Graduation

"You have fought the good fight.  You have finished the race.  And you have kept the faith." - 2 Tim 4:6

Another year bites the dust... good job students!!  And now I get my Tuesday evenings back. 

Adieu

An email I wrote to some of our CS Brothers and Sisters...

Family Softball

Towards the end of the school year... SW was gloating how he's awesome at softball, batting 1.000 in PE.  So when the announcement came out asking for players... I signed us up for the church league.  A couple weeks ago... they had finals... so they didn't play.  This time around... they got to wear a glove, get in the box, and take a mighty swing.  

NN went 2 for 3 with a walk.  No defensive plays but impressed a lot of people with her hustle on the base paths.  She was a clam.

SW went 1 for 3 with a walk.  His first hit came at a clutch moment in the game too... when it was two outs and I was on third.  "Bring dad home! Bring dad home!!" was the chant.  Defensively, he picked up a fly ball and threw it to the cutoff man.

I went 3 for 4... with 1 error at short, when the ball was hit hard up the middle and took a tricky bounce.   Nate had me batting cleanup!! HA!! He must think I'm good or something.  Ah wellz.

I was quite happy tonight.  Quite happy!  To be able to hang out with the kids at their age and at mine... what a blessing. Was burnt to a crisp from a day long outdoor volleyball tournament though... but today... was a good day.

Tahoe Camping - Day 3

Woke up to a nice buffet breakfast. The three families got together to recount last night's event over coffee and juice.  Then by 9AM... we headed back to camp to pack up.  When we got there, it was a ghost town!!  Everyone... and I mean EVERYONE has left.  They either left last night when we evacuated.  Or they broke down camp early in the morning.  We searched for our belongings and they were all there. 

After packing... decided to hit up the nearby beach for a few minutes.  A few minutes turned into a few hours.  The kids wanted to have fun.  The adults needed to relax a bit.  So I went to the general store and grabbed a 12 pack.  Grabbed some chairs and beach mats.  And before long...the tats broke out their stove and we had ourselves a feast.  We rented a SUP and kayak.  Played some volleyball.  Chatted.  Laughed. Good food.  Good scenes. Good company.  

Wasn't exactly how I imagined it going... but alas... a wonderful way to wrap up 3 days of camping.

Tahoe Camping Day 2 - The Bear

 Continuation of Day 2....

We started to head back to camp... about 10 minutes from the pier... NN realizes she lost her phone.  But she doesn't have Find My turned out (d'oh!!).  But thankfully... some nice person found it and turned it into the Lost and Found.  So we picked up our phone.. picked up a nice Starbucks and off we went.

Got back to camp and folks had already started cooking.  We were in the middle camp so I started a fire... having a feeling that dinner was going to be at our picnic table.  This time I was smart... found a bunch of dry pine needles... giant pine cones... and the fire was blazing in two minutes.  I'm a pro at this now... I can make it to the final 3 if Jeff ever summons me.

Dinner was.... uhhhh-mazing!!!!!!  That Tat's bought chicken and duck that can be eaten cold.  They made some stew that we needed to reheat.  We had packs and packs of instant noodles.  And they even brought a rice cooker. Hehehehhee... camping like the Chinese do!!  Everyone showered... had their filling... and out of the blue... we hear a lot of honking from a short distance away.  First I thought it was someone's car alarm going off... then a bunch of other cars started honking.  Turns it... it was an attempt to scare off a bear!!  Roy goes and checks out what happened... and we heard "BANG! BANG! BANG!"  Someone brought an air gun and used it.  Rumors start flying that it was a giant bear that carried off someone's cooler.  And ran into the woods again.  

We didn't think much of it so we continued cleaning up and started to make smores.  Everyone settled into a bit and was having a good time when to our left... we heard a bunch of honking again!  This time it was loud and persistent.  And then... our neighbors to the left, almost like a marching army, got up in unison and started running for their cars.  We saw them do it... and I gave the command, "Let's go!"  I didn't know what was going on... but didn't want to take a chance.  Me... Joyce... the kids... and the Yu's... all 7 of us piled into our dinky little CRV.  YY was still carrying her half melted marshmellow - getting it onto everything.  We got in... I closed the door...  looked over my shoulder and there it was.  A medium size black bear... running through our neighbor's campsite.  Then it dawned on me.  Our locker is still open!!!  Our garbage is still out!!!  And like a bundle of laundry... that brown fuzzball rolled onto my campsite.  It was literally 10 feet away from the car... sniffing through garbage.. trying to find a meal or two.  Out of the corner of my eye... I then see a park ranger... slowly creep out of the bushes holding a rifle - which I think is a tranquilizer.  He slowly got closer on his approach and "zip!!!" fired away.  I didn't see or hear the bear go down.... so it must've run off.  The ranger also disappeared... he must be on hot pursuit. 

We were now at a lost... not entirely sure what to do, we decided to go take showers and then decide.  Joyce and I were on the same page.  The bear's gone...he's scared... we're safe. Right???  After showering, we came back and our neighbors thought we left.  They were packing already and calling it a weekend.  We repacked everything... sticking it in the bear locker... throwing away the garbage and got into our tents.  Then all of a sudden... blaring horns again!!!  The third time!!! That's when I decided... gotta get the wife and kids to safety.  I told them to run for the car.  This time... we're outta here.  Gonna get a hotel and not taking chances again.

Evacuation... never had to do it.  Have heard about it... seen it on TV.  But when it comes down to it... what do you really need when your life depends on it.  Car keys... phone...wallet.  Wallet!!! OH NO!!! Left my wallet in the tent.  That's when I made that precarious 10 feet trek from car to tent... and voila... I am whole again. HA!!  We made it our hotel... nice warm and clean bed.  Calling it a night... good night!!

Tahoe Camping Day 2 - The Lake

 I got up... went to pee... and decided to take a stroll.  One night into camp... and one of the two toilets was already clogged with toilet paper and sh*t.  How are we gonna survive???  I got to the beach and the scene was majestic.  God is amazing.  He truly is.  I got my me time in and walked back to came and it was feee-reeezing!!!

Tried lighting the fire again... cuz it was so cold. Had a lot harder time this time because our fuel was damp from the morning dew.  Thankfully, we were able to borrow a torch from our neighbors.  Before we knew it... everyone was awake and we feasted on a warm meal of instant noodles and canned Vienna sausages. Ironically.. everyone was complaining how noisy it was at night... and here they were speaking a high volume.  I cringed and rolled my eyes at their hypocrisy. Oh well...

Slowly and surely, everyone got up and within a blink of an eye... it was time to set out.  Yu Tai was brave and bold enough to take the kids to Treetop.  While the rest of us went to enjoy a nice hike in the wilderness.  But unfortunately.. all the trails we wanted to go to were closed for construction!! Boo... ended up hiking a long road down to Emerald Bay and back up.  I got so bored with that hike... I took a detour just to walk some rough rocky terrain.  It's a hike, for crying out loud!!!

After the hike... we would rendevous at the harbor for our 2 hour pontoon ride.  Yes, there was valet parking, but no, I wasn't about to pay.  So I parked on the street... sent the address to the Tat's and Yu's.  GUess what... they followed my lead!! HA!!  

Everyone got together... and we got on our pontoon.  Everyone was disappointed.  We wanted a boat with a slide... or a faster speed boat.  But we got... exactly what it's described as... a friggin pontoon!! Ok...it's not that slow.  From South Tahoe... it was 30 minutes to Emerald Bay.  The water was freezing cold.  I brought an ice chest... but didn't bring any adult drinks (much to many people's disappointment) and no one was in the mood to get in.  We finally park at Emerald Bay... and I needed to set an example.  Everyone wanted to go in... but no one dared.  So I finally put on my life jacket and dove head first.  DANG the water was freezing.  Once I got in... some of the girls followed.  DANG... the water was freezing.  Then I tried to swim back to the boat... but the current kept pushing me away.  I saw the two girls successfully swim back.  I got jealous, but relieved.  They were safe.  Farther and farther I drifted away.  I strugged and I tried.  I kicked. I crawled (figureatively).  But the boat got smaller and smaller.  

My head suddenly thought... would I freeze to death??? (It was in the high 60's... no where near freezing).  Then I thought... would I drown??? (I had a life jacket on).  For some reason... no one on the boat cared... and no one was coming to save me.  Then I saw these three paddle boat guys.  I waved to them..."Can I get a ride?" The first person waved back... and started leaving.  I'm like, "No... don't leave me!!"  I thought he was making a U-turn... but he never came back.  His two friends started coming and I called for them again... this time, the sorta kinda understood me.  I waved and pointed to the boat.  And I said, "You speak English?"  They said, "No... Ukraine."  Ohhhhh... no wonder the first dude left.   The two friends tried to circle... and they were having a hard time pushing towards me due to the current.  With their broken English and my zero Russian... they asked why my friends won't come.  They even shouted on my behalf, "Your people!!!!"  By now... the third friend realized what was happening and turned back.  We were able to communicate with "You tired?" and "You cold?"  They quickly realized that I needed a place to hang onto.  And they know that the current was simply too strong.  The pontoon had a big tube for us to play on... and they finally tossed it in the water.  My three Ukrainian friends went to grab it and brought it over to me.  Even then... I wasn't able to simply hop on the tube, they had to give me a giant lift.  

After what seemed like eternity... I finally got on the tube.  It got roped up.  And I was back on the boat.  Phew...... this is the 2nd time of nearly drowning!! The first time was in Hawaii in that little lagoon. Man.. .I needa get better with swimming.

Anyhoo... I got back on the boat and I wanted to show everyone I wasn't scared or nervous.  So I immediately decide to play on the tube and have the pontoon drag us.  Part of it was to show everyone that I wasn't scared.  It was nothing.  Dust it off and continue playing.  I think it worked to some degree... but as I found out later, it backfired. SW was first one up... none of the other kids wanted to play after seeing what I went through.   But after seeing us have fun... one at a time, everyone started playing.  And even some of the adults got into the action!! WOOHOO!!   

I finally got into the boat... and someone told me... (I forget who).... your daughter is upset.  It turns out NN was balling her eyes out.  She was worried sick with me not being able to get back on the boat.  And once I got on the boat... I didn't check in with the family and went straight out to the water.  Oops! My bad.  I tried apologizing...but she wasn't hearing it.  Woe is me....  I screwed up big time.

I finally got in the boat... and was freezing my @$$ off.  I changed... put on new clothes... but the wind chill was still killing me.  Ah wellz... I had to man up and take it and not show signs of weakness.  We finally got back to the pier, parked, and changed.  Everything was calmer now... and the last thing I had to worry about... a missing iPhone that turned up in lost and found.  Boom... time to head back to camp for a night of camp life and chill.