Camping | First Camping of the Year at Cachuma Lake

Last weekend we went our first camping this year to Cachuma Lake in Santa Barbara. This is by far the most comfortable campsite that I’ve experienced. The fair amount of tall trees provided great size of shades. There were bugs around of course but they didn’t really sting us. (however we did have a friend got stung in the eye though… ouch…) I think it’s a very nice spot for first campers. The site even has hot water shower, 50cents every 3 mins! On top of that, Charles booked the campsite that was right in front of the lake. People said the lake used to be like a stream because of the drought. After the heavy rain last winter, the lake-view just AWESOME beautiful!

Busier Than Ever Summer

I’m going to post according to the correct date or at least closer to the date of the events… It’s currently in October already. I am way too behind and have so much to document the fun times, road trip, sightseeing, and travel that happened in the chu’s sweet home. I felt like the summer of 2023 was the busiest summer so far!

2023 Remarkable Moments Roundup

On New Year’s Eve 2022 to New Year’s Day of 2023, we spent a night in a bar at The Inn at Death Valley. The story was a lot more complicated than it seemed...

Seize the End of Summer

We took off for Banff, Canada at the beginning of the summer. When we returned home, it felt that there were still a lot to do:

Camping | Death Valley Fills Our Hearts With Awe

Charles and I love exploring the natural beauty that we’ve never been before, but Death Valley really made us want to revisit again! We had an extraordinary camping experience back in Thanksgiving week at Death Valley. There were so many awesome scenic spots that visitors like us can’t get enough of it. Although it was a LONG five hours drive, it was totally worth it.

Roadtrip | The Most Underrated National Park in California

2023.07.10-13 Manzanita Lake Camping Cabin → Lassen Volcanic National Park → Sacramento → Home sweet Home

Mt. Shasta, California

驅車南下回到加州,準備在拉森火山國家公園待上兩夜,入住園內的湖畔小木屋 Manzanita Lake Camping Cabin,基本上就是不需要帳篷的露營,小木屋內一切從簡,有前後兩間,後間有兩組上下舖,只有塑膠床墊沒有床單被子,前屋有張雙人床和桌椅

Camping | Fellowship at Barton Flats Campground

2016.08.05 - 2016.08.07 Barton Flats, California, United States

Our 2nd camping trip this summer was to Barton Flats, not too far away from Big Bear City. The size of the campground was nice and big! We went with the fellowship families at our church, approximately 20 families!

Camping | Camping with Little Ones in Idyllwild

2016.07.15 - 2016.07.17 Idyllwild, California, United States

上個周末我們挑戰帶著三個月大的小樂樂和恩仔體驗他們第一次的露營; 做爸媽的確是辛苦了點, 不過這難得的經驗也讓我們對於野地旅遊增加了信心, 尤其一家四口可以安然地睡在一處, 對於平日習慣各睡各的我們都是一大突破!

The Chu’s Sweet Home 2021 Recap

It’s been a few days since the new year has kicked in. I felt so unproductive that I only got 14 posts for 2021, whereas it was a year full of blessings, events, trips, and lovely memories! 

Home Improvement:

Turning Two Months

Hello my happy girl :) Happy two months old!

I thought it would be difficult for me to love another little one like I love little en. But the truth is that it is IMPOSSIBLE not to love this little sunshine deep in the heart. This motherhood thing is like an ultimate love source that never runs out! 

Turning Three Months

December has always been the busiest month of the year; but it is not a good excuse to miss any of my baby’s growing milestone.

Travel | Catalina Getaway

2015.10.04 - 2015.10.05 Catalina Island, Avalon, California, United States

My parents have already visited a lot of touristy places around California in the past few years, such as San Francisco, San Diego, and of course Las Vegas. I tried to find a getaway destination that my parents have never been to and little en could also spend less time stuck in traffic. I came up with Catalina Island, so we took a two-day-one-night getaway to this boutique island last weekend.

We got a little wet while we were boarding but it couldn’t stop little en having fun :)

She Shed

Today I want to reveal one half side of the garage. “Her” side. She Shed. We now call it “pool house.” 

For the structure,

Camping | Daddy and Me at Silverwood Campground

話說在小愛預產期倒數一個月的月初, 查理斯自告奮勇地帶著二寶去了三天兩夜的露營!! 留下孕婦媽媽在家享受長達兩日的清閒, 在此給查理斯掌聲鼓勵鼓勵!!

媽媽我心裡有點五味雜陳, 又是開心能夠享受片刻安寧, 又是失落沒能親自與孩子們一同露宿大自然;

Shop For Christmas Gifts

Charles and I are pretty straight forward in terms of Christmas Gifts. We just tell or give obvious hint to each other what we really want. A couple months ago, Charles “requested” this Lego Apollo Saturn V. I was like, “sure, not a problem. I’ll wait till Lego's VIP double points promotion and buy it then,” but the set was so popular and sold out instantly. It had been out of stock for the longest time. “Great,” I thought to myself, “I probably need to postpone it to the next year as his birthday gift.” What went well was that just a few days ago I was thrilled to find out one of the nearby Toys R Us had it in stock! What came even better was that the lady at the register gave me 30% off for waiting in the line for half an hour! Woohoo!  

Merry Christmas 2017 !!!

Frankly, 2017 is not my favorite year. The unpleasant events popped up when I reflected on the year of 2017, like my dearest popo passed away, the dreadful fire in California, and all the conflicts around the world… I guessed that I had this negative feeling was because we were out of hot water for the entire Christmas week. What made this unfortunate event even more miserable was that we had three radiators that were generated by hot water. Nevertheless, we still held a somewhat successful Christmas Party last night. Both e’s enjoyed the big family gathering time, especially with the cousins, and they got whole lot of gifts.

Camping | Lake Arrowhead, Stay Close to Nature

Back in February this year we and a few families had a weekend getaway in a vacation rental at Lake Arrowhead. The house we stayed was enormously huge and had a spectacular view of Lake Arrowhead. Such a shame that we didn’t take enough good photos for this trip :(

Racing Against Time

Six months. That’s how long I was away from this little space of mine. During these months, I felt that I was always juggling my three children and the house chores, and everyday felt like racing against time to get this or that done. At first we were just busy packing for our visit to Taiwan and then unpacking and then endless driving to point A to point B… I thought taking a break from the computer at night could buy me some time. Oh, who am I kidding, the thing called smartphone can kill it all. ANYWAYS! It just doesn’t feel right having this vacant months in thechusweethome for so long. My littlest little i is going to be ONE next month! How can I let her absent here?! It’s time to keep my diary going. It just felt right for me.