A Pool Party to Remember

We had a great pool party this past weekend with Brewster Boys and their cousins and friends. It wasn't a birthday party, but basically that's what it ended up being. The kids spent almost all of their time in the pool all day, so that meant I could relax and talk to our guests without getting interrupted. It just might be the best $40 I've ever spent.

Punky squirts the hose as Russell and Bethany respond with their water guns

Punky cries after being hit by the water guns

Punky ventures into the pool with the hose for protection

Punky blasts Bethany with the hose as she lies down in the pool

A good time was had by all

Russell's 7th Birthday: A Weekend in Reno

In what is now an annual tradition, we spent Russell's birthday weekend away from home in Reno, Nevada. We chose Reno because we were fortunate to have been given a free room by Jenny's college friend Christine. After a 5-hour driving ordeal through the Sierra Nevada mountains, we arrived at the Peppermill Hotel & Casino, one of the newest properties in Reno.

Except for a brief jaunt to Circus Circus, we basically did not leave the hotel during our 2-night stay in Reno. There were plenty of restaurants, entertainment, and of course, a huge heated swimming pool to keep up busy. At night after putting the kids to sleep, I took about an hour each night to play the slot machines and keno (for the first time).

From my perspective, the trip was a success. Everyone had fun and we enjoyed hanging out with Jenny's friend Christine and her family. I must admit that I really do miss hanging out at casinos every now and then.

The iconic entrance to Reno sign

The entrance to the Peppermill Hotel & Casino

Jenny makes a toast to our friends at the Oceana Restaurant at the Peppermill

Our suite at the Peppermill

Punky tries his hand at driving a video game while holding onto his dinosaur

Russell rides the Harley video game

The Brewster Boys underneath the elephant at Circus Circus

The Brewster Boys are all smiles before heading out for the pool

Video of Russell's 7th Birthday Party on the Last Day of School

Enjoy!

Happy 7th Birthday Russell

This Friday was Russell's 7th birthday. Rather than hosting a party at our home or a kiddie palace (i.e. Chuck E. Cheese or Pump It Up!), we decided to have a birthday celebration at Russell's 1st grade class on the last day of school (the same day as Russell's birthday). This is the 2nd year that we've done this.

Russell's classmates are a great bunch of kids. Many of the kids in Russell's class are recent immigrants or from families of modest income, so I was especially glad that these kids would be attending Russell's party. Aware that Russell is "different", several of the girls look after Russell like a little brother. They help the teacher when needed, and often guide Russell during classroom assignments.

For the party, we brought a SpongeBob cake, pizza and goodie bags. As I brought the pizzas into the classroom, Russell's classmates all turned around and shouted together "Pizza!"--as if on cue. For his last day of 1st grade, Russell was King of the Classroom.

Jenny lights the birthday candle as Russell and his excited classmates look on. That's Punky on left watching the lighter flame.

Russell prepares to blow out the candle

The SpongeBob birthday cake

Russell and his friend Christopher, whose birthday is only 11 days after Russell's

Russell Laments the Loss of Pokemon

As readers of this blog are aware, Russell is a huge Pokemon fan. It was one of the few reliable means for me to verbally engage him on a regular basis--we played games, battled on Nintendo, read books, watched videos and showcased his Pokemon collection. It is one of his pure joys in life

Late last week at school, Russell threatened a teacher with a "body slam", which is an "attack" by his favorite Pokemon Pikachu. Prior to Pokemon, he would typically say he would "hit" someone, if they made him angry, so this was not unusual for him to verbalize in this manner.

Unfortunately, this caused Jenny to overreact by taking away virtually all of his Pokemon--the toys, Nintendo 64 and Pokedex. Russell was quite saddened by this loss, and he reacted by drawing in our bathtub with soap crayons. I hope Jenny reconsiders her drastic move. He cries to me at night when I put him to sleep.

Russell loves "Hitmonlee", and a representation of his blue drawer, which formally contained his Pokemon collection (three circles are the knobs)

To the right are several Magnemites, and a pokeball on the bottom left

Not Quite Summertime

Last weekend was so hot, that we sped down to Toys R Us (the kids' favorite store) and splurged to buy ($40) the last available small inflatable pool. Unfortunately, we only got to use it for one day before Global Warming ended and we hit a mini Ice Age--which still continues to this day.

I hope we get to use it again, because it took me about 40 minutes to blow it up with a bicycle pump. I was pooped afterwards. Anyways, here's the least embarrassing shot from our one day with a backyard pool.

It's nice to have a pool in the backyard

Planet Pokemon

About 2 weeks ago, I bought a used Nintendo 64 from eBay and installed it upstairs in Punky's room. Now the Brewster Boys can't get enough of playing Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2. Even though its a 10-year-old console, the games have held up very well over time and very much resemble the current Pokemon Battle Revolution game on the Nintendo Wii.

Every night, we play about 30-45 minutes of the Nintendo together (just me and the boys) and have a good time battling against the computer. Russell's favorite Pokemon are Pikachu, Charmander, Clefairy and Gloom . Punky's choices are much less diverse: Bulbasaur, Ivysaur and Venusaur. I like Pidgeotto, Drowsy and Voltorb.

A few years ago, I'd watch my nephews and nieces play Pokemon on their Nintendo 64, Gameboy and DS and not understand a word of what they were talking about. Now I understand most everything they're saying. I'm hooked.

Nintendo 64 game console

Pokemon Stadium game for the Nintendo 64

While Strolling Through the Park One Day

Last weekend, we were at a picnic in the park when I spotted a huge mushroom and shouted "Hey look at the giant mushroom!" Russell immediately began hyperventilating and freaked out. It turns out that Jenny recently told Russell that mushrooms outside are poisonous, so now he's become deathly afraid of them. In order to calm Russell down, I had Zachary (formally known as Punky) stoop down and touch the giant fungus.

Zachary (formally known as Punky) touches the giant fungus in order to calm Russell down

Close-up of the huge mushroom that had Russell worried

Another Overnight Trip to Monterey

About twice a year, we go for an overnight trip to someplace within driving distance of home. For the past 5 years, one of those trips has been to Monterey to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Usually what happens is that the Brewster Boys keep pestering us to take them to the aquarium about 4 or 5 months after the last trip. Eventually, I'll cave in.

This week is Spring Break for the kids and the first week of my month-long sabbatical from work. It was just the right time, because the kids are driving me nuts at home and Jenny wanted to go away somewhere for a break from cooking and cleaning. Going to a hotel next to the aquarium accomplishes all of these objectives, plus the aquarium tickets purchased at the hotel allows us to go to the aquarium over 2 consecutive days.

There was nothing different about this trip from the others, except the fact that we stayed at the new InterContinental Hotel right next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the jellyfish displays have been replaced by an equally interesting seahorse exhibition. Plus, we got to meet the Bubba Gump Shrimp in person (see below).

Punky and Russell test drive the new Splash Zone wave-generating pool

A sea otter peers down at a tired Punky

Russell shakes hands with the Bubba Gump Shrimp while Punky stares in awe

Russell and Punky sit in from of the Coral Reef window

Russell's favorite sushi at the aquarium: Saba (mackerel)

Slumdog Date Night

Jenny and I finally broke the string of consecutive weeks without a Date Night. When we finally went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" today, it had been some 24 odd weeks since we went out together without the kids.

At lunch and at the movies, I was tired from all the running around we've done so far this year. But the movie was so different from the usual Hollywood computer-generated garbage, and it was so entertaining that I managed to fight off sleep to watch it from end-to-end. Remember that last year, I only saw 3 movies in their entirety at both the theater AND at home. They were: Tropic Thunder (horrible), Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo (even worse) and Terminator 3 (so-so).

The past several months have been very tough on both of us. Recently, Jenny has been working feverishly to find an adequate school for Russell once it became apparent that his current school was not meeting his needs. This she does in between shuttling the kids to and from school, and Russell to his after-school therapists.

I've been battling the usual malarky at work in addition to trying to get my start-up business off the ground. I come home from work exhausted, but I still manage to clean the kitchen, play with the kids and then put them to sleep. Before the night is over, I'll work on editing Russell videos, work on my side business and maybe go to 24 Fitness before calling it a night at 1AM.

To retain my sanity, I'm taking a sabbatical from work for the entire month of April. I'm hoping things slow down a bit so that Jenny and I can go out on another date. We had a good time today.

Just another reminder of why we're working so hard

Happy Birthday to Us

Jenny's birthday and mine are separated by only 8 days in the beginning of March. Between us, we've accumulated 86 years on earth, which means we've finally surpassed my father's number of birthdays!

As usual, we celebrated by going out to dinner with the Brewster Boys to a couple of our favorite restaurants--Japanese for Jenny and Korean for me. Afterwards, we each got a small cake and candles so that the boys could have a little fun. Then we resumed our usual roles in the house, although on my birthday, I got the night off for story time. I was not, however, excused from my nightly dinosaur attack and Tom & Jerry-a-thon.

Jenny contemplates the perfect birthday wish as the Brewster Boys await the signal to blow out the candles

That's a lot of birthday candles for me!

After the birthday celebration, it's back to simulated dinosaur attacks (with me playing the role of the sauropod) and Tom & Jerry cartoons (see TV in background)

Punky, Dinosaurs and Global Warming

Earlier this month, we went to the California Academy of Sciences to check out the dinosaur display. Both Punky and I were disappointed to see that it had been replaced by a large Global Warming exhibit. Only a single skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was left.

Totally. Bogus.

Punky checks out the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton

Punky: "Is that all they have?"

The Passion of the Punky

Because of Russell's autism, much of our video attention is focused on Russell. As a result, I haven't taken much video of Punky in his short, four plus years on earth.

Without further ado, here is a video of Punky describing his latest obsession: dinosaurs

Meet the Chinese Beatles

Not the Beatles, But an Incredible Simulation.

I'm proud to announce the release of the Brewsters' new album, featuring the hit songs "All You Need Is Poop" and "Fong on the Hill". The Brewsters consist of:

Bottom row: Paul McChen, John Lee-Ning
Top row: Ringo Yang, George Hsu-Sun

Ever wonder why everyone always accuses the Chinese of being copycats?

Brewstermania

Russell and Punky, along with their cousins Andrew and Ethan, received corduroy blazers as Christmas presents from their Aunt Anna.

In the above pictures, they are playing the legendary rock band, The Brewsters, who are best known for their hit songs, "I Want to Hold Your Dinosaur", "Help Me, Daddy", "Poo, Poo, Poo" and "Yellow Screwdriver".

Happy New Year

I've promised myself that I will post more often in 2009 than in late 2008. So here goes...

We didn't do much over the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays. No trips anywhere other than a few excursions to San Francisco for some shopping and visits to Jenny's relatives around the Bay Area. The Brewster Boys enjoyed their time off, and I tried my best to keep up with them on my days off from work.

Among the things to note are:

1) We began attending a local church, the Bay Farm Community Church
2) We are considering sending Russell to a private school so that he can get more individualized attention and autism-specific education
3) My parked car was hit by a teenage driver
4) My computer died, so I had to get a new one (a Dell)
5) For Christmas, we only got presents for the kids and their cousins in San Jose

Hopefully, the new year will turn out to be better than the old one. Happy New Year! Enjoy the pictures.

Our Christmas 2008 Family Portrait

The Brewster Boys wearing their finest to church--matching blazers

The Brewster Boys on Christmas morning prior to gift-opening

Merry Christmas from the Brewster Boys

You may have noticed the lack of updates lately. That's because our computer died earlier this month (a 1-year old HP laptop). I'm using the old back-up computer now. This also means that I can't post photos until the new computer arrives from Dell until mid-January. So our annual Merry Christmas message to will have to wait for photos!

The recent news includes Russell mastering riding a bicycle for the first time in November, and Punky playing a computer game for the first time as well. We haven't done much these past few months because we are trying to save money for Russell's private school tuition. Like most Americans, we are feeling the pinch due to the financial downturn that began in September. But we are doing better than most people because we made some good investment decisions dating back a decade ago. Plus we've never lived beyond our means.

As for Christmas, we spent it at Sui Headquarters in San Jose, where the boys had a good time playing with the cousins and watching Tom & Jerry cartoons. A few weeks ago, we began attending a local church to give the boys exposure to Christianity and because we missed having some spirituality in our lives. So far, so good. Jenny and I have had some excellent conversations about Jesus and the role that religion should have in the boys' lives.

Happy Halloween from the Brewster Boys

Among the kiddie crowd, Halloween ranks only second to Christmas on the list of important holidays. I can see why this is so. I still remember what I wore for my kindergarden Halloween pageant (I wore a store-bought clown costume). Heck, I still remember parts of the script for the Halloween pageant some 39 years later!

This year, Russell and Punky started campaigning for their Halloween costumes during the summer time. While Russell always wanted to be Pikachu, Punky's choice moved from cowboy to mummy to Batman to a skeleton. Had Halloween been a week later, I'm sure he would have changed his mind once more.

Once again, we trick-or-treated away from our street in order to avoid the hoardes of Oaklanders that descend upon our Alameda neighborhood. We spent the evening at the home of Jenny's friend who lives on nearby Bay Farm Island, where we walked around the block to collect candy prior to having dinner. Russell and Punky really enjoyed having candy placed into their plastic pumpkins. They also didn't seem to mind when I confiscated all their candy and gave them yogurt to eat that night.

So, it's really about dressing up and getting something for free.

Punky and Russell get ready for trick-or-treating

Punky as a spooky skeleton

Russell met another Pikachu during trick-or-treating

Russell relaxes after an evening of trick-or-treating


Punky inspects his Halloween haul

Yes, It's Been a While

A few people have dropped me a line asking what's been happening to us lately. As you've probably noticed, I haven't been blogging much since Labor Day.

Of course, school has started, which means that we are busy getting the kids ready for school and preparing them at night with their homework or show-and-tell speeches the next day. It takes a lot of effort to stay on top of what the kids are doing at school. Just last week, we went to back-to-school night, and Jenny has been attending the PTA meetings. At night time, I try to keep them busy by reading them stories and engaging in activities such as coloring Pokemon and Disney pictures. The kids are still hooked on Pokemon. I've been thinking about getting a used Nintendo 64 (circa 1998).

Jenny and I are also working a lot with Russell on his at-home-therapy, which we videotape and then breakdown for the therapist to analyze remotely via the internet. That process alone--of editing video and then writing an analysis of our own therapy work--takes me two nights a week. The good news is that Russell is making good progress and we are becoming confident in our ability to bring Russell out of his autism-induced shell.

The market meltdown hasn't helped, either. With our investment portfolio, I've been spending much more time trying to think of ways of reducing our risk and then developing a financial strategy for the impending recession. We aren't in panic mode yet--we're still comfortably ahead in the grand-scheme-of-things--but need to ensure that we have enough in reserves just in case disaster strikes. We've worked hard to maintain our financial well-being, but have also been lucky in our timing of certain actions, such as our house purchases back in 2000 and 2004.

With our hectic schedules, it's been difficult keeping in touch with family and friends as much as we would like. On weekends, we might have time to have one friend over for dinner, but most weekends we are busy running errands or just trying to catch up with the housework. Most of the time, we end up seeing people during birthday parties or playdates. As a result, there's very little time spent relaxing and shooting the breeze with others.

Sometime soon, we may enroll the kids in kung fu school. Punky has definitely expressed an interest. We both would like the kids to speak Chinese, so it looks like Punky will be taking Chinese classes in Oakland Chinatown within the year. This will mean yet more errands to run!

Other parents say it gets better as the kids get older, but I have not seen that yet. If anything, Russell and Punky have become more demanding in their need for attention. They seem to get their hands on everything, and I have to be around or close by just to ensure that they won't destroy the house or get into trouble. Not to mention the fact that they fight over just about everything--toys, food, books, games, etc.

Once every 3 or 4 months, Jenny and I go out on a "date", which means dinner and a movie while we drop the kids off with a babysitter. And about once a month, Jenny goes out with her girlfriends to unwind over dinner. I go out twice a year--on my birthday and on dragon boat weekend (the big SF dragon boat race this weekend). That's the extent of our social lives. It's not quite what we expected when we got married 8 years ago, which seems like eons ago.

I'm not venting, just letting all of you know what we've been doing. Drop me a line, and let me know what you are doing yourselves.

Gov. Sarah Palin on Special Needs Childen

"Children with special needs, inspire very, very special love. For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters and I pledge to you if we're elected, you'll have a friend and an advocate in the White House." - Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin

As the father of a special needs child, I was very moved by Sarah Palin's statement, given at last night's Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Of course, these are not just empty words as Governor Palin's youngest son Trig has Down's Syndrome.



Piper Palin applies a little elbow grease on the hair of her baby brother Trig