Sid the Science Kid

So a few months back we took Holly to the California Academy of Sciences to see Sid the Science Kid. He is a character from a TV Show she loves. She was so excited to go and see him. We invited Lucian to join us and we were looking forward to a wonderful play date. This was post Disney and she had met lots of character's while there so I wasn't even really worried about it, but boy was that a mistake.

As soon as we arrived and she could see him inside the Lobby from the stairs she started to cry No No and hide behind me and ask to go home. I knew she would have fun at the Science Center if I could get her inside, and perhaps later she would warm up to Sid. We got inside and headed right down to the fishy room and to wait for Lucian but we never made it back to see Sid. Every time I mentioned it she got upset. Still to this day if I tell her we are going to a Science Center (Lawrence hall of Science, Chabot, or Academy of Sciences) she cries, no Sid. and I have to convince her he won;t be there before she will agree to go. She gets super anxious about it. She is better now, I am able to coax her and she believes me that he won't be there but she always has to ask.

Weeks after this event after several times of asking her about it she finally told me that Sid is small like her and not big. So it seems she was scared because the life Size Sid was taller then Daddy instead of a small kid like her. I am finding that a lot of her anxiety has to do with expectations and I am learning slowly how to properly set her expectations so that she can enjoy events that might be a little scary to her but when there are no surprises and she knows what to expect she is able to be brave.

Even though we didn't meet Sid we had a great time. We looked at the Fish, enjoyed a Yummy lunch with our friends and the kids played in the Discovery room. We had finally remembered to bring Lucian his birthday gift, Months late (His Birthday is in June) Holly had fun giving it to him since she remembered making the wrapping paper months earlier.

We have been back since and she always has a great time, but now I know that not all Character's are created equal and though she loves the show, sometimes Sid the Kid, just needs to be Kid Sized.

Kobe Japanese, Yum!

One night while in Florida we decided to go to Kobe Japanese for Dinner. It is a Hibachi place
They cook at the table. I was a little nervous to bring Holly there but thought it might be fun
and worth a try. She loved the Koi pond, and they even gave her some food for the fish
For the most part she enjoyed the dinner. She was pretty entertained for most of it.
There was one section however when there was pretty much a wall of flame across the stove top.
She didn't mind the flame so much however there was a gush of heat and that was unexpected
She got pretty scared and we had to back away fro the table like three feet. But she didn't cry
She was pretty weary for a while and we had to take a break with the fish, but she came back
and really enjoyed the rest of the show. There was some egg spinning and a few neat chops
She liked the Flaming Volcano he built with the onions, it didn't produce that much heat
So it wasn't too overwhelming. The food was delicious too, There was also a ton of it.
I hoped Holly would eat the yummy garlic noodles, but she didn't want to try them
We had a wonderful dinner, and it was a really fun experience.