Holiday camping

我们和两家大学好友一同去了山区的公园里露营，三家大大小小带着锅碗瓢盆，汽灯炉灶，桌椅被褥和做好的各种美食，就象搬了一次家，住进了最原始的小木屋。没有电，没有暖气，完完全全过了几天逍遥自在的原始人的生活。白天孩子们奔跑在旷野之中，大人们沿着湖边攀爬在怪石之间，享受大自然的日月精华，晚上，点燃篝火，烤羊肉串儿，烤棉花糖，烤玉米，烤红薯，孩子们玩游戏，大人们打牌，都玩儿得乐不思蜀。　夜晚，木屋里很冷，我们都钻在睡袋里，从头到脚，一点都不敢露在外面，真正体会到了冬日里风餐露宿的意境。安娜玩儿得很开心，一点也不闹， 大家都很喜欢她。 　

We went camping in a county park with our two old classmates’ families. We brought all the cookware, stoves, propane lights, chairs and most importantly, the delicious food. We stayed in the cabins with no electricity and heating. During the day, kids were playing in the wild and we hiked around the lake. At night, we lit up the camp fire roasting lamb, marshmallows, corn, and sweet potatoes. It was so freezing cold at night that we had to cover our bodies in layers when sleeping. Anna had a lot of fun and everybody likes her very much.

Merry Christmas!

圣诞节快乐！今天一大早， 随着一声“麻瑞酷瑞丝摩丝”， 安娜和姐姐就跑进了我们的房间，也顾不得梳头洗脸就跑到楼下开圣诞礼物了。 最让我们感动的礼物是安娜的老师亲手给她织的小鱼帽子和一本书。

Early this morning, we heard "Merry Christmas !" and then Anna and Leah ran into our room. They grabbed some clothes to put on and went downstairs to open presents. The most touching present is a fish hat and a book hand made by Anna's teacher.

Deck the house in Christmas light

这一个星期我们一直在房子上挂圣诞灯，安娜每天晚上看到家里灯火辉煌， 都高兴得手舞足蹈。 我们的房子确实漂亮，尤其是在繁星闪烁的夜晚。安娜最近在学写字,全家人的名字都会写了。

We have been decorating our house with Christmas lights over the last week. Anna is very excited to see the beautiful lights at night. She is also leaning to write recently and now she can write all our names.

Yay, my brother got into CalTech

今天我们全家都高兴万分，哥哥收到了加州理工大学的提前录取通知书，我们都知道得到这所著名的大学的提前录取有多么竞争，多么不容易。 祝贺你，儿子，我们为你感到骄傲！今天晚上我们全家怀着喜庆的心情，去了海边的餐馆庆祝一番。
We are so happy today that David got accepted by Cal Tech from his application for early action. We all know how competitive it is to get into this prestigious school . Congratulations, son! We are so proud of you. We celebrated this happy event at the "Crab Catcher" in La Jolla tonight.

Decorating the Christmas tree

今天我们终于找到时间把圣诞树拿了出来，并装饰好了。这是安娜第一次亲自装饰圣诞树。当她看见把树一点点搭起来，装上灯，高兴极了。 看见那么多的各种各样的挂件，更是高兴，看着她专心致志地把一个个装饰物挂 在树上，真是让人享受。希望她慢慢会明白圣诞节是怎么回事儿。Today we decorated the Christmas tree. Anna was very excited when we put up the tree together and liked hanging up the ornaments. This is her first time setting up the Christmas tree and I hope she will understand better as the years come.

New Zealand Trip

今天早上我们结束了9天的旅行从新西兰回来了。 我们一开始飞到了奥克兰，然后又飞到皇后城。在皇后城，我们乘坐缆车到了风景迷人的山顶， 并在山顶上玩了滑板车, 安娜高兴得大喊大叫。 然后我们开车去乘坐一整天的游艇开到了雨林及充满湖光山色的野生地带，在百尺瀑布下，景色尉为壮观。离开皇后城后，我们驾车沿着西海岸开到了著名绿玉产地的小镇赫基第卡 , 一路蓝天，白云，雪山，草地，牛羊遍地，享受着大自然的魅力。然后我们又开车横跨南岛， 途经雪山山脉，远眺连绵山川群峰峻脉，零距离欣赏景色壮观的冰川，来到了基督城。基督城被称为花园城市，我们游览了水族馆，教堂广场中心公园。快乐的时间总是过得很快，我们怀着愉快的心情，又飞回到奥克兰，在这里，哥哥和姐姐玩了高空蹦极跳，他们从192米的高空自由跳了下去，真是惊险又刺激。 我们第二天又开车去了荧光虫水洞，荧光虫就像天上的星星， 闪烁生辉，非常奇妙。在这里我们体验了在完全没有光亮的夜晚摸索前进的感觉。新西兰真是个美丽的国家， 风光绮丽。今天一大早回到家，然后各自上学，上班。安娜累坏了，下午在学校睡到了4点半，还是在老师叫了多次才醒的。爸爸晚上五点多去接她时，看见她还躺在自己的小床上。

We returned from a nine day trip in New Zealand this morning. First, we arrived in Auckland. The next day, we flew to Queenstown where we took the sky gondola to the top of the mountains. There we all had fun taking the luge rides. Anna was screaming and yelling while she was riding the luge with daddy. The next day, we then took a nine hour cruise along Doubtful sound to see its beautiful wilderness. After leaving Queenstown, we drove through the scenic west cost to Hokitika. We then drove across the south island through Arthur’s pass all the way to Christchurch on the east coast. We then flew back to Auckland. David and Leah went on the sky jump. They leaped off the famous Auckland Sky Tower and free-fell 192 meters straight down. What an unforgettable experience! We also visited the glowing worm caves 2 hours south of Auckland. New Zealand is such a beautiful country and we all had a wonderful time there.
Everyone was exhausted when we got home early early in the morning. We sent Anna to her preschool and she took a very long nap until 4:30 after her teacher tried to wake her up a few times. When daddy picked her up at about 5:30, she was still lying on her cot.

Happy birthday daddy!

今天是爸爸的生日！ 爸爸早上和姐姐滑完冰回到家，安娜就大声地说"哈皮波斯呆”， 然后又亲了爸爸好几大口。她还给爸爸做了个生日卡。 今年给爸爸的生日礼物是我们全家今天去新西兰旅游。小安娜等不及了，昨天就在她的小书包里装上各种小吃和玩具，到飞机上吃。中午爸爸吃了最喜欢的大龙虾。

Today is daddy's birthday! When daddy returned home from Leah's ice skating practice this morning, Anna said"Happy birthday daddy" followed by a big kiss. For daddy's birthday, we are going to New Zealand. Anna got so excited, she started packing her snacks and toys for the airplane ride. Daddy had his favorite lobster dish for lunch.

Synchronized ice skating

安娜星期日去看姐姐滑冰比赛。我们一大早6点半就出发了，开到迪斯尼冰场， 到晚上6点才回来。安娜平时经常看姐姐滑冰，但这是第一次看真正的比赛。她特别喜欢看姐姐穿上滑冰的衣服。姐姐滑冰队表演时，她也跟着观众大声呼叫，鼓掌。回来的路上，她累坏了，睡了一路。Anna went watching Leah’s team's ice skating competition on Sunday. We left early in the morning at 6:30 and drove all the way to Anaheim and didn't get back to home until 6 at night. Anna has seen Leah ice skating many times, but this was her first time to watch a real competition. She loved to see Leah in her ice skating dress and cheered up for their team. She was so exhausted and slept through on the way back.

Puzzle girl

安娜最近特别喜欢玩儿拼图游戏，几乎每次去学校接她时都看见在拼图。我于是给她买了几套，她整天都玩儿不够，拼得特好。32个的拼图板，她5分钟就可以搭好， 真是个动手能力强的孩子。
Anna enjoys playing with jigsaw puzzles recently. We see her working on solving puzzles almost everyday when we pick her up from school. I also bought her several sets and she likes them very much. What a smart girl!

Halloween Trick-or-treating

今年的万圣节完全可以用这两张照片总结。左边的照片是出发之前照的， 右边那张是晚上回来要到的糖果。安娜一边要糖一边吃，到家时我发现她的脸上都是巧克力， 两只手都粘糊糊的。Our Halloween can be summarized by these two pictures。The left picture was taken right before we went out and the picure on the right shows all the candies we got. Anna was eating her candies while trick-or-treating. I noticed that her face was covered with chocolates when we got home and her hands were sticky.

Halloween parade

安娜今天在学校里参加了第一次万圣节游行。她打扮成中国公主。她特别喜欢这套裙子，不愿意脱下来。游行后，他们学校又举行了各种游戏，她带了好多小东西回来。姐姐今天上学时装扮成海盗。Anna had her first Halloween parade at her preschool this morning. She was a Chinese princess and she loved her dress so much that she didn't want to take it off. Her preschool also had a carnival after the parade and she got a bunch of Halloween goodies from all kinds of games. Leah went to school as a pirate today.