on demand at home and in the daycare. But, he still seldom tells us he wanted to pee. He would try to hold it and sometime got a little bit drop in his pant if he couldn't hold it that well. Another big problem is he is so careless. The moment he started to go, he would turn around and tell everyone how good he is and let it drop everywhere from the floor to his pants.

What can we say?

An ordinary weekend day

We are slowing down lately over the weekend. Most of our weekend involve only some activities in our community. In the morning after breakfast, we would just take a walk to the park. We would bring basketball along. Dad would practice his basketball while the boys played in the playground next to it. And then, Alvin would practice his passing and kicking on the court while Mason cruises around. Exercise for all of us.








In the evening if the weather is warm enough, we would take the boys to the swimming pool. Mason and Alvin have such a different preference about the water temperature. Alvin thinks the water is comfortable but Mason would scream about it.

Alvin carries a 10 pound bag to the pool. It has his pool toys, water and snacks.

The boys just got a nice haircut.

Mason always acts cool in front of the camera.

Alvin is still responsible for his 10-pound bag after swim.

Dutch Wonderland

Lancaster, PA is a small town southeast of Harrisburg and it is known by many because its dutch heritage (Amish Community to be more precise).

But to Alvin, it is the Dutch Wonderland that counts! Dutch Wonderland is a wonderful amusement park for family with small children like us. They have rides and games especially designed for the little ones to challenge their limit! Actually, this is the 2nd time we visited the park but last time Mom was out shopping happily in the nearby outlets with a 2 month-old baby Mason while Dad drained his energy just to keep Alvin safe.

Well, the pictures say it all.

All aboard.

I never thought that I am so bias but believe or not, that is the only picture I can find with Mason in it. I spent more time to make sure Mason had enough to eat and had good naps than anything else! Next time I have to be more careful about taking pictures otherwise someone will have something to say about the parents.

Thomas Train show

Alvin rolls his way but sometime he needs some help.

The matching band.

Ava and Alvin had a fun time in the water park area. Ava is such an independent girl but yet she is very caring and loving. Alvin always enjoys her company!